Barn to workshop

[Larstan]

Hello Everyone, I am new to the TBN site but have been inspired by the caliber of posters here. There is really a large group of talented and hard working folks out there. I started browsing the forums and then got caught up in a couple of threads that blew my socks off..... Eddie Walker, RobS, dholly just to name a few. Eddie in particular seems to have a talent for writing as well as all his others. I keep waiting for his next update like a kid waiting for the next comic in the series. Anyway I hope you find this an interesting addition to the projects forum.
A little background, the barn was being leased to a woman who ran about 40 to 50 head of sheep. She never did anything to the barn except open and close the gate (occasionally). The North west side of the barn was about a foot and a half down and almost all of the base timbers were dry rotted or infested with wood boring ants. There are 2 large trees on the East side that had grown into the side of the structure and were forcing it west at a slow but ultimately destructive pace. Since I did not intend originally to post this project anywhere I did not document as thoroughly as I should have but I did snap some before pictures. So here is the untouched structure. /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif

Thanks,

 

[Larstan]

Here is the (or was) the North side of the barn. If you look closely at the roof you can see how far down the whole side has dropped. /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif

 

[Larstan]

This is a shot from just inside the East entrance and looking north. That door led into a small room (tac room?). That doorway is now a good eighteen inches off the ground after clearing the Sheep #@$% out of the whole barn. The entire floor was covered and the structure is 35' X 50'.

 

[Larstan]

This is from outside the east entrance, this was the beginning of the manure removal.

 

[Larstan]

Now we get to how I came to be browsing the TBN forums. This is what I started out using to clear the barn. My trusty Old 9N, built like a tank but not designed for tight spaces. I thought my arms were going to fall off coming in and out of that stall. All I had to work with at first was a box blade and the one entrace/exit on the east side. I would back in and grab what I could and drag it around to the field on the south side. This led to borrowing a small NH with FEL, boy did that speed the process up. That in turn convinced me I needed my own tractor (Now I had to convince the wife /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif). After much drama on my part about the time I would save if I only had a tractor with a few attachments /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif she still said no! So I went and bought it anyway /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif. So I ended up with a Mahindra 2615 HST with FEL,5' BH, PHD, Box blade. I will post a pic of the setup down the road a bit. For now I will get back to the mess.

 

[Larstan]

This is a shot from the front (east side) before I touched it. you can see the pile of straw at the gate. She would bring bales of straw and drag them inside and cut binders. The sheep would them sit in there and eat and @#$% over and over and over. I think this went on for about 3 years. I beleive this barn has to be 50 to 75 years old if not older. It has some really great rough cut lumber in it but a good portion was not salvageable. Over the years numerous tenants had done modifications but they did them wherever the structure was sitting at that point so there was some interesting angles inside.

 

[Larstan]

Interior filled to the brim. OSB hung everywhere as stalls and exposed romex running everywhere. The electrical alone was enough to give me the willy's.

 

[Larstan]

This is a straight view of the north side of the barn. most of the siding below the eves was shot all the way around the structure. I have tried to save what I can but most of it was just falling off or had been nailed over with plywood.

 

[Larstan]

West side, last one of the before pictures. Tomorrow I will put up some progress pics.

 

[GerardC]

Welcome to TBN.

It's going to be interesting to see what you do with it. Looks to be a real challenge but I'm sure you'll amaze us. Keep the photos coming.