Bi-Fold Door On Machine Shed Barn

Bi-Fold Door on Machine Shed Barn BUILDINGS Accessories 17-4-6 Bob Kalkwarf, Belmond, Iowa, converted an old dairy barn into a shed for his combine by removing about 2/3 of the hay mow floor and installing a 24-ft. wide, 16-ft. high home-built bifold door. Kalkwarf used steel tubing and sheet metal to build the door. "At a cost of just $514, I spent only about one sixth as much as I would have on a commercial bi-fold door of comparable size. "The 32-ft. wide, 40-ft. long barn wasn't usable for machinery storage because overhead clearance was only 8 ft. I removed enough of the hay mow to get my combine and header inside. I had to tie the eaves together from one side of the barn to the other with steel cable so the sides of the roof wouldn't spread out once the hay mow was removed. "I needed a bi-fold door because there wasn't enough wall for a sliding door. It would have taken a lot of extra frame-work to support a sliding door and I couldn't have built it myself." Kalkwarf opens and closes the door by pushing a button. A 3/4 hp electric motor powers a gearbox that winches in four cables that run through pulleys to the bottom of the door. He came up with his design after seeing a commercial bi-fold door. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Bob Kalkwarf, 1363 Quincy Ave., Belmond, Iowa 50421 (ph 515 444-4641).

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