Building a bus garage/shop

[sledhead]

For myself I have the jello bags and use my pit all the time ,no longer have the fear of my wife coming out to see me squashed under the bus after hours of yelling for help.    dave

[luvrbus]

David doesn't need to worry about the bags his Eagle won't squash him unless his wife runs over him,pits hurt the resale of property I filled one with sand and paved over it on a piece of property we sold

[wg4t50]

The funny is that we are all different (crazy), me, my first requirement is a very sturdy concrete floor, then build a great bldg, 200 amp 208 Volt 3 Phase power, insulate it, have big doors and have the lift system to lift the bus, think the electric jacks like at Cummins etc, they work great, one reason for the high ceiling and the 14 X 14 doors, had the head room to get the bus up 5'.
No end to this game, even when getting too old, down size to the Foretravel, now tow the F150 Ford and haul the ATV everywhere, getting old is not so bad.
Merry Christmas
Dave M

[belfert]

Dave, can you actually get three phase power at your location?  I asked once about getting three phase power and the answer was a firm no.  You can get a lot of old woodworking stuff in three phase cheap.  More commercial operations going under than operations replacing equipment or expanding.

[luvrbus]

3 phase shouldn't be a problem but running 3 phase to a building gets real expensive I haven't gotten over the shock yet for the restaurant 15 grand to the power co and 15 grand for the panels which takes 3 weeks to ship plus the electrical contractor the stuff is pricey  

[robertglines1]

My son Andy's newest building id 23 ft at peak. 16 ft side walls with 14ft tall by 18ft wide doors on side. Wish I had that at 36yrs old. But ideal is still there. Everyone has Idea shop -storage for bus.  Was just in one with finished floors so nice they were hospital quality yet still had all the function mentioned by members. It is used to maintain his bus! I envy anyone who can keep anything that clean and neat... The pit is nice but as Clifford pointed out can be done without.  As a matter of fact my present project is being built in a differant bay.   Dave as far as the 3 phase power there is a method using a donor motor to run 3 phase on a 220V outlet. I know because we are doing it! No power loss .  Andy's friend at work (fellow engineer) hooked him up with a web site that explained the wiring .  Now running a vertical  milling machine (3 phase) with donor motor wired in circuit on 220V power supply.   Bob

[Sam 4106]

I realize that having a large garage and pit is a liability in some areas. But, I didn't build my garage for anyone else, i built it for ME. When I am gone my wife can sell our property to any of the people on the list that have approached us wanting to buy our place. I thing our house is the main attraction but some of the guys want my garage too. So, she has the option of selling or staying here and renting the garage to her choice of people. If no one wants the pit she can hire someone to fill it. I am not worried.

Good luck, Sam

[wg4t50]

There are a few ways of cheating and getting a Hi Leg on the 240 Volt from a normal single phase, using caps or using a Roto-Phase, the Capacitors work fine on small motors such a lathe, mill, band saw.
The only problem getting old, in my case by the time I can afford all the goodies and the shop, I am too old & feeble to use them, first lesson was the two post lift for the pickup or car, had to get on knees on floor to see where to place the arms & pads, then need someone to pick me
up.  Think early Rigor Mortis ?
But after a bad stroke, heart bypass work, too fat, too dumb, I feel like the lucky Puppy.  Still keep the business running strong allowing me to play.  
Life is good
Dave M

[luvrbus]

Bob, I keep my hanger in Scottsdale spotless the shop here is a different story it always looks like a condemned area with other people using it my daughter is the worse culprit 

Matt helped me last week it is not too bad now but that will change while I am gone for a couple of weeks you can bet on that LOL 

Wayne Schell and Bryon Pigg have the cleanest and well arranged bus shops you ever saw and those will make you droll 

I never saw but one other shop that looked better than those 2 it belonged to a friend of mine Ron he had a complete old Texaco station inside his shop with the Eagle parked under it takes a lot to keep a shop clean if you use one that is for sure

[boxcarOkie]

Clifford, you ever see Charlies' shop at TeJas?  I hear that Wayne's shop is something akin to a NASCAR shop, really a looker.  Jefferson in OKC is one of the worst I have ever seen and also an EPA nightmare.  Sonnies is functional and pretty well organized.  

Clean shop ... Happy Shop.  

All loose women and unclaimed children will be sold as slaves after thirty-days.

Mine is not always tidy and the thing will get to the point where it takes four hours or more to get it back into any kind of reasonable resemblance of a shop.  I hate it when it gets that way.  I wish now that I had sprung for the pit, and not listened to my Ins. Agent (what he don't know won't hurt him).

BCO

[luvrbus]

Don, I would not call Charlies place a shop lol mine looks bad sometimes but nothing like that and Jefferson's shop is pretty nasty since Roy died it wasn't always like that 

I haven't been there since Norris retired but the office when Norris was there smoking 3 packs a day the office was hard to handle also

[David Anderson]

Only bad thing about posting this in the project section is that guests cannot see it.  Oh well, it is there.  If you are a guest, register so you can follow the progress.

David

[boxcarOkie]

"I haven't been there since Norris retired but the office when Norris was there smoking 3 packs a day the office was hard to handle also"

"It might be best to say "the entire place" was hard to handle also" ... Norris was quite the character. 

My hat is off to anyone who builds their own shop, it is quite a process.  We are building a 30X50 not far from here, and last week had to stop because of the wind, just could not hold onto the materials.

BCO

[Geoff]

I built my shop at my my house and did not even consider having a worthless pit I could trip and fall into.  My trump card is I am able to drive a bus or truck from one end and out the other end to a different street.  No backing up.  Plus I still have another 52' bay for all my stuff.  You guys might be dreaming about what you think is best but I already built the 2,000ft shop I wanted, and it wasn't cheap.  And I love it-- fully insulated with electric door openers. 

[chessie4905]

My pit has a three inch deep by 4 inch wide  notch along edges. I keep it closed with 3x6 inch oak planks. I allowed just enough room to clear the inside of the duals to remove what is needed from below if necessary. Most servicing is at the rear but front is needed access for lubrication, etc. I usually remove necessary planks when coach is over pit.
People need to remember that the shop is to service, store, or repair your pride and joy coach and not trying to build the Taj Mahal. Most areas need a permit to build the building. What you do inside out of sight, like a pit, floor, electric, is done after building is erected. Your area might be different, especially where you live. As far as electric, you could run that out there to a panel and one receptacle and get that approved, possibly.