POLE BARN DOORS
Pole Shed with Bi-Fold Door
MEGA-DOORS ON WOODEN FARM STRUCTURES
Bifolds and One-Piece doors in modern wooden farm buildings require special design
considerations. Build it too wide and too high, and it still might be too
small. So think BIG! Bigger is proving better when specifying the size of
doors in farm shops and machine sheds. "Schweiss has never had a customer
come back and say the door we installed was too big."
It boils down to this: When planning your new shop and door package, you're
better off going too big, than too small. We simply say, "Do it right the
first time."
Today's aggressive farmers are definitely going for bigger doors. We hear
from farmers throughout the country, "Our shed doors are 24' wide but now
we need a door to accommodate the new combine head we are about to
purchase." Another common statement, "When we come home from the field, we
want to be able to drive the combine directly into our shop."
"We often talk with customers planning on purchasing a new piece of
equipment and trying to size their new door for that particular piece of
farm equipment. But that's where we want to get everyone thinking outside
the box and into the future. Before you know it, a few years have gone by
and that new piece of equipment shows up...larger than you ever figured. So
we want customers to have the same mindset...drive home from the field, pull
up to the shop door, touch your remote button and drive on in. Design your
pole-shed door for the future! That's our message.'
THE STYLE AND SIZE OF DOORS AFFECTS THE DESIGN OF POLE BUILDINGS.
If someone is telling you "there may not be any need for a reinforcing
header or structural bracing," be aware. As we all know, all buildings are
not the same. Today wooden buildings come in many different designs, and
every company is claiming they have the best. That's the time to ask some
important questions such as 1) "Have you ever built a building using a
large bifold or One-Piece hydraulic door?" or 2) Does the building company
beef up your building to accommodate a door for the large opening? Or 3) Is
the building company providing any extra structural reinforcement to the
building to carry the load of the door? 4) Is your builder following the
door manufacturer's specs?
Your door very likely will be the largest piece of moving equipment on your
building The building structure must support the door in all positions.
Each style and size of door has different reactions, and the loads it
applies to the wooden structure. We've found that while some buildings
initially cost less than others, here is what's really important: "Is the
building package built to accommodate the size and door type of your
choice?"
Your doors should be specified early in the planning process, so building
designers can incorporate adequate reinforcing. Schweiss will work with you,
your architects, and your contractors or building supplier to ensure a perfect
fit in your building. We supply door weights, engineering data, wind load
specifications, and design specifications to make certain that you have all
the necessary information needed for the design of your pole building or
frame shed to accept the Schweiss door of your choice. This information
will insure a smooth and safe installation.
Every door designed by Schweiss furnishes the building contractor/door owner
a complete set of "Door Specs." When considering big doors for farm shops or
machine sheds, you have four basic options: 1) sliding doors; 2) sectional
overhead doors; 3) bifold doors; and 4) the new 'one-piece' hydraulic doors
that hinge at the very top. Sliding doors were common for machine sheds in
the past, but they are questionable choices for shop doors. Why? Because
sliding doors are high maintenance...and if you insulate and line the inside
of the shop door, you add weight which makes them heavier to open and close,
and puts more stress on their hardware. Often snow and ice are challenges
too. Sectional overhead doors have been used in farm shops for decades.
Again, with sectional overhead doors weight has become an issue, as farm
equipment and shop door openings have grown larger.
"Those heavier sections require stronger, heavier rails, so everything gets
bulkier and more expensive." With sectional overhead doors, you are limited
in width, as big sectional overhead doors reduce vertical clearances in
buildings because of the heavier tracks and bracing needed to support the
extra weight. There are "low headroom" track systems that often require
complicated opening systems. When installing this style door, especially in
shop pole buildings, the door in the open position obstructs/blocks ceiling
lighting. Pole buildings have eight feet between trusses so builders must
add blocking and supports in the ceiling for the tracks and openers.
Needing a larger door, and you're probably looking at some sort of bi-fold,
or one-piece hydraulic door. Mike Schweiss, founder of Schweiss Bifold
Doors, says, "Width isn't an issue for us. Thirty-two foot wide doors
used to be common. We're putting in a lot of 40-footers now, and the
aggressive guys are going to 50-foot doors. The biggest door we've built so
far is 130-feet wide.
POLE SHEDS FOR THE FUTURE
Terry Ahlbrecht farms near Hector, MN recently put up an 80'x 150' pole
building for machine storage, with an eye to using it as a shop in the
future. He installed two, 50' x 18' bifold doors on opposite ends of the
building, to provide drive-through maneuverability. He started out wanting a
big bifold and a smaller door, but it was about the same money for two big
doors. Schweiss offers discounts if they can build and deliver two doors to
the same jobsite. Bifold doors require only 24 inches of headroom; can be
insulated to R-values equal to the sidewalls of building, and use a variety
of lift mechanisms. Ahlbrecht's doors use lift straps, rather then steel
cables. "If the door has a cable system and accidentally comes down on a
piece of equipment sitting in the doorway, the cable "birdnests" like a
fishing reel, and it's a mess to get it untangled," he says. Ahlbrecht went
on, "Aside from not getting tangled, I like the lift straps because as the
strap wraps around the spool, the radius of the spool increases so the door
opens faster. So the door lifts slowly close to the floor, then moves
faster as it moves to the wide open position.
The One-Piece hydraulic door design is another alternative. Hydraulic doors
are designed to swing out, requiring zero headroom. They're basically a wall
hinged at the top that swings open. These single panel doors have one set
of hinges across the top of the door frame. The Schweiss One-Piece
hydraulic door comes pre-hung, is water-tight, easy to operate with the push
of a button, easy to install, easy to insulate, and swings out providing a
canopy when the door is in the open position.
Powered by a powerful hydraulic pump, two heavy-duty cylinders activate the
One-Piece hydraulic door frame. The hydraulic pump can be conveniently
located away from the door opening to keep the clean look and a quiet
operation.
Hydraulic doors require no loss of headroom so retrofitting to existing
structures can help you gain additional overhead clearance required to
utilize your pole barn's full clearance opening. This is a real money
saver! Schweiss, the industry leader in custom designed doors, offer
choices when it comes to selecting doors for your equipment storage, farm shop
and other farm buildings. Our One-piece hydraulics are a second option.
Look for quality, look for price, you'll buy Schweiss.
Machine Shed equipped with a Schweiss Bi-Fold Door
Wood Structure using a Bi-Fold Door
