New Shed

[KraftyPg]

Having not actually started a thread for about 3 months I feel I'm not holding up my mantra of post whore so here starts the remedy.

We're planning a new shed/barn for the farm. Sick of not having exactly what we want the idea this time is to design or adapt from plans what is the most suitable to our farms.

The main use for this shed will be machinery and work, currently we are planning at a shed with drive through access for all vehicles up to single trailer semis, bays to park atleast one tractor maybe two, a bay each for our tandem trailers and a single bay three single axle trailers all with easy access to both reverse into and pull out of. A lean to type roof on the side to store implements like slashers, sprayers etc, a sheltered and lockable nursery for sick animals off one side and maybe some sort of semi sealed workshop area. (3 phase power and lighting will be worked out when the shed's finished)

I know there is farmers out there but even if your not a farmer we all have ideas of what's needed in a shed so my question is, if you were designing a shed/workshop from scratch what sort of must have things would you be looking at including to make life easier?

(Not worried about tools and stuff just looking for thoughts about what the actual shed should include incase we over look something)

 

[joe2006]

Compressed air lines? (for the big spud gun (not really for the big spud gun))
Concrete floor (goes without saying)
Adequate lighting (both artificial & natural)
This one might be a bit silly but possibly a pit although it's often easier laying on your back than with hands in the air.
Lots more & might add to the list later.

 

[Dion]

Not sure if it's a big deal down in rainy Gippsland, but up north it would be a sin to let the roof space go to waste, so we'd make sure the rainwater was being collected. The other thing is having a roof beam designed for a block and tackle for skinning carcasses, lifting cages off trailers etc, just something useful that I always see being used on farms with little thought for if the beam will support the load. If you aren't interested in a hoist, consider a grease pit in the floor. Above the bays which hold shorter stuff like small trailers or the workshop, I'd build a simple timber mezzanine, to dry-store all the crap that (especially if you have an older house built before people could accumulate crap) doesn't fit inside, nobody can bear to part with, but can sit in the shed till the end of time.

 

[KraftyPg]

At very least the workshop area will be concrete, we aren't sure about the parking bays and stuff yet.

Compressed air is a good idea, we don't use it much but the compressor we bought for the post rammer will not be used much now, we were considering off loading it on ebay but sticking in a corner and having it there just incase isn't a bad idea. It's like the 3 phase welder, no point getting rid of it so we will build the bastard in and make use of it.

I work with a bunch of old farts, we are going for MCG lighting

I want to install/modify the gantry sitting out at the old neighbours place but the old farts reckon there is no need for any of us ever to need a gantry to lift engines out any more. They are probably right but it doesn't stop me stirring the old farts.

 

[KraftyPg]

Not sure if it's a big deal down in rainy Gippsland,

What rain

Collecting rain is a definite even though this farm has a natural spring that in 80 years hasn't run dry saving as much as we can is still a priority. Besides as some people so rudely point out it's rainy down here we should be able to save the water and sell it to those up north with no water

We don't slaughter our animals ourselves so we don't need a means to do such things but I wouldn't mind stringing up some people. But you're right we need a block and tackle for taking the cage off the big trailer, we also have to install a solar panel on the roof above the big trailer to charge the battery for the brake and hydraulics. (will also be used as a trickle charger to the tractors and workshop)

We've decided since this farm doesn't have any one in residence that the shed will not be used to store anything other than farm equipment, installing a mezz may still happen because it's a good idea in any shed but it only takes one person to start filling it full of shit.

 

[kempseyken]

G'day Krafty, mate my shed is 420 square meter's + 2 x 40 ft high cube containers next to it , my only regret is I should have built it 4 mt's high to the gutters not 3mt's like mine so I could put a proper mezzanine floor in it , but it sounds like you might have that covered. Think about a bathroom in it with toilet,shower and bath and also a log fire and bar area and a pool table ,trust me this you wont regret. Build it a good distance from the house like mine is so you can make all the noise you want without upsetting the better half. your shed is never finished I keep improving mine all the time.

 

[tweak'e]

open beams (ie no centre pole) where possible.
i like our wood pole shed over the steel one. wooden framing so much easy to do things with than steel.
gantry with endless chain. use it so often for holding things to weld them or loading vehicles.
separate wood working area. stop all the dust going through everything.
decent windows. surprising how many sheds don't have any.
insulated workshop. stop it being so cold/hot.
aircon/heat pump for workshop.
a lean to or small roof over the entrances. just to stop rain blowing in the door so much.
big friggen doors. not the piddly ones they often fit. nice to be able to back the truck in and unload the tractor etc off it inside.

 

[Old.Tony]

I used to dream about having a property large enough to have a decent shed on it and I wanted one large enough to house 6 buses, but only because that suited what I wanted to put in it. The first bay would have a full-length pit so I could get under the car + caravan and work on the undersides. The second bay would be normal concrete for the car, and both of the first two bays would be full drive-throughs. The third bay would be workshop + yard machinery and the last 3 bays would be gymnasium, train set, slot cars, model aircraft hangar and a shower/toilet/washroom, built as a structure within the outer structure.

The roof would be lined with solar panels, would collect all its own water ...

Dreamin' is bloody marvellous.

 

[d22dave]

We have a pit in the shed at work, gets used for servicing the utes and forklifts, and anything i may want to do after hours. Main shed at work has three bays, each bay holds 2 trucks or tractors, The skillion on the back wall of the shed holds another 6 vehicles, The only thing i think should of been done when the shed was built is put a drive through door from the skillion, I put a roller door on the back of my garage leading to the bbq area. Its makes the shed seem bigger and i can push the trailer out into the bbq area if i need a bit more room

 

[d22dave]

I used to dream about having a property large enough to have a decent shed on it.

I love my garage/shed 14 mt x 8 mt, i installed power points at each of the 3 roller doors plus a couple of others, next on the list is a couple 15 amp points

 

[Krankin]

I was going to put in my 2 cents worth....but they stopped making them..Haa.



looks to be all covered....

oh..dont forget to bring over/under a cat6 just so you've got us on all the time......and a TV...dont wanna miss all your daytime soapies hey.

 

[johnbritto]

what a waist of knowlage am i the only one thinking BEER FRIDGE

 

[joe2006]

I was thinking a chiller for the chardonnay.

 

[tweak'e]

i was thinking a walk in chiller for all the deer/pigs etc.

 

[swm]

One thing that was great at my parents farm was a raised platform at one end. This is even better if the ground has a slight slope. We were able to reverse trucks and utes directly upto the platform to unload gear directly onto the platform with no lifting at all.

Its even better if you can access the other side of the platform from the outside at ground height.

Great for storing bags of seed, fertiliser, drums of chemicals etc etc.

Or reversing a tractor implemet directly onto a semi trailer.
Good luck

 

[Krankin]

i was thinking a walk in chiller for all the deer/pigs etc.

^ +1....gets my vote

 

[KraftyPg]

No point putting a beer fridge in, this farm is unmanned unless we are working there and once it's fully operational we hope to only have to go there once a week to move the animals from paddock to paddock. Since the other properties are either 500m down the paddock track or 8ks via road from this farm no point leaving a stocked beer fridge somewhere that could easily be raided.

I like the idea of putting a pit in but at the end of the day a pit takes up an area we can use for something else and we'd only use it for the tractors since I have access to a full workshop and pit to work on the Nav if I need too.

One of our sheds has an electric block and tackle and platform for raising stuff up and down from the mezz, once the mezz goes into this shed we might make a similar set up to make it easier to get shit up off the ground.

Krankin I'd love to network up the shed but there is no residence on this property and therefore no phone and Telstra take a pretty dim view of splicing into their cables to gain access to the net even when the cables run through your property, but if you have a sneaky way to do so I'm open to suggestions

 

[jimmy_jay89]

what about a washing bay, you need to keep crap clean..

 

[KraftyPg]

Washing bay for dirty workers is a good idea not sure if it should be inside or outside under a lean to, a shower might be a worthwhile addition too so it might have to be an inside option. Washing the vehicles etc will be an outside only job. Apparently someone is getting us a Spitwater pressure cleaner, not sure if it's falling off a truck or is payment for some service I'm yet to hear about but it's arriving in a few months from what I have been told.

 

[justdrinkbeer]

Great big f off BBQ, actually put a spit in there, projector for watching sport.

My shed would have to be a genuine man cave, the mrs has agreed