Pole Barns

[Poseidon]

Does anyone have a pole barn they built for a garage / shop? I'm still in the planning phase of mine. I'm looking at building a 60'x40' shop. I'm planning to have three 10x10 garage doors for my truck, my wife's SUV, and my work car all at one end, then use the other end for bikes, work bench, bike table, etc. I am planning to put in a 2 post car lift, deep [easy boys] (see Conniesaki, I learn quick) in one of the bays so I can still park a car in front of it without banging [easy boys] the doors on the posts when not in use. I'm not sure what size door to use yet, but I would like to have a door on the motorcycle / work bench side to get the bikes in and out without moving cars first.

Anyway, I'm just looking for ideas right now. For those of you that have built shops, is there anything you wished you would have done differently? Anything you did different than most that worked out well?  Any suggestions, ideas, pictures, etc would be appreciated.

Thanks!

[gPink]

Are you planning on heating the whole area? If you don't need the clearance for the lift(s) in the whole shop you might consider two roof heights. I think the ideal would be pole barn for the lift end and stick built or panel construction for shop side.

[just gone]

You may already be aware of this Poseidon, but just in case not, then try here: https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/

Lots of information there (almost too much) and a special section on motorcycle garages as well.

[Poseidon]

Are you planning on heating the whole area? If you don't need the clearance for the lift(s) in the whole shop you might consider two roof heights. I think the ideal would be pole barn for the lift end and stick built or panel construction for shop side.

I haven't decided if I want to heat it or not. In this area, I probably only have a few weeks out of the year where I would really need it. If I do decide to, I would probably just do a wood stove or possibly a wood pellet stove to take a bit of the chill off. I currently have my "bike garage" that has central heat and air that I can use for the longer projects. Let me explain... The previous owner of our house finished part of the 2 car attached garage into living space. He left a garage that is 26' wide, but only a little over 8' deep. It isn't much good for anything as far as garages go except for motorcycles. Maybe a riding mower or something, but not much else. That is where I have been doing the winter mods and maintenance on my bikes, as well as, where I store them. It is packed pretty tight right now tho.

[Poseidon]

You may already be aware of this Poseidon, but just in case not, then try here: https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/

Lots of information there (almost too much) and a special section on motorcycle garages as well.

That is awesome! Thanks for the link.  I found another garage forum, but it isn't as good as the one you posted. I haven't found the motorcycle garage section yet, but I'll find it if it is there! Thanks again!!!

[Conniesaki]

Does anyone have a pole barn they built for a garage / shop? I'm still in the planning phase of mine. I'm looking at building a 60'x40' shop. I'm planning to have three 10x10 garage doors for my truck, ...{snip}

A 10' wide door is pretty tight {Easy, boys!}, especially for a truck, and especially if you have tow mirrors. I actually think a standard 16' wide door is tight for 2 cars (unless they're those Smart Cars  ). An 18' wide allows for a little more wiggle room.

{snip}..., deep [easy boys] (see Conniesaki, I learn quick) ...

Nice!  Lookin' for its creator, BDF, to weigh in.

[just gone]

I haven't found the motorcycle garage section yet, but I'll find it if it is there! Thanks again!!!

I didn't post it up earlier because searching that site will bring up some gems, but then I remembered not everybody is retired with hours available to spend on the internet. So since I had it bookmarked and subscribed to...

...here ya go: https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=46792

My favorite so far (caution, photobucket sourced, if you don't have the appropriate browser add-ons you may not see it.):


This one isn't too shabby either:

Neither of the above are pole barns, but I like 'em anyway. 

[Poseidon]

I didn't post it up earlier because searching that site will bring up some gems, but then I remembered not everybody is retired with hours available to spend on the internet. So since I had it bookmarked and subscribed to...

...here ya go: https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=46792

My favorite so far (caution, photobucket sourced, if you don't have the appropriate browser add-ons you may not see it.):


This one isn't too shabby either:

Neither of the above are pole barns, but I like 'em anyway. 

Thanks for the link!  I'm about a third of the way thru that thread. 

[MAN OF BLUES]

having built a 50 x 100 free stander with 14 ft eaves for the Penske taems storage hre in ohio ( LeRoy) i will say depth as over estimated, and on a truss built construction, go for width,, which may be be constued as turning the roof to go to your advantage... the 50x100 was built using 25 x 50ft spanners, after we worked for a couple weeks to get to th point we were setting  the top, i'll just say it was a royal p.i.t.a. on that sized barn.... we set ALL the trusses in one single day' with a crew of about 9 people' and a crane, and it took 8 full hours... to set them....
it was a biotch... and i paid dearly for it as i was nailing each one on my side on line.
I built lotsa barns in "off" season assitance to my pal Heath, but that one was the last... up the wall/down the wall, for a month cured me.

best of luck... best thing I can say is "downsize" and plan interior accordingly..
peace

[Poseidon]

having built a 50 x 100 free stander with 14 ft eaves for the Penske taems storage hre in ohio ( LeRoy) i will say depth as over estimated, and on a truss built construction, go for width,, which may be be constued as turning the roof to go to your advantage... the 50x100 was built using 25 x 50ft spanners, after we worked for a couple weeks to get to th point we were setting  the top, i'll just say it was a royal p.i.t.a. on that sized barn.... we set ALL the trusses in one single day' with a crew of about 9 people' and a crane, and it took 8 full hours... to set them....
it was a biotch... and i paid dearly for it as i was nailing each one on my side on line.
I built lotsa barns in "off" season assitance to my pal Heath, but that one was the last... up the wall/down the wall, for a month cured me.

best of luck... best thing I can say is "downsize" and plan interior accordingly..
peace

So, if I understand you correctly, you are saying that I would be better off building a 30'x70' or even 80' with an extra bay vs a 40'x60'. Is that correct?