Where do you park?

[JBrady]

Here is a pretty good picture of what you can do with metal chicken house trusses. You just set you posts, poles, whatever, in the ground and bolt or weld the trusses to them. You can build in pretty much any increment of 10'. Around here, a set of trusses is about $150.

 

[aighead]

Holy crap, that's huge! I'll look into it, thanks.

 

[ianjoub]

Methinks that may be susceptible to those strong swirling winds you encounter on OK sometimes...

 

[Ct Farmer]

We try to keep everything inside but often most things spend a few days outside when in use. Some goes in the bar but a lot is in a greenhouse we are not growing anything in covered in white or shade poly.

Big advantage of a greenhouse is that the tax man calls them temporary and doesn't tax them.

 

[Tinkerer]

Looks vulnerable to heavy snow loads.

 

[JBrady]

On the barn, yes. I would think it is definitely vulnerable to heavy snow loads. That's why these are mostly a southern thing and you really don't see this type of construction north of Missouri. I'd also be concerned about uplift from winds. I put mine in an area that is protected by trees. It made it though all of the tornadoes we had this past may, no direct hits. There is a lot of cross bracing in most of the ones you see.

 

[Steve Best]

Here is a pretty good picture of what you can do with metal chicken house trusses. You just set you posts, poles, whatever, in the ground and bolt or weld the trusses to them. You can build in pretty much any increment of 10'. Around here, a set of trusses is about $150.
View attachment 200495

Interesting truss type. Here in snow country I've never seen it. We often use a slightly similar type truss shown below as "scissors type" to accomplish the same thing with more central strength.

This is pretty typical of most local farmers spruce pole shed/barns, although many use very little milled lumber:

Speed and economy are what these sheds are all about. Spruce logs, spikes, strapping and metal roofing.
Oh yes, and a chain saw...

 

[Delmer]

The chicken barn truss is similar to most metal building frames, they're built with the connection at the eave rigid and the connection at the peak not under as much bending stress. That is, the truss or beam is deeper at the eave and top of the wall, and thinner at the floor connection and peak. Different strategy from most wood trusses and pole framed buildings, which rely on the post buried for sidewall strength, but don't require an engineered slab to hold the outward force from the frame (the wood truss transfers only vertical force).