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As anyone who has any number of bottles knows, the mish-mash of port case designs can drive you up the wall when it comes to stacking them.

As I have a bit of re-stacking to do, I've taken a little time out to see if there's any clever way of doing this more efficiently.

Some observations..

It appears constructive to categorise case types, and stack birds of a feather together. The case types I've come up with are:

A - Six pack owcs packed with the bottles in opposing directions, the long dimension of the case being around 41cm

B - Six and twelve pack owcs with the bottles orientated in one direction only, with one case dimension that is 30-35cm

AB - Twelve pack owcs packed with the bottles in opposing directions, with a footprint of roughly 41cm x 30cm, and therefore stack compatible with either A or B

C - owcs, mostly for formats other than 75cL, that don't fit with either A or B

U - Useful cardboard cartons that are smaller than the owcs and can be fitted into odd corners.

If your stacking area is 2ft 6" deep (76cm) it is possible to have a stack of A sized cases stacked against the rear wall (end on) and a stack of B sized cases aligned with the front edge (or vice versa). The AB cases can be deployed to ensure both rows are the same height, and the U sized cases can fill odd corners and otherwise be fitted in at the top of the stack along with the awkward C cases.

To keep the cases steady and level, a supply of off-cuts of ply and timber can be tucked in where necessary when there are overlaps between cases of different heights.

So, great in theory - on paper it should enable me to stack with around 30% better density than I'm currently achieving with ad hoc stacking.

- But will it..?

Stacks make FIFO (First In First Out) difficult though. I tend to want to use the older bottles at the bottom first and it is a lot of work to take out the bottom bottle from a stack, and thus I prefer to have the cases on shelves. When stacks are needed same size does save a lot of space and are much more stable. 30% better density is not at all unrealistic. I have a stack 2,2 m high without support, looks a bit risky but is actually quite stable. It is very space efficient, but I do not want to think of the day when I need the bottle in the bottom case.

Stacks make FIFO (First In First Out) difficult though. I tend to want to use the older bottles at the bottom first and it is a lot of work to take out the bottom bottle from a stack, and thus I prefer to have the cases on shelves. When stacks are needed same size does save a lot of space and are much more stable. 30% better density is not at all unrealistic. I have a stack 2,2 m high without support, looks a bit risky but is actually quite stable. It is very space efficient, but I do not want to think of the day when I need the bottle in the bottom case.

With the same thought in mind, I installed wide span racking in one bay last year, but was horrified by the loss of effective capacity. Aside from the thickness of the shelves - about 75mm on a 1500mm wide span with the requisite load capacity; the inconsistent height of cases leaves wasted space on every level, and further space is taken up by the uprights.

I therefore concluded that a better plan is to anticipate which cases will be wanted in the not too distant future, and ensure they are near the top of each stack, and then re-stack each bay every five years or so. I will keep the bay with the wide span shelving, but will reserve it for cases that I expect to open over the next year or two.

uncle tom wrote: ↑20:41 Mon 30 Jul 2018 re-stack each bay every five years or so. I will keep the bay with the wide span shelving, but will reserve it for cases that I expect to open over the next year or two.

No surprises in your home! That is an impressive long term planning!

That is an impressive long term planning!

I find the long term aspect of port ownership is one of its more endearing qualities..