Gym on "classic" hayloft? Load-bearing capacity?

[Novisfixaren]

I have a hayloft from the 1920s about 8 x 20 meters that I would like to build a proper home gym on.

The flooring in the hayloft consists of large old wooden beams spaced 100 cm apart. They rest directly on the thick brick walls of the stable below.

There are also two thick beams with several supports underneath that cross under the other wooden beams.

It was used as a hayloft in the past, what can one assume the hay on the loft weighed?

Can one generally say anything about the load-bearing capacity of the flooring on such a loft?

Has anyone loaded their old hayloft with a similar load?

 

[huggan]

Span of the studs? Studs dimensions?

 

[Novisfixaren]

The span of the beams is approximately 7 meters and the beams are at least 20 cm high and 20 cm thick.

 

[larsbj]

Assuming that it is not a free span of 7m without having a support beam under the joist in the middle of the barn or alternatively 2 support beams
Loose hay weighs about 80 kg/cbm, hard-pressed about 150 kg/cbm

 

[Novisfixaren]

I have 2 support beams under the joist.

 

[Novisfixaren]

But made a mistake on the dimension, it is about 20x10 cm standing on the height and the bärlinorna are somewhat thicker.

 

[larsbj]

This means that if I assume you have an average ceiling height of 3m, it can accommodate 40-50 tons of hay, which also sounds reasonable when I think about the hay barns I've helped load hay into.

 

[Novisfixaren]

Yep, here is an image of the construction (although not the best one).

 

[larsbj]

So you have a 4''x8'' cc 1m and a span between the bearing beams of about 2.8-3m

That results in a joist structure that is significantly stronger than in a residential house.

 

[Novisfixaren]

You mean that the span will be low because of the bärlinorna?.. However, as you can see in the picture, the stöttor are only 95x95 at the moment.

 

[larsbj]

95x 95 is probably sufficient.
In my stable, which has the same construction, the posts are 3m apart.

 

[Novisfixaren]

Ok and what load have you had on your hayloft?

 

[larsbj]

The loft is 8x15 m and the previous owner says he had 25 tons there.

 

[Novisfixaren]

Okay, I will put up cc 60 on top with 45x120 as an additional floor joist, is there anything that can be done to further reinforce the construction?

 

[huggan]

But I bench press 30 tons.