Are you planning to build a new farm workshop? How big should it be? What features should you incorporate? What cool ideas would make it a ‘killer shop’? Are there pitfalls you should avoid?
Real Agriculture will try to answer all these questions on our new Real Dream Workshops series.
To kick things off, Real Agriculture’s Peter Johnson takes you to Shawridge Farms in Arthur, Ontario to visit Shawn Schill in his 60′ x 120′ shop. Schill says his first tip for farmers building a shop is to look down the road and think about future needs. His shop is five years old. It looked big when it was built, but after it was tooled up and the vehicles moved in, it became small, says Schill who’s now considering expansion.
Schill also has some advice on shop size and budgets: “Whatever you think you’re going to spend; however big you think it should be – just double it.” Johnson and Schill also discuss moving utilities to a dedicated area outside the shop to reduce noise and improve working conditions; how much parts storage is enough; and why a plumbing system to move oil around a large shop is a dream worth pursuing.
If you have some cool features in your workshop, let Peter Johnson know. We may visit your shop and feature you in the series. Connect with him on Twitter: @WheatPete or via email: [email protected].
Johnson will also be presenting a mash-up of all the great ideas and insights from the series at the SouthWest Agricultural Conference at Ridgetown College, Jan. 3 and 4, 2018. Don’t miss it.
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