I'm not sure where to put this, so I'll put it here. I've been wanting to build or put up a shed to have my trucks inside, somewhat, the discussion has been for a long time how big and what size. We're wanting to either back the semi's and lowboys in or drive them in and back them out, side by side, along with my trucks and tag trailers, I've been asking locally and everyone seems to think I'm nuts for wanting to put stuff in a shed. I've been doing the math and for the dollars I've got invested in trucks and trailers alone I'd like to have them under cover when not in use, and also in the winter it would be nice to have a place to keep them so they are not in a snow bank all winter long. First off does anyone else do this, seems everyone around me but one, keeps them outside in the open and doesn't worry about them. That one guy has a shed he drives his trucks inside but leaves the trailers stick out, an open front type shed. The next question I have is bay width, which has been a major discussion around here, we don't want them too narrow so its takes an expert to get them in and out and not so wide it takes a 30 foot bay for one trailer wide either, does anyone have any ideas what width works for the average truck driver to either drive in and back out or the other way around. I've been thinking that 12-13 feet and some of the crew has been thinking that 15 feet for ease of operations and also if we'd put a truck and trailer away with a wide load on it, and unload it another day type deal, we've been known to come into the yard late and instead of doing the unloading in the dark, worry about it in the morning type thing. Just looking for input on what others do or wished they'd have done because after they've used a building they figured out how they should have done it. I don't want to spend the money and have my trucks sit out because everyone hates to put them away, its more work than its worth, I've had other things turn out that way before.
Yair . . . Randy88 . If you are able to justify the cost of fifteen feet to accommodate a wide load that could be handy at times . . . the ultimate of course are drive through bays. Failing drive through I always think it's better to have it set up so you drive in and back out . . . you know long day, dark and pi$$ing down rain when you get home. You just want to get inside, have a hot shower and dinner and cuddle up to Momma . . . much simpler to back out in the morning. (he grins) Cheers.
would it be easier if you had doors on both ends of the shed? Drive in and Drive out,no reversing at all
I am going to do the very same thing for exactly the same reason you are. Nothing worse than trying to load equipment on wet or icy trailers. Not to mention the fact that it is hard on anything to sit out in weather. The size I am building is 160 x 60' it will be open to the south with no doors except a walk in just in case I ever put big doors in it in the future. The material cost bid come in at 35,000 for all lumber, posts, trusses and white metal for the roof and walls. We are going to build it ourselves
JBGash, what ceiling height are you going with along with bay width? That's the same dimension of building I've been looking at too, might even put a lean on the north side and get the spacing right to back or drive into the lean, so the building will end up being something along the line of 84 feet wide and then the long trailers we can get fully into the shed. Are you going with a single sloped roof or a hip roof on yours? Where did you end up with the best pricing from, so far if I priced components I ended up with the best price, a package price seemed to hike the cost considerably. As for driving through the building, I don't want to take that much room up around the shed, the way it'll sit in the yard, we can access an open front to the south and have doors on the west side, my slope of the land I'll have to put almost 7 feet of fill on the east side the way it is to get the shed site leveled up, and then it gets far steeper after that, I originally wanted a 200 foot long building and it got cost ineffective pretty fast just for the landscaping and fill needed for the extra length, and I'd do it all myself.
I get catalogs from time to time from Coverall buildings which has since been bought by Norseman Structures . They manufacture fabric covered buildings and I recall seeing some used for the purpose you've mentioned. I don't know the cost, but they do have a lengthy warranty on the fabric, it was at least 10 years. Might be worth looking in to.
I was thinking of along the same lines. Our local waste transfer station has a large fabric building. For a parking spot with no concrete flooring, it may not be any taxes accessed, no PE drawings needed for building permits. Here is one of the sites http://www.bigtentrental.com/clear-span-tents-solutions/construction-tents.html http://www.bigtentrental.com/clear-span-tents-solutions/construction-tents.html
I keep my trucks under cover and want to build bigger for the trailers. The bays I have now are 25' wide 32' deep and I back the trucks in except if I have a trailer I just pull in and leave the trailer out. I want to build one for the tractor trailer and my single axle and tag-along I was thinking about 25' wide by 65' long pull in and back out. It really is worth it keeping them put away they last longer the dump bodies don't rust so the load slides. I wish I had the room to build one the size you are talking about but just have to many other sheds already. No matter the size you build it will be full before it is finished if you are anything like me.
I have 12 ft. doors on mine and wish they were 14 at times. At night they sure get narrower and you end up jockeying to keep it centered.
Randy, I am going with 16' ceiling height, 15' wide bays, hip roof type & I have only got 1- material bid so far and it was from a good lumber yard that has been around forever. I am also going to use some of it for hay & farm machinery storage.
Thanks for the idea's about the fabric covered buildings, but I'm going with a either a wood frame or metal frame building on this one, probably wood frame the way its looking to me and what prices I've been getting. JBGASH, that's a very good price on that size of building, I've been considering a 18 foot tall building and having the rafter spacing 8 foot on center, so the bays would be 16 feet wide minus the post width or roughly that 15 feet, or I could do increments of 8 feet. I've been pricing the metal for the roofs and walls and also looking at the paint warranty and so far I'm not impressed with any of them, the tin is far lighter than I'd used before.
Randy88, Love the idea and just to add my 2cents. If you cant drive in and drive out I would go for backing in and driving out. Would think that things might be busy in the morning as people are leaving and you then have the risk of running over someone when backing out, this is reduced if you back into the packing spot as you may have less trucks in the area at one time at the end of the day, and drivers can look at the area they are about to back into. Good luck
Been asking a lot of questions and am being told since I plan to mount the building on a wall, and for the height I'm going for sidewalls and the bays I want, people are trying to steer me towards a metal frame building and then wood for the tin fastening structure or what some call a hybrid building. From what I've been told if I don't have posts into the ground I'll lose structural strength of the building, I guess I can understand that, so as they say, now I have to start completely over again and rethink the whole deal with a different style building. I've been around the all steel buildings in the past and we had a few problems with them, the purlons and girts rusted out and weakened the whole building, I'm told with a hybrid building that won't be an issue, never personally seen a hybrid building before so now I'll have to go looking as they say. anyhow keep the idea's and comments coming.
What most carpenters do in my area when building off a concrete wall is have us install "J-Bolts" in the concrete then they mount a plate on top of the wall then "Stick build" off of that with 2x6 walls. Seems to work pretty good. If your walls are exposed and are planning on heating the building then might look at using ICF blocks to pour the wall. We done one last month for a customer. The west wall was for retaining & used ICF's on the rest of the walls . HeavyEquipmentForums
Their is a steel erection company just up the road from my shop that built a drive through garage for their lowboy and their man lifts. They took 8 shipping containers and stacked them two high then put a fabric canopy over top. They did that about 3 years ago and it still looks good just don't know how it would fair with the snow in your area.
Thats interesting buckfever,we just unloaded 4 shipping containers for a customer only he wants them buried in the ground.
for a truck garage i would go at least 14'. theres that time you come home tired and having that little bit of extra wiggle room makes all the difference
Great idea. Farm Journal and Successful Farming Magazine have great shop construction stories. Just calculat in the increased insurance. A cab fire outside is one thing a truck cab fire locked up in a nice dry place with therest of your fleet the day before a big job starts could be a disaster. Alarms should be a must. If heated consider sprinkled.
Also if your going to use it for combined storage of hay and machinery i would separate with a solid wall. Nothing like building the perfect mice habitat only to up and move it one day and invite the mice to live in the equipment. Or make sure to get some mangey bad ass cats