Another Storage/barn thread

[edkemper]

I have a few hundred acres. I'm in the process of clearing fence lines and putting in roads so I can start construction on my home. I need a storage barn for my equipment (John Deere 210LE tractor/Case 580 Backhoe, a portable log mill, a couple of large/small trailers along with building supplies, tools and other misc. stuff.

I need to build DIY (more time than extra money) to house my needs before starting to build my house. A Pole Barn is the likely solution but I am having a hard time finding plans for what I need.

Anyone had similar needs that can share what they built and if they are so inclined, share their plans. I'm going to be moving a 32' 5th wheel trailer to live part time in while on the property building. I'd like to put a pole barn structure over that to protect me from the weather also.

As I understand my local laws, I can build Ag structures without approved plans/permits/inspection.

Any help and/or advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[MacLawn]

All I can say ed, is to build that thingBIG!
When ye think ye have it the right size, add more. A man can never have enough roofs on his place for all his stuff.

 

[MoKelly]

All I can say ed, is to build that thingBIG!
When ye think ye have it the right size, add more. A man can never have enough roofs on his place for all his stuff.

Yep. I can 2nd this thought. It is amazing how quickly open storage space gets utilized.

MoKelly

 

[EddieWalker]

In the world of building, a pole barn is about as simple as they come. You just decide on how wide and how long you want it, then start drilling holes for the posts. Since you are looking for plans, I would caution you that taking on something like this for the first time can be a bit intimidating. Getting the walls lined up straight is the easy part. Setting the trusses or building rafters is where things can go wrong.

How wide do you want it? How tall will the walls be? Length isn't as important since it's all repetition once you figure out your span. Do you want it wide open on the inside or are you OK with posts? Will you have or want lean to's coming off the sides? What type of flooring will you want? Dirt, rock or concrete?

If you are going with concrete flooring, then stick framing or a metal kit become competitive. Will you want rooms in there for specific purposes? Will you put in a bathroom? Place to sleep? Kitchen area?

What type of door and how big does it need to be? How many? Some like to have a big door on either end of their buildings, others want multiple doors side by side.

All barns start out on paper as a square. You decide how big, then you figure out what it will take in materials, and add up the cost. For some, the time it takes to do all this makes it more viable to hire a pro who will come in and get it done so you can focus on doing other things.

Good luck,
Eddie

 

[MacLawn]

Daggone it, old Eddie has to come in here and mess up a good redneck building plan with professional knowledge:shhh::shhh:

Well, the old boy (that'd be Eddie) does know his building bidness, so maybe we'd better listen when he talks.

 

[edkemper]

Eddie,

This Eddie is listening.

> I would caution you that taking on something like this for the first time can be a bit intimidating.

I've been intimidated all my life.

> Getting the walls lined up straight is the easy part. Setting the trusses or building rafters is where things can go wrong.

I have time and am not in a hurry. My learning curve is fairly short. I tend to measure twice before I cut. I also have common sense. I've also learned I can't do what and how I used to do things. So now I use my brain and safety equipment.

> How wide do you want it?

20-24 feet would be great.

> How tall will the walls be?

Gotta get just under 12 foot tall backhoe inside. So probably 16'. Keeping it at 4 foot dimensions.

> Length isn't as important since it's all repetition once you figure out your span.

I understand that.

> Do you want it wide open on the inside or are you OK with posts?

Posts are not a problem for me. Get it dry and I can maneuver things around. It'll be basically a covered parking lot. With longer overhangs.

> Will you have or want lean to's coming off the sides?

If you mean like carports on the sides, not planned. I need weather protection.

> What type of flooring will you want? Dirt, rock or concrete?

Dirt, over time, I'll add gravel.

> Will you want rooms in there for specific purposes?

Nope.

> Will you put in a bathroom? Place to sleep? Kitchen area?

I'm building a house for those needs. Later I'll build a workshop with a concrete floor to do work and maintenance.

> What type of door and how big does it need to be?

At first, just covered. I'll add siding later as I mill the lumber (in my spare time ).

> How many? Some like to have a big door on either end of their buildings, others want multiple doors side by side.

Big doors on the ends after it is closed in.

> You decide how big, then you figure out what it will take in materials, and add up the cost. For some, the time it takes to do all this makes it more viable to hire a pro who will come in and get it done so you can focus on doing other things.

I'm retired and won't have to leave the property to make a living. This doesn't have to be completed in a month. If it takes me a couple of dry seasons, so be it. DIY is why I bought all this land and am acquiring heavy equipment. Now I get to do the things my dad taught me for myself. Building things and structures has always been part of our lives. Plus it keeps me out of my wife's hair.

PS: I'm/we're building our "real log home" with our own hands. So a covered pole barn isn't a real challenge once we can plan out the how to. I can get old power poles from the local power company. I can rent the post hole digger (not the two person hand held). I have the backhoe and loader/box scraper. I can mill the lumber from the trees on my property. But I will buy the trusses from the local building supply.

Ed

 

[EddieWalker]

From what you said, this should be a pretty simple build. First thing is the size of the building. 24 feet wide is an easy build for trusses. No need for posts or anything fancy. Going with 16 foot walls is extreme, but doable. I would measure you backhoe and then add a foot for the thickness of the header door before committing to the wall height.

Once you decide on the size, you have to get the dirt work done. Flat pad at least a foot bigger then your building and then sloping down and away. Nothing causes more problems for a pole barn then standing water at the poles.

For the height you want, I would want the poles in the ground at least 4 feet. Space them every 8 feet all the way around except where your big door is going to be.

What are you going to use for your siding?

Eddie

 

[edkemper]

Eddie,

First thing is the size of the building. 24 feet wide is an easy build for trusses. No need for posts or anything fancy.

Good to hear.

> Going with 16 foot walls is extreme, but doable. I would measure you backhoe and then add a foot for the thickness of the header door before committing to the wall height.

Backhoe is reported to be 11.2 ft high. So a 12' door is required. So maybe it'd be better to go 14' walls? Odd number but doable. That should be the tallest piece of equipment I'll need to get in.

> Once you decide on the size, you have to get the dirt work done. Flat pad at least a foot bigger then your building and then sloping down and away. Nothing causes more problems for a pole barn then standing water at the poles.

Got it. I have a great neighbor (Logger) that has two dozers. He can cut whatever I need. So this is also doable. Plus my equipment to perhaps finish grade.

> For the height you want, I would want the poles in the ground at least 4 feet.

Also doable. Either with power poles or I can mill up to 20' cants. Probably 6x6s would do.

> Space them every 8 feet all the way around except where your big door is going to be.

Easy peazy. Thanks

> What are you going to use for your siding?

At first, just need to cover (metal roof). With long (4') overhangs, it should initially do what I need. Mostly keep the snow off.

However, as time goes along and from my other building projects, I will have lots of either left over lumber from first cuts (flitches) of logs or mill 2x whatever sizes I can manage. No reason to buy when I have a sufficient supply of trees and can get logs from my neighbor. Logs are cheap. The milling is another example of having time and not being in a hurry.

I really appreciate the easy plan you provide. No problem understanding the idea.

Thank you my friend.

 

[edkemper]

Eddie,

On second thought, there is no reason why I can't extend the backhoe to go through the doors. So perhaps 12' walls might be doable. The only question is the height clearance of my 32' 5th wheel travel trailer.

Just an afterthought.

 

[Pirate]

Eddie,

On second thought, there is no reason why I can't extend the backhoe to go through the doors. So perhaps 12' walls might be doable. The only question is the height clearance of my 32' 5th wheel travel trailer.

Just an afterthought.

It's a 5th wheel now. In 5 or 10 years when you get bored, it may be a 45' diesel motorhome. Do yourself a favor now and make it large enough to handle a large RV, larger than you own now. Wide enough for all slideouts to be out, high enough for any conceivable situation with an RV. Wish I had.

 

[MacLawn]

:checkmark: Wha' he said.

 

[edkemper]

It's a 5th wheel now. In 5 or 10 years when you get bored, it may be a 45' diesel motorhome. Do yourself a favor now and make it large enough to handle a large RV, larger than you own now. Wide enough for all slideouts to be out, high enough for any conceivable situation with an RV. Wish I had.

Pirate,

Wife and I are done with traveling. We bought the property for a permanent vacation spot. We only have the trailer so we can live on the property while we build. The only places we are ever likely to travel to are farm shows and then only in OR or WA. We'll stay in hotels for the weekend. The trailer will only stay to use for guest after the house is finished.

We live debt free and there is no way that we will ever want to or be able to buy a mega motorhome. We've figured out our end game.

 

[MortalWombat]

Check out the "Building an old fashioned pole barn" series of videos at Farm Hand Companion's website for some ideas on how to build one from scratch:

Farm Hand's Companion | Building or Making Things on the Farm or Homestead

 

[EddieWalker]

24 feet wide is a good starting point, but it would be worth your time to go to where you plan to buy your trusses and find out what it will cost to go wider and where it becomes too expensive or not worth the effort. You will also have to hire a crane to lift the trusses into position. Cost will really depend on your area and what's available.

You have several options on how far apart to space your trusses, but mostly you will do what they truss company says. I personally like to go with one every four feet and then attach 2x4's on the flat to the tops of the trusses every four feet. With the trusses four feet apart, I like for my purlins to be 12 feet long and to stagger where they end on the truss. This length allows you to cover three trusses. Going with 16 foot long 2x4's is even better. Having them on the flat makes it easy to find width of wood to screw the metal down. If you go farther then four feet for your trusses, you have to put the purlins on edge. the farther apart you go, the larger sized lumber you will need. Depending on snow and type of lumber available, this gets into engineering advice best left to a pro or the truss company.

If you want to go with shingles, then you need to space your trusses every two feet and install either OSB or plywood. I prefer OSB because it's cheaper and it holds nails better.

I have 12 foot walls and a ten foot tall roll up door in my shop. I can get my backhoe into my shop with the hoe extended, but would prefer a taller door if I was to bring it in there on a regular bases. Before committing to a wall height, decide your door height and what you will use for a door. You don't have to buy it, but it's real easy to frame for it now.

Once you have the size of your building figured out, and then you have your poles installed in the ground, you will need to install the header at the top of the poles to support the roof. With your poles being set every 8 feet, and if you go every four feet on your trusses, you will have one truss resting directly on top of a pole, and the next one resting in the middle span of the header. You can get away with smaller lumber, but if it was me and mine, I would go with two 2x12x16's notched into the tops of the poles, then three bolts going through the posts and the 2x12's to keep them in place. I would stagger the ends also.

After the headers are installed, I would install diagonal bracing. With your all height and since you are not going to put any walls on right away, the diagonal bracing is going to be critical to keeping everything in place. If not, it will look and feel like grass blowing in the wind. The bigger the bracing, meaning the farther down the post you go, the better. With an 8 foot span, I would use a 2x6x8 and go from the middle of that span down 4 to 6 feet on ever post. This is overkill, but I don't know what the minimum should be, and I think lumber is cheap enough to make it as strong as possible. Then after the bracing is in, I would cut 3/4 plywood to fit the outside corners of all my bracing. Depending on the length and width of the building, I might be tempted to put plywood gusseting on my bracing at the middle points, or at every third or quarter point. Not having walls means you lose a lot of sheer strength. Making up for this is very important.

Eddie

 

[Billrog]

Here's a few picks of a shed build I did this stile because of limited flat ground and I had to build a 20' plus rock wall and fill it in to get this space. Any way the picks will give you an idea but the angle braces ( front to back) are not installed yet in these pics.
Shed Photos by Bill_053 | Photobucket
Here's a pic. where you can see the braces sorry not the best but some reference.

 

[Billrog]

Here are a couple other stiles that could be implemented for storage sheds accessed from the front .

In this one you can see the plywood gussets Eddie mentioned in his post.These were done with posts buried.

 

[Cat_Driver]

Two options, one quick method is using shipping containers on both sides with the tall metal canopy in the middle. Add a back and front and you're in business.
I like the safety of the containers to lock up tools etc.
Other option that I did was a metal building. I got a 100'x125' building for 50K....the concrete pad cost more than the building.
Ezyframe - Shipping Container Roof Kit

Last there are these.

Advantages of Buying Quonset Hut Kits

 

[edkemper]

Check out the "Building an old fashioned pole barn" series of videos at Farm Hand Companion's website for some ideas on how to build one from scratch:

Farm Hand's Companion | Building or Making Things on the Farm or Homestead

Just brought it up. Thank you. I'll enjoy watching it.

 

[edkemper]

24 feet wide is a good starting point, but it would be worth your time to go to where you plan to buy your trusses and find out what it will cost to go wider and where it becomes too expensive or not worth the effort.
You have several options on how far apart to space your trusses,
If you want to go with shingles, then you need to space your trusses every two feet
I have 12 foot walls and a ten foot tall roll up door in my shop. I can get my backhoe
Once you have the size of your building figured out, and then you have your poles installed in the ground,
After the headers are installed, I would install diagonal bracing. With your all height and since
Eddie

I am so glad you are here and willing and able to teach. I hope you understand how helpful you are and how much I appreciate your time and effort.

Thank you.

 

[edkemper]

Here's a few picks of a shed build I did this stile because of limited flat ground and I had to build a 20' plus rock wall and fill it in to get this space. Any way the picks will give you an idea but the angle braces ( front to back) are not installed yet in these pics.
Shed Photos by Bill_053 | Photobucket
Here's a pic. where you can see the braces sorry not the best but some reference.
View attachment 410680

Nice job. Cool design. That Extendahoe sure helps. Glad I have one also. The pics do help with understanding the words. Appreciate the effort.