Hay loft, floor loading for square tubing

[ruralNearDallas]

I saw another post: http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/related-topics/86000-floor-loading-joist-sizing-2.html

Made me think the same people (this forum) could help me.

I have a barn under construction to replace the one that blew away via tornado.

It looks like it has a loft, but doesn't. I want to build one.

I need floor loading, then I can try to find some span tables for tubular steel.

Someone before posted some numbers for hay loading, but that was total weight, and I need force per square foot.

The maximum width would be 12 feet. The height could be 10 feet. The maximum length would be 30 feet.

Can't, yet, find span tables, but did find this (don't understand it): Welcome to the Steel Tube Institute

If I knew the size and weight of a square bale, that would be a start, but the general load of a second floor office or storage room would be a good estimate, too.

Questions for me?

 

[dcyrilc]

Nice barn.:thumbsup:

And :welcome: to TBN.

I think your best bet might be to see about having joists made which resemble the design of the trusses. Those will have much more strength than just straight tubing and could be bolted or welded to the posts for cross beams. 2x's could then be laid upright as floor joists across the top of them to support your flooring.

 

[ruralNearDallas]

Thanks. I think that is what the contractor is thinking. In the picture I just attached, if you imagine that the roof trusses are now running across the aisle/loft, and the wall trusses are running along the sides of the aisle/loft, I think that is what he is thinking. I am just wondering if the along ones need more support than welded to the 3" verticals, and the spacing of the cross trusses.

Thus, I am wondering how much load to plan for on the loft. Not only loading above, but how much folks out there who have had a barn like this might imagine hanging from the trusses/loft.

Thanks again.

 

[dcyrilc]

Thanks. I think that is what the contractor is thinking. In the picture I just attached, if you imagine that the roof trusses are now running across the aisle/loft, and the wall trusses are running along the sides of the aisle/loft, I think that is what he is thinking. I am just wondering if the along ones need more support than welded to the 3" verticals, and the spacing of the cross trusses.

Thus, I am wondering how much load to plan for on the loft. Not only loading above, but how much folks out there who have had a barn like this might imagine hanging from the trusses/loft.

Thanks again.

I think that would be a question for an engineer. It's pretty easy to google the load rating for 2x cross joists based on thickness and length and spacing, but for the metal...

 

[JimRB]

Go to the feed store and buy 10 bales of hay. Measure dimensions and weight. Where I live they bale Bermuda in approximate 14x18x36 bales that weigh on average 40 pounds. You can get Alfalfa that weighs 80 pounds a bale. I would guess you can do 25,000 to 50,000 pounds of hay in an area that big. Isn't that a good time to get something engineered? Also you need to convey that hay up there. If you are doing Alfalfa you need some strong folks but you might never see them again if you want to restock. Bermuda is not so bad with a few guys.

 

[dmccarty]

Google for a truss builder in your area and see if they can tell you what it would cost to build metal floor joists for your barn. I did this for wood roof trusses years ago and it would have been hard for me to buy the wood for the roof structure compared to buying their trusses already built.

If the truss builder can provide the floor joists they will likely do the engineering as part of the package.

Seems like for the weight you are supporting you are going to have to use an engineer to make sure you get the correct joist system as well as the design to connected the posts to the joists.

Later,
Dan

 

[ruralNearDallas]

I found these:

Lists some floor loadings: Weights Of Building Materials, Agricultural Commodities, and Floor...

Provides some specifications for tubular steel: Welcome to the Steel Tube Institute

 

[Argosy]

I'd use the 80 lb. per bale figure before 40. I threw too many bales as a kid to believe they were only 40 lbs. Multiply that by how many bales you intend to store, add a little for a fudge factor.

Why tube instead of steel I beams? Tubing is really expensive comparatively, beams are made for that type of application. Use rough cut lumber for flooring, leave gaps for air circulation.

If you're talking a serious amount of weight you also need to consider the vertical supports and what supports them. The weight will be a lot more concentrated there than on the floor itself.

 

[DaveOmak]

I think you might want to check with the building manufacturer as to the verticles that are supporting the building to see if they could handle a 2nd floor.
From what I can see, you might have to add more verticle support to handle the load.
One thing is for sure, you don't want the building to collapse?
By the way, nice looking barn. I want one!

 

[ruralNearDallas]

I used one of the reference links for the compression spec on 3/16" 3x3 tubing, and the number was much higher than the 35k lbs divided by the 8 columns, so that part should be good.

Thanks again for all the suggestions.