Door size

[wewiserangers]

Still planning out a small farm shop build. 32 x 64...ish with a multi purpose area on one end. The shop area will be around 32x44. My largest tractor is a 4020 JD. I might upgrade someday to a cab tractor of a similar size. I have a pretty small operation here.

I'm still debating on 12' walls with a 10' door or 14' walls and a 12' door. I'll be heating it so I don't want to go higher if I don't need to. I'm looking for some input from anyone with similar size tractors. I am looking at a 10x22 overhead door size right now. What width increments do doors come in?

 

[jrsavoie]

Depending on your layout.
I would go at least 12' wide on doors.

I'd also go whole hog on height.

14' tall doors.

You never know what the future holds. You may find a bargain on something too tall for what you're thinking.

I have a shed with a 10' tall sidewall and 12' tall end wall doors. I went with 14' tall doors on the newer building.
I went 36 x 40 and wish I had gone at least 36 x 48.
Not enough tool storage room.
And I don't have room for a bathroom.

I should have laid things out better.

I went with 2 - 12' wide x 14' tall doors. Those seem to be working out well.
If I had gone 48' long I would have added a door in the sidewall.

For a heated shop, sliding doors outside the garage doors aren't a terrible idea.

 

[finn]

14’ high Minimum for doors on a shop.That’s what you want if an RV is under consideration.

Drive through any farming area and you will see many neglected buildings that are too short to accomodate modern equi.

 

[jack stand]

12' height should be fine for an equivalent cab tractor. The thing that ***** is working outside on something that you need 12'6". You just never know.

 

[cvairwerks]

When in doubt, make it tall enough for maximum highway legal....14'.

 

[930dreamer]

Our 1955 camper needs 10' of door height.

 

[kbs2244]

go for max height
and use I R for heat

 

[jrsavoie]

14’ high Minimum for doors on a shop.That’s what you want if an RV is under consideration.

Drive through any farming area and you will see many neglected buildings that are too short to accomodate modern equi.

They're actually jacking some up and adding to them. If the building is big enough to justify the expense

 

[Daveyclimber]

12x12 door would be sufficient for 90% of anybody. Will allow a 14' sidewall instead of 16' for a 14' tall door. Don't let us spend your money but do try to future proof within reason

 

[zmotorsports]

Still planning out a small farm shop build. 32 x 64...ish with a multi purpose area on one end. The shop area will be around 32x44. My largest tractor is a 4020 JD. I might upgrade someday to a cab tractor of a similar size. I have a pretty small operation here.

I'm still debating on 12' walls with a 10' door or 14' walls and a 12' door. I'll be heating it so I don't want to go higher if I don't need to. I'm looking for some input from anyone with similar size tractors. I am looking at a 10x22 overhead door size right now. What width increments do doors come in?

That should be a nice size workshop. Congrats.

For ceiling and doors, I would recommend at least 14' tall ceilings and 12' tall by 12' wide doors. Preference would be 16' ceilings and 14' tall doors if you never want to have an issue with bringing anything OTR into the shop.

My last shop had 14' tall ceilings with a single 20' wide by 12' tall door. It worked perfect for the work I did in the shop including tractor work for several local farmers. The 14' tall ceilings were also perfect for a 2-post lift that I had hoped for when I built the shop but it took close to 20 years before I actually installed one. Glad I had the ceiling height when I did because I didn't have to sacrifice on rise or overall lift height.

My current shop I went with 16' tall ceilings mainly in order to allow parking of the biggest of RV's in the shop. Our little 40' coach fits in it easily @ 12'6" overall height. The RV door is 14' tall by 16' wide and is easy to pull the coach in/out of. My main shop doors are 12' wide and I highly recommend them for pulling vehicles or equipment in and out of. Much better than a 10' wide door.

 

[Copymutt]

For a heated shop, sliding doors outside the garage doors aren't a terrible idea.

I think a vehicle/ wheeled equipment air lock is a great concept. Need not be fancy. Not heard of nor ever seen one. Certainly would stop total loss of shop heat.

 

[charbar]

I work on a lot of 85-150 HP tractors and there is no way I would feel comfortable pulling them in and out with a 10 ft tall door. Most tractors that size are between 9 and 10 ft tall depending on tires and then add things like lights, antennas, globes, beacons etc and you are bound to smashing something someday. Go 12' doors just for the peace of mind and anything down the road. 14 ft sidewalls will also allow for a fairly usable loft if you wanted, along with a car lift as zmotorsports mentioned. You'll never ever say "I wish I would have went shorter". It is cheap to go taller-I also dont see the extra height having much of an effect on heating. With a 14 ft wall you have room to mount ceiling fans then to circulate some air....that seems to make a big different in my shop in the winter.

 

[LostCauseRanch]

I did a 12x12 in mine and love the extra width over a 10' door. Don't have to be as careful maneuvering in and out. Backing a trailer or anything like that in is much nicer.

Edit: I missed the 22' wide part, obviously wider than I was talking haha. If you are worried about heat loss have you thought about two narrower doors so you only need to open one at a time. Unless you need the full width then that point is moot as well.

It's relatively cheap to go up in wall height when building, depending on what you are using the shop for cubic volume is nice to have. With 14' walls you could do some higher shelves to get things off of the ground without sacrificing headroom. I went 16' for that reason, I'm putting a office/bathroom over my metal fab area, saving floor space and adding extra square footage for a relatively low cost.

Like others have said future proof yourself and go taller than you think.

 

[puttinonthekritz]

I think I'd rather have two 12ft wide vs one big 22ft. Unless your space dictates having the 5' endcap space on each side for shelving or toolboxes, etc? If that's the case, I dig it! At 22ft wide that will be quite the heavy door and quite a large expensive header to support it.

 

[trashyman]

Doors come in any measurement. They will make them to fit your rough opening. 10' is too short. 12 better. 14+ best. I would consider narrowing up the shop area if your worried about size and go 40' deep. Buy the time things get put along the back wall (and they always seem to) there's not much room in front/back of the tractor. Even less if you happen to get a bigger tractor or equipment and higher walls makes it wayyy easier to add a loft above the work area w/o hitting your head on purlins/rafters going up stairs. Gonna take a pretty big stove to heat anyways. Couple feet higher wont make much difference. When i build mine i had a predetermined height of 12' doors. Almost everyone encouraged me to go 14' doors. Glad i listened. No regrets whatsoever