From years of careful observation and practical evidence, my truly wonderful wife has postulated that on earth, nearly all things need a house. People, dogs, birds, mail, food, money, tools, vehicles and so on... all seem to need a house of some sort. I refer to it as one element of: [Gail's hierarchy of needs]. Maslov just did not carry it far enough. This must therefore apply to our brand new B2410 as well; with now 8 whole hours on the meter. Wonderful machine.
So in a diligent search for a suitable Bota-barn, we came across a great system (Miracle Truss) by Miracle Steel Structures, Inc., that would in theory allow me (and quite possibly some occasional help from friends) to assemble a 30ft x 36ft barn before winter. (I hope.) Pretty nasty winters here in the northeast too. Wouldn’t think of leaving the Bota out in the snow, freezing rain and slush!
We spoke with Pat Yentzer, a very knowledgeable technical sales person, who helped conceptualize the Bota-barn’s features over the phone with us.
Our requirements were simple: just want a small barn, with tall ceilings and one door, that could house the Bota, an old junk-box Porsche 944, a small boat & trailer and 20 to 30 various powered and non-powered implements of destruction to attach to the Bota. With 12 ft eves we can easily stack the Porsche on top of the boat and drive it through the door for sure.
We’re buying the structural elements and design plans from MSSI (truss, frame, roof, door hardware) and supplying all else ourselves (windows, wood siding, trim, girts, purlins, door and of course grunt work).
Just yesterday we received a next-day envelope with the anchor-bolt-setting plan and detail drawings for each of the column types to be used in the Bota-barn. In 10 days we should receive three sets of engineer-certified building plans being prepared for our specific building for presentation to the local town building inspector. The barn will have been designed for our county wind and snow loading conditions up here in the Northeast (MA).
I’ve included a photo of a similar Bota-barn to the one we’ve ordered.
The total price should be somewhat less expensive than a typical stick-built barn if all labor is considered. However with this system we believe it can be erected quickly by ourselves (before winter) but also have the significant benefit of owning a building with a very tall ceiling height and no internal vertical columns. Later we plan on modifying the building, with time and money, to add a garage type door or two, windows and perhaps create a workshop in there. To keep the total cost under control we plan on building it on concrete piers, using barn board for the exterior sheathing and hot-top as interior flooring.
This may sound like an advertisement however I assure you it’s not. Pat is an excellent resource for the front-end work on the structure’s features and overall design. He’ll be our direct factory contact whenever we have an issue that needs clarification. He has even given us a personal cell number to be able to reach him off hours! We’ll need it. (I’ll bet he can’t wait for a call from me at 9:30PM on a Saturday night asking him to define a purlin. And just what is a girt?)
Just this week, a local professional structural engineer and owner of a construction management firm reviewed the advertising material I had received and not only gave the design high marks but is recommending the Miracle Truss product to one of his family members as the basis for a cost effective garage. Since this fellow is often employed as a forensic scientist of sorts called in to determine the root cause of actual building collapses, I really value his professional opinion.
Pat can be reached at 1-800-521-0386.
His e-mail address is:
patyentzer@aol.com
Website:
www.miracletruss.com
Tell him you saw the Miracletruss posts of his product on the TractorByNet web site and perhaps he’ll through in a few girts or purlins in whatever color you want. Whatever they are.
Good luck in your building quest.
tony
