Tractor shed floor material

Next to concrete what would be the best choice for floors in a shed you store restored tractors which would create the least dust? Concrete is nice but is expensive and shows every oil/grease drip!!
 
In my 40x60 building I put concrete in half of it and white crushed rock in the other half. Here in central Iowa there are several limestone quarry's nearby and white rock is reasonable.
 
most my sheds used to use gravel or packed limestone. those days gone now its concrete. cold storage sheds are both and will soon be all concrete
 
For what it is worth, I put up a pole bldg. in 1985. 30'x60'. Half was partitioned off with concrete floor. No insulation either side. The exterior steel is Strong Barn panels. The roof over the non concrete side with dirt floor, has no paint the half over the concrete is still white. Any way, if available the recycled asphalt would be a really good choice, packs in nicely, dust free, moisture barrier from ground moisture. Around here they use recycled asphalt for base material under new asphalt and concrete. gobble
 
I second the crushed asphalt ! Cheap and really packs well and doesn't leave "white chalk" all over tires and your shoes.
 

FYI in our area most steel on buildings came from UBC or Great Plains Supply(local lumberyard). You can drive all over and find buildings from the 80's that are just as you describe. My barn is a good example new steel in 1988, now 1/4 of it has lost most of the paint. the rest looks good for now, but you can find building in the area with no paint left. Must have been a difference in the batch of steel.
 
All though the the recycled asphalt compacts well I'm not thrilled of the black Color. To me it makes the building seem small and darker then then a lighter color. Also depending where you are located it can be very hard to find and if you do just as expensive as gravel. A neighbor of mine just put gravel in his new building and rented a vibrating roller and it packed it down real nice.
 
I have ground asphalt in mine and in my driveway.
I would recommend it.
As said it packs nice and isn't dusty but it is dark.
So far the only thing to come up through it is ants.
In my pole barn I put in 4 inches of sand then 4 inches of asphalt.
I can see the sand the ants bring up in little hills here and there.
 

Limestone screenings if available in your area. Packs hard and you can dig out any spills and easily replace it. I used that around the outside of a barn over limestone gravel, made a nice surface but would wash away in a strong stream of water, like from a gutter.
 
Bite the bullet and put in the concrete. I guarantee you won't regret it. Around here, $2,000 will get you 1,600 sqft 4" thick. One person can prep and form, and you can pour and finish with a couple of friends. Rent an edger. bull float and 24" steel trowel and go at it. Just do about 10 yds. at a time. I've done 2 barns and helped my neighbor do his. Just remember it is a barn, it doesn't have to be as smooth as a babies but to be functional.
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Buddy Woodson,
My 30x40 pole barn floor is 6 inch concrete. It was all poured all at once, walls were the only forms. Yep, oil stains the floor, so what? Dirt soaks up oil. There is a large amount of dirt that falls off my tractor tires when I pull tractors out. That dirt gets pushed under tractors. It's an excellent oil dry. I wouldn't want anything else but a concrete floor, especially when I drop something, jack up something, use jack stands. Oil stains is no excuse for not having concrete.

I think my total cost was only $2400 for concrete and another $500 for friend who is a concrete finisher by trade, to put it down. That included a 10x30 apron in front of doors.
 
I like the ground asphalt from highway milling idea. Regardless of what I used, I think I would put a layer of plastic sheeting down first to keep the moister from coming up. Might help keep things from rusting less.
 
"especially when I drop something, jack up something, use jack stands"

These are good points Geo, especially for a work-in shop.
My pole barn is for storage, as Buddy said he was doing.
No need for me to do any of these things in the pole barn,
so there was no need to spend the money on cement.
The cost of crushed asphalt was 1/5 the price of concrete.
Took way less time to put in and can be taken out or used
as fill if a guy decides to put concrete in later.

I do have cement in the building I work in, with in floor heat.
I agree that that's the way to go for a working shop.
 

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