This year, Panels Plus has been working with two separate skid shed manufacturers to develop a Shed Combo Station to build floor sections and wall panels for the skid shed industry. This new product is similar to our current Combo Station but has been adapted to meet the growing demands of the Shed Industry. The new product accommodates the runners of the skid shed that span the base of the floor and can also accommodate a variety of shed sizes.
The Shed Combo Station can manufacture sheds ranging in size from 6’ W x 6’ L and all the way up to 16’ W x 40’ L. The styles of skid sheds range from a simple tool shed to a classic barn or portable garage with many optional add-ons (such as porches, lofts, windows, and flower boxes). The skid sheds typically have two or four runners depending on the size of the shed.
“The Shed Industry was a natural extension of our business. It’s a very similar industry to what we’re building equipment for already. We’ve made some key changes to our current Combo Station to make it more suited for the shed building industry,” stated Jeff Brown, Product Manager.
Our current Combo Station was modified to not only to accommodate the runners, but also to be flexible with the location of the runners, as they change as the width of the shed changes. The Shed Combo Station is also equipped with indexing tool carriages. This allows the operator to easily nail the rim boards to the joists for constructing floor sections or nail the plates to the studs for building wall panels. “With just a few inputs from the operator, the bridge will automatically nail the floor sections,” stated Jeff.
After the operator selects the floor width, length, and the joist spacing from a menu on the touchscreen, they then press a single button, and the sheathing bridge nails the flooring to the joist without any additional operator interaction. The nailing tool automatically tilts and the nail spacing changes between seams and in the field. After the cycle is complete, the stitchers are used to nail the flooring to the rim joist while the bridge returns to its home position.
We currently have 5 Shed Combo Stations built and running in the field already, with orders for more. We’re excited to see where else this booming industry takes us!