Custom Collar Tie Plate

What a collar tie plate joins

A collar tie plate joins a collar tie, or bottom chord, to the top chord where the top chord runs through: it keeps going past the joint, and the collar tie ends against its underside, cut to the roof's pitch. That's the difference from a heel. At a heel the top chord rests on top of the tie beam, and the joint takes a heel plate instead. One leg of the collar tie plate runs along the collar tie and the other up the top chord, with bolts through each, and you set how far the collar tie's plumb end sits back from where the centerlines meet. If a catalog pitch fits, our collar tie truss plate is ready-drawn in six collections for 3" to 12" timbers.

Sizes this designer makes

• Timbers: 2 1/2" to 15 1/2", entered as measured, in 1/8" steps: the collar tie's height and the top chord's width.
• Pitch: 3/12 to 24/12, or 15° to 65°.
• Legs: 8" to 48" along the collar tie from its plumb end, and up to 36" up the top chord. Each leg is 2" wide or more, up to its timber's size.
• Plumb end: 0" to 12" back from where the centerlines meet.
• Between the 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 collar tie and in the top chord.
• Ends: square, clipped, rounded, or pointed, with sharp or rounded inside corners.

The designer opens on our catalog VT4 plate on surfaced 6x6 timbers at a 6/12 pitch, with three 5/8" bolts in the collar tie and five in the top chord, 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. Here the end to watch is the collar tie's, where it meets the top chord. Full-strength 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?

The collar tie meets a top chord on each side of the truss. Plated on the front only, it takes two plates; front and back, four. The plate flips over to fit the other side, so they're all the same plate. The designer opens at two.

Heel plate or collar tie plate?

Look at which timber keeps going. If the top chord comes down and sits on the tie beam, that's a heel. If the top chord runs past the joint and the lower timber ends against it, that's a collar tie.

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.