Does anyone have sap tanks in a loft? I’m building a new sugar house it will be 24x36.
I need a 500 gallon concentrate tank, probably store line and empty barrels in the loft. What centers on the joists and what size lumber for the joists?
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Does anyone have sap tanks in a loft? I’m building a new sugar house it will be 24x36.
I need a 500 gallon concentrate tank, probably store line and empty barrels in the loft. What centers on the joists and what size lumber for the joists?
I used 4x8 rough sawn Hemlock 2' on center. My sugarhouse is only 20' wide. Wish it was 24 . Lol good luck with your design/build. If you use dimensional lumber i would just go 2x8/0r 2x10 , 1 foot on center.
We built ours in 2019 and is a timber frame. We have a 300 gallon head tank and designed it to have two of them, one on each side of the loft. The joists are 8x8 three feet on center and clear span a 16’ opening. The 8x8s rest on a 8x14. The timberframer said tanks would not be an issue upstairs
I have a set of plans with a timber frame loft, they call for 4x8 on 2ft center. I'd like to see pictures of people's head tanks in their lofts. I have a 200 gal zero tank to use, but I have room to go bigger. My shack will only be 14x16 though, might be snug, but wood storage, and equipment will be separate
500 gallons is about 4500 pounds which is a lot of weight to have over your head. I got my concentrate tank in the loft over the kitchen-RO room at the end of our 16x34 sugarhouse. We used the UVM sugarhouse design and added 10 ft to the end for the heated kitchen room with the cold loft above. The loft joists span the 10 dimension for greater weight capacity supported by an internal bearing wall and the gable end. I was still concerned about the weight so I installed three pairs of heavy back-to-back steel angle sections for carrying the load. The angles are used 5x3x3/8 from a railroad bridge rehab project.
Attachment 22336
Photo of my framing during construction.
Ken
As Ken said that is a lot of weight to have in a loft so proper design is key. I have a 250 gal. head tank supported by 4x8 rough hemlock but the span is only 7 ft. as I incorporated the framing of the heated room in my building to support the 4x8 joists. Spanning 24' without any posts or load bearing walls would require some very significant framing.
So, perhaps you could consider the overall design of the building and whether or not you really need a completely open floor plan or if you could incorporate some other support to reduce the overall span distance.
Another thing to consider is it can get pretty warm in a loft so it may be worth considering exactly how you plan to use the 500 gal. tank.
My span is only 10 feet to the center, I have an approximate 1000 gallon tank up there , even at 8000lbs, that is only 55lbs per square foot with a 12x4 tank... there are plenty of calculators online that will help you determine what you need.
https://www.awc.org/codes-standards/...tware/spancalc
Not enough information. You need to specify the span and where the weight will be (middle vs. edges vs. all over.) Suggest an online calculator, they abound.Quote:
Originally Posted by calvertbrothers
Like Ken, we have a couple of steel I-beams running under the rafters to avoid the need for posts, to support a few point loads (refrigerated bulk tank). and for a trolley system to lift and move the evaporator and accessories.Quote:
Originally Posted by TapTapTap