Combines Building a shop any ideasIJIJIJ

[JD]

Size and shape should be determined by your equipment and where you see it being in 10+ years. Ofcourse, the pocketbook may not keep up with ya if your like myself! I really like this heat in the floor that you read so much about lately. I'm not sure of it's cost versus other systems but it would seem you should be able to build your own they would be cost effectiveIJ May want to check with your county inspections office before making any hard plans. I remember seeing a heater one time in a farm mag that was made out of a very large old fuel tank, probably 20k gl size. The guy used round bales of straw to heat his shop and dairy barn I thinkIJ I can't recall all the details but he could use his loader tractor to load the bales into it. If you have a baler and unneeded straw_residue, this should be a cheap way of heating. I think it had a water chamber built on top of it and he used the heated water to heat with. let us know what you chose, JD

 

[Northern]

We build a 50 x 50 x 16 shop a few years ago. Around here people are now going 18 feet high, which allows 16 foot overhead doors. We put in a 34 foot wide door that is split into a 20ft, and a 14 ft. This is nice to bring in larger headers. We also put in a loft above our work bench side of the shop. The loft area is great for spareparts etc. Our problem areas is the floor doesn't slope to the middle of the shop were the drain is. We also did not slope the floor right at the door. This allow rain to seep into the shop.

 

[john_holland]

we put in a 48*48 with in floor heat and a 24ft overhead door a couple years ago, pretty spendy to do it right, but i would have always felt half a$$ed about it if we had cut corners, a loft are over the bench is a great place to store parts and supplies (crap you should get rid of but don't want to) sloping the floor to a drain in the middle is ok if a perfectly level work surface is not important. To determine size, pick your longest peice of machinery, or peice you want to have soon, and leave some room to walk around the ends, then decide how many peices you want in there side by side at one time, and don't forget space to walk in between, finally, add at least 8 ft around all edges to account fort the crap (stand alone tools, bolt bins, materials, fluids, shelves, stuff you set aside for a "while") that will accumulate there, and it will. Something we did that was handy is putting heavy tie downs into the concrete. These allow you to hook a chain to them and pull as hard as you want, we used them for straightening combine feederhouse, corn head snouts, bending very heavy metal, and other odd jobs. they are just a hevy peice of square tubing big enough to get your hand in with a solid round 2 inch bar welded in to wrap the chain around and some rebar on the outside to embed in the cement. we put a small office in one corner, waste of space unless you want to do business out there. we also built a metal bench for welding in one corner, plan a way to vent welding_cutting exhaust,this is a major problem if you do any welding. I recommend putting very very heavy tubing or i beams on the inside and outside of the door jam to protect door hardware and outside of building, just in case the wife or kid gets carried away or you have a bad day,sorry for the long post but you let the cat out of the bag, have a nice day, you will never figure out how you did without a shop.

 

[l]

Hi all, Thanks for the ideas...We had a lot of those figured except for the heat issue....Radiant floor is expensive for what we want...We are thinking about putting a large wood stove in the corner and kicking firewood in it to get heat. The budget is definitely in consideration...Our biggest equipment would be combine, tractor and planter...Other than that, we don't want much else...I love working on equip in the winter when it is cold outside and warm (t-shirt)inside... Did you build it yourself or contract out...We plan on doing a lot ourselves. Also, how deep was the foundation (if any). Thanks... lA.

 

[beh]

we have a 60x80 building with 3 big infared heaters, and i can tell you that is not the way to go, if you are not wanting to spend the money to heat the floors i would look into a waste oil heater, you can but them or we have a neighbor that built his own, as long as the storage is outside it looks like a really neat deal to me! just my 2 cents worth brad

 

[FarmerTom]

we are a used eqpt dlr and a custom cutter, not a farmer , so my 2 cents for what it's worth. we biult a new shop in 90, 40x45x14. we used a horizontal bifold door that opens out. right idea but only 16' wide, should've bin 25'. our most common selling combine is a MF300 with 11' cut so this sounded right but wasn't. we are working on an expansion to widen this 40 building to 72 ' , 16' on each side and then make it 64 ' longer. i will put in floor air heat that exits at the far end of the building. i will put square tubing inserts in the floor so all rigid type tools can be moved around the shop. a vehicle hoist will be installed, although we only have 3 vehicles, the hoist can be used ,with some modification, to lift things so i don't have to bend over. i put in ceiling fans on a thermostaticly controlled switch - good idea. the garbage can wagon is 4'x4'x4' and is biult on an old lawnmower frame with wheels - works great. 2 carts are used to move scrap pieces," maybe usuable pieces" and " definitely not useable", to their respective homes. pull curtains for flash protection of other people from welding, and to make a temporary paint booth will be in the new building. all benches are on wheels and each one has it's own surgery lamp, fully adjustable. every electrical plug has 4 outlets and is fused separately. 2 plugs are ground terminal down, 2 plugs ground terminal up, so there is no more arm twisting to get the 3 prong plug in right. mezzinines are necessary and must be open ended to access with a forklift or loader. put in lots of windows on the south side, i did and don't regret it, expensive but worth it. enough. i wish i would have built my building bigger when i biult it in 90. so think what you need today and double the shell size, but only finish half the building, you'll be in money the way things are going.

 

[cycl]

Several years ago my father purchased an old corn crib, from an abandoned farm, with overhead bins that was in great shape. He paid a building mover to move the crib a few miles to our farm and put the crib on top of a 4ft tall foundation. Then tore out the overhead bins, inner walls and moved the bin floors up so he could have 2 floors for storage. The stairs are hinged so they can be raised and lowered so they never get in the way. He put a 20x14 overhead door on the south end and now has a pretty nice and cheap shop. The project is not complete as of yet but it will be vey nice when he gets it all done. This is a great way to recycle some of those old farm buildings that sit empty.

 

[clipper]

Check out this site. Some excellent videos on farm shops are available. http:__www.farmvideos.com_

 

[Green_Reaper]

We too are going to be building a shop so I thought I would pass on the info I have gathered so far. 1)It's never too big!!Build the building with the future in mind not just the present.Ours is going to be 42x66x20 with a 24x18,possibly 30x18 door.The 20ft height will allow use of overhead cranes to pull engines out of tall equipment like combines.I would like to build bigger but we all know price becomes quite the issue!! 2)Even if you don't think you will be using floor heat put in the kitec piping anyway.You may change your mind later and if the piping isn't there you will be S.O.l.It would be terrible to say "I should have done it" in all the later years to come.The piping isn't alot of money and from what I hear the electric boiler heat isn't all that costly to run.You would also have the option to one day heat the floor with an outdoor wood fired boiler. 3)The builders I have talked to are now advising guys to put the main door to one side of the building.This allows you to bring in a machine and still have plenty of room on the other side of the building to do other stuff if the machine has to be in there for a while.This idea I am torn on.It sure is a practical idea but the building sure wouldn't look as nice on the outside. 4)Adding windows high up on the sunny sides of the building add alot of welcome sunlight while not allowing "culprits" to have easy access to the building. I believe a good shop is one of the best investments a farm can make.If you compare it to the cost of just one new machine,even a used one, and can use the building to keep the old stuff rolling the price isn't bad at all.It makes it seem cheap actually. That's about all I have to share.If anyone else has any good ideas I'd also be interested in hearing them.

 

[dakota]

We have a 40x50 shop with floor heat for our custom combining and trucking business. It is too small now. 60x100 would be better, to get a whole semi in. And as others have stated, stuff accumulates fast. The floor heat is the greatest thing on earth. Don't miss it. You can still use what ever fuel you want, it only depends on the kind of boiler. What I have noticed everywhere I've been in the USA, they make the concrete too weak. It is always cracked. Make it at least six inches thicker than what everybody tells you and put more rebarb in. Don't forget the floor drain. It is cheap and you will appreciate it, especially in the winter. I have never missed an overhead crane. Our forklift does it all. I couldn't live without it. The overhead door is 14' high and was always sufficient. A little office is neccessary. You will have paperwork (manuals, etc.) and want a phone. Nobody has mentioned a little bathroom yet. It is sure handy. And a sink of course for washing hands. Don't forget an exhaust fan especially above the welding bench.