Building size?

We are thinking of putting up a shop/storage building. I want it tall enough to get my truck in so that means at least a 14 foot side wall. I pull a 50 foot grain trailer and would like to get it inside to work on it. That means 60 feet long. I think with a 15 foot door I can back the trailer in, unhook and get the truck in beside it. I have 3 Case tractors and would like them inside too. Thinking 40 feet wide then putting a 12 foot lean to on the south side. Wife used to have a leather shop and would like to get back to it sometime, so the east end of the lean to would get enclosed and that would be hers.

I know you never build big enough but money dictates that a 40X60X14 is about all the bigger I can afford. Concrete floors will have to come at a later time also.

For you guys that have trucks, am I dreaming? For you guys that turn wrenches, will I have room for a decent size compressor and toolbox? I only want to do it once.

If your placing the post at 8 feet apart then go for 64 feet. That last 4 feet will be your cheapest square feet.

My cousin has that size and it takes some shuffling but every fall during maintenance it house a jd 9500 combine 140hp kubota with loader, kubota rtv, 3 atvs, shelves on two walls and an F350. Only thing we do is back out the pickup then there is plenty of room to work. Wish I had some pictures

My building is 36'x60'x10'. I do not need any more height, but parking 2 pickup trucks and 4 tractors inside doesn't leave much room for actually working on any of them.

I know money is always the dictator but I would make it long enough to house the truck and trailer when they are hooked together.

It would have to be 75 feet long. I can barely get on a 70 foot scale with my wheels. Have a set back front end so 75 feet is about what it takes. Don?t know if the wife will go for that.

Before I built my shop in 2000 i worked at a caseih dealership, i asked 10 farmers that had already built shops what they would do different, (I was planning a 40x60 ) 9 out of 10 said that it would be larger, so i went to a 50x75 , if you are spending a lot of time out there heat in the floor is nice to. Steve is

I have a 40x60 shop heated with 2 10' doors. Needed more storage so built a 50x90 with 12' doors on each end and a 12' x 90 overhang on 1 side. Wish I had gone bigger, never too big. I'm into antique cars and tractors as well as storing our camping trailer inside.

> I think with a 15 foot door I can back the trailer in, unhook and get the truck in beside it.

Do you mean a 15 foot TALL door, or a 15 foot WIDE door? You can't put a 15 foot tall door in a post frame building with 14 foot sidewalls. The tallest overhead door you can put in would be 12 feet, assuming you want an electric opener (you will). Of course a sliding door opening would be 14 feet high, but who wants a leaky sliding door?

Now if you are thinking all steel, then you can have an overhead door that's taller than the sidewall height. But I suspect you're not thinking to spend that kind of money.

I would suggest going 50 feet wide rather than 40. I suspect the cost difference between 50 feet and 40 feet plus 12 foot lean-to is not that much; you can put your wife's enclosed shop area INSIDE the building.

The 50' width seems to be the ideal, just adjust the length. The 12' overhang is the best deal money wise you could make.

15 feet wide. I am not sure what to do for a door. An overhead would be nice but I would need 16 foot sidewalls and the extra 2 feet in height gets REALLY PRICEY in a hurry.
We just bought this place in July so money is tight.
Might be better off to wait a few years and build it right but that?s not the American way. I want it now and I should be able to have it now. 😜

I will suggest putting doors on each end. Much easier to just drive through than it is to back a trailer into the shed.

That was my thought as well to keep everything on eight foot spacing so as to get the most out of materials. My machine shed is 48x88. Tom

LazyWP; i mean no disrespect; but your dreams needs some tweeking. i wrote a bunch more stuff but erased it. this is a lesson you need to learn, yourself!

I know all to well about building all you can afford. On my buildings I like to pour a footer under the doorways to below frost line. I use overhead doors only. I had enough of those sliders !
With the footer in place you can then come back later and do the concrete floor if you want to.

How is two 102 wide pieces (trailer and truck) going threw a 15 foot wide door side by side.

Well sir here are my thoughts from a lifetime. 1. Figure the size you want Then go bigger!!! 2. it can be cheaper and more efficient to do it now and be done vs say building a piece on every three years. 3. Figure height for truck Ie dump truck body up also figure a car/truck lift. Next think a few things over like angling the cement pad so water runs out if you are in a wet snowy climate. Heat do you heat it all or have a small room if you are in a cold climate maybe heated floor? Finance and money talk to tax person on deduction and look at finance if say you want to be a little bigger. DO IT RIGHT THE FIRST TIME vs doing it twice!!

Do you have a tall fearing on the top of the truck. A grain trailer is only about 10 foot high and the truck would normally fit in a 12 foot door. Mine will go under 12 foot doors with the dump trailer. The dump trailer is higher than the truck by just a wee bit.
You could make the building narrower, then with a taller building like 16 feet the lean to could be wider with still 12 feet under the eaves for the tractors.
Third option make the building long enough to get the trailer in to work on and then put the truck in separately to work on. If you don't make the building long enough to back in unhitch and work around them both you will always wish you had. After all do you not want to open the door just to grease the fifth wheel then have to close it again after you hitch it up again. Changing rearend oil is not handy from under the trailer either. This would now be about 90 feet long. or about 60 feet wide for your requirements.

> How is two 102 wide pieces (trailer and truck) going threw a 15 foot wide door side by side.

I guess he needs to figure in the cost of a door stretcher.

I put up a 50x70 in 2011 Mine is steel and I had it put on a 12 in curb foundation . That way could put in a 16 foot tall door . Then I put in a 4 post hoist for trucks If you do your own work That is well worth the money spent $12000 but no more laying under them you can just stand under them to grease and adjust It can also be used with cars. If you ever might want a hoist make your building at least 16 ft. sidewalls.

When it comes to the size of the shop. What it really boils down to is being able to afford to build the shop. The price of the shop , plus the coast of the cement, and the building permit. Then comes the fees to be paid for the permit to build. If you are like me you have to get a contractor to build it for the permit to pass. Some times all this will add up to the coast of this building. Good luck

A 40 foot wide building 60 feet long with a 15 foot door I am sure I can get the trailer into one side at least with the back end. Jack knife it around so I can drop the trailer off and still pull the truck in beside it. I do have a 72 inch sided grain trailer but also pull a refer and bullrack now and then. I don?t want to build a 12 tall trailer only to find out the livestock hauling is paying better and not be able to get inside the building.

I understand about tweeking my dreams. Been doing it all my life.

Brent,

It all depends on where you live.
Believe it or not we don't need any stinking permits where I live in Ohio.
In other places you need to get permits out the wazoo, Engineered Plans, Multiple inspections, and on and on.

So, bottom line check you local regulations before making any decisions. Tax structure might be totally different for a buiding without a concrete floor. When electricity, water, etc is added these add another ball of worms.

Big is indeed better. If at all possible, I would add a door in the rear so you can pull straight through. If the weather is nice you can leave both doors open for ventilation.

Good Luck!

If your building a pole type shed, you can get a 15ft. tall door in a 14 ft sidewall. Make the first truss a vaulted type and you will have plenty of clearance provided you space the poles at 7.5 or 8 ft apart. Width of door will also make a difference if it will work. We put a 12x12 overhead in a shed with 10 ft. sidewalls this way.

(quoted from post at 10:01:09 02/07/19) When it comes to the size of the shop. What it really boils down to is being able to afford to build the shop. The price of the shop , plus the coast of the cement, and the building permit. Then comes the fees to be paid for the permit to build. If you are like me you have to get a contractor to build it for the permit to pass. Some times all this will add up to the coast of this building. Good luck

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Not to mention the $$$$ taxes each and every year, larger = more $$$$!

I have a 40x60 building but doesn't have the eve height you want. The door on one end is 24 feet wide and 12 foot high.

Door is too narrow. Dad built a machine shed in 1964 with an 11 foot high, 17 foot wide doors. Dang that 17 feet is narrow, has been for many decades. It got too low in 1990s also, but dang it?s narrow I shoehorn stuff in. Make a wider door! My point is these are long term investments; dad built that shed with a pull type Case combine in mind. Machinery has changed quite a bit since. My 1978 tractor with cab and wide spaced duals barely fits in that 11x17 foot door in both directions......

Build it as long as you can, you won?t ever be sorry. Can you add the lean too later, build it longer now? Depending on the company, sometimes those leantos are more expensive than the actual building! Spend your scarce dollars on the actual building, make it longer or taller and add the less to later is a wise use of money.

Shoehorning a semi in the way you describe is miserable day after day the rest of your life. Put your money into a bigger door/ longer building now, and add on later. Skip the lean to for now easy to add on when you have the funds. Don?t shortchange the main building now.

Adjust the sizes to common numbers, like 64 feet instead of 60. Might not add much to the cost at all, my machine shed ended up 81 feet long instead of 80, made it cheaper they went with 9 foot spacings. Saved a bunch of money got rid of 2 poles and a roof truss. Be flexible research the costs of different spacings.

You need more door. You need more length. You don?t -need- the leanto. Focus on what you need.

Paul

Build as big as you can afford even if you have to wait awhile to save money for this project. If you need heat in this building, heat the floor, radiant floor heat is comfortable, but do it right insulate the slab and around the walls right, you do not want to skimp here. Heat radiates out in all directions, hot air rises not same thing. Heat your wife's work area the same way. Use Geo-Thermo or purchase a boiler, do not use a house style water heater, you heat 40 gallons of water for a system that might hold 5 gallons. Its a big project, you do not want to say, I wish I had done it this way, think it through

I have 2 pole buildings on my place, both built long ago and not by me. Both are too small and too low. Believe everyone when they tell you to go bigger, you will not regret it. My two cents

If you think you are good enough to parallel park a 53 foot long trailer in a 60 foot spot threw a 15 foot door in all weather conditions time after time without bumping the back wall or the door sides then hay have at it. For me I would rather have two 12 foot doors at least.

I built a 40 x 56. It is 16 ft tall. When I am done playing I wanted it tall enough to park a combine in it. Mine is cold storage so it has a 20 foot sliding door ( 2 10 footers) I needed 40 wide to get the door wide enough. At the present it has a 16 ft camper trailer, ac wd, jd 4010 2030 both with loaders, jd R, 1036 nh bale wagon, nh 2450 with 14 ft header, 64 chev truck with 16 ft bed, farmall A, ford 250, small wagon pulled by a single horse, small pull behind self-contained dr back hoe. If I took the time I could also get my AL hay fluffer in but it creates an issue getting the tractors out to plow snow or move big round bales.
when I am done playing I figure that space will rent to somebody to put their machinery in especially their combine. Bud

You will fill up any building no matter how big you build! Try to draw a scale drawing to see what it will look like. Neighbor has a barn that is too short for the length and width. Roof is huge in comparison. Looks kinda like a turtle.

Dave

My 50x90 with 12ft wall all steel works great with a 12x12 door in each end, pull thru. No backing, works great.

Before you dig or drill holes for this new building set down with pencil and paper and start figuring on how much room ya need . figure in work benches tool boxes oil drums small parts work area tire storage air compressor , welding area , small parts storage . Many years back i helped a buddy put up his building . Back then you could build one for chump change . He bought a steel building 40x72 x14 . I did the grading for the building he and i dug the footers and built the forms and poured the concrete , Our first mistake , we should have raised the foundation a foot higher for a certain wall so the building sat up off the floor a foot . We bolted that building together by hand . Next mistake was we did not get the insulation pkg for the building and install it first . We had it spray foamed a year later . We did not pour the floor till the third year and he and i did it ourselfs just the two of us , we split it down the middle and did half one day he and i poured something like 45 yds and worked it by hand with the trucks coming back to back (yea that was fun on a hot summer day ) . Let the first part cure up five days and our bodys somewhat recuperate and did the last part . We poured a FLOOR with a depth of 10 inches tappering to 6 at the walls with a floor drain towards the back tappering from the door to the drain and the back wall to the drain . We had wire in the floor . I did the wiring all in conduit with three rows running from the door to the back , lots of outlets along the walls a place for the big air compressor a welding area we had running water and a oold 24 inch coal furnace . We could back three semi dump outfits in with no problems and still have room to pull the cars or pick ups in to work on them and room for tire and oil drums and small parts storage . the third mistake was the sliding doors and the fact that you could get dump trailer, flat bed, lowboys step decks in but you could not get a box trailer in as it did not have the height and if we went with and over head door then we would have lots another foot in door height . The sliding doors were a pain in the drain when winter set in they would freeze around the bottom , snow would stop them from opening and ya had to dig them out . Yep we made many mistakes and after many years of seeing where we went wrong i now know how i would do one if i was to do it again. It would be a 50x80 x14 set up on a two foot certain wall with a 14 foot high door that was no less the 18 wide a second over head coming in off the side that was a 10x12 door your standard walkin and no less then two windows . The curtain walls with door opening made in and floor would be done first and finish graded around the building with a grade slope away form the building. Then the frame would go up and basic power would be on hand for POWER TOOLS , then the frame would go up . floor drains would be done at the same time as fopundatio work and water would be already installed along with the under ground power conduit . Then the insulation would go on and the steel would go on . A couple years back we priced out one like i am talking less the over head doors and the electric wiring figuring in the concrete building pkg it came to just awhisker shy of 38000 and this was a DIY deal every inch of the way , I called around on the best price on concrete had half dozen building prices with the upper end snow and wind loading above what my area called for . Now lighting and wiring here we would have to have the main box and one light and two plugs done by someone PROFESSIONAL to pass inspection once that was done then we could take it to the next level . Doors ?? never got that far along as life got in the way . As far as excavating we would have around 1200 in equipment rental . a far cry of what and excavator would want . case in point here a good friend and old customer was going to put up a new Composting cattle barn and needed dirt work done for the site , he got bids running from 13 grand to over 24 grand . He called me one day and wanted me to look at what he had in mind so i looked at it and said ok he said what would you need to do this . Told him i needed at least a D5 to D7 class dozer and five days , He said is that all i said yep and for compaction we will use your home made dump trailer filled with dirt and the 2255 to pack with . So we called around and got a steal of a deal on a new 750 J John Deere for a week and in four days time i had built hs 350 x450 pad with a cut and fill of a 9 foot cut and a 11 foot fill So for fur fill ups and a week rental plus the even knocked off more from the rental charge because the way we set the dozer back as it was full of fuel cleaned and greased with a bath and that when we needed to rent again we were on the preferred list and would get a bigger discount Vernon was happy , when the company came to put the foundation in the guy said will have to have our excavator come in a get this pad to grade as i can see that it is not level and Vernon questioned the guy and made him show him how far out it was. So this guy set up his lazer and proceeded to show him how bad it was out . He was in total shock to find that my grading was with in one inch over the whole pad and he said you excavator must had GPS grading on his dozer . Vernon told him Nope just and old fart that could run one by feel.

. Leave enough “depth” for insulation and a heated floor . Even if the heated area is limited to just the “working” area .

put your door along the 60ft side wall on each end so you can drive thru. Then have a side door on other side for entrance for othere items. Had a friend who didnt want to unhook the big pick up from the huge travel trailer. Then added a side door on opposite side for other stuff in and out works just fine.

There is a great metal building site it is www.meatalbuildingoutlet.com it?s definitely worth looking at they are a clearing house not brand specific. They also list used metal buildings. I would strongly recommend a visit. What ebay is to STUFF they are to mental buildings.

Other than NEVER being big enough, beg, borrow or steal a way to put the cement in during construction. You will not like working on a dirt floor and digging it out after the fact is expensive and a pain. For a 40x60 floor your looking at 45 yds of concrete 6" thick. At $120 per, $5,400. You and 3 friends could put that down in two days. Do all the prep work and forming yourself. Finishing is easy. Just use a bull float, 3' steel trowel and a broom. More than good enough for a barn. That's how I did these 2. The small one was done 10 years after erection, so I do have experience on the wrong way. Believe me, If I can do it, anybody can.

Don't make the door to small. Should be at least 14' wide and 14' high. Out to out of mirrors on a truck will be around 10' so a 12' door will seem a bit tight. Most highway overpasses are 14' so that will clear most anything that goes down the highway.

You never have enough building.
Tom

From your description, 40 X 60 will be too small now and will be way too small in the future. How much do you work on a trailer compared to working on the truck? Can you build a smaller building big enough for a shop and garage for the truck and park the trailer outside?

Is it worth having no shop at all for five or ten years just to be able to park the semi trailer in it? I would look into building a smaller shop for the truck now and let the large cold storage shed for trailers wait until later. If the buildings need to be connected, work with your builder to plan for future expansion.

I'd go with a 16' wall and 14' doors. I thought 12' doors would be plenty tall enough. I have a couple friends in the tree business. I have to get creative to get their cranes or bucket trucks inside.

Btw, my 40 x 80 is too small.

My 50x90 is built on a slight slope, length wise. I put in a 4' knee wall on 1 side and a 2' wall on the other. Helps protect the walls. From the drive side it looks like a lot smaller building, partly in the ground.

I will now lend my .02 cents from a simple minded guy. I have wrenched all my life on big trucks, living here in snow country. If you ever happen to need to change a tire or rear spring or bag on a van trailer it is common to just back it in enough to get on the cement floor and close to shop air. With a 14 foot door you run out of head room fast. Few inches of ice or packed snow outside, then a few inches of snow on the trailer and try to jack up one side so now it leans. The top of the trailer hits the top of the door before you get enough room to do your job. Anytime you work with big trucks make the doorway closest to the road or facing out as tall as possible to allow you to work in the doorway if needed. May sound silly, but you may be surprised how many times you have the shop almost full and need to replace a tire or quick air bag. most times you don't have time to empty the shop to pull something in all the way. Al

Build it as big as you can. Even if you need to borrow some money and do it in stages. My first shop was built in 1977. 60 X 125 16' side wall all steel clear span. 2 14' X 14' high overhead doors on the side and 24 X 16' electric lift overhead end door. Love the working height. We can set up equipment and do service maintenance with high lift fork truck and not worry about ceiling. Only thing to watch is overhead door tracks. Only changes I would make is in hot water floor heat and running main electrical leads in a box channel rather than conduit, much easier to add extra wiring later. I would add three phase electricity if possible. Electrical demand was the only thing I really underestimated. There are several really good points in the previous posts.

Build the biggest one you can afford then bigger still lol

LONGER!!!! It REALLY SUCKS having to dolly off the trailer every time you need to fix something. Especially in the winter when you have the door open for 5 minutes cranking landing gear and unhooking lines.

Before you build talk to your local building inspectors. My country you can't build unless you have a house on property.

You may find inspector will want a manufactured beam if you put overhead doors on side of building. 2x12 header on gable ends.

Then talk to assessor to find out what your taxes are going to be. You may charge design plans.

I agree. Build it long enough so you don?t have to unhitch. Otherwise you will find that you were dreaming.

My opinion: Once you get a bid for the 60ft length, ask how much 8ft more costs.....you'll be pleasantly surprised! Lean to: 16ft won't cost that much more than 12ft....believe me, you need more.

I have 16' walls/doors in my shed. I never hit the side of a door opening because I am never looking up. Even with the combine there is no worry of hitting the top of a door.

No permit needed but I will talk to the assessor.

Last one I had built in 02 is 50 wide by 64 long. It allows for 25 foot wide sliding doors so I can drive in with the 22 foot header still on the combine every night. Of course I should have built it bigger. Width can be more useful than a longer building sometimes. The deeper the shed, the more stuff you have to move when you want something parked at the back. I got the 18 foot high walls and that allowed headroom to build a "mezzanine" in one corner to store more stuff. For what they cost now I could have (should have) built two back in 2002.
And these sliding doors work great all year round but then mine is dirt floor and not heated.

This would be the time to rough in power , water and drains for kitchenette ,bath and shower. Some jurisdictions are more leinient if there is “living quarters”

This would be the time to rough in power , water and drains for kitchenette ,bath and shower. Some jurisdictions are more leinient if there is “living quarters”

Some additional thoughts. Here's my thought process for sizing and configuring a building.

1. Site considerations: You need to think about what sort of building you can even construct on the site. It may not be practical to put as large of a building as you would like because of terrain or setback requirements. It's not possible for every building to be drive-through, for example. Get a transit or level and figure out what it's going to take to properly grade the site. The site MUST be prepared BEFORE you start construction! You can't jack the building up after you've built it. You may need to bring in fill, and that has to be properly compacted.

2. Do you plan to heat the building? If you're north of the Mason-Dixon line, you probably will and this will drive a lot of considerations. Most importantly, if the building will be heated you'll want to use an overhead door rather than a slider. You may want to put in a ceiling, and that means flat-bottom trusses. What sort of insulation? You can put insulation under the sheathing when you construct the building, or add it later. Do you want insulation under your concrete slab?

3. What are the real door requirements? The door needs to be big and wide for the sort of vehicles you're bringing in. Even a two-car garage has a 16 foot wide door; for a building like you're planning, 18 feet would be about the smallest you want. If you want to have drive-through, the door at the rear can be much narrower, say ten feet, so it doesn't use up so much wall space. And of course the sidewalls need to be high enough to accommodate the door you need.

After you nail down those three big items, I think the rest of the plan will fall in place. Don't think of how to make your building fit your budget. Decide what it is you NEED to properly support your business, then figure out out to pay for it.

Regarding your wife's leather shop: I suspect you're hanging this carrot out in hopes she'll get on board with your shop plans. But I think you're going about it wrong. She's going to be lukewarm about the idea of getting HER shop many years down the road after you've finished YOUR shop the way you like it. I suggest you build her workshop FIRST, then you'll have a much easier time getting her to sign off on the loan you'll need to build your shop. And you WILL have to take out a loan; there's just no way to build a proper shop on a shoestring. Her workshop won't need to be big, maybe the size of a one-car garage, but it needs to be a proper building with insulation, power, heat, running (hot) water, concrete floor, etc. Yes, it will cost ten to twenty grand, but that's the price of entry if you want your shop.