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Operation: Pole barn/shop

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158K views 1.1K replies 51 participants last post by  whtbaron  
#1 ·
Starting my own thread on my pole barn/shop. Mind you before one thinks just rent this to do this or contract this out for this or call in a cement truck it’s not happening out here due to topography, distance from town, limited resources in town, time constraints and I live off grid. No running water here, power from solar or genset when welding and living in a truck camper doing this. Temperatures have swung from -40 to 112 degrees. Mail doesn’t even run here but 3 days a week if that.
This is my first build on this magnitude of size of project and I’m open for suggestions, facts and opinions. The build will be 43’ wide 32’ deep and is built from parameters of the materials on hand I got for free, only cost me hotel fees, diesel and time. Going to be a monitor type barn/shop built from drill stem/pipe for the framing 4.5” for main atrium, 2.875” for the side wings, and using galvanized 20 gauge grain bin tin from 18’ diameter bins for the roof/side walls and regular 26 gauge galvanized sheets for front and back walls.
The ground is not flat here and is so steep I can’t even turn a semi with a 48’ trailer around without scraping, high centering or just getting stuck, need a 6x6 out here.
First up is digging a flat spot, no flat spots on top of hills and no hills in right spot on proximation for layout, blocking northern winds, ability to drive up, distance from the road, distance from where house will be built and direction I need to face the structure so digging into a hill it is.
 

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#2 ·
Here is the pads the poles will be welded to. Took salt lick tubs mixed (3) 60 lbs of concrete in it, dropped two layers of remesh to get 2 x 2 which gives me 6 inch by 22 inch reinforced pad to weld the poles to, I sunk custom made plates from 6 inch channel iron with rebar legs welded on to to anchor in the concrete also. After I set them in the trench I cut a slit on the tubs to drain water from the pads. These will be for the main atrium only the side wings will get smaller pads to sit on.
 

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#3 ·
After those dried for 30 days not of my doing to wait that long but works out to cure the concrete it was time to weld the poles on. Mind you these are welded on to prevent pole from slipping off the pad and I can’t hold a 20 plus feet pole weighing in at 11.6# per foot pipe as I brace it by myself. Used the I beam as a way to make the pole sit perpendicular to the concrete pad to weld to for a perfect 90 degree fitting, also when I welded the pipe to the channel I left a quarter inch unwelded so any condensation or moisture can drain out the bottom of the pipe.
 

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#8 ·
A pole barn is great 👍for a weld shop. 1,200 sqft is good size too. A good evaporator cooler on wheels 😎 will keep cool.
For heat a good generator keep warm and low in cost.

Dave
 
#10 ·
smithdoor said:
A pole barn is great for a weld shop. 1,200 sqft is good size too. A good evaporator cooler on wheels  will keep cool.
For heat a good generator keep warm and low in cost.

Dave
Click to expand...
Might actually bury the sides to help with just that since it’s tucked into a hillside and the tin is 20 gauge and round it could hold the weight at least about 6 inches with some insulation. No humidity so evaporator cooler will work perfect.
 
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#12 · (Edited)
what a bunch of work. i met a const/job supervisor, and got to be friendly - we stay in contact. he builds his shop first, then lives in it for a couple/few yrs while he builds his
a very well built house, which he lives it till the time/market is right, then he sells, and starts over. his wife is a real estate agent, so the two make a food team. he's in his 3rd or 4th house now, which will be his last. ur case, sounds like this is where u wanna stay, besides, the gov is compfortable w/ trained combative survival skilled x military living off grid in secluded wooded areas. i remeber u takin the material down. lookin at it, i thought might have way walls. i guess ill have to wait and see.
 
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#13 ·
My last shop was a pole barn 20ft x 80ft. Did have 3 sides the other side was open so could be used for larger projects.
I live California most of year the days are sunny.
The machine shop was in different building insulation for year around uses.

Dave
 
#14 · (Edited)
Forgot to add, the height on the main opening will be 15’ give or take few inches and the roof will peak out to 24’ give or take a inch all based on how much rock I put down. Have a rock quarry within a mile I can drive my backhoe to and walk back and get my grain truck to load up for the price of straightening the owner’s property out which I’m the only one with access to it. He doesn’t live there but I can come and go as I please and he doesn’t care. It’s the same rock I put in the trenches below the poles.
I will put a slab down in the main atrium only also later on after the side wings are done which those will get just rock, be a nice 19’ x 32’ slab.

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#15 ·
I didn't see this when you started the thread. Absolutely excellent!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The attached footings are a very good idea. It would be hard to plumb that stuff by yourself. Excellent!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That's thinking outside the box.

I don't know where your water table is, or whether water might percolate down through your backfill, but generally any time we put pipe below grade we make certain to do our best to seal the bottom. Water can come in through the bottom, and fill the pipe. Generally, not having to face your situation with mile long pipe, we just embed the lower part of the pipe in 8 sack concrete mix (waterproof). I'm not sure I'd leave any part of the base, where it meets the pad, unwelded. It will let water in.
 
#17 ·
There isn’t a water table here and if there is one it’s about 100 plus feet down since I am building on a hill that drains to a valley 150 ft away that then drains to a ravine that drops 40 to 75 feet in some areas and then that drains out to BLM land for now. If I seen water percolate into these trenches I wouldn’t be mad I would be as ecstatic as one finding oil on their property. We only get average 13 inches of rain a year and when it rains it’s a flash flood which works for me cause I will line the valley with pond liner then put a dam up across between it and the ravine. Then in the dam put a drain pipe that cuts through and will feed a grain bin in the ravine of about one ring tall 44 inches approximately and 18’ diameter with a roof on it that will net me 7500 gallons of water approximately. Here is an example of what I’m talking about.

As long as I get the base plumb the rest will follow upwards, I use the backhoe to hang it in the air with slight bit touching the ground and pull it around with a rake. When that’s done I set it all the way and double check the plumb which gives me within inch to half of a inch plumb of front to back looking at the pole and side to side. Anymore after I set it down I hook two poles together at the base and pull the third one straight, as for front to back I pry it with 6 ft bar against block of wood against the trench walls which is hard pan clay.
 
M
#16 ·
Water can always find it's way into things. Make sure you cut some holes or leave the bottom of the footing open somehow. You could stick a short piece of PVC thru the footing pad to insure drainage
 
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#20 · (Edited)
Actually have pear cactus that grows here wildly it's so dry. Though I plan on digging a L shape trench to catch any water coming off the hill to not run under the walls with a berm that it will hit first.
 
#23 ·
:laugh: Building codes, there is none out here, you fail you pay the price of your own demise. Like the road going in town 50 miles of rock road and no speed limits but plenty sharp turns, free range animals, snow/ice or just mucky, go too fast and you will be in a ditch or ravine for few hours before someone finds you unless someone knows you are missing. Had a wildfire this summer within 10 miles of here no warning it was there headed this way possibly was going to hit here, no knock on the door no cell phone alerts only reason I knew was online webpage I check and send a drone up also to check.
Literally on your own here.
 
#28 ·
Now they are plumbed straight for most part I need to backfill 75% of the hole and pack it in so I can fine tune the last bit when I put a header up. This is what I welded up to go on the backhoe bucket to pack the dirt in from scraps, 6 inch channel welded to 8 inch I beam.
 
#32 ·
I’m only licensed to 55k on farmers tags as that’s the max till I need paperwork besides a CDL, insurance, registration and a MEC to move the rig, so I don’t need to row gears since I’m not 80k.
 
B
#35 ·
Looks like your neighbor just south has a pretty nice water impoundment. Is it lined? We have tin pole barns all over around here on the old coal strippins, they level a spot with a D9 drill 5' holes on 10' centers with a shot rig drop in 2"x30' drill steel in the holes. There are some pretty interesting ones that evolved over time with offices and break rooms. Scale shacks all wall papered with nude women.
 
#36 ·
No neighbors with water impoundments here, to which picture are you implying to? In fact I have no neighbors that live here unless you include the cows. Twenty five feet high pole barns, I have to see that I wouldn’t go over 20’ on the walls here with 2 3/8” pipe here especially 10’ on the center. This structure is being built to take one in million chances of a F1 tornado, wildfire and once in a century snow storm.
 
#42 ·
Got all poles down for main atrium of the structure now just need to cut them even at the top which will be easy with string and pocket level. Then cut saddles to tie the row of poles together, I will saddle a 4.5” pole on top, after that I will tie both rows together with 2.875” poles 8’ O.C..
 
#43 ·
A good, cheap way to level all your top cuts is with a water level (google it or youtube it...). Mark the cut location on the first post. Get a long, clear water tube, fill it with water so that you can extend it from the first cut mark to the next post and subsequent posts. All the new cut marks will be level with the first. To keep from having to use an extremely long clear tube, once you have a one or two top cut marks located, just move the leveling tube to other nearby posts, using their marks to move along.
 
#46 ·
It’s okay, people usually focus on the main objective in a picture and don’t see the details around it that might hold signs of other things whether good or bad. It’s how I have dug the whole pad out and trenches within a 1\8 of an inch per a foot drop away from the pad to drain away. I enjoy sometimes putting things out of order to see if anyone notice like in this post, try and find it. One of my favorite games to play when entering a structure is seeing if I can find at least 10 things different then rest of the place, water leaks, out of pattern building, missing pieces, extra windows when the elevator only goes so many floors…details details details it’s what kept me alive in war.
 
M
#49 ·
#51 ·
This was a fight, took almost all my vehicles to tie it off to, to stop it from swaying in the air as I brought it down to sit in the saddles and line up the poles. Even stole the wife’s clothesline to use as a guide rope
 
#62 ·
#53 · (Edited)
Yes it did in fact I got the other side up yesterday and spent the day squaring off everything off was quarter of an inch off. Now I just need to start cutting the poles going across to each row, I've decided to put (10) 2.875" poles up there so I can have a loft which is where the boom will be used again. Whenever I get the welder fired up I will cap the ends of the top rails to prevent insects and animals nesting in them, bad enough had rabbits living in them on the ground with chipmunks.
Have to say in that last picture between all the vehicles and the equipment there is less than $5000 in vehicles and equipment I paid for including the camper and the semi it sits on in the background:cool2:
 
#55 ·
Fitting up the poles to the top rails that will go across to each row, I’ve decided to go with 10 of them. This jig is way faster in keeping consistent dimensions than drawing 8 lines measuring them per pipe fitters blue book and trying to stencil a curve with a wrap.
 
M
#58 ·
Most of my pipe welding is on 1" to 4" the last 15 years and only for my projects. Expect maybe 24 hours in all 15 years. Mostly I just soapstone an arc by hand and it is usually withing an eight inch so a 4 1/2" grinder makes it fit pretty well in about 10 minutes. Yours looks much better then mine.
 
#59 ·
Damn I must be good at picking up skills, this is my first pipe project to cut as such with a cutting torch and stencil, any extra taken off I nip tuck with grinder. Pretty easy to center it up, a framing square and a level then mark it don’t need a center finder, as for center on the row of saddles going horizontal on the row of pipe that was easy, run a string along from one end to other end and line framing square up on the string while hugging the pipe and mark half its diameter.
 
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