Looking for ideas for wide farm machinery storage?
Storing wide farm machinery? Researching access options for your machinery shed? What is most functional? What is most cost-effective?
Impractical and inefficient machinery storage such as poorly planned access points is frustrating, time-consuming and unsafe.
This leads to issues like increased stress and a greater risk of damage to the machinery.
So, how can avoid this with your machinery shed design?
In this article we discuss six ideas and considerations to keep in mind when planning your wide farm machinery storage.
These suggestions can help ensure you can practically (and cost-effectively) store and easily access your wide machinery and avoid these issues.
6 Ideas For Wide Farm Machinery Storage
1. Open Gable End or Drive-Through Configuration
The open gable end configuration or drive-through configuration are popular options for wide machinery storage and for good reason too.
These configurations are the most cost-effective way to achieve a wide opening (in comparison to column removal or extra-wide bay spacings).
2. Extra Wide Bay Spacings
An important step in designing your machinery shed is selecting the best-fit bay spacings. This can help future-proof your shed by taking into consideration increasing farm machinery sizes.
Increasing the size of the bay spacings is also a way to address wide farm machinery storage requirements.
While 8.5 metre bays are common (and work well for hay storage too), it is becoming common practice to increase machinery storage shed bay spacings to 9 metres.
10 metre bay spacings are another option.
Bay spacings larger than 12 metres may become cost-prohibitive particularly if the shed is just for general farm storage. This is largely why open-ended configurations are more popular.
Our building consultants can provide quotations for a range of different options to help you establish which will be the best fit for your wide machinery storage requirements and your budget.
Inspiration Gallery
An alternative option to extra-wide bay spacings is to remove a column between bays – and that leads us to our next option: double bay spacings.
3. Double Bay Spacings
Double bay spacings can be achieved by removing a column between two bays and using a girder truss or girder beam to span the distance and support the frame between the columns.
For example, a girder truss between two 9 metre bay spacings can create an 18-metre-wide opening.
Inspiration Gallery
One of the downsides to column removal is the cost. For example, 12 metre bay spacings would likely be more cost-effective than using a girder truss or girder beam to create a wide opening. However, it does depend on the size of the opening you require.
Again, an open gable end is the more cost-effective option, which Lennie discusses in the video below.
While not the most cost-effective option, double-bay spacings can contribute to a versatile shed design and have been used very effectively in workshops/machinery storage sheds and in open-front sheds used for either hay or machinery storage.
4. Outrigger Sliding Door System
If you want the advantage of having wide unimpeded access of an open gable end but don’t want to sacrifice the security of an enclosed shed, it would be worth considering sliding doors with an outrigger system.
What is it? How Does It Work?
An outrigger door system, like those shown in these project examples, allows the sliding doors to be pushed out and stacked to one side or either side and out of the way of the main opening.
Inspiration Gallery
It is a good idea to have a clear picture of your machinery storage requirements and priorities such as width and weather protection when designing your machinery shed. You may find that sliding doors with an outrigger system can provide you with the best of both worlds!
5. Multi-Faceted Machinery Shed Design
Using a combination of the configurations and design features that we have discussed allows you to take advantage of the benefits of each.
For example, you could consider a machinery shed with both an open gable end and extra-wide bay spacings. Or you could design your machinery shed in a similar way to this project recently completed at Bellata NSW.
Size: 45m x 24m x 7.5m with 15 metre skillions
Build Date: 2022
Location: Bellata NSW
Features of this project include open gable ends, 15 metre skillions to both sides and column removal using girder beams to create 15 metre bay spacings.
This approach means that your shed isn’t just suited to wide farm machinery storage, it is also easily accessed by long machinery and provides quick and easy shelter for equipment and components such as header fronts.
Project Gallery
6. Site Planning & Preparation
Planning and preparing site access along with the shed access points is an important step, regardless of the machinery you are storing.
For example, details like turning circles are important for long machinery too. Take the time to plan the placement of access points and ensure the site accommodates these.
Good site preparation is also essential for ensuring the shed can be easily accessed
One often overlooked advantage of a well-prepared site is that it can be utilised in the installation stage, this helps to ensure the builders aren’t delayed by wet weather and/or inaccessible sites.
Watch the video below to learn about our suggestions for site preparation.
So, that’s six ideas for wide machinery storage you could consider when planning your new machinery shed build!
Speak with one of our building consultants about creating a shed design that delivers practical wide farm machinery storage and ticks all the boxes for your requirements.
For more articles like this, browse the Learning Hub. We have listed some articles that you might find useful:
- How To Budget For A Farm Shed Project
- How Much Does It Cost To Build A Machinery Workshop Shed
- Three Of The Best Machinery Shed Designs
To receive an obligation-free quote for your project simply submit a REQUEST A QUOTE form and we’ll be in touch!
