With both machinery and sheds getting bigger, the need for wide access in sheds has increased.
This has resulted in girder trusses becoming a common addition to farm sheds. This is primarily because a girder truss can achieve a wider bay opening than can usually be built with standard engineering.
If you aren’t sure about incorporating a girder truss into your shed design, here is what you need to know about including a girder truss in your farm shed project.
Let’s start with; what exactly is a girder truss?
What Is A Girder Truss?
A girder truss is a heavy-duty steel truss that runs between columns to provide a double opening. The girder truss supports the main roof trusses in the bays in which the column has been removed.
Does My Shed Need A Girder Truss?
Girder trusses are a popular option for large cropping operations, hay growers and harvesting contractors.
A girder truss provides larger openings to cater for wider machinery such as a header with the front attached or an airseeder bar. This makes storing machinery out of the weather quick and easy.
For hay growers and export hay facilities using girder trusses reduces the amount of columns in shed, to make loading and unloading hay more efficient.
If you would like to take advantage of these benefits, it would be worth considering a girder truss.
Girder Truss Versus Girder Beam
Column removal can be achieved with either a girder truss or a girder beam, which are shown in the photos below.
The advantage of a girder truss, compared to a girder beam, is its strength as the truss structure tends to be more rigid than a girder beam.
One advantage of a girder beam though, is that a girder beam is normally shallower than a girder truss. So, a girder beam may provide a slightly better clearance height for your machinery.
Girder Truss Ideas Gallery
Wide Access Ideas & Options
If wide access is a priority for your shed build, it may also be worth considering different configurations.
For example, a shed with an open gable end or a drive-through configuration.
Lennie outlines the different configurations available for machinery sheds in the video below, and discusses the advantages and disadvantage of each configuration option.
You might also find this article helpful – 6 Ideas For Wide Machinery Storage
For more design ideas and options for your shed project, like girder trusses, browse the Latest Projects Gallery.
To discuss girder trusses in more detail and find out how they could work for your project, call 1800 68 78 88.
