new shop ideas/layout

[trouble007]

looking for some input. we are looking to build a new shop for are relatively small cattle farm, 300 acres. the farm has an aging fleet of JD tractors we are looking to restore. so a paint both might need to be in the plan, the current dimensions we are thinking of are 25 by 50 with the ability to go all the way up to 25 by 72 if needed there's no combines or other large equipment. so big doors aren't a necessity. and an office and some woodworking space would be nice let me know what your thoughts are as to size and layout.

Thanks

Ryan G

Shop Manager

Shady Stream Farm

 

[bill onthehill]

Are you planning to store any of these tractors inside? If it will only be for repair and paint you should be OK at 25X50. I went 40X80 and don't regret it. I would opt for a large slider on each end so you can drag something in if needed. The drive through is a great feature to have in a building. If you want a woodshop on the side of it 25 ft. is kind of narrow.I like being able to have things side by side and still have room to get around and work. Add a 36 inch personnel door so you can carry boxes and things without always having to open the big door.

 

[Bumpsteer]

IMO, 25' is way to narrow.
Inevatebly, there will be storage along the sidewalls. You won't end up with much room to get anythig around the tractor.
I would go 48' min on the width, 60' long. Farm shops tend to have more than one project at a time, things break and have to be fixed asap. No fun working outside in bad weather.

Ed

 

[Autocar]

BIG BIGGER AND EVEN BIGGER then it still won't be big enough.

 

[trouble007]

i'm not plan on storing equipment inside other than a skid-steer maybe when its really cold and i was planing on putting the woodworking on one of the ends and have an L style door layout so i could drag stuff through good idea for the man door and i know 25 is a little narrow however we are just re vamping an existing building so it already has roof trusses that we would like to save but a lean to is a possibility maybe another 25 feet added to the building its being pitched to a boss who thinks that working in -18* C in a barn with no insulation is a good shop and after it snow we have to shovel the drifts out of the way.

 

[Randy88]

How did the shop go or is it still in the planning stages. I don't know what kind of building your renovating but its never big enough but I agree with you about not liking to work in a tin shed in front of a knipco heater at subzero tems either, I've done that for 25 years now and we are also remodeling a building into a shop, the lack of funds put my dream shop on hold for now and only going with the basics. 32x80 infloor heat and 32x20 hydraulic door and a 40ft service pit along with a heated break room with a toilet at my wifes request. No their never big enough but you have to start somewhere, let me know how its going.

 

[trouble007]

sorry didn't notice your post till know still fighting to get out of the planning stage looks like its gonna be another winter in the cold maybe i will get started on the shop when it quiets down in November and damn i wish i had the shop that your describing.

 

[Randy88]

Mines out of the planning stage but into the "when we get time stage" we have started on the remodeling and have the false ceiling up and covered with tin and also the old milkhouse is cemented with infloor heat in it and are ready to do the rest of the structure remodeling and work got in the way and now we are too busy with others projects to get my own done, looks like another winter in front of the knipco doing some structural remodeling inside the barn unless work slows up this fall yet so we can get things buttoned up before the really cold weather hits. My contractor who wanted to do the inside work to put up the false rafters and ceiling and remove the old hay floor pulled a no show on me this spring and we ended up doing all that ourselves so we ended up three months behind on the project and theres no way we'll get it all done this fall yet, I'd even be happy if we could get the cement all poured and the door on so we can insulate it this winter but its not looking promising. Best of luck on your project and at least I won't be the only one trying to keep warm in front of a knipco and having wrenches freeze to my fingers this winter.

 

[oldhousehugger]

Trouble007,
I'm in the planning stages myself. One of my constraints is no budget at all so I have been looking for timbers, trusses, tin etc for free. I'm not holding my breath but every so often a metal building does come up that someone wants torn down and maybe just maybe I'll be free at that time to get the material.
One thing I remember we used to try to do when I was living in Vermont was get the place dried in by first of November. Here in Texas it only gets cool enough to start working outside again by the first of November. How times change.
John

 

[oldtanker]

Wood working and machine repair should be far apart because of the dust factor! LOL Joking!!! Real men work with steel and wanna be's work with softer stuff....like wood!


Rick

 

[Randy88]

Oldhouse hugger: put an ad in the paper that you'll tear down buildings for free and get the materials, around me we demolish them and get paid to do it because they can't find anyone to tear them down for free, just an idea. I"ve demolished a lot of good buildings over the years and pushed them into a pile and lit them on fire just to eliminate the property taxes and them being too small and outdated to be of much use to anyone anymore but the materials were still good in them surprisingly. I guess its the sign of the times nowadays to buy a farm with a buiding site on it and call someone in to totally eliminate the entire site so when we're done its bare land and farmable and have no property taxes on the site anymore, house, trees, sheds, driveways, cememt the whole nine yards is just a memory of years gone by after a few days with a dozer, excavator, fire and trucks hauling non burnable debris away, fences all come out and fencerows are landscaped and its one giant field and no sign there was ever a site there at all.

 

[trouble007]

your right wood working should be far away. we changed the plan and are now just looking at fixing the old 25 by 37 shop and not doing the woodworking.