Quonset-Style Shop Built From Old Grain Bin

Quonset-Style Shop Built From Old Grain Bin FARM SHOP Miscellaneous 19-4-30 When a windstorm damaged a 24-ft. dia. grain bin on a neighbor's farm, Jim Gall, Union, Iowa, got the idea of using the panels to make a quonset-style shop and garage. It measures 25 ft. wide and 26 ft., 10 in. long. "It cost less than $1,000 to build. Commercial buildings of comparable size sell for $6,000 to $7,000," says Gall about the 25 by 27-ft. building. The windstorm took the bin's roof off and bent some of the top panels. Gall bought what was left from the neighbor's insurance company for $100. He used an electric impact wrench to take the sections apart, then loaded them on a wagon and hauled them home. To construct the building, he set creosote fence posts in the ground every 3 to 4 ft. along the sides and north end where he planned to erect the building. He nailed 2 by 6 boards to the top of the posts, then bolted some angle iron to the top of the boards to bolt the bin panels to. He used four panels to make each of the roof sections. He kept the frame of the 3 by 5-ft. ground-level bin door and covered it with clear hard plastic to make a skylight. He framed in the north end of the building solid with 2 by 6's covered by sheet metal. He also covered the lower sidewalls with sheet metal. A 12-ft. high, 16-ft. wide overhead door was installed on the south end. The building's roofline didn't allow using a door higher than 10 ft. so he removed one section from the top of the door. He also installed a small walk-in door. The last step was to pour a cement floor. "I use it to do general shop work and as a garage for my pickup and car," says Gall. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Jim Gall, 1406 Mormon Ridge Rd., Union, Iowa 50258 (ph 515 496-5382).

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