Memories Of Old Barns

[Gordo 56]

I have a 140 year old barn, no nails to build it, just a bunch of hickory pegs. Biggest barn I ever saw was at NAS Whidbey Island. Dang vertical post must have been 6 x 6, now used by DRMO.

mark

How about some pictures of your 140 year old barn, its sounds like a very cool one.

 

[Gordo 56]

I used to purchase hay from a man that allowed me to go to his barn and take as I needed. The barn was a bank barn but not the German stone ender style. Including the stone foundation, it was roughly four stories high. To go into that barn full of fresh cut timouthy and alfafa hay was an aromatic treat for sure.

No doubt the Almish can build a barn but if you ever get a chance, check out the Shaker built barns especially the round ones.

I agree, the Shakers were great barn builders.

 

[Larry Caldwell]

The problem with old barns is that they weren't built to admit equipment. You can't drive a bale wagon into them to unload, or a front loader to clean out the manure. They are too labor intensive for modern farming, and a problem to maintain. Often they were too tight for good lifestock health, since ammonia fumes cause pneumonia in cattle, horses and sheep. The open loafing shed with one or two sides for a wind break is actually more healthy for the livestock. There are a lot of reasons farmers don't want them any more, just like they don't want the old style silos.