Machine Shed Built Out Of Lightweight Steel Tubing

Machine Shed Built Out Of Lightweight Steel Tubing BUILDINGS Miscellaneous 23-4-8 "It cost only a fraction as much as putting up a commercial building of a comparable size," says John Satre who built his own 40 by 60-ft. machine shed last winter using steel tubing and a bi-fold door of his own design. The Medicine Hat, Alberta, farmer got the used 1 1/4-in. dia., 1/16-in. wall lightweight tubing - which is used in oil fields - for free. To bend the tubing into 19-ft. high arched ribs, Satre built a special 5-ton hydraulic-powered bender. Then he spot welded two sections together, one on top of the other, every 18 in., to reinforce them. The building frame consists of 21 such ribs, which Satre says used up almost 1/2-mile of the tubing. The ribs were anchored in a 24-in. poured concrete foundation with 4-ft. deep pilings set every 6 ft. The building is covered in the 26-ga. galvanized metal - almost 4,300 sq. ft. of it - all in 6 1/2 and 12 1/2-ft. (32-in. wide) panels. It's attached to the ribs with self-tapping screws with 6 in. of overlap. End walls were built out of 2 by 6 studs covered first in 3/8-in. plywood and metal. There are also four 12-ft. by 30-in. plastic light panels, two per side, to let in sunlight. Satre built a 16-ft. wide by 15-ft. high bi-fold door for the west end of the shop, using 1 1/2 by 3-in. tubing to make the main frame. It's covered in light gauge ribbed sheet metal and runs on a commercial 3/4 hp door opener, which operates with two cables and sprockets mounted in the rafters. "What makes it different from any commercial bi-fold door I've ever seen is that it's flush mounted in the door frame, rather than outside it," Satre says. "That way, it seals tighter and better protects the raceways the rollers slide on." The project took about a month to complete and cost about $11,000 (Canadian). Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, John Satre, General Delivery, Medicine Hat, Alberta, Canada T17 7E4 (ph 403 527-0257 or 526-5704).

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