Building a covered work area with a 40' span, will this work?

[STx]

My chicken barns are 40' spans. They are steel trussed with angle iron web style trusses. They are a scissor style truss. 10 foot truss spacing with 2x6 purlins. There are U shaped pieces of about sheet metal welded to the trusses. The purlins are set edge ways in the U brackets and nailed in through drilled holes with 6 penny nails.

Does your framing look something like this?

 

[WM75Guy]

I would never use used drill stem for a structural component. The issue with used drill stem is that the drilling mud is very corrosive. It will deteriorate from the inside out where you cannot see it till it's too late. Like Eddie said most people use it for fence pipe and even then eventually it has to be replaced. That is why it is cheap and available, drillers just want to get rid of it.

 

[STx]

The main reason for the availability right now is that the oil patch in South Texas is essentially shut down because of low oil prices. That's put a LOT of white and yellow band drill pipe on the local market for as little as $26 for a 31' joint. Yellow band pipe is still 85% or more of it's original thickness so it'll take a LONG time to rust out.

That said, I hear what you're saying and with orange or red band, it is definitely a serious concern. I'm not saying I disagree with you, I'm just thinking on the keyboard.

 

[LD1]

An earlier post mentioned that round pipe was stronger than square, and that just aint true. Equal size, Equal thickness...Square is stronger.

You also mentioned drill pipe was hardened. Do you know the exact material? Have you welded it before? I would be concerned using some used, hardened pipe for trusses. Especilally when you have proven designs using angle or square that wont cost much more at all, And will probably speed the assembly up alot without all the notching.

What is the thickness of Drill pipe? No doubt 2-3/8" drill pipe is thicker and stronger than 2x2x11ga tubing. But the square will be lots lighter, easier to cut, easier to set, etc etc. And proven.

 

[STx]

I'm not 100% certain but, I believe it's 1/4" wall thickness.

You make valid points, I'm kind of leaning towards doing the posts with pipe and the roof support with square. It'll speed the build and should still keep costs within budget.

 

[rustyshakelford]

I'm still wanting to build my shop much like you. My plan was to set drill stem 4' in concrete, leave about 4' exposed on the top, weld a square plate on the use the chicken house trusses for the side wall and truss. They can be had for close to scrap and usually can get the tin too.

Brett

 

[STx]

I wish the chicken house trusses were available here. I found some like that on CL but, they want $750/ea for them - 33 foot pipe trusses. No way. Another one wants $400/ea for 40' (steel trusses and poles). Better but, still too much.

 

[AGRIMAN]

STx,

The first shop I built (30x30) was a home made steel structure using basically the same method you are asking about. I built it 20 years ago and have never had any problems with it.

Instead of using post and rafters, I used my bender to form the main frame. Using sticks of 2" hand rail pipe, I put two bends in the pipe to form one side of a "truss/rib". The lower end is welded to a piece of pipe on the concrete floor and the upper end is welded to a 2" pipe that forms the ridge.

I place the pipe trusses 3' on center and welded 3" flat bar the length of the frame (between the bends) to tie everything together. I screwed the aluminum to the pipe using the self tapping screws with sealing washers.

I have built a new large red iron steel shop and the old one is just used for storage now, but I have no regrets with how I built it. Well, other than the bubble wrap insulation I used. I would not recommend using it.

 

[farmer2009]

Does your framing look something like this?

Yep. That'll be them.

 

[crackerjack222]

I built the shop (see avatar photo) at my ranch in Gonzales county (near Nixon) 3 years ago. It is 56' x 30' plus a 56'x 21' porch and a 12' extension on the right side. I poured a slab with plates anchored in the concrete where I was going to put the posts. There are three post along each 30' side and three posts down the middle. I chose the 56' dimension because I was going to use 28' lengths of 2 7/8" oil field tubing to make the "rafters" (three on each side). We fabricated the rafters just like those in SirReal's post #33. I used .25x3" flat stock for the 6.25" long spacers between the 2 7/8 tubing. I put the spacers at 56" intervals* and with a 2x2" piece of angle welded to the top tubing to attach the purlins to. The end of each "rafter" rests on top of a 2 7/8" tubing post. The center posts are 36" taller than the outside posts which gives me a 3/28 slope. The purlins are 6"x30' long, 14 ga. and are staggered with a 15' length at opposite ends, all welded. Where the purlins are spliced there is a 11ga. scab welded inside the joint. The sides are 12' R panels with 4" girts. The roof is R panel.
Last year I built a shed using 28' x 36" trusses made with a 2 7/8 tubing on the bottom and 2 3/8 for the top and vertical up-rights. Again, I used 2x2" welded angle to attach the purlins, again on 56" spacing. This shed has four bays, 12.5' wide. I doubled the trusses back to back to make the shed 56" x 50'. The purlins are all 25' long (because I could haul that length on my 25' trailer). Two sides are enclosed. There are 19 2 7/8" posts holding up this shed. The posts are set 4' in concrete and are 10' to about 11' above a sloping ground. I put crushed rock/sand road base inside.
*I chose 56" because it worked out with the lengths of R panel I was going to use on the roof. I wish I had put them closer together and used another string of purlin on each side but it has held up well through some pretty good winds.
I hope this makes sense, but I don't have any good pictures other than the avatar. You are welcome to come by and look; I am just off hiway 87.