Pole barn sizes and what fits in them

Start with what goes inside

Size a pole barn from the inside out. List everything that will live in it, measure the biggest item, add room to open doors and walk around, then add the space you’ll want in five years. A building that only fits today’s vehicles usually feels tight soon after. The sizes in this guide are planning rules of thumb drawn from everyday vehicle and equipment dimensions, not code requirements; measure what you own.

The sizes in this guide are common starting points, not packages. We don’t sell a 30x40 off a list: every building we put up from our base in Dover, DE is drawn for the owner’s property and the way they’ll use it, so the width, length and wall height can be whatever the site and the county allow. Our 3D designer is a quick way to try a few footprints first.

Three numbers matter most: width, length and sidewall height. Width and length set the floor. Sidewall height sets the doors, and it’s the one that’s hard to change later.

Common pole barn sizes and what typically fits

Here’s what typically fits in the footprints people ask about, using everyday vehicle sizes. Treat it as guidance: your vehicles, your doors and your layout change the answer.

Cars, trucks and lifts

For cars and pickups, plan on bays about 12 feet wide and 24 to 30 feet deep, with overhead doors 9 or 10 feet wide and at least 8 feet tall. A lift needs height more than floor space.

A midsize car is about 16 feet long and a full-size SUV about 17 to 19 feet, so cars fit comfortably in a 24-foot depth. Pickups usually tip the decision: a full-size crew-cab pickup runs roughly 19 to 22 feet long and 8 feet or more wide with the mirrors out, so a 24-foot-deep bay leaves little room to walk past the bumper, and a 30-foot depth gives you a walkway and a bench in front of the trucks.

A 7-foot door, the usual house garage height, is tight for many pickups and won’t clear a lifted truck or a ladder rack, so 8 or 9 feet tall is the safer plan.

For a two-post lift, plan on at least 12 feet of clear height under the trusses, more if you’ll raise a full-size truck. A four-post storage lift that stacks two vehicles needs the height of both plus the lift and some clearance. Check the lift maker’s ceiling requirement before the walls are drawn, and put the lift bay’s overhead door on a high-lift track with a wall-mounted opener so a raised vehicle doesn’t meet the door. That’s why many pole barn garages and shops end up with 12- to 14-foot sidewalls.

RVs, campers and boats

Height is everything for RVs and boats. Measure from the ground to the highest point, add clearance, and let that number set the door; the door then sets the wall.

Travel trailers commonly stand about 10 to 11.5 feet tall to the top of the air conditioner, while fifth-wheels and Class A motorhomes often reach 12.5 to 13.5 feet and can run 35 to 45 feet long. That’s why RV bays typically get a door 12 to 14 feet wide and 12 to 14 feet tall, on sidewalls of 14 to 16 feet, with enough length to walk around the rig once the door is shut, often 50 feet or more.

For a boat, measure it on the trailer: overall length from the tongue to the outboard, and height to the top of the T-top, tower or windshield. Pontoons and wide center consoles may need a wider door than a car. Many owners build one tall bay for the camper or boat beside standard bays, which our RV and boat storage page covers.

Watch the height limit on a residential lot. In Kent County, the average roof height of a residential accessory building, measured halfway between the eave and the peak, can’t exceed 20 feet. On a 30-foot-wide building with a 4/12 roof, the peak sits about 5 feet above the eaves, so 16-foot sidewalls put the average near 18.5 feet.

Tractors, equipment and horses

Size a farm building by the widest and tallest machine with its parts folded for transport, plus room to hitch and unhitch. Size a horse barn by stall count.

A compact tractor with its rollover bar folded clears a standard garage door, but a utility tractor with a cab usually needs a door 10 to 12 feet tall, and combines, sprayers and planters need far taller and wider openings. Machinery buildings often run 40 to 60 feet wide or more, with tall sidewalls and big sliding doors or open bays. Measure your machines, think about what you might buy next, and see our agricultural buildings page for layouts.

For horses, the common box stall is 12 by 12 feet, with 12 by 14 or larger for big horses, and the center aisle runs 10 to 12 feet, wider if a tractor drives through. That makes a 36-foot-wide barn the classic layout: a row of stalls on each side of a 12-foot aisle. Every 12 feet of length adds two stalls, and a tack room, feed room or wash stall takes the place of one. Our horse barns page covers stalls, aisles and run-in sheds.

Door and sidewall heights to plan for

As a rough rule, make the sidewall about 2 feet taller than the tallest overhead door, to leave room for the header above the opening and the door’s track and opener. These are typical pairings:

• Sidewalls of 8 to 10 feet: cars, lawn equipment and storage, with doors 7 or 8 feet tall
• Sidewalls of 10 to 12 feet: pickups and a loft over part of the floor, with doors 8 to 10 feet tall
• Sidewalls of 12 to 14 feet: a two-post lift or a travel trailer, with doors 10 to 12 feet tall
• Sidewalls of 14 to 16 feet: fifth-wheels, motorhomes and cab tractors, with doors 12 to 14 feet tall
• Sidewalls over 16 feet: combines and large equipment, usually on engineered plans

Rules that cap size and height on your lot

On a residential lot, the county or town can limit how big and how tall an accessory building gets and how close it sits to the property lines.

In Kent County, a residential accessory building can’t be larger than the house, in addition to the 20-foot average roof height limit above. In unincorporated Sussex County, a garage or pole building under 600 square feet may sit 5 feet from the side and rear property lines, while one of 600 square feet or more must meet the setbacks for the house; a 24x24, at 576 square feet, stays under that line.

New Castle County generally limits accessory structures on residential lots to 20 feet tall, with an exception on lots over an acre; confirm the details with the New Castle County Department of Land Use, (302) 395-5400.

Wall height has code consequences, too. In Sussex County, a post up to 12 feet tall, from the floor to the bottom of the truss, needs a footing at least 36 inches deep, a taller post needs a quarter of its height unless a Delaware architect or engineer designs the footing, and posts over 16 feet require sealed plans. Taller walls also mean longer posts, more siding and more wind load on the building, which the drawings and the price both reflect.

Farm buildings are often handled differently, and towns that run their own zoning set their own limits. We check the rules for your parcel before anything is drawn. When you have a list of what goes inside, send it to us and we’ll come back with drawings and a free quote.