Metal Building with Butchering Shop

[Ttannahill14]

Hey fellas. I posted earlier about an old farm house we were going to reno into a "butcher and bunk house"... well my wife got a hold of it and now it is just a modern farmhouse bunk house... my butchering needs got axed.

But like all good marriages... we compromised on a new metal building... with butchering station!

Anyone done anything like this before? Anything I should be aware of?

30X40. 4 inch concrete. So it's basically a 6 car garage. With 1 spot being used for living quarters/office and another spot being used for butchering. Office with be heated and cooled. garage area will be heated. Electric, rural water, and propane will be ran to building. i'm pretty far from the lagoon or I'd think about putting a bathroom in there. I'll just drain the sink and floor drain out the building and into the yard.

Attached is rough blue prints. Building will be going up mid april... I'll have the summer to outfit the living quarters and butchering setup.

No idea is too crazy. I tried to get a walk in cooler in there but the wife said no

 

[squirrel]

Just did it, if lot allows put a pull through door arrangement for toys I would adjust length so as to pull in leave hooked up and still close the door. Windows suck with steel but do them anyway, in excess cant compare the "dark as a tomb" compared to natural light. Your vehicles must be small? I did 30x40 and need Vaseline and a shoe horn for 4 vehicles with no office. I have an office but not walled in as such. You will want room around the perimeter to walk and store crap like lawn mowers and snow blowers and if you are that kind for a work bench or two to do routine stuff.

Stake out the exact INSIDE dimensions in your grass, park all stuff there. Now walk around in the leftover space without running into the string lines.

 

[Nick87]

Planning something very similar myself next year for the new place we are going to be moving into soon. I'm thinking 40x5o no office but I will have a separate butchering room. Im thinking 16x12 ? Keep us posted on the build. I'm looking forward to see how it goes for you. What height are you going?

 

[Ttannahill14]

Just did it, if lot allows put a pull through door arrangement for toys I would adjust length so as to pull in leave hooked up and still close the door. Windows suck with steel but do them anyway, in excess cant compare the "dark as a tomb" compared to natural light. Your vehicles must be small? I did 30x40 and need Vaseline and a shoe horn for 4 vehicles with no office. I have an office but not walled in as such. You will want room around the perimeter to walk and store crap like lawn mowers and snow blowers and if you are that kind for a work bench or two to do routine stuff.

Stake out the exact INSIDE dimensions in your grass, park all stuff there. Now walk around in the leftover space without running into the string lines.

I was planning for 10X20 for each vehicle. So 4 of them would take up 20X40.
Vehicles are 4runner and 1/2 ton truck.


I like the stake out idea... might need to increase a few feet on each end.

 

[Bambistew]

6 car garage? Make it bigger... My pickup is 22' long and almost 9ft at the mirrors. Add 3ft to the width and a couple in front/back and I need almost 400sf just to park and be functional. I think you'd be surprised how much room your boats/vehicles will take up once you measure them out and try and walk around them.

I was planning for 10X20 for each vehicle. So 4 of them would take up 20X40.
Vehicles are 4runner and 1/2 ton truck.


I like the stake out idea... might need to increase a few feet on each end.

I have a 20x26 (parking area) in my garage, and my two FS vehicles barely fit with room to walk around them, as a matter of fact I can't get in the passenger side of my pickup unless I back out.

I would put the boats under a lean-to outside, unless you don't plan to use the shop much, or pull out the vehicles when in use? I'd bet the boats/trailers are longer than your pickup unless they have inboards? My boat (21ft river boat) was almost 30' long from tongue to prop.

 

[fulldraw]

Go BIG. You will never hear any guy say they wish they would have built their garage/shop smaller.

 

[Ttannahill14]

Go BIG. You will never hear any guy say they wish they would have built their garage/shop smaller.

That's what I always here... the only problem is this is shop 1 of 2. Shop 2 will be built in 5 years or so and will be massive.

 

[squirrel]

with those vehicle sizes you are WAY small to have a functioning garage When you lay your internal dimensions subtract for shelving, boxes, clutter etc and then try to open your door and get out of the truck without infringing on the stringline. You will be surprised how small things start looking.

Make sure you stake the door out also and pull in as if it is real. If you think you need a 12' door you need a 14'

I was locked in to my size due to setback and an easement. 30x40 is not very big.

 

[Phaseolus]

I just finished building a 24 by 40 shop/garage...it’s too small

 

[wytex]

I would sure lobby hard for a small walk in maybe along that back wall, and have lots of enclosed shelves on the walls.
A Coolbot and even a 4x10 ' area would work very well and minimal insulation would be required. I would point out how much cleaner your processing area will be if you have a walk in for hanging the freshly killed game. Maybe add it on the outside back wall. A good 10,000-15,000 btu A/C and a Coolbot might set you back $750 or less. We use one about that same size, 4x10 ft and it works great, we want to put one in our own garage. Cardboard on the floor keeps it clean , frig boxes etc..
It could be used for keeping food and drinks cool during a party in the new building, or even if you have something too big for the frig .
Coolbot has really made walk in coolers more affordable and they seem to hold up very well, depends more on the a/c you choose than the longevity of the coolbot.

 

[Sawtooth]

Just did it, if lot allows put a pull through door arrangement for toys I would adjust length so as to pull in leave hooked up and still close the door. Windows suck with steel but do them anyway, in excess cant compare the "dark as a tomb" compared to natural light. Your vehicles must be small? I did 30x40 and need Vaseline and a shoe horn for 4 vehicles with no office. I have an office but not walled in as such. You will want room around the perimeter to walk and store crap like lawn mowers and snow blowers and if you are that kind for a work bench or two to do routine stuff.

Stake out the exact INSIDE dimensions in your grass, park all stuff there. Now walk around in the leftover space without running into the string lines.

Squirrel's suggestion to stake our your dimensions in the grass is a great suggestion. Having adequate space to move around your boats and vehicles is the difference between having a functional space that you will want to use and a big storage unit. A good friend just finished his shop and at 40x60 he has room for his truck and 22 ft. boat with outboard in one bay, and his 26 ft. camp trailer in the other. Leaving room for shelving, work bench and space for his welding and woodworking equipment.

 

[Steiny]

I don't think the 40' depth will be enough to have boats behind the vehicles and still have any room to walk around. Build bigger.
I started with a 40 x 60, then remodeled an old 20 x 20 building, then built another 20 x 40, then built another 32 x 40. Finally have enough space. Should have just built 60 or 70 x 100 to start with.
Also, insulate the heck out of things, it gets expensive heating those big shop buildings.

We butcher in my shop space, do a bunch of deer, sometimes and elk, and a few hogs every year. Outdoors we have a hoist and gambrel and there's a 6' x 6' walk in cooler in one of the other buildings, I haul the quarters back and forth in back of the UTV.
I simply built a 10' long tall (butchering height) table that we put out in center of garage to do the processing on, the only other major tools needed are a grinder and vac sealer, some tubs, knives and cutting boards.

 

[kansasdad]

Since you are building a new structure, I would suggest making sure you over-engineer the electrical supply points, and make it easy to add even more if you modify the building.

Another way to add versatility to your build is to go up into a second story, or like early pioneers build a half story/attic with storage, work spaces, or even sleeping areas if you desired. Gotta have a space for the cousins to invent adventures.

 

[CUElk]

i agree with what everyone is saying regarding size. we have 2 metal shops at the farm, both are 40x60, one is wood/mechanic shop and the other is storage, both are full. you would not believe how much space machinery occupies until you get it in place. as someone suggested, I would park everything in the yard as you would like the layout to be then measure, then add extra square feet to have room to move around. good luck

 

[Ttannahill14]

Thanks for all the replies.

I know everyone is saying go bigger... I really think I'll be good at 40X30. This is a working farm. we have a 20X60 right next to it. A 60X80, and another 40X30. And plenty of other lean to's and roofs to throw something under.

I measured my current 2 car garage that's on my house it is 20X20 and fits 2 vehicles with room to spare.

Really just need it to cover two vehicle and a boat or two.

I'm just trying to build something for the next 5 years before I build the dream/forever shop. I'll stake it out over the next couple weeks and make sure everything fits. I don't need much hang out or move around other than the butcher spot... we do all vehicle maintenance and shop work in another building.