Old Barn used for equipment, You think this will work?

[marhar]

I have an old barn. Each side of the barn has 4 stalls with a loft over the stalls. The barn is open in the middle.

I am looking to put a couple of pieces of heavy equipment in the center. I would like to open the stalls from the outside sides of the barn. My goal is to cut openings in the sides of the barn and have several garage doors on the sides. I would like to be able to open the garage door and back the tractor to drop an implement. I would not cut any structural supports.

What are your thoughts and advice? I am looking for a cost-effective way to store implements with the ease of backing up and detaching or backing up and attaching.

 

[LouNY]

With the proper reinforcement it could be done. One issue I have with doors in the sides of a building
all the rain or snow is going to be pouring down on you if you can't get the rear of the tractor past the overhang.

 

[jigs_n_fixtures]

Get, a good structural review. The exterior wall could be resisting wind shear, and cutting big holes in it could compromise the structure.

It would be worth having an Engineer take a look at it.

 

[ning]

I'd think long and hard about how much stability the sides you're opening up may be providing via shear strength, and make sure you replace it somehow.

 

[Rustyiron]

Personally I'd build a long and narrow typical machine shed and leave the barn intact.
The older I get the more I feel the importance of saving old barns. They're not making them anymore.

 

[Hay Dude]

I have an old barn. Each side of the barn has 4 stalls with a loft over the stalls. The barn is open in the middle.

I am looking to put a couple of pieces of heavy equipment in the center. I would like to open the stalls from the outside sides of the barn. My goal is to cut openings in the sides of the barn and have several garage doors on the sides. I would like to be able to open the garage door and back the tractor to drop an implement. I would not cut any structural supports.

What are your thoughts and advice? I am looking for a cost-effective way to store implements with the ease of backing up and detaching or backing up and attaching.

At a minimum, you’ll need structural headers over the door openings if they are load bearing walls. Find a local structural engineer and have him draw up some specs for you. Money well spent.

 

[tacticalturnip]

At a minimum, you’ll need structural headers over the door openings if they are load bearing walls. Find a local structural engineer and have him draw up some specs for you. Money well spent.

Good thought! It only takes one oops becoming an oops to really ruin your day.

 

[scootr]

Being 2 story the building has plenty of shear above assuming the siding is sound. What is the size of this barn and how many doors of what size do you wish to cut in?

 

[JJT]

If the barn is old enough to be a real post and beam barn, there are no load bearing walls, the posts carry the load. I'm voting for saving the barn asis and building something new for the implements.

 

[pmsmechanic]

So I'm think a bit differently about this. I would not want to change the look of the old barn by adding doors along the sides. That's me. What I would concider is spending the money to repair the footings and do what ever needs doing there to ensure the longevity of the barn. Pour the whole floor into cement and use small custom pallets with castor wheels for moving your equipment into and out storage along the sides. Don't be cheap on the castor wheels and everything will move around quite easily.