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NRAi:S-16 PLANNING FARiM SHOPS 



Rick Grant 

 nepartment of Food Engineering 

 University of Massachusetts 



With equipment needing maintenance and various construction 

 and/or fabrication projects going on, every farm needs a good 

 and efficient farm shop. A good shop consists of work areas for 

 machinery, metal, repair, and woodworking along with a storage 

 area. So to have a good and efficient shop means careful planning. 

 Now careful planning means consideration of shop location on farm- 

 stead, type of structure, space requirements for each work area, 

 and locating tools near their respective work area. As each 

 area requires different tools, proper storage for easy accessibility 

 must, also, be taken into account. 



Northeast Regional Agricultural Hnginerring Service (NRAES) 

 has published a new booklet entitled, "Planning Farm Shops". 

 In this booklet, NRAES very carefully covers various aspects in- 

 volved in designing the proper shop for the need. It contains 

 sections on building designs, utilities, space requirements, tool 

 and parts storage, equipment and tool specifications, shop safety, 

 plus an appendix on equipment templates. To elaborate more, 

 let's look into what each section has to consider. 



Section one is on building design. Subjects covered in this 

 section deals with tlie fundamental components of the shop's struc- 

 ture as well as shop location and orientation. After locating the 

 shop, the type of building frame has to be chosen. Structural 

 materials to be used in construction has to be thoughtfully selected 

 especially in light of making the shop fire resistant. How well 

 insulated is the shop to be? What type of insulation should be 

 used? What type and how many doors and windows should there be? 

 What type of floor and should the possible use of a foundation be 

 considered? All these aspects must be carefully and thoughtfully 

 included in planning. 



In the next section, the various utilities are discussed. After 

 a detailed floor plan has been laid forth, the different environmental 

 systems can then be intelligently planned in light of work area lo- 

 cations. Are enough electric circuits provided? Is the amperage 

 and voltage enough to run the equipment in each area? Is the light- 

 ing sufficient for each area? Is an adequate heating system installed? 

 If some type of plumbing is needed, is it sufficient to do the job? 

 How about ventilation? Has it been properly provided for? If a 

 hoist is to be installed, has the structural system been designed to 

 carry the load? All these utilities are vital to any shop and need 

 to be carefully incorporated into the design. 



