Another pole barn in planning

[Bladehauler]

I am in the planning stages of my shop.
Im looking at a 36 x 60 x 16 with what I would prefer is a 24 X14 hydraulic door on the eve side ( self built ) I need to be able to park my class8 tractor ( 24,500 lbs , my tractor and equipment and still have room for fabrication and maintenance, my plan is to build the barn myself , do the grade work myself and hire out the concrete pour and finishing. concrete with thickened edges an 6 " thick through the center. Im in Texas outside of Houston so no snow load but I think I have to build for 120mph winds, Electrical and plumbing I can also do .will build as time and money allow

AM I CRAZY TO THINK I CAN DO THIS?????

 

[mx842]

I am in the planning stages of my shop.
Im looking at a 36 x 60 x 16 with what I would prefer is a 24 X14 hydraulic door on the eve side ( self built ) I need to be able to park my class8 tractor ( 24,500 lbs , my tractor and equipment and still have room for fabrication and maintenance, my plan is to build the barn myself , do the grade work myself and hire out the concrete pour and finishing. concrete with thickened edges an 6 " thick through the center. Im in Texas outside of Houston so no snow load but I think I have to build for 120mph winds, Electrical and plumbing I can also do .will build as time and money allow

AM I CRAZY TO THINK I CAN DO THIS?????

No Sir I don't think so. It all depends on how much time you have on your hands. I'm doing the same thing and although it has been a fun project and I have learned a lot of stuff I didn't know at the start.

Mine is a pay as you go kind of thing also and there are some draw backs to building like this that you find out about as you go along. One is the wood you use will do all sorts of crazy things once it starts to dry. Do your best to get it under roof as quick as you possibly can once you start. I have done everything by myself and that is probably not the best route but I was really strapped for money and had to do what I could to get it done.

I had it all ready to put truss on when we had a hurricane come through and send a couple of great big oak trees through it and by the time It was over I had to rebuild over half of it. I would have been better off tearing it down and starting all over because I could never get it back to the nice straight and plumb form it was at first. I was going to build my truss but after this I decided to buy my truss and have the roof guy that was putting a new roof on my house that the storm tore off place them on the frame for me because I was so far behind.

When we set the truss I found out just how bad wood will twist and bend in the sun even when it is nailed together with 20 penny pole barn nails. Needless to say there has been a lot of shimming going on and even more now that I have started to put siding on the front of the building to keep the sun off my floor insulation and pex tube I had laid out for my floor heating system.

I have had to replace several of the big 6x6 post that I originally placed because they took off on a new direction of their own and could not get them straight enough work with. I hated to do it because that was a total waste of money and time but it was the only way to get the walls back straight enough to work with. I guess it could have been worst because it was almost a year from the time I set the first post to the time I set the first truss.

I personally think 6" concrete floors are overkill unless you are building on loose fill or unstable ground even with a heavy load you mentioned. 4" reinforced concrete on good compacted base material will support pretty much anything you put on it if it is done right. You probably want to go a little deeper at the big entrance doors and add a little more steel there especially the finish grade is a lot higher than the outside grade and there is a sharp angle entering the building. That is where the greatest forces are when bringing in large pieces of equipment. Once the load is on the floor the weight is distributed out over a large area and thousands of pounds become small amounts in any given area. You will be talking $10,000.00 or more for a floor the size you are talking at 4" and 2 more inches over all you will be #15,000.00 or more. Just a thought you may consider.

 

[Bladehauler]

No Sir I don't think so. It all depends on how much time you have on your hands. I'm doing the same thing and although it has been a fun project and I have learned a lot of stuff I didn't know at the start.

Mine is a pay as you go kind of thing also and there are some draw backs to building like this that you find out about as you go along. One is the wood you use will do all sorts of crazy things once it starts to dry. Do your best to get it under roof as quick as you possibly can once you start. I have done everything by myself and that is probably not the best route but I was really strapped for money and had to do what I could to get it done.

I had it all ready to put truss on when we had a hurricane come through and send a couple of great big oak trees through it and by the time It was over I had to rebuild over half of it. I would have been better off tearing it down and starting all over because I could never get it back to the nice straight and plumb form it was at first. I was going to build my truss but after this I decided to buy my truss and have the roof guy that was putting a new roof on my house that the storm tore off place them on the frame for me because I was so far behind.

When we set the truss I found out just how bad wood will twist and bend in the sun even when it is nailed together with 20 penny pole barn nails. Needless to say there has been a lot of shimming going on and even more now that I have started to put siding on the front of the building to keep the sun off my floor insulation and pex tube I had laid out for my floor heating system.

I have had to replace several of the big 6x6 post that I originally placed because they took off on a new direction of their own and could not get them straight enough work with. I hated to do it because that was a total waste of money and time but it was the only way to get the walls back straight enough to work with. I guess it could have been worst because it was almost a year from the time I set the first post to the time I set the first truss.

I personally think 6" concrete floors are overkill unless you are building on loose fill or unstable ground even with a heavy load you mentioned. 4" reinforced concrete on good compacted base material will support pretty much anything you put on it if it is done right. You probably want to go a little deeper at the big entrance doors and add a little more steel there especially the finish grade is a lot higher than the outside grade and there is a sharp angle entering the building. That is where the greatest forces are when bringing in large pieces of equipment. Once the load is on the floor the weight is distributed out over a large area and thousands of pounds become small amounts in any given area. You will be talking $10,000.00 or more for a floor the size you are talking at 4" and 2 more inches over all you will be #15,000.00 or more. Just a thought you may consider.

Thanks for the advice, and sorry for mother nature throwing you a curve ball. Mine as well will probably wind up being a pay as I go project.It might be a while before I can start it but i do have a couple of carports I was thinking when I get close to construction time buying the post and let them continue to dry for a while. the concrete is the scary part price wise, I might have dirt floors for a while.

Thanks again
Scott
C-ya

 

[Iplayfarmer]

You can do this.

Know your limits. Do what you're comfortable with. Be patient and hire out what you are not comfortablle with. I'm sure you'll get a lot of good advice here.