Pole Building 24 or 30' Deep (w/Lift)

[duwem]

I was thinking 30' deep would work real well, truck is 20' long, would give room for a workbench in front and room to work all the way around a vehicle.

Then the pole barn guys (2 different companies now) said that if I want to put steel on the ceiling for blow in insuation the trusses need to be 8' apart to handle the load/ for the steel to span.

Sure I could go up to 32', but I'm going to have an area behind this and only have about 48'-50' total depth work with so I loose more area in the back which will have a loft. 24' seems like its going to be pretty tight....should I just go 32'?

 

[bobcatdan]

At minimum go 30'. I look at it this way. With the long vehicle you will ever have in the shop, give yourself enough room to pull the engine out with a cherrypicker. While you may never do that, giving the thought of the room needed to do so is good. You will never regret building a shop too big.

 

[bobcatdan]

Also I will add, I have a 24' shop, here is a 23' long plow truck wedged in. Couldn't get around it to the other side, had to climb over. At least it was in a 70° shop and not outside on a 0° night.

 

[StevenMorgan]

You will regret 24' depth with a 20' truck. Look closely at bobcat's pic... If you're building it, go 32' and have room to pull in and jog all the way around... You won't regret it in 5yrs

 

[bobcatdan]

You will regret 24' depth with a 20' truck. Look closely at bobcat's pic... If you're building it, go 32' and have room to pull in and jog all the way around... You won't regret it in 5yrs

Did you notice the tape measure to see if it would fit

 

[JOHN 86GT]

32 feet

 

[finn]

32' is none too deep for a short wheelbase Chevy with a plow.

Bite the bullet and go for 32'.

I've never heard anybody complain that their garage bay was too deep.

 

[bobcatdan]

Also since you're putting a hoist in, go 14' sidewalls, not 12'.

 

[lakeroadster]

30 ft is pretty much the minimum with a full size truck. Even that is tight with a crew cab full bed truck.

But I'm a little confused about your comment:

Sure I could go up to 32', but I'm going to have an area behind this and only have about 48'-50' total depth work with so I loose more area in the back which will have a loft. 24' seems like its going to be pretty tight....should I just go 32'?

Couldn't the work area in front of the truck, under the loft, still give you the floor access you need, without the extra 8 feet?

Got any sketches of your layout?

 

[sberry]

go big, extra 2 ft means a lot in a building this size.

 

[Big Bad Dad]

Mine is 32. Wish it was 36.

 

[LXCam]

I'm with them cats, 32. And like bcd pointed out if you ever need room to pull a motor, you'll eat that space up in nothing flat. I need a solid ten feet to yank a motor.

 

[MrBlue54]

Build the largest your budget allow then 6 feet more!
Yes really.

 

[mikhett]

Im building a 24X32 deep pole barn 10 ft sidewalls.

 

[ibedayank]

put a quad cab 1 ton full 8 foot bed in there and see how much room you want at least enough room on all sides to use a floor jack. Never heard anyone say they built to large.

 

[Jarnipman]

As big as you can!!! I am 40 feet deep and it is to small for me. Crew cab long bed truck with a snowplow on the front and a hitch sticking out the back, takes up a disgusting amount of space.

 

[Ironhorse74]

In my area the max distance between poles is 12 feet. So in answer to your question of 24 or 30 the answer is 36.

Brad

 

[Ironhorse74]

In my area the max distance between poles is 12 feet. So in answer to your question of 24 or 30 the answer is 36.

Brad

 

[cj7jeep81]

Another thing to keep in mind is those dimensions are of the outside of the building. Assuming 4x6 poles and 2x4 girts, the usable space is a little under 23'.

My shop at my old house was 24x32 (24' deep), and it was way too narrow. I had a workbench in one bay, and to pull my short bed chevy in, I had to get it so it was just inside the door and close it.

 

[Kennybill]

I agree, 32 feet at least. My building is 32'×56', middle bay with 2 post lift is 24 wide 32 deep. End bays are 16 by 32. I heat only the middle bay, works for me but 4 foot wider would be nice. I keep everything on rollers and if it's not needed it's stored in the "unheated" bays. It's nice to have open space when working.

 

[duwem]

Thanks guys. as far as the loft and stuff goes, this image may help explain things a bit more.






Side walls will be minimum 14', may end up being 16' to get the roof line pitches/proportions right.

I painted a bunch of dimensions on the snow yesterday and parked the truck in there. 24' will be pretty tight.

I'm wondering if 10' wide for the lean to's will be too narrow for metal and wood working shops now...could go 12' but then the center section gets narrower, want room for the lift and a vehicle parked next to the lift in that center section.

Want to keep the overall dimensions around 50x50 due to lot lines/setbacks and the current driveway. So right now juggling around the proportions.

 

[lakeroadster]

I think you'll be ok at 24 with that layout. When your working on the truck on the lift you can have the nose right at the loft.

When the truck isn't on the lift you can pull the nose under the loft.

How tall is the ceiling? The reason I ask is the overhead door will have to be down when the truck is on the lift... unless you have something like a 14 ft sidewall.

 

[duwem]

May end up with a wall under the loft, not sure yet, but would like to plan on not driving under it. And with that 30' span, might get costly to not have a pole mid span? But if its not a ton more to remove the pole requirement I will pay for it, so I have the flexibility in the future with walls.

 

[duwem]

Talking with the pole barn guys, they can vary pole spacing. So the whole building doesn't need to be say 8', they can have some 7' spacing too, have to play around with more layout options.

 

[lakeroadster]

Talking with the pole barn guys, they can vary pole spacing. So the whole building doesn't need to be say 8', they can have some 7' spacing too, have to play around with more layout options.

My building has 13'-6" truss spacing in the main bay where the lift is. It's not a big deal, they just engineer the trusses for the span and increase the size of the purlins.