How are truss plates installed at a factory

Yes they do. I had the same problem with the few I have used.

Harry K

On Thursday 03 January 2013 16:41 Harry K wrote in alt.home.repair:

Which is weird (and slightly worrying) because you can go to any builder's or timber merchant and see them for sale.

Don't you usually add some 1" flat head nails if applying by hand?

these:

There must be some sort of tool made to install these things at home. They sure are popular these days. Actually, I did install one of them using a press (of sorts). I was just seeing if it would work on some scrap lumber. The results were better than using a hammer, but not really acceptable. I parked my farm tractor where I planned to use the truss plate. Then placed the boards on a flat concrete surface, (under one edge of the tractor). I placed the truss plate across the boards. Then put a heavy piece of 1/2" thick steel on top of the truss plate. Took my handyman jack, put the base of the jack on top of that piece of steel, and jacked up the tractor. The weight of the jack and tractor did push the pins from the truss plate into the wood, but it was not even. I suppose the jack was not exactly centered and/or weight not evenly distributed as the tractor was raised.

In the end, the result was better than using a hammer, but I still had to use a hammer to even it out, and some of the pins had bent rather than gone into the wood.

Not the ideal situation and it would be a lot of work to make a large truss in this way, if not impossible because there is limited space under the tractor tires. However, it was an experiment.

My father worked for a few years at a family friends truss mfg plant. Yes, the plates are all applied using a hydraulic press.

Paul

W/ automated presses. At factory they have jigs generally for an entire truss set up where all the pieces are placed in and then either all are pressed w/ multiple-head press or in sequence if don't have that big a setup.

There are individual presses available but actual truss plates aren't really intended to be hand-applied.

What gear is around looks something like

You'll have no success w/ just a hammer coming close to meeting Code reqmt's for anything excepting the small connectors/hangers, cross-bracing, etc., etc., ... A regular truss plate is almost impossible to install successfully w/o a press for the purpose.

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Yes, they are sold at all building supply places and hardware stores. I really never understood why either....

I've never built trusses, but made frames for barn doors, where the 2x4s are laid flat. All those truss plates did was piss me off. I finally bought the plain flat steel ones with lots of holes in them, and pounded in a fistful of roofing nails in each plate. At least those work. The last door I built, I didn't have any of those things on hand, so I just took some scrap galvanized tin from furnace ducts, cut out squares, and drove a lot of roofing nails thru the metal. Worked fine, and saved a few bucks too.

Exactly what I thought. But that does make me question why they are sold at almost all the home centers and lumber yards????

You'd think that they would sell some sort of installation tool. Although I dont think any hand tool would apply enough pressure. I thought of using C-clamps over heavy steel plates but I dont even need to try it, because you just cant apply enough pressure that way.

I'd like to see a photo of one of these presses they use in a factory. Google didn't find anything (so far).

On 1/3/2013 12:37 PM, snipped-for-privacy@home.com wrote: ...

See link I posted earlier...

They use a hydraulic press but I have done it with the smaller ones using a 1/4" steel plate and a 16 pound sledge.

BTW if you look at the ones at the hardware store, it says "not for trusses" right on them. Inspectors will look for that if you do not have the engineering from the truss plant stapled to your plan. They may reject them anyway if you don't have engineering.

talled at a factory?

Hmm...I stood my 2 x 8 beam on top of a couple of 8' 4 x 4's, flush with the outer edges, and hammered Home Depot truss plates across the seams to secure them. The deck is then cantilevered about 3' off of that beam.

It only wobbles a little. ;-)

On 1/3/2013 3:54 PM, DerbyDad03 wrote: ...

:)

I will, however, hold to my supposition that an ANSI test wouldn't pass on that... :)

I read somewhere that one of the deck failures in KC a few years ago may have been owing at least in part to that type of on-site connection.

You have, I hope, added some other fasteners???

On 1/3/2013 12:37 PM, snipped-for-privacy@home.com wrote: ...

I never saw those words on them, but I dont see small print without reading glasses, and I dont wear glasses when I build. At the same time, that is pretty stupid. They are called TRUSS PLATES, yet they are not for trusses...... WTF?

Holy s*it, they are a lot bigger than I thought. It says they press 63 tons. I'd think that would crush the lumber.... No wonder the weight of a farm tractor dont push them in all the way.

Interesting read though! Thanks

At least these are more of a home operated unit, but I'm sure they are costly. They dont list the prices on their site.

I've seen used field repair presses for about $7,000. I imagine the normal ones new are about $10,000.

In reality there are three 4 x 4's sandwiched between two 14? 2 x 8 beams. The beams are attached to each of the posts with 2 carriage bolts, slightly staggered.

Very similar to this, except that my deck is only 6? off the ground.

The ones I saw were no bargain. Look at

Personally looking at this picture, I don't like the stability of the columns in the plane of the 3 columns. If it were me, I'd add some knee braces but in your case since the columns are shorter, may be fine.