carpentry question
 

I have a 8X12 ft wood utility shed with a door opening of 60 inches (pictured below)
I need to get a 66 inch door opening.

Is there any way to refab the door opening?...or am I sol?
The second pic shows how the hinges are attached. (door height needs to remain the same.)

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1622137675.jpg


http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1622137750.jpg

Where there's a will - there's a way.
You'll have to beef up the structure when you move each side of the door frame studs out the 3".
Maybe a double layer of the plywood truss/reinforcement plate.

I'd also suggest doubling up the header over the door - perhaps adding another layer to overlap the added plywood plates on each side.
Also - add the extra 3" door width to the non-hinge side of each door - assuming you won't be building new doors from scratch.

So you are saying...remove the frame studs...cut the opening wider and re-install the studs (after cutting them shorter)
Then put new wider doors on?
I'm trying to picture the plate when the jamb is moved over three inches.

So I need ask - why does the opening need to be 6" wider?

Ok....your last post came after I posted above.
You're saying that I could just extend each doors width...instead of scrapping them?

You can prob tell by my questions that I'm not a builder!

Eyeing a new JD
The total width of the deck is 60" I'm figuring a min of 3" each side to clear.

Possibly, use the same doors, but add a board to the edge of one of them that is just slightly wider than the gap between them. Then it will look like 2 doors with a strip of wood down the center, but the strip of wood will be part of one of the doors.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1622140263.jpg

I think this will still look good, and will be easier than trying to alter both doors.

If you're sure that the max width is 60", then 6" extra is probably more than you need, but wouldn't hurt.

I assume there's no discharge chute to worry about.

^^^ Yes..that would be a lot easier than building two new doors.
And it would be barely noticeable.
Even though the building is almost 20 years old...the wood is in excellent shape yet.

The chute will not be needed..it will come off.

Maybe consider a 54" deck on the new JD?

Or just go really fast into the shed a couple of times, that will be all it takes!
:)

That's what it has...a 54" deck. The brochure says "Min storage width (deflector up) 59.4 inches." (I can't get by with .3 inch clearance on each side!)

I thought about just enlarging the bottom foot of the doorway...lol

That was my thought. I've seen a similar setup in double doors in furniture or maybe closets or something.

Something to think about, with the "deflector up" it still probably sticks out past the deck, so if you remove it completely, the actual width may be even less.

I'm pretty sure the discharge chute on the deck of my zero turn sticks out even when it's up (although probably not by 6").

I assume it's a 54" cut, and therefore the inside of the deck is probably something like 54.5 or 55" and then there's probably a lip on the outside of the deck that sticks out a bit or maybe double layers. You may, before you make modifications, want to go to a store with the mower and take a measuring tape and helper when you go.

^^^ Good idea. I'll prob do that. Would save a lot of trouble if it would fit.
Yes, it's a 54"

Two "doggy door" style flaps for the deck?

Realizing now you are only concerned about the deck - move the bottom hinges up about 4" and then just cut out slots on each side of the frame and doors like in the picture below! :)

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1622142121.jpg

Here's a pic of it.
AWS with their new deep accel deck.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1622142240.jpg

[QUOTE=MBAtarga;11345176]Realizing now you are only concerned about the deck - move the bottom hinges up about 4" and then just cut out slots on each side of the frame and doors like in the picture below! :)


The ground squirrels would love that!

The structural engineer will need to sign off on this before the building inspector will approve anything.

If you are really thinking about cutting out the bottom sides and doing doggy doors to cover it, make sure the open doors themselves clear 54 inches at the bottom, or you will need to slot those as well.

I also thought maybe a one sided ramp would be enough. Of course, I would need the opposite on the the other side of the door.

What's a building inspector?? :D

I built my 12X20 deck...added on to it twice....building inspector never came out.

In this case, it's the ppot braintrust, who will be watching closely! ;)

Actually, with the AWS you should be able to boogie the tractor right in (somehow)...

^^^ I'm wondering that also, after yours and masraums post.
Sure would make it easier.

Someday you'll figure out that a zero turn is the way to go!

Absolutely! They are like driving the sports car of mowers. They're the 356 or 550 of the mowing world. And if you need to get to the bottom of the deck, just pick up the front and stick it on an upside down bucket or jack stands.

This is what you need

https://www.deere.com/assets/images/...db17fecd85.jpg

How do they work for snow throwing? :)

Great! Woods makes a front runner that you can drop the deck and put a snow blower on. Grasshopper has a snow blower attachment too.

Same width....won't fit in my building.

You could buy a 48" Z and still mow faster than the traditional rider even with AWS.

I know... I know... "It's not how fast you mow but how well you mow fast". That's what people with slow mowers say. And let's not get into my deck is bigger than yours :-)

^^^ a friend of mine has one of those (grasshopper)...he likes it. I asked him about the under-deck cleaning and he said it was ok..but not very good.

I'm still not sure...looking.

BTW on your doors is the current opening, not the doors, 60"? It looks like maintaining the current height and making the opening wider would get difficult because of the gambrel roofline.

Doesn't his tilt up? I used to tilt the deck on my woods and scrape it. Plus you could put a Z on your lift if you wanted to. There are more spots to get to for lifting than there are on conventional riders. On my 2 post thread I have pics of my Z up on my lift.

Only drawback to the front runner style mower is the rear wheels and getting a feel for where they are when you're turning near your house or outbuilding. Easy to bump stuff.

Don't get the cart in front of the horse. Get your mower and see what needs to be modified afterwards (if anything).

Best way to keep from having to scrape the bottom of the deck is to not mow when the grass is damp. That and put some slip plate on the bottom of the deck

^^^ yes...the opening is 60 inches. That's my worry...widening the opening is going to eliminate some of the structure support.

Being that the structural support is the side walls, I wouldn't get too hung up but it's going to take some work to make the opening wider. The front and rear walls have very little load on them. It can be done but I'm not sure how it would end up looking and you seem like a guy who likes his stuff to look right.

Almost impossible to do that here. I do use an underdeck spray.