Farm Shop Advice

farmallboy15 · Jan 3, 2018

It has been a while since I last posted. I used to lurk fairly often in the IH forum. Since my YT days, I have come into 65 acres with about 25 acres being tillable with the remainder in hay and forest. In the future I would like to farm up to around 2-300 acres. This cold snap (grease in the grease gun was too solidified to pump) has had me thinking of building a heated farm shop to work on our cars/trucks and equipment.

I will list below my requirements and I would appreciate any feedback on these (good or bad) and how to better make a building fit not only today's needs but potential future needs. I really dont want to build something too small now and have to build something else in the future... This will be primarily be a work shop not a storage building. I would probably build shelfs for "stuff" but no implements would be stored there regularly.

-Radiant heat flooring
-16' sliding door for a 4 row planter and disc/field cultivator (is this big enough, any advice on sealing/insulating the door?)
-(2) 10' work bays, one with a 2 post lift
-14-16' walls (possible International 1066/1086 in the future?)
-I see a 30x48 being the smallest sized building feasible with a 36 or 40x56 being preferable (what are the thoughts on the size of building for the size farm it will be servicing?)

Thanks for all opinions and experiences ahead of time, I truely value them!

P I Pete · Jan 3, 2018

Put in an overhead door they have better weather stripping than you could ever get on a sliding door. Eighteen foot wide.

Pete

moresmoke · Jan 3, 2018

I would suggest building it wider than long right now. It will cost a little more, but in the future when you want to expand, you can just keep right on going. If you are sucessful farming, it will be too small. Site it so you can build on to one end, even if the addition would be cold storage for a while, think in phases. Go with at least 1 20' door. Before too long you might find yourself with a combine that will be uncomfortable with anything less.

donjr · Jan 3, 2018

My operation ended up about the size that you are striving for, and in much the same way. I started with a 45x70 quonset shed for a shop. Then, I added a 40x100 hay shed, which later got a 20' lean-to on one side. Then a 50x100' cow shed for feeding and handling cows. Then a 30x80x8 1/2 silage bunker. The hay shed is pole construction, and the cowbarn is a freespan metal shed. Don't make your doors too small- the doors on my toolshed are 20' wide by 14' high, and at times they seem too small. The cowbarn has a 16' opening at each ends as does the hay shed. I don't know how much they would cost today, but I have about $50k involved in all three. We did most of the work ourselves, so the cost was less than hiring it done. Good luck on what you build. By the way, it will seem to be not enough at times......

504 · Jan 3, 2018

It will take a 16ft ceiling to get a 14ft door,a 12ft bay will get you 2ft on each side to work around. Insulate the floor and foam the inside and line the ceiling. Ridge vent for air flow,think about windows and put them high for good light and not easily accessible from the ground,if someone can see in, they will try to break in sooner or later. You must know where the hoist is going before you lay the Pex and pour the floor. bath room and shower.(my wife hates the smell of gas/diesel). You will get lots of suggestions, read them all, and take the parts that work for you.

big tee · Jan 3, 2018

We built ours in 1988-36 x 42. Times were tuff in the 80's and I was tickled pink to have it-still am. I don't know what part of the country you are from but if you are anywhere north of the Mason-Dixon line I would put some type of overhead door in-much better seal. 14 high x 18 wide will get most combines in with a 6 x 30 corn head-my Deere 8820 would fit but it was tight. We put 6 inches of concrete in the middle and tapered it to 4 inches on the outside to save $. Lots of rod and it is holding up good. The shop sits with the big door to the East and large windows to the South up high for light-one of the best things I did-lots of natural light. Good luck---Tee

deeretails · Jan 3, 2018

If you plan on installing a lift, 10' won't be high enough. You should be thinking about 14'.

David G · Jan 3, 2018

Put in 18' ceilings with a 16' overhead insulated door.

Hobo,NC · Jan 3, 2018

Whut he said other than I went 16" end walls 14 would have been fine. I wanted a 14ft door I have came to the conclusion if it won't come in a 12ft tall door I don't need to work on it. I spent the first part of my life with sliding doors never again. I spent another part of my life with 10ft doors never again...

Lifts a standard car/pic up the lift needs to be 15ft from the door. Smaller cars 12ft, Extended pick ups are flat bed 1 ton dumps 18 ft minimum...

As a general rule you can measure from the rear door jam back to figure were the vehicle will sit once on a standard lift. Add a few ft to be safe... I like room at the rear when i take parts off they go to the rear out of my way.. If its a long term project I set a table at the rear and fudge with stuff that's always out of my way..

coonie minnie · Jan 3, 2018

My shop is 56 by 120. Go for a big overhead door, 16 foot is not big enough! Someday son you will have a 6 row planter (or bigger), and 16 foot will give you about 3 inches on either side.

Think about a good floor drain, and having anchor points in the floor to pull on. Think about your electric service, where you store parts, oil, etc. Tool benches? Where will you put the air compressor, and how will you route air lines? Welding plugs? Ventilation fan? Lighting?

Everybody wants in floor heat, but it has its headaches, too. I'd put dollars into size, height, doors, etc before in floor heat.

David G · Jan 3, 2018

That is a good point, my door is 18' wide, 6 row 7000 has about foot on either side.

johnlobb · Jan 3, 2018

As far as the radiant heat goes, go to heatinghelp.com and buy Dan Holohans book about radiant heating. It's written for the layman and it will keep you from any mistakes during planning, purchase of equipment, and installation.

teddy52food · Jan 3, 2018

Go with a good overhead door as when it snows you will be digging out 2 doors with a sliding door.

Dave Sherburne, NY · Jan 3, 2018

When I built my first one with radiant heat in the floor I got the instructions from North Dakota State University and put the floor in exactly as they recommended. 8 inches of fiberglass in the walls and 20 inches of blown in fiberglass in the ceiling. Worked great, easy to heat. POLYSTYRENE UNDER THE FLOOR not the white styrofoam.

paul · Jan 3, 2018

No shop is ever big enough, unless you need to heat it..... can only build what you can afford, so size it how you can.

That said, your door is way too small.

No point having less than a 24x14 door, and 16 foot sidewalls. Even that is too low, if you want a lift you need to be higher, and if you get a combine, too low..... if you work on a combine, or cab tractor, and want to work on top of something..... need height.

Dad's shed has 17x11 doors, can't fit much in any more, and I do small farming 6 row equipment. My shed has 24x 15.5 doors, and actually only 23.5 wide, very hard to fit the bean head and bean planter in.

Bigger door!

Sliders absolutely suck to seal up, worst possible for a heated shop.

Paul

Paul in MN · Jan 3, 2018

I put a 30' wide x 14' high bifold door on my shop. Before sheathing it with pole barn metal, I put in a layer of 1" pink styrofoam for insulation. The door can be winched tight to the side posts (locks). The door has been working since 2000, almost trouble free (the electric opener has malfunctioned 2 or 3 times, but was easily repaired). My previous shop had a 16'x7' overhead door with electric opener. That was nice when the prior shop had no door, but I'd never go back to a small door again. I purchased my bifold from HiFold door Co in River Falls Wisc. At my son's place we installed a 36'x 14' bifold from the same company. Neither of us would go back to anything smaller.

Paul in MN

mjsnodgrass · Jan 3, 2018

I understand you wanting a wide building, for more bays. I did the same thing when I built mine. something to think about. a 40 x 56 ft building is 192 lineal feet around it. a 48 x 48 ft building also is 192 lineal feet around it. however the 48 x 48 ft building has more square ft inside. 48 x 48= 2304 sq ft 40 x 56= 2240 sq ft. I have no idea why that is, but if you're looking for the most sq ft square is the way to go. just a thought.

MarkB_MI · Jan 4, 2018

Another vote for overhead door. Note that the sidewalls need to be a couple feet taller than the door, one foot overhead for the door itself and another foot for an opener. So 14 foot sidewalls will allow only a 12 foot overhead door, assuming this is a post-frame building with conventional trusses. (Obviously an all-steel building will have no trusses allowing a taller door.)

I prepped my floor for radiant heat but haven't got around to finishing it. You need a lot of insulation under the slab and around the slab perimeter to make radiant cost-effective.

Fred Werring · Jan 4, 2018

Hey, sliding doors aren't all bad, I don't have to worry about too many fumes when I'm running the torpedo heaters.

Had mine built 14 ft to the trusses so I could have the 2-post lift.

Fred

wanabefarmer · Jan 4, 2018

Be sure what ever size you build to pour a slab outside that is at least 1/2 size of shop where a lot of your work will take place " voice of experience"

Mike M · Jan 4, 2018

I'm another vote for an insulated overhead door !
Also try and plan your main use door is in the end and not the sides because if you get snow it slides off the roof and piles up in front of the door ! Even worse if you stick with a sliding door and are sliding it open when the avalanche lets loose. BTDT

Tech 7 · Jan 4, 2018

Another advantage of an overhead door in an end wall is reduced cost. The header over a door in an end wall doesn't need to be as heavy as a side wall installed door.
Another item I would not scrimp on is wrapping the exterior before the steel goes on. The shop here did not have this done an on a day like today the drafts keep the tube heater busy. Tyvek paper is an excellent investment.

Bill in IL · Jan 4, 2018

Overhead door as mentioned as you can get them open in snow season. I would build it wider at least the 40 foot dimension. It's easy to add more length but about impossible to make wider.

farmallboy15 · Jan 4, 2018

Thanks for the wealth of responses! Everyone seems to be in collective agreement that I should not use sliding doors and should go with an overhead door. Same for the width on the main door; I am going to try for a 20 footer.

I know there are a lot of small details that need to go into the planning as well but right now I am just trying to nail down a basic efficient layout (most useful in the smallest/cheapest space). I have drawn up a couple of ideas. If anyone has any ideas or sketches of your own I would welcome them!

I feel that sketch #1, allows the best use of space and can allow the secondary bay to be driven through, as well as used for long term projects / painting. Thoughts?

<image src="http://forums.yesterdaystractors.com/photos/mvphoto8629.jpg"/>

Hobo,NC · Jan 5, 2018

It would be worth the investment to get Engineering Computation Pad/paper 8 1/2" x 11", Quad Rule and draw it to scale. When I get time I will try and copy my set up its already on a scaled pad. I would add a toilet in the building :wink:

Dave Sherburne, NY · Jan 5, 2018

The shop I built was 20' wide and I thought an insulated overhead door was to expensive. So I checked on airport hanger style doors. They were real expensive too, but close study showed they are a very simple door. So I built one 14' wide, and 12' high. A two piece door. 1/4" plywood inside and out 1/2" thick framework, 1 1/2"thick polystyrene insulation Heavy strap hinges at the joint between the top and bottom. More heavy hinges at the top to fasten it to the top of the door frame, and a piece of two inch channel iron up each side and roller bearings which rode in the channel iron to guide it when it went up and down. also a piece of angle iron on the inside along the bottom to hook the lifting cables to. Cables ran from each side of the door through pulleys to the other end of the 40'building with Oliver front end weights on them for counterweights. Also had small electric winch to raise and lower the door.
You don't need windows, just put in some LED lighting like my grandson put in his and it will be brighter than daylight.

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