Uni strut for roll off roof rails.

[vk6kb (Keith)]

A friend suggested the 41 x 41 x 2mm Unistrut mounted upside down, ie with the opening at the top, would be an ideal track then you can use four or six of the 4 wheel roller assemblies attached to the roof in the tracks.
I think I'm going to go this way and I'm wondering if anyone else has done this ?
My roof will be 3 mtrs long and 2.2 mtrs wide and fairly light, possibly dark coloured plastic roof sheets.
The whole obsy is being made from patio tube, 76 x 36 I think it is, with steel sheet cladding, all sourced for free from my local radio club
Cheers

[Goschencat (Rex)]

Hi Keith. I’ve used upside down unistrut on my mini obs for the roof rails and it works fine. I didn’t used the wheels you mention. I opted for brass rollers running on top of one of the sides if the unistrut. Then added a T section at each end of the roof that runs inside the unistrut as hold down, preventing the roof lifting at all.
Good luck with your build.
Cheers
Rex VK3OF

[vk6kb (Keith)]

Thanks Rex,
I've sourced some locally so with go have a look at how the rollers fit.
73 & Clear Skies

[tempestwizz (Brian)]

I’ve used the channels and rollers from panel lift garage doors in an earlier build. After a diplomatic approach to one of the garage door companies I managed to acquire for a modest fee, a range of channels and wheels removed that had been removed as part of a refurbishment program for more a modern style for their customers. They had piles of second hand channels and wheels that were no longer of use in their current projects.
HTH

[Zubenel (Wes)]

I am "testing" unistrut as rails as a C section type arrangement on the cubby house/trust roof I built for the kids 25 years ago. ( the grandies need better ...) The reason was I want the up lift and water problem engineered out . I bought standard rollers off amazon and have ground down 4 so far to 35mm +-0.1mm .They roll ok .The brackets for the rollers only arrived today so I look forward to swapping out the drilled timber blocks .

[vk6kb (Keith)]

Originally Posted by tempestwizz

I’ve used the channels and rollers from panel lift garage doors in an earlier build. After a diplomatic approach to one of the garage door companies I managed to acquire for a modest fee, a range of channels and wheels removed that had been removed as part of a refurbishment program for more a modern style for their customers. They had piles of second hand channels and wheels that were no longer of use in their current projects.
HTH

Thanks for the info , I've been to both Unistrut and garage door suppliers today and I think I will go with the garage door track, specifically the track from B & D garage doors which has a back strengthener in the track and the rollers are 2 mm bigger in diameter.
The unistrut works out about $100 dearer as well, and the track has more play when the rollers are fitted.
As soon as our temps drop below 30 C for a week I'll start the concreting.
Thanks for the advice folks, and I may still change my mind if I can find any free stuff
Cheers