Pole barn

[Bevan175]

Hello group,

Moved to an 11 acre property last fall. Got myself a B2650HSDC and now it is time to build a "Shop". Pole barn seems to be a common choice. I want it to be split half work area (heated insulated) and half storage for the Kubota, UTV, Motorcycle , toys etc. Space in not and issue with the selection. Was first thinking 40' wide and 30' deep 12 high with vaulted ceiling, couple 10x10' doors, concrete floor and some windows.

Suggestions, reference pictures or regrets are welcome to help me in my planning.

 

[Stmar]

When we bought our property one of the first priorities was a barn. Our previous property had small outbuildings so I wanted to be sure we had enough space. We went with a 60' long 46' wide pole barn (standard 60X30 but we added 16' more for stalls and an overhang for the horses, 14' high and 12'X12' sliding door, man door and a 5' sliding door from the corral. We have light panels, translucent fiberglass, around the top of the walls and a light ridge panel down the entire length of the roof, these let a lot of light in and you will not regret having them. What I would change now that I have had it 20 years? I would have an overhead door instead of sliding doors. I would have doors at front and back for drive through capibility. I am contemplating pouring a concrete floor now that the horses are gone to the big pasture in the sky. Even without the horses the barn is not too big, we have a lot of stuff and it is nice having enough room to work on and store things out of the weather.

 

[skeets]

Mine is 30x40 with 3, 8 foot doors,, NOW if you have times when it get cold you may want to think about an insulation package most contractors install.
Also figure out what you think your going to need power wise and add 15%, run conduit underground to your panel make sure you run a 240 circuit.
And if you think you might want a head some day run the water and drain line NOW.
Lighting LEDs or T 8's.
Enclose your ahh man cave with enough area for stuff.
Now at this point you may think geeez what am I going to do with all this extra space,, trust me it does not exist ,,,, people will drop things off, better half will store something, and all that stuff breeds and next thing you know you cant move,, empty it all out come spring and by fall there is more than you started with,,
Other wise enjoy it and pictures as you proceed

 

[sdk1968]

ive got a 20x40' pole barn 12' high.... insulated & heated... heres what i can tell you on that...


tractor, 5 implements, big zero turn mower & then my mill, lathe, press, benches tool boxes & cabinets....

im friggin out of room. if it had been 30 x40'? probably would have been just right for THIS amount of stuff.

if you wanna ad other toys or not have to take something out to work on something different? then 30x 40 still isnt big enough.

my wife says NO WIDER.. so im seriously thinking of making it 20x50 to gain some room.

 

[Daren Todd]

ive got a 20x40' pole barn 12' high.... insulated & heated... heres what i can tell you on that...


tractor, 5 implements, big zero turn mower & then my mill, lathe, press, benches tool boxes & cabinets....

im friggin out of room. if it had been 30 x40'? probably would have been just right for THIS amount of stuff.

if you wanna ad other toys or not have to take something out to work on something different? then 30x 40 still isnt big enough.

my wife says NO WIDER.. so im seriously thinking of making it 20x50 to gain some room.

You would still be out of room you would end up with another tool to take up the space

 

[85Hokie]

Hello group,

Moved to an 11 acre property last fall. Got myself a B2650HSDC and now it is time to build a "Shop". Pole barn seems to be a common choice. I want it to be split half work area (heated insulated) and half storage for the Kubota, UTV, Motorcycle , toys etc. Space in not and issue with the selection. Was first thinking 40' wide and 30' deep 12 high with vaulted ceiling, couple 10x10' doors, concrete floor and some windows.

Suggestions, reference pictures or regrets are welcome to help me in my planning.

I agree with the others......have a thought......work on that thought.....

then DOUBLE IT!

them thar "toys" will add up quickly!

 

[Grouse09]

Make sure your roof line slides snow to the sides and not in front of your garage doors. I’d rather dig out roof slides from a man door than a garage door.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[coachgeo]

Another Option is Shipping containers on two or three sides with a Roof. There are kit roofs just for this now. You can even by the kit and have it shipped........ in one container. Then buy the other containers locally.

 

[Stmar]

Forgot to mention that as Skeets says it is good to get the insulation package, it keeps condensation down and makes it feel warmer. I have a couple of electrical circuits for tank heaters, chargers, compressor, tractor block heater, etc. As the others say it is best to get everything you need/want in the initial build, more convenient and cost effective.

 

[sdk1968]

this is a fun subject, so i'll come back to it.

Skeets & some of the guys have seen pictures of my pole barn, so they know what i mean in the description...


insulating a real pole barn is a little different than insulating a framed building.

trust me on this, my day job is actually as an insulator for a living.

best thing we have seen for big open structures with very little support is rigid foam board with foil backing. its easy to keep clean, wont mold or condensate & goes up very quickly. with the dead air space between the board & the steel sheeting on the walls... it works out to be about R12.

not as good as your house... but really good for a pole barn with equipment & a shop in it.

when it was -10* here the other day it was still 38* in the barn before i even turned the heat on.

moving on: YES put 220 electric out there. im all LED lights, but my old equipment really eats the amps.. If you spend any time out there working? yours will too!


Skeets: man i would love to make mine 20x50 from 20x40... would just give my tractor stuff enough room! that would give me a whole area for implements!

 

[D2Cat]

Folks, you can discuss the appropriate size of a barn, but there is no answer. It's real simple. Whatever you build will leave you without room in a short time.

You simply build the biggest your budget and space allows, knowing in the future you will need more. So anticipate where your next building can be as you lay out the first one, and you'll be ready for the future.

You only truly clean out a barn/shop at an estate auction!

 

[mickeyd]

My barn is 36' x 100' x 16' with 50' open area at the south end. I still find it hard to turn the tractor around with all the implements and other things.

The loft over 50' x 16' is a real life saver for all the things the wife wants to store.

My shop under the loft is 25' x 16' with stalls under the other 25'.

I put LED lighting in a couple of years ago. Best thing I ever did. Yes, you must run 240 volts with its own breaker box.

Water and drains are a must also if you are going to spend any time in it.

 

[sdk1968]

My barn is 36' x 100' x 16' with 50' open area at the south end. I still find it hard to turn the tractor around with all the implements and other things.

now thats just gonna cause barn envy!

ive never even considered TURNING MY TRACTOR AROUND INSIDE...

thats just ornery on your part.

 

[mickeyd]

now thats just gonna cause barn envy!

ive never even considered TURNING MY TRACTOR AROUND INSIDE...

thats just ornery on your part.

Sooo Sorry....

 

[sheepfarmer]

My hint would be to consider snow bars on the roof if your barn design is going to result in avalanches in inconvenient locations. You need to plan the roof structure and slope to support the added snow load. I'll try to add a picture from phone later of the pre snow bar winter.

I second or third the overhead doors, although they do limit what you can hang from the rafters. Add a foot to whatever you think the maximum opening height you'll need.

Insulation...see my thread on thawing out the snowblower. My wish list morphed tremendously in just two years. At first I just wanted a simple structure to keep the tractor, horse trailer, and manure spreader in...hah!

Concrete is wonderful. Plan the drainage around your building carefully and make a sloped apron.

The avalanches were expected, I had no choice about roof orientation, and I knew snow and rain would collect between the two buildings. There is a concrete sloped alleyway that will carry water off down into a pasture and heavy duty eavestroughs that lead to a really long underground drain on that side, and one on the other side. The snow bars really helped. It melts off slowly. Not sure what would happen if we got 3 feet of snow all at once.

 

[armylifer]

I don't know what taxes are like in your areas but the tax man here in Washington State is a real concern when planning any size out building. I get an estimate from our tax assessor on how much my taxes would go up if I built a 32 x 48 pole barn on my 5 acre property and it was estimated that I would have to pay about $400 - $500 more per year, depending on what I ended up building. That was not the only thing that deterred me from building a pole barn.

Permit costs are another high dollar item here, too. In Thurston County (where I live) there is also a required study for pocket gophers before you can even get a building permit approved. The pocket gophers study can only be done during breeding season and that is in late spring to mid summer. The study tacks on another $1500 to the permit cost. So, it can sometimes take up to 15 months to get a permit approved, if you pass the study and all other environmental requirements.

The point that I am trying to make is that you may have to plan more than just building materials and labor into your budget. I apologise if I sound like a stick in the mud but I am just relating what I had to go through and I still don't have a pole barn.

 

[Bevan175]

Thank you for all the input. Already looking and quoting larger footprints. I spoke to the town engineering department before buying the property and I'm clear. Planning overheat door.

 

[Jim Bud]

this is a fun subject, so i'll come back to it.

Skeets & some of the guys have seen pictures of my pole barn, so they know what i mean in the description...


insulating a real pole barn is a little different than insulating a framed building.

trust me on this, my day job is actually as an insulator for a living.

best thing we have seen for big open structures with very little support is rigid foam board with foil backing. its easy to keep clean, wont mold or condensate & goes up very quickly. with the dead air space between the board & the steel sheeting on the walls... it works out to be about R12.

not as good as your house... but really good for a pole barn with equipment & a shop in it.

when it was -10* here the other day it was still 38* in the barn before i even turned the heat on.

moving on: YES put 220 electric out there. im all LED lights, but my old equipment really eats the amps.. If you spend any time out there working? yours will too!


Skeets: man i would love to make mine 20x50 from 20x40... would just give my tractor stuff enough room! that would give me a whole area for implements!

I'm also planning to build a pole barn out building. Can you describe how you installed the rigid insulation into the frame of your building? What were the spacings of our structure and how did you install the board....thickness?, and what did you cover the board with?, walls?, ceiling? Thanks

 

[poyjas]

Part way through building a 22x40x16 ft shop; man door and 10x14 ft big door. Initial floor is 8x16x4 inch pavers on gravel; will do concrete later when the weather is better. Electric service 220v 90amp. Went 16 ft tall to accommodate a pending houseboat refurb but otherwise not too excited at the tall ceiling. Interested this talk of using rigid board insulation. I've planned all along to add 12x40 ft shed roofs on at least one side sometime. 22x40 is too small for me if the Orange Boys live in there too. If the boat is in there too then very much too small.

 

[poyjas]

An idea, I hang a 24-48 inch wide shelf from trusses about 8 ft up. Use 3/16(+) inch aircraft grade cable. Put my work benches, tool boxes, & parts cabinets under; good place to mount work lamps and air lines. Keeps the floor clear of posts. Don't be crazy though. Hi-cube lighter stuff is better. Photo shows the install in this latest shop project.