HEY! Another thread about HAY! Pole barn ??'s

[MossflowerWoods]

Hey all you Hay guys...

So... Here is the next thing clearly I need to consider in my quest and questions about starting up a haying operation.

Pole Barn.

The guy I am buying from has a very cool (I think) pole barn. It is big and dry with NO SIDES. He stores all the hay in the center, and he has tractors, trucks, trailers, etc. parked all around the center with very easy in/out access to everything.

To me it seems shockingly logical and almost military minded as if they might need to "bug out" and get all the equipment out ASAP.

My questions start with the following....

1) - What kind of poles to use, and where to get them?
2) - Roof Trusses? What kind and where to get.
3) - Roofing? Galvanized? What is low cost and effective?
4) - If I put down heavy pastic and 4" concrete just in the center "Hay" area, can I then just stack and not worry, all the hay will be good, or???
5) - What am I forgetting?

Thanks in advance guys,
David

 

[flusher]

Hey all you Hay guys...

So... Here is the next thing clearly I need to consider in my quest and questions about starting up a haying operation.

Pole Barn.

The guy I am buying from has a very cool (I think) pole barn. It is big and dry with NO SIDES. He stores all the hay in the center, and he has tractors, trucks, trailers, etc. parked all around the center with very easy in/out access to everything.

To me it seems shockingly logical and almost military minded as if they might need to "bug out" and get all the equipment out ASAP.

My questions start with the following....

1) - What kind of poles to use, and where to get them?
2) - Roof Trusses? What kind and where to get.
3) - Roofing? Galvanized? What is low cost and effective?
4) - If I put down heavy pastic and 4" concrete just in the center "Hay" area, can I then just stack and not worry, all the hay will be good, or???
5) - What am I forgetting?

Thanks in advance guys,
David

I used 4x6 pressure treated posts for my small DIY equipment shed (20x28 ft, 10 ft roof sloping to 9 ft in rear). YOu can use round posts, old telephone poles, etc.



No trusses--just beams (doubled 2x12s and doubled 2x10s glued and screwed), rafters. Girts and purlins are 2x4s.
I like to paint the parts before installation (hate to stand on a ladder with a paint brush in my hand).
Sheet metal is 29 gauge R-panel special order from Home Depot (around $1 per square foot, IIRC).
Floor is just 6" thick layer of gravel.

Good luck.

 

[flusher]

One other thing--my next pole shed will be an all metal structure. You can get ideas from this website

Home Page

I like their kits--looks like an easy project to build one of these.
I'm sure you have similar outfits on the East Coast where you're located.

Good luck.

 

[Creamer]

Around here the best deal is a package from a certain building center as you can go to their electronic shed design terminal in the store and make changes on the fly. Whether an enclosed single car detached garage to a very large pole building, insulated or not, sides or not, varying eave heights and roof types and slopes, windows, walk-in or overhead doors, etc. Depending on the type of construction you want you are limited to efficient building techniques, i.e. pole barns come in 8' increments, sidewalls come in 2' increments, etc. Then it figures all the materials you need and their pricing for the package is cheaper than what you buy the materials for unless you are a scrounger that looks for a special sale or used here and there. Then you just have to prepare the base, floor or whatever you want and start building. If nothing else it will give you a lot of ideas and a very good idea of the cost. I like it because i don't have to explain it to somebody, I can just make the change and see what comes out. It is really easy and a great way to dream. Not a bad sales tool for them either!

 

[bullbreaker]

Hello again David !
Around these parts lots of folks get there poles for free from local Co-op and other big name electric company. As some know after certain amount of years by law or code they have to replace-em. Also on some major routes they have gone to concrete or steel structured poles. Lots of time people just get legal permission and haul em home right from where they took-em down.

Boone

 

[Larry Caldwell]

My questions start with the following....

1) - What kind of poles to use, and where to get them?

Ground contact pressure treated will last a long time if you build an overhang into the roof. Alternatives are to cast concrete footings with pole bases, or use steel columns.

2) - Roof Trusses? What kind and where to get.

Any truss company will provide you with engineered trusses for your application. They will be cheaper than building your own.

3) - Roofing? Galvanized? What is low cost and effective?

Galv is cheap. Painted galv will last longer. Heavier gauge is better.

4) - If I put down heavy pastic and 4" concrete just in the center "Hay" area, can I then just stack and not worry, all the hay will be good, or???

Yeah, no problem.

5) - What am I forgetting?

Lots of stuff, but if you build a shed without side walls, don't forget knee bracing. The walls of a pole barn form a solid gusset that really stiffens the building. No walls, the building might collapse without plenty of bracing.

 

[pacerron]

Hey all you Hay guys...

Pole Barn.
The guy I am buying from has a very cool (I think) pole barn. It is big and dry with NO SIDES. He stores all the hay in the center, and he has tractors, trucks, trailers, etc. parked all around the center with very easy in/out access to everything.
To me it seems shockingly logical and almost military minded as if they might need to "bug out" and get all the equipment out ASAP.
Thanks in advance guys,
David

I've already explained my way of storing quality hay and most of the reasons why, so I won'r bore you with it again.
Your comment about the military minded orderlyness does spark a couple
comments.
1. Remember historically what happened to the Army Air Force and the Navy planes parked wing tip to wing tip in Hawaii in WWII. That was a lesson well learned, and branched parking with each bird being in its own shelter under a steel arch with 15" of concrete on top resulted in many foreign theaters, in my day.
2. Many people do store hay closely surrounded by fueled equipment, but as they say, " don't put all your eggs in one basket" If you have ever seen a barn go up in flames as the result of lightening, combustion from hay that gets too hot during cure, electrical problems, or vandalism there is not near as much time as you would think to get stuff out to a safe distance.
Ask some of the volunteer firefighters in your area.
3. Whether you stack rolls or rectangular bales it is a lot better to be able to
do the "first in, first out" system. So if you have high doors or access from both ends it is much more effiecient than having to move new stuff to get to old stuff. Building taller is normally cheaper than wider or longer. Think of the roof area and poles required in either design versus the cubic space that results.

 

[rambler]

Some negatives:

Wet hay will heat up and spontainously combust. Do you want all your eggs in one basket - all the hay, all the equipment - in one spot like that?

Similar, a spark - esp from a gas engine - can land in the hay & start a fire. Again, all the eggs in one basket?


Some put up the cheap tarp quanset tube buildings for hay storage, leave both ends open for air flow. Not as long lasting, but can be cheaper.

For poles, I find laminated 2x6 or 2x8 is the best out there now adays. Laminate them 3 or sothick. The bottom pieces are heavily pressure treated where needed, the tops above the dirt don't need any treatment to save money. Wood these days is so poor & crooked, actual 4x4 or 6x6 trists, warps, has knots. Laminated hold up better, and the pressure treated 2x stuff gets the treatment in most all the way, noty just the outside.

Local building codes determine if used telephone poles will work, good option if you can.

Trusses - buy them premade, typically cheaper than you could ever build and then you have a stamp on them.

The bottom layer of hay always has a chance of molding, it ca n't breath on concrete, dirt, gravel, or whatever. In a wet year moisture condenses and wiks up on anything. So there is no garentee. But your plan is as good as any, better than most.

Small square bales can bring double the money for the same hay depending on your location. With the right tools ($$$$) handling them can be as easy as round bales. If you go ahead with a building and such, might want to consider dimentions and such to handle different ideas in the future - tall enough for a NH bale bagon to tip up inside and unload a whole stack of 99 bales, or the right width bays to easily handle accumlator gapple loads of hay, etc. You won't use that stuff now, but don't be kicking yourself 5 years from now with an awkward building that isn't much use when you could have added $1000 now and it would work great all different ways.

Random thoughts.

--->Paul

 

[Western]

David, I had a hay barn built by the previous owner 50'x75' x 16 tall at the eave. He used telephone poles set leaning inward 2-3 degrees. Wood trusses and corrugated tin roof. The side I stacked my square bales on, was enclosed with corrugated tin, a short wall (4') went around the rest. I stacked my hay on oak pallets, had over 100. worked great