A Farm Shop That's Just the Right Size

John Russell of Pemberville, Ohio makes his living as a hay and straw producer, so having a gigantic farm shop has never been his goal. He did, however, want a shop that could be used as storage and also as a workspace.

Russell's 48x68-foot shop can hold four balers, two tractors and balers, or two bale stackers at once with room to spare. A 12x50-foot loft is his go-to storage spot with space for parts as well as other farm tools.

Room to repair

Having space for repair and maintenance work was a priority for Russell who regularly works on cars, trucks, semi trailers, and balers. To optimize those repairs, he installed a salvaged car hoist from a gas station. It's ideal for him because it can be completely retracted into a 4-inch pit with a cover over it.

"When the hoist is not in use, you don't even know it's there," Russell says. "I ran a 2-inch drain pipe under the floor from my floor drain to the hoist pit in case we get water spilled in the pit."

Russell also built a custom overhead bridge crane from mostly bits and pieces he had on hand. It's a cross between a bridge crane and a gantry crane and spans 34 feet across the shop. It has 42 feet on each side to travel across the shop to reach the main work space and most of the welding center.

A custom welding table

Russell's welding table is made up of 1.25-inch steel plate that was ground down to be perfectly flat and 4-inch square tube legs. To make using the plasma cutter handy, a 12x18-inch hole was cut on the table's surface for scraps to fall right into a steel drawer. A cover plate hides the hole when not in use.

"Both the air and electrical service to the table are hooked into receptacles on the support post next to the table so I can unplug the two lines, pick up the table with the overhead crane, and move it to the work bay for larger projects when necessary," Russell says.

Tools not in use are housed on a pull-out shelf under the welding table. A wire welder sits right next to the table with ground clamps already clamped onto the table for convenience.

An exhaust system that takes care of fumes above the welding table is next on Russell's list.

Strategically built

Russell tactically placed eight 220-volt outlets around the shop to handle welders and a plasma cutter. Air lines are hiding inside all four walls and each wall has outlets at least every 12 feet around the shop. The overhead and walk doors have 110-volt, 220-volt, and air outlets right outside.

To reduce noise, Russell stuck the air compressor in the utility room along with the boiler and hot water heater. The shop includes a bathroom and a 12x15-foot office, as well.

The 6-inch concrete floor of the building is hot water heated, but also has styrofoam insulation below the cement. Each wall has 9 inches of fiberglass insulation and the ceiling has R-40 blown fiberglass, as well.