sb47, I’ve had the same thought. A 3 purpose towable shelter. The thought came up flying model airplanes. I have a runway for models on my property. Flying in the summer with no shelter from the sun is tough. So the thought of a shelter germinated. I figure 10x10x10 on wheels so it can be towed. Also insulation to reduce the heat from the sun. Three purposes; airplane flying, firewood splitting and equipment repair in the field if it can be towed to the equipment. I designed it in my head, priced it out but never built it. Just too many projects to work on. Summertime in Texas is rough.
When I was racing I had one of those portable pop up tent covers that I would set up next to my toy hauler at the track to keep the sun off my bike and provide a little work area next to my trailer. I had it set up over my splitter one day for some shade and I didn't have it staked down very well. A gust of wind popped up and it took off flying well above the tree line height. When it hit the ground it bent it up like a pretzel. I would get another one but they have issues the way there designed. They can get water pockets if it rains and you have to take a stick and lift up the pocket and drain the water off before it gets so heavy it collapses.They also deteriorate in the sun and wouldn't last if left out in the sun for a long time. The 10'x10' size was about right for a splitter shelter. Yes noise would be a factor with a tin roof in the rain but if it's raining that hard I probably would be out working in it anyway. When I first started racing I used a cargo trailer to haul my bike in and camp in at the track. I soon learned that when it rained it was so loud you couldn't even hear yourself think.
So I insulated it with foam rubber and put paneling under the inside and that made a huge difference. Not only in the sound but it helped the A/C unit in the summer. I wounder if you had one of those portable metal carports and had someone come out and put some of that spray foam under the inside of the roof how much it would cut the noise from the rain and block some of the heat. That way it wouldn't have to be so tall to keep the heat from radiating and frying your head in the summer.
If I build one out of wood it would much heavier then one of those metal framed ones. Ether way I would have to stake it down to keep it from blowing over. I would like to have something that I could move around so I can drag it next to the wood pile. I'm leaning towards building one out of wood with skids to drag it on. I could build one cheaper the buying one of those prefabbed metal carports. Still thinking debating with myself on witch way to go.
My wood comes from a tree guy that dumps here for free. And the piles move around depending on where I have room for it. If I had a dragable shelter and one of those gorillaback lift units it would save me a lot of work moving wood to stationary shed splitting area. I have decided to buy one of those gorillaback lift units that mounts on my splitter so I'm gonna give that a try and see how well it works. Sure would save my back from lifting heavy rounds. I ain't gettin any younger.