Lawn Equipment Garage Door

[Crazy68Dart]

Does anyone have an example (size) of what might be typical for a small "garage door" that would be used primarily for lawn equipment entry/exit? I am considering one on the back or side of the building so that lawn equipment could more easily be accessed rather than having to move cars/etc. out of the way to get it out of the main garage door.

Thanks!

 

[jwh]

In my former house I had a door for my riding lawn mower. The door was IIRC 4' wide by 7' high. It was hinged outward. 3/4" plywood over 2 x 4 frame, covered in same siding as rest of garage. No windows - no outside handle - locked from inside with great big barrel bolt.

 

[nolimits76]

If you have the space, I would go with either a standard 8' or 9' wide single door. It will give you the flexible to move your vehicles as well, should the situation arise.

That being said, we have an Overhead Door in town and they can custom make a door to the width you desire/want. Typically the smaller doors are roll ups.

When deciding the size, be sure to consider the size of your riding lawn mower. I think 4' is too narrow myself. But then again I think the smallest rider I've owned has been 50". My point is if you are going to the trouble and pain to put in a door, make sure you make it big enough so it's not a pain in the rump.

 

[Cars&Quads]

I build a little utility shop (12x14) I think been a few yrs and I used a double swing out doors. Again I think they where (72x78) door and it work great.

 

[Slednut]

I'm just finishing an addition to my garage. I just installed a well-insulated but cheap 7x9 door for my lawn equipment. I bought it from Home Depot, they had a special on this model. With this size door I can still drive my vehicles through it if I need to.

 

[Crazy68Dart]

Thanks. Where the door would be would not really be accessible via vehicle. Right now the shed that the lawn mower is in has the double swing out "barn style" doors. Total it is 48" wide by maybe 80" tall or so. Not measure it in a while.

I could either do something similar on the new building, but thought a smaller true garage door might make sense. I kind of like the idea of a garage door instead of the swing out doors. Roll up... didn't think of that... hmm.

Was thinking a real garage door would be better insulated/sealed for heating, but maybe not.

Can see the doors on the shed in the attached.

 

[jmiller_2308]

I once modified a used insulated door to fit a shed. It was pretty straight forward to take the end parts off, cut each panel to width, and put the end pieces back on. Of course you need to find all the rails and assorted hardware as well.

Getting a custom made door or roll up will likely be on the more expensive side. If you can't find a used door someplace you could probably buy a new standard sized door and modify it like I did.

One issue with the overhead is that you need to account for the rails and room for everything to move. I also had a left over garage door opener with the door I cut down but once the rails and everything else went in there wasn't room for it.

Also remember that you are going to have to custom tweak the springs to get the door to open and close correctly.

 

[Stuart in MN]

My brother built a garage last year and included a 6' wide overhead door on the back side for moving his lawn tractor in and out. I believe it was a standard item from the garage door company. As far as I know he likes' how it worked out.

 

[finn]

Menards can custom order a door to your specs. Lead time is about 4 weeks.

 

[The Cobbler]

When I was in the country I installed new garage doors on the shop . The one side originally had an overhead door on the end of the building and a windo with a man door & window along the front. I removed the window and installed a 6' overhead door . height was IIRC 8' to matched the workshop door .
6' was wide enough to get the lawn tractor in and out and all of the impliments were stored ahead of it

 

[PLOWJEEP]

If you have the room install a standard 9'x7'. It will be less expensive than a smaller special order door and you will never wished that you had a smaller door. Good luck, Brian

 

[AMCguy]

A 9'x7' is so standard it should be the cheapest to come across new or used. I got mine used (less than a year old) for $150.

It's the open door on the addition at the rear of the building.

 

[boiler7904]

How big is the equipment that's moving through the door? Standard walk behind mower and a lot of snowblowers will fit through a typical 32" or 36" hinged entry door. Lawn tractor or zero turn is going to need a door at least as wide as the deck + 12" for the discharge chute and (a little) clearance.

The people that built my shed for the previous homeowner only put a 60" wide opening which will limit my choices for a tractor if I go that route in the future. Since the shed is small, has some structural issues and all around not built well, it's going to get replaced at some point in the future. Door will probably be a 8' overhead unit when I re-build.

 

[McKay]

I did a side entrance to a portion of my shop. I have been calling it the dirty garage. Plan on welding, cutting wood, parking lawn mower etc. in there. This room I believe 30'x25' in the corner of my shop. I put a 7' tall x 10' wide garage door on it. Would have liked 8' tall door but had some header/structural issues to deal with for the mezzanine above.

 

[Crazy68Dart]

I went out yesterday to the shed to warm up the tractor. It is a 48" John Deere GT262. So... the door is wider the 48" . I didn't have a tape measure on me, but it looks to be around 60" wide.

I won't ever need anything larger than something that could accommodate a 48" deck+chute. A standard 9x7 overhead door just seems too big, but I get where it could come in handy.

Aesthetically, I would prefer it to be on the back of the building, however this creates security concerns, just because I would not be able to see the door.

The area that I am talking about is the little "kick out" behind the porch. Either the door on the side wall, or the door on the back of the building.

 

[captaindiode]

What about a 6ft double entry door. Will close up the tightest, unless 6 feet is too small.

 

[G McKay]

I would say it depends on how big your lawn equipment is. If you have a 52" wide lawn mower, then you had better make the door that big. This is how I figured my door dimensions. Plus, I wanted to walk through it without bending down to get under the door. So, you had better consider these.

 

[AndyL]

Generally 8x7 will be cheapest... You're basically paying for that any dimension smaller anyway...

In some areas a 6x7 is fairly common - it's a typical size used for golf carts... Depends if you have those golfcart communities... My pricebooks pretty much price all smaller doors as an 8x7 - so you can pretty much assume that's probably consistent...

 

[upndown]

In some areas a 6x7 is fairly common - it's a typical size used for golf carts... Depends if you have those golfcart communities... My pricebooks pretty much price all smaller doors as an 8x7 - so you can pretty much assume that's probably consistent...

+1...Tons of them in AZ retirement communities.

 

[AndyL]

+1...Tons of them in AZ retirement communities.

I'm gonna come to AZ and work for upndown