Custom Heel Post Plate

What a heel post plate joins

A heel post plate joins three timbers at the foot of a truss that stands on posts: the top chord, or rafter, the tie beam it rests on, and the post under the tie beam. It is our heel plate with a third leg. One leg runs along the tie beam and one up the top chord, as on a heel plate, and the third comes down the post near the heel's point, with bolts through each, so one plate holds the whole corner.

The post leg is centered on the post. With the post flush with the tie beam's end, the leg's outer edge is flush with the plate's plumb end; set the post in from the end and the leg moves in with it. The plate's plumb end stays at the heel, so the leg never reaches past it. If the tie beam runs on past the plate, the post stays where it is under the tie beam and the plumb end comes in toward it. As on the heel plate, you set where the chords' centerlines meet, and the designer draws the top chord's seat cut and plumb cut, so you can see the joint before it's cut. For a heel with no post under it, use the custom heel plate.

Sizes this designer makes

• Timbers: 2 1/2" to 15 1/2", entered as measured, in 1/8" steps: the tie beam's height, the top chord's width, and the post's width.
• Pitch: 3/12 to 24/12, or 15° to 65°.
• The post: its outer face flush with the tie beam's end, or up to 36" in from it, in 1/8" steps.
• Legs: 8" to 48" along the tie beam, and up to 36" up the top chord and down the post. Each leg is 2" wide or more, up to its timber's size.
• Between the tie beam and top chord legs: open, as our catalog plates are, or filled.
• Bolts: 1/4" to 3/4", in one row or two. You set how many go in the tie beam, in the top chord, and in the post.
• Ends: square, clipped, rounded, or pointed, with sharp or rounded inside corners.

The designer opens on our catalog VB4 plate on surfaced 6x6 timbers at a 6/12 pitch, with a leg like our L4 corner plate's, 4" wide and 11 1/4" down a 6x6 post set flush with the tie beam's end: five 5/8" bolts in the tie beam, three in the top chord, and three in the post, square ends, in 1/4" steel. Change any of it.

Where the bolts go

The first question is how far the bolts sit from the ends and edges of your timbers, and from each other. Minimum distances, the default, holds every bolt to the American Wood Council's NDS minimums for softwood: 3 1/2 bolt diameters from the end of a timber, 1 1/2 from its edge, and 3 from the next bolt. That's how we lay out our own plates. At a heel post, the ends to watch are the tie beam's, past the plate, and the post's top, under the tie beam: the post's highest bolt sits an end distance below it. Full design value distances doubles the end distance to 7 diameters and spaces bolts 4 apart, so plates come out larger or with fewer bolts. No minimum distances puts each bolt where you set it. Wood that close to a bolt can split, so have your engineer check that layout. The bolt spacing and edge distance guide explains the numbers.

How it's priced

By weight: the steel in your plate, less its holes, with shipping in the lower 48 built in. There's no charge for design or setup. The price changes as you change the plate, and the price you see is the price you pay. A plate over $500 goes through the quote form instead.

Questions

How many do I need for a truss?

Each truss has two heels. Plated on the front only, it takes two plates; front and back, four. The plate flips over to fit the other heel and the other side, so they're all the same plate. The designer opens at two.

Which thickness should I choose?

3/16" is our standard plate and suits most decorative work. 1/4" is a third heavier and stiffer, and 3/8" and 1/2" heavier still. Our plates are architectural hardware, not engineered or load-rated: if a plate is part of how your truss carries load, your engineer decides whether it's suitable and how thick it should be.

The basics

• A36 steel plate, laser cut in our ISO 9001 shop in Texas.
• Holes are cut 1/16" larger than the bolt you choose. Bolts aren't included.
• Enter your timbers' real size, not their name. How to measure a timber.
• Bare steel, or matte black powder coat added in the cart.
• Ships free in the lower 48 states.
• No published load ratings. Ask your engineer, and see what to give them.