What ceiling height?

[Delta Dave]

I might build a barn before I buy a new tractor and wanted to make sure the ceiling height was enough. The tractor will most likely either be a 4x4 Kubota M6040 or JD 5303. I know that they need a little over 8' to get in so I was thinking of a 10' ceiling, but is there a need to have a ceiling higher than 10'?

Thanks,
DD

 

[radman1]

Always go higher than what you need. 10' should be ok for those tractors. Be sure you don't want something in the future taller. Motorhome, travel trailer etc. Doesn't cost much more to go to 12 or 14'. I built mine at 12' and wish I had gone 14'. Cement truck could just barely get in my 12' to pour cement. You will lose some height if you pour cement. Consider use of pallet racks for storage in the future. 10' may be a little low for putting stuff on pallet racks.

 

[Delta Dave]

The floor will be poured first, so it would be 10' over the slab. I'm not worried about other items like Motorhomes, this will be at my camp 3 hours away and the only thing I plan on keeping in the barn is the tractor, implements, tools and an aluminum boat. I'm mainly worried about is there any reason to raise the FEL higher than 10' to work on the tractor. Or something else, I might not be thinking of. The pallet racks is a good reason to raise it, but I'm not sure yet.

 

[mjarrels]

Up... Up... and away... Taller is always better... I went with 10' and when floor was finished, ended up being 9' 4"... Also, go with wide doors!

mark

 

[BarryinMN]

Consider the door. An overhead will cost you 12"-18" including the garage door opener.

My barn is 40x60x10 Pallet racking on the sidewalls is 8', 10' on the endwalls. Caveat is the trusses may interfere with the forklift hardware as it rises above the top shelf.

I bought a small gasoline hard tire forklift that extends to 12' so I can put bulky light stuff on top of the rafters. Fishing boat, long lumber I use for concrete forms etc.

 

[ray66v]

Don't count on 12" of head room being enough for the door and opener. It was not enough on my barn. I needed 2" more for the opener. Figure on the safe side, a minimum 15" of head room, If you want an overhead opener.

 

[Delta Dave]

I plan on installing swinging doors, so overhead doors will not be an issue.

 

[Wesdor]

You will need more than 10' walls to get a 10' ceiling. As Barry said, your door will need clearance.

I put in 12' walls on the building with 10' overhead doors and there isn't a lot of extra clearance room for the doors.

If you put in a 10' door then you need to go higher with the walls.

Just be sure and have fun building your barn. Not everyone gets those fun moments.

 

[CurlyDave]

I plan on installing swinging doors, so overhead doors will not be an issue.

You will still need some kind of doorframe. Don't wimp out on height.

There is an as-yet-to-be-invented gadget in your future, and it may be tall.

 

[skipmarcy]

I built my house/garage on a slab (poured concrete first), did 10' (pre-cut studs) on the garage walls. I made 2, 5' wide garage doors which are side-hinged. The 2x12 door header takes clearance down to 8'11". If you're not going to use the loader inside the garage, 10' should be more than enough. Those that say it doesn't cost much more to go 12, 14 or 15' must not be considering all the extra materials - siding, insulation, interior wall covering etc. It adds considerably to the total price, in my opinion.

 

[EddieWalker]

My walls are 12 feet and I think that's worked out to be a very good height. Ten would work, but would limit your door opening height to minimal levels. My door is 10 x 10 and it has also worked out well.

I find the height especially nice when working on wood projects. Standing a sheet of plywood on edge and/or long pieces of lumber are easy to manuver and work with. I have shelves all the way to the ceiling and still have open spaces on them. That's allot of storage!!!!

Another advantage to the taller walls is that you can always add a lean-to onto the sides of the building easier and bigger with taller walls. My lean-to goes out 12 feet with a 4:12 pitch and is still 8 feet tall at the ends. If I had a ten foot wall, I could have either cut my width down or had less height. Neither are options that I wanted.

Eddie

 

[scott_vt]

Another advantage to the taller walls is that you can always add a lean-to onto the sides of the building easier and bigger with taller walls. My lean-to goes out 12 feet with a 4:12 pitch and is still 8 feet tall at the ends. If I had a ten foot wall, I could have either cut my width down or had less height. Neither are options that I wanted.

Eddie

Mornin Eddie,
My sentiments exactly !!! Im hoping to build my barn with the higher walls for woodshop considerations, and the other reason is so that I can have side lean-to extensions for implement storage and such... etc

 

[Delta Dave]

Trust me guys, I'm a home builder and roof truss manufacture, and I know that the door will not be a problem. I'm going to have swinging doors that go all the way to the ceiling and roof trusses above that. The door will be 2 - 10' tall and 7' wide doors. There will be no header. The wall with the large door in it will not be load bearing. This isn't a pole barn, it will be a building built on top of the slab. 10' walls will equal a 10' ceiling. The only place clearance won't be 10' is where a light fixture is. It will have a gambrel roof with an upstairs. With the steep pitch, I could still add a lean to without a problem.

Now that that's out of the way, is there a reason to have it higher than 10' other than just because.

Here's a cad drawing of the front that I did.

 

[scott_vt]

Now that that's out of the way, is there a reason to have it higher than 10' other than just because.

Afternoon Dave,
Yeah !!! Really big tractors !!!

 

[bigtiller]

A friend of mine had a good reason.......He bought his first pair of new shoes at the age of 18. He said he could wear 10's but 11's felt so good he buys 12's.

 

[Robert_in_NY]

You will want a 10' tall door and if you go with an overhead you will want a 12' ceiling height. Also, depending on what you are doing a 16' wide door is great as you can pull wide implements in without any problems.

I just read the rest of the replys and I would still build it 12' tall even if you plan on building swinging doors. This way you will always have the option of the overhead in the future if you want it.

 

[studor]

Unless you want to heat it, IMHO, go higher. My outbuilding is 16 foot to the trusses with half mezzanined. The end barn doors are fourteen feet high because the former owner wanted to be able to work on big machinery. The height gave me lots of options when I bought the place.

 

[Luremaker]

I built my 40 x 60 shop with 14 foot ceilings. I originally wanted 10 foot ceilings but was talked into 12 and ended up with a 14 foot ceiling. When drywalling the ceiling and walls I cursed the 14 foot ceilings because of the extra 2' strip of drywall and the extra taping it required. I also had to pay a small premium for the 14' drywall lift. That was a few years back and today I would not have it any other way. Like the others said go high. My mistake was only putting a 10 x 10 foot over head door. I really wish a had a 12 x 12 foot door.

 

[putt_putt_green]

You could lay 1 or 2 layers of cement block on top of the outside edge your slab, and then build the barn on top of your cement block. This would give you 10'8 (1 row of blocks) or 11'4 (2 rows of blocks). This will raise the barn off the ground too, which is a good thing, especially if it is wood.

 

[BarryinMN]

DD 32" wide is pretty skinny any clearance reason not to go 40' wide? Makes your door 10x20 wide which allows 2 rows of entrance & egress leaving stuff along sides undisturbed.

Swinging doors work good until the snow piles up or the wind tears em up.

I have an old 14' class TLB that the boom can hit the door framing & trusses if I enter with it raised all the way. Once in, I drop both buckets so it takes up about 30 linear feet. The lawnmower (5' deck) winters under the boom.

Woodchipper & snowblower stand about 8' tall. 60hp cab ag tractor is about 102" at the muffler flapper.

10' also clears a class A Winnebago.