Pole Shop Post Spacing Question

[REPO]

I am in the budget stage of my pole shop. Planning on about 30 X 40. I am unsure of what the spacing should be on the 6 X 6 posts. Can I go 8', or is that too much? Maybe 6' ??? I already have a pole building on my property that was here when I bought it. It is a 54 X 100 used for machinery parking. The spacing on it is 4', but I think that is for the heavy load of the huge rafters that are in it. (Clear span)

I am thinking (hoping actually) that I can get away with a larger spacing with something tat is only 30' wide? If I went with 8' spacing I guess it would work out to be 32 X 40' while if I went with 6' spacing it would end up 30 X 42.

What have you guys done? If it matters, I live in northern Canada.

Thanks in advance!

 

[jaker10]

My 30x48 are spaced 10 foot on 30 foot walls and 8 foot on 48 foot walls

 

[larry_g]

I'm at 12' on center which is perty common here. If your in big snow country then I would suggest you check with the local community.

lg
no neat sig line

 

[olytdi]

Mine are spaced at 9 ft but are 6x10 in. The two at either end of the ridge are 10x12 in. I think 6x6 probably need to be spaced more closely but there are other variables like height and span of trusses.

Oh yeah, mine are 9 ft into the ground as well. I'm sure that there are engineering factors that determine all of this.

 

[Ray916MN]

There are a bunch of things I'd consider in selecting pole spacing.

Snow load. Some of this also depends on the pitch of the roof of the building. You cheap out on the trusses and roofing and you can expect a higher snow load with less pitch. If you intend to heat the building, you also might want to pay allot of attention to avoiding ice dams, which would also increase the potential for a higher snow load.

Wind load. The taller the building the greater the wind load. Orientation has a bit to do with this too. Length side facing west may drive you to want closer spacing.

If you use allot of fill to make the site level, you may want to consider closer spacing and or greater pole depth to make sure your poles are well planted in virgin soil.

Layout. If you build with a wall of large openings on a long side of the building, (eg. large garage doors), you may want closer pole spacing to make up for the fact that one side of the building is in essence open with big distances between poles.

 

[Haggar]

If your location requires building permits/inspections, then they'll likely have a schedule of required post spacing (and corresponding rafter support sizes based on the spans). Here in my portion of Michigan, the spacing is dependent on pole size and wall height, and truss span.

My builder is going to start my barn in the next few weeks. It will be 30x48x12. My post will be 6x6 (laminated 2x6s), on 8ft centers for the truss bearing walls. 10 ft spacing on the end walls.

 

[willymakeit]

Tho your center is variable, look at what your top purlin or ******** the wall is.This is what carries the load between poles,where your rafter seats and joist or trusses bear.
There are span charts,but rule of thumb is a 2X10 will span 12'.
The span chart will help with anticipated snow loads ect.
This top purlin works as a header to carry load.
Hope this helps.

 

[bgarrett]

Oh yeah, mine are 9 ft into the ground as well.

Is this a typo?? WHY would anyone put'em 9 feet into the ground?

 

[REPO]

Tho your center is variable, look at what your top purlin or ******** the wall is.This is what carries the load between poles,where your rafter seats and joist or trusses bear.
There are span charts,but rule of thumb is a 2X10 will span 12'.
The span chart will help with anticipated snow loads ect.
This top purlin works as a header to carry load.
Hope this helps.

I think my plan is to go with 2 X 12's strapped on either side of the 6 X 6 posts. That should be more than sufficient for this build.

 

[DoyleDee]

I have a 30x36 and my spacing is near 10ft for the two doors and about 7 ft apart for the rest- -this is on the 36ft side, on the 30 ft side, I only have one in the middle.

 

[rasit]

When considering the distance between poles you need to take into account the height of the women that will be swinging from them so they don't hit each other. BAhaahaaaa.....

 

[REPO]

After searching old threads and reading as much as I can, it appears that most are 8' or more spacing, so it should be sufficient.

 

[kbs2244]

I get so tired of posting this link..........

http://www.easybuildings.com/

 

[REPO]

Thanks for the link, I might buy that book.

 

[Haggar]

Is this a typo?? WHY would anyone put'em 9 feet into the ground?

Depends on the building, and the site. If the poles were extemely tall, then you'd often want extra depth. (The fact that he's talking about 6x10 and 10x12 sized poles, it might be the case). My locale wants pole depth to be 1/3 of the height out of the ground. So if you had a 27ft pole, you'd need 9ft buried. Thats mostly to combat the torque from wind shear.

The other thing could be that there was fill done, and the post and pads should be on virgin soil. I had to do that on some large cantilevered decks that I built years ago. We had 8x8 posts that had 8ft+ depth into the ground, because the area had been built up with fill dirt.

 

[willymakeit]

I think my plan is to go with 2 X 12's strapped on either side of the 6 X 6 posts. That should be more than sufficient for this build.

I agree.

 

[mrobins297aaa]

I have 8' spacing on my 6x6 post with 3- 2x10's as the truss carriers between them. 2 stacked on the outside and one on the inside.
if your using roof trusses 24" on center lay your post out so that every 4th truss ends up on top of a post........takes some of the load off the carriers.
and what ever you do use the right fasteners in the treated lumber.

 

[olytdi]

Is this a typo?? WHY would anyone put'em 9 feet into the ground?

That's what the city required.

 

[holdover]

on a 6X6 post most builders would notch one side so the header is bearing on wood, the shear value of 3 nails is not to great, many would also run a bolt and washers through for extra strength on heavy storm load areas