A good implement shed protects expensive machinery from sun, rain and salt air, and makes the daily job easier. A poorly planned one becomes a puzzle you solve every morning: move the ute to get the tractor out, then unhitch to fit the mower back in. The difference is all in the planning.
Start with a machinery list #
Measure everything that will live in the shed, in the position it’s stored:
- Width: with implements folded or in transport position, and mirrors out.
- Height: with cabs, rollover frames, beacons and aerials.
- Length: with implements attached, if they stay hitched.
Then add anything you’re likely to buy in the next ten years. Machinery tends to get bigger, not smaller.
Clear span earns its keep #
Internal posts are the thing farmers complain about most in old sheds. They limit turning, block wide implements and get hit. A clear-span steel shed puts the whole floor to work. Steelspan designs clear spans up to 30 m, without internal posts or knee braces.
Think about how machines move #
- Drive-through bays, with openings at both ends, mean no reversing long implements.
- Bay widths set to suit your widest machine, rather than a standard size.
- Depth for the longest machine plus room to walk around it.
- An apron of concrete or hardfill in front, so you aren’t turning in mud.
Open front or doors? #
Open-front bays are cheaper and make access quick. Doors keep out driving rain, dust, birds and thieves. Many farmers mix the two: open bays for tractors and implements, a lockable bay for the workshop, tools and the quad bike. An open-front shed catches wind differently from a closed one, and the frame is engineered for that.
Floors and drainage #
Concrete is worth it in a workshop or wash-down bay. Compacted hardfill can be fine for storage bays. Either way, set the floor level above the surrounding ground, so water drains away from the shed rather than into it.
Fuel and chemicals #
Fuel and agrichemicals bring their own storage rules. A separate, purpose-built store is usually safer and simpler than a corner of the implement shed.
Orientation and extras #
- Put the open side away from the prevailing wind and rain.
- Roof skylights cut lighting costs.
- Smooth steel purlins give birds fewer places to perch than timber.
- Plan for power: lighting, a welder, a compressor, charging.
Room to grow #
Tell us if you might extend. A steel portal frame shed can be designed so bays can be added later with the same profile. Every implement shed we build is designed to order, around the client’s own machinery and plans, so we work with you to get it right from the start.
Talk to Steelspan #
Send us your machinery list and how you use the yard, and we’ll design the shed around it. Use our Easy Shed Quote or call 0800 787 726.
