Cover story: Fry Contracting Alpine Buildings

The Fry family know the importance of protecting their assets, and have turned to Alpine Buildings for solutions since 2012. Their fourth Alpine shed provides a modern way of futureproofing their collection of vintage machinery and accessories

When the decision was made to build a new dedicated space for more than two dozen machines and implements, along with a place to house memorabilia collected over several lifetimes, getting back in touch with Alpine Buildings was a no-brainer for Tasman District ag contractors, Kevin and Andrew Fry.

Fourth time’s a charm

Cover story: Fry Contracting Alpine Buildings — The new building measures 15m x 36m and and uses Clearspan rafters to eliminate centre supports

‘Back’ in touch? Kevin and Andrew (together as the well-known ag contracting firm, Fry Contracting) have been Alpine Buildings customers since 2012.

Serving as the company’s base of operations, the property near Tapawera, an hour from Nelson, is now home to four Alpine Buildings sheds. The first, an open-sided extension to an existing shed, was joined six years later by a larger open-sided structure featuring 6m-wide bays. This in turn was added onto with a large workshop and office, where the company’s full-time diesel mechanic works on ag equipment old and new.

Naturally, there are plenty of commonalities in the buildings, thanks to Alpine Buildings’ signature use of straight, dry timber poles in construction and spacious clearspan gable design.

“We wanted a shed that would be big enough to let us display the tractors and other equipment from the collection and have enough room so you can walk around them,” says Andrew. “But we don’t do any restoration or maintenance here – we only work on the tractors up at the workshop. So, the space also needed to be big enough to manoeuvre the machines around and get them in and out whenever we need to.”

Multi-purpose in disguise

Measuring in at 15m x 36m, the new building is notable for its huge amount of open floorspace, high ceiling and wide doors at either end. In specifying this design and dimensions, the Frys cleverly futureproofed the building for further modifications and even an entirely different use.

“The reason we went for large doors is so we can get more modern gear in here if needed,” Andrew continues. “Our John Deere collection includes a large amount of early two-cylinder models, which are compact compared to the modern machines, but we also want to store larger tractors like our 3140 from the early 1980s, which was our very first contracting tractor.

“We also have a bit of a vintage combine collection too – we have six of them around the country that we’ll get in here eventually – so we needed to make sure we had room for those,” he says.

“Currently, we have a fair bit of John Deere memorabilia – operating manuals, official tools, that sort of stuff – on display in cabinets in one corner.”

Beyond the internal flexibility the new Alpine Buildings shed gives Andrew, the structure was designed and sited with an entirely different use in mind if need be.

“In the last few years, we’ve planted hops. It’s been slow progress there, but this building could be used for hop harvesting if things take off. I wouldn’t really want to see the tractors back where they were beforehand, but hey, if it meant the money-making machines were in good use for a bumper hop harvest, then I could live with that,” he smiles.

Easy up

A distinct throughline when speaking with Alpine Buildings customers is how easy and fast the structures are to assemble. Tradies the length and breadth of New Zealand are quick to acknowledge the organised manner in which collective materials are delivered to site and organised for construction. For Andrew’s builder, Brad Fenimore, this was also the case.

“The building went up so fast,” says Andrew. “The floor pour was the longest part of the process, but once that was complete, Brad put everything together quickly. Everything was well labelled and arrived in packs. I think Alpine just gets better and better at that stuff.”

As to the building’s engineering, as ever, “accuracy” is the word that springs to mind when taking a closer look at an Alpine Buildings structure.

The shed’s posts and portals all interlock together to create a solid building. Examples of the high-quality materials Alpine Buildings utilise are everywhere you look, such as bracing along the walls and the building’s rafters, which are constructed from hot dip galvanised steel for maximum longevity. This structural steel ranges from 5mm-10mm thick, and is held together with heavy-duty bolts. The hot dip galvanised steel, when paired with timber poles and framing, means that the shed comes with a 50-year council building consent, twice as long as many other shed options on the market.

When the heat is on

Overhead, Alpine Buildings’ signature Zero-Bird-Perch rafter design – which eliminates nooks where birds might nest thanks to a special ‘slot and bolt’ design – is another key ingredient in ensuring a clean and tidy interior fit for precious heritage hardware.

“All the machines you see in here run, which is a point of pride for us. And while we like a bit of rust and patina on a working machine, we still want to keep them as tidy as possible. Eliminating the potential for bird crap or nesting material ending up on the machines was a big one for us,” says Andrew.

Kevin says one of his favourite aspects of the new shed is its timber frame construction.

“I’ve built a few tin sheds over the years and they’re always loud and hot to work in,” he says. “The timber in here makes a big difference to that.”

Timber framing serves for better noise reduction than an ‘all-steel’ shed, as the hollow steel portals in an all-steel shed amplify reverberation while timber absorbs it. Wood also offers better structural tolerance in extreme heat than steel, and heat is top-of-mind for Andrew.

“Fire is my biggest worry: the nearest brigade is 12 minutes away and, as you can imagine, you can’t start and move machines like these in an instant. It’s still a work in progress, but we have a commercial-level alarm and sprinkler system being installed,” he says.

Once again, the shed’s timber construction has made it easier and more cost-effective when installing wiring and other amenities.

“We also didn’t go with Clearlight panels in the roof because I didn’t want to promote any extra heat in here,” Andrew explains. “We have the big LEDs overhead of course, but actually the light is almost the same in here regardless of whether the lights are on or off.”

Show n’ shine

“People often come and ask us about the shed. And then of course they stay for quite a while once they see what’s inside,” Andrew continues.

“The new shed changes everything for the collection. Our vintage machines used to be all lumped together under covers in the smaller sheds around the property and you couldn’t access them at all or even look at them.

“It’s great to have them on display and to be able to get them out whenever we want to take them to a show or work on them. Alpine made it simple to get the new shed built and realise the dream Dad and I have had for the collection. We have a lot of finishing-off work still to do, but it’ll be a great space once it’s done.”

And if you’re curious about the many machines in Kevin and Andrew’s collection, we’ll be delving into what’s in the shed in greater detail in the next issue of Farm Trader. Let’s just hope that hop harvest isn’t too successful in the meantime. For the tractors’ sakes anyway.