What Is Needed To Build A Barn
The question has been asked so I will do my best to answer. I am no expert when it comes to building things. I have tried my hand at tables, benches, cabinets and gates. Those projects turned out okay but far from professional. They did do the job they were built for but, I did learn a few things along the way.
To begin with, you need to know exactly how you want your barn built. Will it be a Pole Barn, all open inside; will it be built with a hay loft as a second upper floor or just on one or both sides; will it have stalls to board horses and cattle or will it store farm equipment? In other words, you will need a floor plan or blueprint. Are you building this yourself or hiring a contractor?
If you are hiring a contractor, he/she can help you determine exactly what you will need in the form of materials like posts, screws, bolts, nails, hammers, drills, saws and etc. The right kind of lumber makes a big difference. It is, of course, your preference on what type you use but do make sure it can withstand the weather and if it is treated or not. They will also be able to help you with the type of roofing materials you will need.
One of the best ways to decide what you want is to look around your neighborhood. Look at your neighbors barns and decide what layout you like. Look through farm magazines and online to see if anything catches your eye. Visit your neighbors and see how functional their barn is and if it will meet your farm needs. Then the next thing is to jot down your thoughts on what you like and dislike. This will help you determine what you will need in order to have a fully functional barn for your farm.
When thinking about the layout; think about how you will use the barn. For example; we have 5 stall on one side of the barn and 4 on the other. The south side with 4 stalls also has a head shoot. That side of the barn is set up for sorting and loading livestock, whether it be cattle or horses and on the outside is a catch pen. The north side with a feed room, where we store our livestock feed, vitamins and supplements and 5 stalls is used for our horses that we put up every evening and if needed we will use these stalls for the bulls in the leasing/breeding season. It, also, has a sorting corral outside. Our stalls in the center of the barn are directly across from the other so we can run the horses straight through the barn to their pasture. It makes it easy to move them if we need to. Above the 5 stalls we have a hay loft and it is easy to feed the horses hay in the winter. The rest of the barn is open to the roof for storing big hay bales, farm equipment and whatever we need to keep out of the weather. In the front center of the barn up by the head shoot is our tack room with saddles, harnesses and all other tack close at hand. For us, it works quite well but, even now we can think of things that we could have done differently.
So, all in all, you really just need to know what you want, talk to your neighbors and ask to see their set ups, check out magazines and online, speak with contractors and carpenters on what they would suggest as to their preferences for the materials and then go from there. Then if you are ready to start your project, grab your wallet and go for it.
Photo is from Tri-County Barns. distributor of Barnmaster Barns, Inc. in Texas.
Tags: barns, cattle, farm equipment, horse feed, horses, livestock equipment