Bay and door size

[ericm]

I'm specing out a shop with three bays side by side for working on and storing cars. One will have a two post lift. The shop part of the building will be 40' deep and 56' wide. I want to push the three bays to one side so there's more open shop space but I don't want things too crowded. Are 14' wide bays wide enough? I'm not decided between 10' and 12' wide doors. The builder will do 12' if I want but of course the doors cost more. The largest vehicle I'll likely put in there would be a modern 3/4 ton truck. The farm equipment side will have 12' doors for sure.

 

[charbar]

Probably be alright depending on what kind of work you are doing.

An average full size rig is basically 7 feet wide without the mirrors (add another 3 ft. almost if you own a Ram or Super Duty and feel the need to drive around with your tow mirrors out, but mirrors can be folded so we'll work with 7 ft).

So that is an extra 7ft of room per vehicle in each bay or 3.5 ft on either side of the vehicle. If you are going off one wall of the shop you will have roughly 3.5 ft from the wall to the first vehicle, 7 ft of vehicle, 7 ft between those two, another 7 ft vehicle, 7 more ft between them to the third vehicle and then 3.5 ft to the other wall or more if you are open to the rest of the shop.

Unless you have multiple people working around each other you should be fine.

Id put the lift either in the middle bay so you can pull the two outside vehicles out if you need more room or in the third door from the end assuming you will NOT have a wall along that vehicle and that way you have loads of space beside it and can just pull out the middle vehicle if you need more room to that side.

Not sure if that makes any sense to you but it does in my mind

10 ft. doors will be enough unless you are pulling your 3/4 ton pickup with giant mirrors in and out all the time. It will still fit fine but you will want to pay attention to what you are doing going in and out.


Not sure what kind of farm equipment you are talking but if you have a decent sized tractor with duals then a 12 ft. door is going to be TIGHT.

 

[ericm]

Thanks!

I think the largest tractor I'd want would be in the 60-70hp range and wouldn't have duals. Right now they're 50 and 37hp. It's a small farm. I'd like to be able to get small haying equipment in there but I think it'll fit in a 12ft door.

 

[Hal]

Thanks!

I think the largest tractor I'd want would be in the 60-70hp range and wouldn't have duals. Right now they're 50 and 37hp. It's a small farm. I'd like to be able to get small haying equipment in there but I think it'll fit in a 12ft door.

I would go at least 14ft for the farm equipment. Some of that stuff is wider than it looks, and can also be a real pig to move in and out unless you can pull straight through.
I know my 10 ft mower is just a hair over 13 Ft. besides being offset, so even if the machine fits the door, the tractor will get hung up.

 

[HoosierBuddy]

10-foot wide doors are sort of sufficient for a modern full size pickup. Even with tow mirrors you're looking at around 9.3 feet wide. That leaves a few inches on each side. You'll need to be careful. Regular mirrors will give you a few more inches each side.

I had a Silverado for years with 9-foot wide doors...and it was tight. That truck was 8 feet 9 inches mirror-to-mirror.

 

[Tractorsellr]

Do yourself a favor and DON'T get 10 foot doors. 12 or 14 foot doors and you wont regret them. Always nice to have a little extra oops room.

 

[u2slow]

I put in a 12' wide door. Then ended up with toolboxes and shelving against the near wall, reducing the useful width to about 10'. My 2-post lift column (opposite side) is about inline with the door edge. I also needed 8' pass-thru between my lift columns.

The one gotcha I have run into is a typical car-hauler trailer is too wide to fit between my lift columns.

 

[BroncoAZ]

I have two 10’ doors on my 34’ wide home garage that gets used daily, the space from the wall to the first door is 4’ and between the doors is 27”. Compared to a previous house that had 9’ doors with 1’ between them the 10’ is awesome. I had my 2021 Bronco and 2001 Ford Expedition in the garage last winter, no issues opening the doors all the way on either truck. I would go 4’ from the far wall to the first door so you have room for wall storage or bigger lesser used tools like a panel saw or hydraulic press and walking around the vehicle. Regarding the 12’ doors, if the bays will be the same 14’ width regardless then there is no reason not to get 12’ doors.

 

[Toolfool]

I did 12' and 15' wide doors in my shop. I used the maximum structural space I could and glad I did.

 

[ericm]

Due to the site my doors need to be on the side wall instead of the gable end wall. The pole barn company says that costs a little more because the openings need headers, to support the trusses. Where on the end wall they don't. And of course larger doors cost more. At the moment as I'm collecting cost estimates I'm leaning toward larger doors.

 

[charbar]

And of course larger doors cost more. At the moment as I'm collecting cost estimates I'm leaning toward larger doors.

Nobody has ever complained about having too big of a door. If it's in the budget definitely do it.

 

[dcg9381]

I think about it like this: The largest trailer you can buy is 8.5' wide. If you put in a 10' door, you've got about 9" on each side. That's a little tight, not ideal.. And some vehicles (like dual-rear wheel trucks) are 8.5' wide. I'd do a 12' door.

For me, the biggest deal is height. Put in a 14' door and you're good to go for everything. If you're working on "regular vehicles" 8' is probably about right minimum.

My minimum is 10' wide x 14' tall, because I have tall things.

Roll up door ****, get panel doors.