Going vertical

WV Sawmiller · February 07, 2017, 05:57:36 PM

I built a pole barn for lumber storage last year. Started with 12X40 with a foot ot so overhang on each side. Found I had room for another bay so added another section. Locust poles off my place squared on the mill. 2"X6"X14' trusses and 2"X12"X20' headers. 4/4 siding from all my practice cuts. Used tin off a barn being torn down in next county. When done had about $500 invested in it. Guess what - its not big enough so added shelves in 1st 2 bays.

I have been cutting my short ash logs to make my arms and knee braces. Cut 2 more short logs and one super scrappy 10' log to get the last 2- 2"X6"X10's I needed. Had some 2"X12"X14' ash framing and use that first. Arms were 36" long but only fianl shelf was a little over 18' X 30" wide (The poles ate up 6"). Added a couple more short posts so no more than 48" between arms and bracing because of the weight. Probably over engineered - I hope so.

My old worn out extension cord died on me during the build so I went ahead and did some wiring with some leftover materials and added another outlet for the last bay which is also real handy.

These 2 show total length of the shelf. You can see the added posts between the original uprights.

View of the top of the shelf.

Started moving some big walnut slabs to the new shelf. Doubled up on the first one but rest are one slab per row. Still have 3-4 more to move tomorrow. Will move some lumber and next shelf will be 90 degrees on left side and I have room for another 3'X9' shelf. I think I will store my walnut 4/4 boards there.

btulloh · February 07, 2017, 06:06:40 PM

No shed is big enough. Ever.

Nice work. You got a lot of mileage out that $500.

YellowHammer · February 07, 2017, 08:04:07 PM

Nice.

Brucer · February 07, 2017, 11:24:02 PM

Here's something to think about.

I built something similar in my 10' high garage for storing & drying select pieces of lumber. After a few years I noticed it was sagging a little. When I finally removed it last year it was sagging a lot. I can't see how your braces are attached to the uprights -- if they aren't through-bolted I'd consider doing that in the next couple of years. Also, a nailer plate on the joint between the brace and the horizontal piece might be useful. Ideally you'd put a plate on each side of the joint but that may not be practical.

WV Sawmiller · February 08, 2017, 07:29:19 AM

Brucer,

The braces and the arms are both attached to the uprights with 1/4" X 6" spikes. The shelves, braces and arms are all 2" thick ash. The uprights are locust. Both are about as hard a wood as we have around here. I have high confidence they will never pull free. I will investigate the nailer plate at the 45 degree joints where the brace and arm meet as that connection currently only has a 16 penny nail connecting them. Adding the nailer plate would be an easy fix. Thanks for the suggestion.

WV Sawmiller · February 08, 2017, 06:56:02 PM

Only had a little while this morning but did finish stacking my large walnut slabs on my new shelf. Lifting heavy slabs is a pain. Biggest was about 9/4 X20+"X 10'. Anyway it helped clear up ground space I can now use.

My next step will be to add another shelf about 9' long 90 degrees to the last one and move some 4/4 walnut up there to finish freeing up the bay. Here is the space.

I had about 60-65 bf of 10' ash boards there and had to move them to to dig a new hole for a supplemental post. I chipped out a 2' deep hole in the dry clay with a spud bar and added and tamped tight a sawed 3 locust post as shown. My next step will be to lag screw it to the existing frame of the shed there then add the arms and braces and finish the shelf.

Thinking further to Brucers's suggestion I remembered I had previously, instead of using metal plates to join the braces and arms, I have sawed and used 1X6's sawed to length with 45 angles on each end. Their purpose is keep the brace from kicking free of the arm under pressure. My thoughts are I have plenty of wood. I don't the metal plates and can't see buying them when I can make a substitute from my own materials.

WV Sawmiller · February 10, 2017, 07:01:45 PM

Added another 8'X34" shelf today. Cut my remaining braces, arms and shelf boards today and even added more support to previous braces. Finished just before dark so will restack about 200' of 4/4 walnut up there tomorrow freeing up much needed space in my shed.

I see a slight bow on the right side and plan to run a scrap 2X12 under the long shelf and connect the end of the short shelf to it. This will level and add more support to the new shelf too.

WV Sawmiller · February 11, 2017, 06:58:29 PM

Okay, connected the 2 new shelves to level and strengthen the short one. Then I stacked my 4/4 walnut on it freeing up approximately 10'X12' spot in my first bay so now I can cut and stack some more logs out of my pile. Then I stacked my stickers on the end of the long shelf freeing up another 4'X12' spot I can also use. I guess my next project will be to restack some of my existing lumber and cut some more to fill up these spots.