A new storage shed has recently been completed on the farm of a Co Clare beef farmer. The shed was designed to hold straw, hay and machinery with a steel portal frame structure preferred. This ensures flexibility when it comes to manoeuvring machinery throughout the shed.

“It was something I had been thinking about for a few years,” the farmer said. “There were three old sheds where the new shed stands, two old haybarns and an old cow house, so the new shed has the same footprint as the old sheds.”

Safety was one of the key reasons for the investment.

“The old sheds were structurally unsound. During the storms last year, some of the roof fell in and from a safety point of view I knew that I would come out some day and the shed would have been down,” the farmer said.

“It is a multipurpose shed that we can use for anything. Machines are gone too expensive to be able to leave them out in the elements in this part of the world and you need to have space to store both hay and straw somewhere on the farm.”

The shed itself is 13.1m wide and 19.2m long, giving a floor space of 251m2. Stanchions are IPE240 with apex braces in place to provide support to the structure.

Mass concrete walls are in place surrounding the shed. The shed was grafted on to an adjoining shed that was already in place.

Roof cross bracing is also in place to provide support to the roof of the shed. Farmers generally shy away from steel portal frame structures as they do not have stanchions to hang barriers on, for example.

However, the design can work very well and offers complete flexibility when it comes to the internal layout of the shed.

We tried to do everything to a high-specification. It is a job for life

Fibre cement sheeting is in place throughout the roof of the shed with two clear roof lights for each span. This material is drip-proof and can absorb moisture to help prevent any condensation forming on the sheeting.

“We decided to paint the walls on the inside of the shed white to help brighten up the shed even more, it is a simple thing but really helps,” according to the farmer.

“We tried to do everything to a high-specification. It is a job for life.”

Cost

While many farmers would like to have such a shed on their farm, investment must often be targeted elsewhere.

However, the sheds that were here had become a real danger and needed to be removed, but storage facilities were still needed.

The total cost of the shed came to approximately €53,000 including VAT.

Having one contractor looking after the entire project does make the job more straightforward

The farmer hopes to claim back approximately €10,000 in VAT to leave the net cost at approximately €43,000.

The entire project was completed by Declan Fennell Contracting Ltd, including all concrete work and fabricating and standing all steelwork.

“Having one contractor looking after the entire project does make the job more straightforward,” the farmer admitted. “It means that I don’t have to try to balance two different contractors to come at different times.”