Shipping container hay barn

[TomIre]

Been thinking about something exactly like this. Anybody want to give a SWAG at total cost involved?

 

[sailfast]

Depends on where you are...
35k?

 

[ddbackhoe]

I am in the planning stages of a barn I want to build. The purpose of the building is to eventually be a hay barn for a small cattle ranch and homestead. In the shorter term, the containers will store our belongings while we build a house on the property and be a place to park our 43 fifth wheel.
I am not in the city limits, just the county to deal with and it is very rural. It痴 not in the middle of nowhere, but you can see it from there. Since it will be considered AG, I do not expect any permit issues, but I want it to last at least 75 years.

I want to set both containers on poured footings and piers. Frost depth is 30? I am planning on digging down 36 and pouring 24肺24 footings with rebar and then setting sonotubes on them, then backfill and fill the tubes to 6 above grade. My soil is 24 of hard clay on top of a mix of sand and clay. It痴 very dry here, but it does get down to about -25f in the winter.

The containers would then be secured to the piers to prevent any movement.

My main question is since I intend to put a large roof across these, do they need footings other than at the 4 corners of each container? I saw a show on TV where they built a house out of shipping containers, and they poured 4 footings on each side of the container so it sat on 8 rather large footings. I know the containers are designed to only be supported by the 4 corners, but if it has to support a roof structure, would it be that much better?

Once the containers are in place, I intend to add 5 or so of poles or beams to raise the the height of the trusses over the center part of the barn. This is where I do not know which method would be both strong and economical. I could weld short vertical beams on top of the containers to give me the height I want and brace them adequately with a beam running the length of the containers to support the roof trusses. Any ideas on how to do this are welcome.

I plan to work with a truss company to figure out the design and sizing of the roof trusses, I知 not willing to risk building those myself.

Here is a sketch I drew up to help illustrate my plan so far. I am planning on the two lean-to style roofs that are separate from the main span to give ventilation for hay and keep the top of the containers dry.

View attachment 597374

I am not set on the dimensions. I am planning on using 40 containers, but have the main roof section over hang in front and back by 3 or 4 feet to make the total length 46 or 48 feet long to keep my trailer dry.
I imagine some dimensions are more economical than others on truss width, so the dimensions may change once I decide on what I am willing to pay.

I think this plan gives me enough storage, is something two guys and a 70hp tractor can build, and is good bang for the buck.
What am I not thinking of?

Why not just stick build the whole thing? Locally a decent 40 foot container isnt cheap.

 

[ArlyA]

3Lfarms, Please keep us informed of your barn project.

 

[rd_macgregor]

FWIW, a year or so ago I got a (unsolicited) email from a prefab steel building company advertising clearance specials. Among the specials was a "CC" style building that consisted of two 40' containers and an arched steel (quonset?) roof:

 

[3Lfarms]

FWIW, a year or so ago I got a (unsolicited) email from a prefab steel building company advertising clearance specials. Among the specials was a "CC" style building that consisted of two 40' containers and an arched steel (quonset?) roof:
View attachment 597613

I have looked at commercial products like that. They are pretty spendy. I was seeing things like that and only 20 feet wide were going for $15k. 40’ wide and its like $25k and that doesn’t include the containers or anything. It’s just the roof structure. I know I can do this a lot cheaper than that.

 

[3Lfarms]

Thanks for all the replies! Please keep the comments coming. I know there are a lot of you that are way more experienced with this than myself.

As to why not a regular pole barn, I need a large area that is not only secure, but sealed up tight enough to keep out rodents while I build a house. The shipping containers are the only way I know of to do that without pouring a slab. 40 foot containers around here go for right at $3k.

I don’t really like the idea of sinking wooden posts into the ground. I prefer to build it so that it should essentially last forever without rotting. I also plan to install a large grid-tie solar system since the open ends of this barn will face due East/West, which means the roof will be ideal for solar. That would be very difficult on a Quonset style structure.

I had thought about steel trusses, but it haven’t looked into them yet. I have not done any real legwork on this project yet other than thinking about it. I need to figure out the most cost effective way to span 40 or so feet.

I am not planning on enclosing the ends and I am not going to enclose the gap between the upper roof and the roofs over the containers. I am thinking that will be about a 2 foot opening all the way along the entire length with overhangs long enough to stay dry except in horizontal rain or snow. That should provide plenty of air movement to let hay dry and keep the temps down. The area I am building in is usually fairly breezy with winds predominantly from the South. Orientation of containers will be broadside to the wind so it should not be a big wind tunnel.

On a side note, I planted 120 wind break trees last year, so by the time I am ready to start building the house, the tallest trees should be starting to provide some protection from the wind.

This weekend I am going down there and am going to talk to the county planner. Then I’m going to talk to the electric company to see how far back from their right of way I need to be as well as what I need to do to have a meter installed on a temporary pole and ask if 400amp service is an option.

There is a place about 10 miles from the farm that sells containers. They have quite a few on site. I am going to talk to them and see what they think and ask what the best way of setting 40 foot containers on poured piers is. I am figuring I will have to hire a crane to set them in place.
I will also ask if the container will need support other than at just the 4 corners so it’s doesn’t sag in the middle.

My thoughts right now are that when I pour the piers, I will weld a 12 x 12 piece of 1/4” plate to a couple pieces of 3x3 angle and set that in the wet concrete so the 12x12 plate is set flush into the concrete. Once cured, I will place the container and weld the container to that plate. I figure it will be easy to shim up with more plate steel as necessary to level the container so all 4 corners ares resting solidly on the pier, then burn it in.

 

[ddbackhoe]

Thanks for answering. Sounds like secure wont be an issue

 

[Rustyiron]

3L, As far as I know just the corners need support, that's all I've ever done and they get (floor) loaded heavy. My thoughts would be to put your concrete piers (4) on the 2 outside walls, then pour an actual wall (front to back) to support the "inside" of the containers also creating a shop (the portion under the trusses) that's going to keep out the wind, snow & critters. At this point if you poured this ''wall" about 12" wide you'll have room to support the 'tainer and frame a conventional wall on this footer to support your trusses. You could shoot that wall up 16' for a "clerestory" with windows and have room to properly flash the lower shed roof's to your side walls. The concrete will be extra but in the end you'll have pretty conventional framing* that will allow you to run wiring (receptacles) along those wall and insulate in the future along with not having a bunch of structural or engineering issues and additional costs for any local inspections, codes and possibly a lender. I'm positive you could "beef up" the side wall to support the roof but I would think it would involve a beam of some sort from the corners, 40' apart.

* I'd be very hesitant of transferring your roof/snow loads to the side walls of a container without further support.
Cool project, you need to do a build thread for us :thumbsup:

 

[shootemup604]

You really only need 4 sonotube piers at the corners - down to the frost line for your area and you are set. If you sink some plate or brackets in the concrete you can weld the container to them later and it won't go anywhere, but pouring a concrete ramp up to the doors at the same time is a good idea. I painted my brown seacan white, dropped the summer interior temperature by over 10 degrees - just thinned down some tremclad and sprayed it on with a Princess Auto HVLP gun. I sourced some 24' steel trusses from a greenhouse operation that had been damaged by snow. Cost me $20 each. Perfect to weld to the containers. Torch a hole in the top and put in a whirlybird roof vent, it will suck the hot air out, and fresh air in through the current vents. You can buy the hardware and "puck lock" sets on ebay and they bolt right on, makes them much harder to break into.