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Mike McGuire

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cart barns
« on: August 24, 2007, 06:06:08 PM »


How many square feet do you need to house 50 carts? What are some of the important questions to ask or things to consider/avoid if you are building one?


Thanks for your input

Dan Herrmann

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re:cart barns
« Reply #1 on: August 24, 2007, 06:21:20 PM »
Check out Ledgerock (Rees Jones - PA).  They use a party tent as their cart barn..

Jim Thompson

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re:cart barns
« Reply #2 on: August 24, 2007, 06:25:59 PM »
Mike,

A cart is 6' x 4'  add a little for bumping and parking.  Also you need a 5 foot wide path to drive down and don't park them more than two deep.  The rest is just math.  Don't forget ventilation for either gas or acid fumes.  If under a building you'll need a ceiling with a 1 hour burn rate in most areas.

Cheers!

JT
Jim Thompson

Joe Hancock

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re:cart barns
« Reply #3 on: August 24, 2007, 08:26:14 PM »
Mike

Along with Jim's math problem and his constant hyperventilation, try to design the building to facilitate good cart rotation. You don't want it so cramped that the same 15 carts get pulled every day during the slow seasons. A drive through design, or some other method of moving about easily is wise.

Joe
" What the hell is the point of architecture and excellence in design if a "clever" set up trumps it all?" Peter Pallotta, June 21, 2016

"People aren't picking a side of the fairway off a tee because of a randomly internally contoured green ."  jeffwarne, February 24, 2017

Jim_Kennedy

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re:cart barns
« Reply #4 on: August 25, 2007, 09:10:03 AM »
Mike,
JimThompson must be buying the 'short' carts, all mine are
4' x 8'.  ;D

A 100' long x 40' wide building would give you 5 lanes for parking and two empty lanes for returns. Sliding the door at the 'front' end lets you decide which rows to start the day with. Sliding the door at the other end opens up the return lanes.


"I never beat a well man in my life" - Harry Vardon

Chris Cupit

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re:cart barns
« Reply #5 on: August 25, 2007, 09:50:53 AM »
If you have bag storage make sure it's easy to load bags onto the carts in the barn itself.  Also, like driving ranges, I've never seen a cart storage area that was "too big"!  

If you provide towels on the carts you'll need a washer/dryer nearby, if you have sand buckets  you may want an area to store the sand--large trash can works well, as well as the bottles and back ups.  

Small area for pencils, scorecards, tees.  Also a wash area is nice inside.  On the days when its raining and the carts look like crap and you need to clean them it's nice to be able to hose them off and clean them up out of the storm!

Make sure the ceiling is high enough so you don't bump your head on the chargers and have hooks in the ceiling to hold the cords when you unplug them.  (Plenty of accidents where the cords catch in the back of the cart and get pulled down!!)  Use zip ties or something like them to hold batteries in place on their pedestals.

It's nice to be able to back the carts in each night so you can pull them straight out in the AM.  Either you have enough space to turn around inside, wide enough lanes to back in or two entrances/exits so you can pull in and have the cart facing out ready to go.

But, don't put a desk or chairs in there--the cart guys will stay inside and not be where they should waiting on the golfers--don't make it too comfortable back there ;)  

Lastly, the cart barn door is open all day.  I use those walk in coolers plastic pieces in the winter to help keep the heat in.  For walk-in coolers they are ceiling to floor plastic strips about 8 inches wide that overlap one another--they help trap the cold air inside.  In the winter these work great at keeping the barn warm (and the carts and batteries as well).

Good luck and remember--bigger is better in this case.

David Schofield

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re:cart barns
« Reply #6 on: August 25, 2007, 11:11:48 AM »
There is a course in my area that was built on a dairy farm that converted the old calf barn into the cart barn.  It works pretty well, thought I suspect it's probably overkill from what others here are suggesting.  The center aisle is around 10' wide and the "stalls" are probably 8' deep.  I would imagine they can double park one side during the winter and still move around comfortably.

http://www.pheasanthillsgolf.com/tour.html

P.S., Look at all the wonderful mounding...  ;)

Brian Curtis

Re:cart barns
« Reply #7 on: August 28, 2007, 11:56:56 AM »
Mike, my experience in designing clubhouses and cart storage areas, you will need approximately 4,200 SF to 4,500SF to comfortably house 50 carts, we typically allow for 6,800-7,200SF for a full fleet.  This will also allow for you to have a cart wash area, bag storage, small general storage, restroom, and cart maintenance area.  As mentioned earlier, the ventilation very is important when using either gas or electric carts.  Most importantly, if you have the room, use it as there never seems to be enough storage area.