M

mmcdonald

Active Member
I'm building a barn/hay shed/hangar 38' x 48' with 12' eave. Post Frame
construction with 38', 4/12 pitch, clear span wood trusses. Leaving a
30' opening on the east gable end. Would like to build a bi-fold
door in this 30' opening.

I build a lot of rolling doors for the company I work for using steel girts, rib metal and bottom and side rails. Would like to use these materials if possible.

Any suggestions, plan references or help would be appreciated.

Hopefully an RV-3 will be born in this stable.
 
Look at STACK DOORS. There is no load on the building, and they look easy to copy.....

http://www.hortonstackdoor.com/ Another plus is they let in a lot of light.... you can open a panel just enough to walk through, or any amount you need.

I sure like mine.........
 
Bifold Doors

I built a 48' bifold door 14' high out of steel in about 1995 which is still operating today. I also built an electric lift which had a homemade reduction gear box but the gear box failed so I replaced that with a factory made gear box. The door was fairly easy to build but the controls and lift mechanism took some real planning and thought. My lift is made of old hay bailer parts, a new 3/4 hp electric motor, some agricultural bearing blocks from a farm store, chain & sprockets from the same place, and some rope cable. Careful, the door is heavy and has enough weight and power to damage people and airplanes. We have used it a lot over the years so we are confident in its design but we still do not walk under it when in motion until it has stopped and the circuit breaker, which is our "Master switch" is turned off. BTW, you can save yourself a ton of money over a factory built door. We in the north where snow and freezing occurs only use these bifold lift doors due all varieties of track operated doors like stack, pocket slide, or swinging doors bind up after awhile form the ground expansion/contraction from seasonal changes. PM me if you need more because I drew a set prints before building the door which should be at the airport.

Dick DeCramer
RV6 N500DD Flying
RV8 Fuselage
Northfield, MN
 
You should be able to build either a bi-fold or one-piece door with 'c' or 'z' channel purlins. (interesting that spell checkers don't know that word...)

I built an addition on my hangar using 2 1/2 x 9 inch z's as 30' long rafters on 5' centers, so I'd be more than confident with that size for a door. Some of the shop-built doors around here use 1/2" pipe sections & long bolts for hinges, others use factory made hinges.

I'll bet you could put together an hydraulic power pack & a couple of 4' cylinders for about the same expense as a worm drive winch on a bifold.

My door on the 30' wide hangar addition was built using 6" aluminum irrigation tubing, covered with Suntuf brand polycarbonate & it opens with an ~30# push (counterweight on post about 10' above the top of the door). IIRC, the 10'x30' door weighs around 450 lbs, + counterweight. I got the idea from a friend at a private strip west of OKC.

Charlie
 
Bi Fold Hangar Door

Considering materials available, my skill level and cost will probably go with
a bi-fold Door. Dick if you can send the plans or sketches would certianly
appreciate.

Mark
 
Hangar door

Mark...

I sent you a PM. I will get you some digital pictures of it first since the prints were drawn on a drafting table about 15 years ago and are not able to be easily sent digitally but the pictures can be. We did build the door from the print but I haven't even looked at them since completing it. I will contact you after I check their condition and see what I can do to get it reproduced.

Dick DeCramer
 
Hangar door

Mark..

I put pictures with comments on "Picasa web albums", in search put in " Hangar 148 Door" click on "more from this album". Email me at [email protected] if you need more. Remember, while the door is based upon an engineered door there is a heavy dose of garage engineering in it. Thanks

Dick DeCramer
Northfield, MN
 
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