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Short pit
Hey folks,
We are getting ready to break ground on a new bus barn. Based on everything i have read in this great forum and a limited budget we have decided on 30x60x16.with a14X14 ohd. There are several features suggested here that will also be incorporated as well. I will not go into those at this time but will instead focus on a few questions.
I would like to build a pit. I am sold on the width and depth dimensions that Jon recommends. (24 wide & 48 deep) i will admit i understand why others would question these dimensions as it seems very tight. Jons persistence on this finally sold me. All of his points make sense.
Another member asked if a 20 foot pit would work ok. The only answer he received was “build a full length pit” This was the only discussion i could find on that point. I would like to do a shorter pit but would like to make an informed decision. My thought is to start the pit 2 feet back from the door and make the pit 20 feet long. If i leave 4 feet uncovered by the bus i could have a permanent ladder at the front.. That would make the pit extend 16 foot under the bus from either bumper depending on if i pull in or back in.
One thing that comes to mind that would be more difficult is draining the air tanks.First, would i be able to reach the center tank with this set up? If so, can the sequence be done effectively in 2 phases? This is just one thing that i thought of.i am sure there are other limitations that it would cause and any insight on those is appreciated.
Also i would like to look at this from a 45 foot coach perspective as it may be in our future.
Thanks in advance. Jeff
Jeff and Lindsay
91 Marathon XL -
23 Replies
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depends on your dollars vs convience . What little you do on front just move the bus. Remote tank bleed fittings are cheap.. I get along just fine with a 3ft deep 20 ft long pit. crawl in. Point is not to need pit!!!! Sure limits use of that area for any thing else. My low dollar opinion!! my building is 74W only 80 ft long. ck out bar joist truss with wood purlins and girts also think about loft for storage. Bob
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Barn is too short. What happens when you buy your 45′ and a trailer?
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All of the normal work with the exception of very unusual tasks like dropping a fuel tank, is done in about 10 or 15 feet of the front and rear of the coach.
If the pit is half the coach length you have to work on one end, remove the stands, turn the coach around and do the other end. In a routine maintenance you are working on both ends from the pit.
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Thank you for the feedback Bob and Jon. It sounds like it will work fine. Its flat as a pancake here and i have plenty of room to move the bus around.
Joel. I would love to be able to get away long enough to require us to drag our stuff with us. We are still working stiffs so the time we do get away its nice to just drag a car and leave all the crap behind. If we ever do get to that point we’ve likely won the lotto. We will just get one of those fancy fold up transformer trailers that Andy posted about. Back’er all in the barn.
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The longer we own a coach, the more we realize most of the stuff we carry is not necessary and I am slowly leaving more and more stuff at home. Most of the time I do this without my wife’s knowledge and so far so good.
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Whenever I’m at the race track ALONE, lots of the stuff in the coach manages to find it’s way into the 55 gal trash drums.
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We have a local company that makes precast concrete septic tanks and pipes. Some people are using versions of these as plunge pools. Was thinking they could make a pre-cast pit that could be just dropped in-place cheaply.
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fwiw. with your rear tires (weight) there is a awful lot of side pressure. in a 6ft area.
Jeff and Lindsay
91 Marathon XL -
Hi Bob, Can you explain what you mean by side pressure? Thanks
P.s.i somehow missed your point on steel girts with wood purlins. My other barn is a 30×60 Miracle Truss building which is just that. The bus fits in there but the space is serving too many purposes. That building was very expensive because of large pier footings required. Pole building is 1/2 the price and probably will not outlast my bus but will certainly outlast me.
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Liam,
Thats an interesting idea. The problem as i see it is that most septic and dosing tanks that i have see are only 2- 2 1/2 inches thick. Probably partially to keep the weight down for lifting and setting. It would be difficult to tie the floor slab into that i think. They do make fiberglass pits that are drop in but i think those are made for the race car guys. I wouldnt park a bus over one.
Tradewinds Coach
Kyle Bennett (Service)
Brian Miller (Sales) -
If you plan on parking or driving a bus in a building you are going to need a heavy dense compacted base or you will need a substantial floor, preferably both.
Apart from resisting cracking and or settling a strong floor is needed to support the chassis on stands or some other type of support. A pit is just as unsafe as a flat floor when it comes to being under the coach. Unless a coach is all the way down on the suspension it has the potential to drop and can either crush you or capture you in a pinch point such as reaching over a differential or suspension member and then having it fall.
The sidewalls of a pit should be strong enough to handle the vertical loads and the floor should be on the sidewalls and strong enough to not push down on the dirt base so the sidewalls of the pit are not pushed inward.
My pit has poured concrete sidewalls and the floor was poured on top of the sidewalls and is 7″ of reinforced concrete. There are times when I am working on the coach with all the tires removed and the entire weight of the rear of the coach (about 34,000 pounds) is resting on two supports within 6″ from the edge of the pit. That is not the time to find out the floor or the pit should have been a little stronger.
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verticle loads in perfect world would transferr at a 45 deg angle. Inside the tires you have horizontal support on one side. the pit side there is no support except what you provide. my pit is 30 inches deep this relives the need for fresh air fans. Like Jon did tie your pit wall into floor to help assorb load transfer. I hope the spelling isn’t to bad ;My spell ck isn’t working. Hate to offer up much more so basic the load transferr in a 30inch pit would be 3ft outside tires. I block everything I get under. !!!! Bob
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building I like has 8by8 wooden post with steel bar joist trusses. 40 by 60 under 7Grand no side wall just wood purlins and galv roof. ck on e-bay for ideas. 10ft centers 2by6 purlins galv metal roof: I have done several. 39lb per sq ft live load. Fwiw.
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I just want to make a comment about Bob’s reference to a 30″ pit.
The coach chassis should be supported any time you are working beneath it. On all of my coaches the chassis support points are within (in between) the tire footprint. On my 24″ wide pit my support stands are within a few inches of the edge of the floor at the pit. If my pit was wider my supports would be at the edge of the pit and that increases the risk of the concrete fracturing.
There are times I wish the pit could be wider, but I don’t want the risk of the edge of the concrete breaking out because the loads are so close to the edge.
Jeff and Lindsay
91 Marathon XL -
Thanks Guys,
Bob, i looked at that type of building. You are correct. Very economical way of getting dry space. Part of my bus barn sales pitch to Dw was that the new building would match our existing one. Similar to the way i was grabbed by the rear belt loop when i tried to leave the house with a brown tie with blue pants. I thought it looked good. Points well taken on the loads.
Jon, i think Bobs 30″ comment may have been in reference to the depth. I will definitely be going 24″ wide. Here is my current design plan. Comments are very welcome.
6 inch pit floor slab doubling as footer for walls.-10 GA 6×6 grid wire- 1/2″ rebar across width of pit tied to grid every 24″ – these rods will be turned up 12″ on the ends to the center of the side walls.
5 and 1/2 rows of 8″ cement block to floor grade- Cores rodded and grouted every 24″ to line up with turned up floor rod- These vertical rods will be turned out 4 feet into the floor. Remaining empty cores grouted.
5″ floor with 6×6 10GA grid wire on compacted sand base.
One other question. 6 full rows of block would give me 4 foot 5 inches from floor to floor. Should I do the half row as described giving me 4 foot 1 inch or just do full rows? I am 5’7″ tall. I have short arms although Dick, i have not been tested for such!
Thanks again boys!
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