Pole barn shop ideas

[Kangaroo ID]

So here is my question. I have been planning a shop for my property, it will be a pole type construction 40x60. I want to build it with three garage doors on the sides instead of having them on the gable ends. The building will be used for parking a few extra cars and my tractor but also used for a work shop. So i wanted to hear if any one had thoughts on advantages of doors on the sides vs. on the ends like most if the buildings i see in my area? I just joined the forum the other day and have enjoyed reading all the ideas and projects.

 

[3pedal]

Mine has the doors on the side. It works well for me. I think it does limit height of the doors a little and of course, you can't put as long a vehicle in it. A lot will depend on the layout of your land and where your driveways are.

 

[Bear]

If your building a pole bldg. it won't cost much more to have 16' walls rather than 12'. That gives me 14' doors on the side and a 20x40 loft area in my 40x48.

 

[tomroblee]

The side walls are the load bearing walls. It takes heavier lumber to frame a garage door size opening in a load bearing wall.

One major factor depends on whether you are in a heavy snow area and are planning to have a metal roof. Snow will slide off a metal roof. When it does, you don't want to create a snow pile in front of a garage door.

 

[tn89]

I'm building a 45x100 right now and I am putting 3 12x14 doors down the 100 side and one 16x14 on one gable end. Me personally I like the doors on the long side

 

[finn]

Don't put the doors on the eave wall if you live in snow country. The snow slides off the metal roof and compacts when it hits the ground. A snowblower won't remove the compacted snow, and even a truck mounted blade leaves a hump.

Gable end doors rule!

 

[shelbyz28]

I went with sidewall doors due to my current building and driveway layout. I like being able to access 4 bays at any time and not block in projects. I have other old farm buildings that are long and narrow and if I have 2-3 projects going at once, something is always in the wrong spot.
My bigger snow issue so far is drifting; my 4/12 pitch doesn't send a ton of snow to the ground in massive amounts, but I'm also only on winter #2. I have an identical snow pile infront of a neighboring building rotated 90 degrees (gable end doors), so while in theory it works out, I'm not finding a large practical difference so far. It may also make a difference what direction your building and doors face relative to the sun.