Drying shed

[Crusarius]

12' high looks really tall but the leanto idea is nice.

Thanks for the pics alan. that is really helpful.

[alan gage]

12' high looks really tall but the leanto idea is nice.

Thanks for the pics alan. that is really helpful.

I agree 12' might be higher than needed but I knew I wanted to build a wide (12') lean-to off either side and once you start working backwards from 8' head room under the header you quickly realize you need 12' walls for that. Even then I knocked the lean-to roof pitch back to 2/12.
Alan

[Crusarius]

I should do something soon. I just got another 26' of walnut 22" diameter. My pile is now starting to take over my driveway. I really need to learn how to safely drop trees so I can get a spot cleared for the drying shed and get it built.

[petefrom bearswamp]

Interesting thread Keith.
Good luck with your project.
12' high will be very difficult to rake snow off of the roof.
My brother used to sell these and had a demo model next to his car repair shop.
Was there for years but about 6-8 years ago came a big snowstorm, shed turned onto scrap overnight before he got there in the morning.
My shed is a pole building 32x36, 10' side walls concrete floor closed all sides, sliding doors on the ends 16' wide and much too small, but I don't use it for drying lumber, just drying my live edge slabs, storing hardwood lumber dried outside covered  and as a garage for my tractor and boat in the winter.
I have about $4,000 in it as I used volunteer (my son and a friend) labor.
Purchased the concrete floor, trusses and metal roofing, the rest I sawed out of Hemlock, the poles from utility poles.
roof is 6/12 pitch, no snow problems so far.

[btulloh]

Roofing is where all the money goes in these things.  I can saw your own poles and rafters and purlins but I haven't figured out a way to make my own metal roofing.  Shakes and shingles take a lot of time and effort.  

Now people are selling reclaimed bar tin for more than new stuff costs.  An enterprising fellow would scout up some rusty tin and sell it and then buy some new roofing.  Time and money to recover barn tin though, you really need a sky lift or something.

[Crusarius]

I need to live in an area that is actually willing to pay for stuff.

As much as I want to do my own business and make some money I live in an area where everyone wants something for nothing. already had a bunch of ppl want me to come saw their wood, leave it with them and walk away. Nice try ppl. 

Other ppl have offered shares but only 10-20%, I am sure those ppl will hand pick the good stuff and leave the rest for me. 

It is hard to beat $1300 delivered and setup for an 18x21. Just the sawing alone could be that much let alone finding the logs and cutting them. I am still searching for the right option but this thread has definitely gave me some things to think about. Thanks everyone, keep it coming.

[alan gage]

Two things reminded me to come back to this thread:

Went to an auction that was billed as having some rough sawn lumber and ended up hauling back about 5000 board feet. That, along with lumber I already had sawn, empty pallets, and some misc stuff did a good job at filling up my building.  I stacked vertically what I could and am probably up 10', maybe a little less, at the highest spot. My 12' sidewalls might be higher than really needed but it's nice having some extra height up there when moving those stacks and, as I said before, it allows for a taller/wider lean-to off the sides.

I had good intentions of keeping everything neat, orderly, and uniform but then I started sawing some odd sized random stuff that doesn't stack well with my lumber pallets and soon enough I started running out of room because I can't stack that stuff high. It happens fast. Don't skimp on size.

The other thing was a small tornado or very strong straight line winds that came through town a few weeks ago. My edge of town appears to have been ground zero with many large uprooted trees and multiple buildings loosing their roofs. Directly across the street from me a large roof was torn off a building and dropped onto the neighbors garage and tractors. Made a heck of a mess. I was a bit worried about my wimpy building but it seemed to weather the storm just fine though there might be a slight arc to the vertical poles on the west side now. Having open sides probably helped as did a small hill and line of trees offering some protection. I was impressed it took no damage and am very happy I upgraded to 12 gauge steel, longer braces and trusses, and 4 extra support posts.

Been adding gravel base for a lean-to on the opposite side but rain has hampered operations. Will probably need to wait until spring to finish it.

Alan

[Crusarius]

Thanks for coming back Alan. I had a friend of mine give me some steel roofing material and a 12x20 frame. Right now I am having a very hard time finding a place for it but at least I have something. I am starting to think I want to go taller. the framework I have is just tall enough for the tractor to drive in the center. if I am not centered I will hit the top. I will probably put it up on something to get another 12" of top clearance.

[RAYGYVER]

  I'm a firm believer in using what I have before buying something new so I built my shed from my practice wood. I used locust poles off my property for uprights and just squared the nailing surfaces on my mill. I found an old barn in an adjacent county being torn down and bought used tin off it. Results - a 14'X62' barn for about $500. Of course they are never big enough so I added shelves and went vertical as much as possible.


 This shot is before the shelves were added. Each bay now has a shelf about 6' above ground. Each bay is a little over 12' wide X 18' long and 12'-16' tall from rear to front.

 JMHO on build or buy. Good luck.

Thats a purty shed ya got there...  I might have to copy that design...or do it similar. 

[Crusarius]

I almost forgot about this thread. Friend of mine gave me some framework for a 12x20x8 and a bunch of steel roofing. of course the longest steel is 16' so I can't runt it lengthwise without seaming it.

Oh well. can't argue for no charge. I may just throw a tarp over the frame for the winter and call it good. then do the rest come spring.

[WV Sawmiller]

   Here is the last shelf I added to my shed. You can see several other shelves I had already added. I had to add another support in the middle to nail knee braces to. You can see walnut stacked on the very end, another shelf at 90 degrees to that one just like the one at the end of this short one with cherry slabs on it. I have shelves all along all back sides and short shelved like this one on all the partition walls. All are pretty much full and I still need way more space. 


 I added another outlet to the locust upright and the small outside shelf is for the planner or making bench legs. See vice on the upright to hold legs while I use my tenon cutter.


 I put some uprights in to make bins I use to store 2' & 3' stickers and an assortment of bench legs with tenons already cut on them for ready use. I put in another shelf just like this on the back side but did not build bins for it

[Crusarius]

ooooh I love the sticker storage. I just had to find a place to put all my stickers out of the way so I had room in the shop to paint the mill.

[busenitzcww]

Lots of good info here! Just thinking about building a new shed/lean to as my current shed needs to be turned into dry storage..... never ending problem. 
I'm wondering if it matters which way your shed is laid out E/W versus N/S seams like if you could get the predominant wind direction in line with your stickers it would help dry time? Maybe it's not that big of deal?