Building a Rock Wall, a Road, and grading around the Barn

[Timber]

I have been putting in 6X6 cedar posts and using 6" x 10' rough cut oak planks about 1 1/4 thick. The posts were expensive but oak wasn't bad. I set the top rail at 5 feet and go 24 inches from top to top of the next level for 3 rows. Round post and rail looks nice till your horse backs his butt into the scratch those itches and pops the rail out. I am very familiar with a 6 volt pulse fence. We used them when I was a kid to keep the cows in (Brown Swiss) milkers. I was a rotten kid; I would get my sisters, Grab my sister’s hand and grab the fence. Horses will take the hit especial if you have a bright one that realizes it can walk through it. That web fence is kind of new and I love the idea putting the horses into the wood lot to trample the underbrush and keep the mud down. My paddock is sand base so it isn't bad there but the grazing fields near the barn can get nasty. This is a new place for me hear and I am trying to get everything set up before my horses come. I'm big on planning first rather than fix after the fact

 

[SPIKER]

OK I'm giving this a try with a few photos, the land looks pretty level in the photos BUT it is all on the side of a hill only a 3% grade I'd say, the WEST side is the high side and the E is the Low side. my parking area is to the east between the OLD farm cabin & the NEW barn.
These photos were before the rains which now show up a bit of the drop.



This is the E side looking tward the West side and shows the S side of the barn, the water flow is twards you looking at this photo.


This is the S side of barn loking N twards barn, near W est corner. there is a 3' fall from where I'm standing to the barn. Photo doesn't really show this fall from highest point of the swale to the lowest point of the water flow path, which is about 15' S of the barn's S wall. Sme day I want a full lenght green house on this side



S side again, looking E down hill and shows some of the small maples I transplanted at the green grass tufts. They are a few feet back on the 2nd swale top side, there are actually 3 diversions for water starting on the West side and each getting more land sacping eventually. I still need grass in everything and am in process of moving 300+ ton of clay I moved from under the top soil which is only a bit of back on in these photos.


This is the West side looking twards N/W corner of the barn, it has a 10' lean too the full 50' of the barn water drains slightly N too, not much as there is a slight knoll to the north.



This is West side a bit farther back looking S and slightly West up twards where I have several bumps to divert water away.




Ok hope I didn't high jack the post but am trying the posting of photos and stuff as suggested above

Mark M

 

[3RRL]

I don't know how I missed this thread but it's a good thing because I got to see 2 projects instead of one.
BigBaller, that is a mighty fine job you did. LOL...It's funny how what you "have in mind to do" can be different than what you "have to do" to make it right. It all turned out great. Thanks for sharing the project and the pictures. I was wondering how close you were going to get to that tree (roots) on the high side of the building. Looks like it's no problem and a lot of room in between.
You too Spiker. You guys are hard workers. Pictures with narration sure add a whole different dimension to a thread.
Timber, are you all done with your projects for the time being?

 

[Timber]

Timber, are you all done with your projects for the time being?

No I still have the gates to do and 3 or 4 posts to put in. I should be done this weekend though. I have a hearing this Tuesday with the environmental people on the pool so hopefully that will be done in a few weeks. I am going to dig the holes for the sauna tubes for the new deck and have them filled when the come to do the surround for the pool and the floor in the cabana. I am going to look for another drum too so I can make another counter wt a little smaller for working out in the woods.

 

[lrunge]

Spiker - That looks just like the 24 x 40 barn I had built last year by Durabilt. They are in the Canton area and I am in Northern KY (Cincinnati Metro). who built your barn?

 

[SPIKER]

Irunge::

I had quotes from durabuilt, (very competive and was 2nd best) I had an amish crew do the barn, pretty much same specs as the dura built building though.

in long run everything has been OK, but they screwed around 1/2 way into project on me and left the 2nd floor exposed for a month to get snow on it and rain/sleet on the OSB decking, which caused a good bit of lift/swelling of the decking. I held back some $ from final to cover that and when the roof was done was late nov so the shingels didn't get a good heat on them so a lot of them are/were not well attached & were loosened & tore loose in high winds we had that winter.

I think all in all I would have been as far ahead to have DURABUILT do it though the amish crew sure liked a lot of nails in all the framing

worst thing that I had to RE-DO was fact that after 3~4 years all the T1-11 pulled/warped out away from the 2x4's on the top & bottom edges. I have since had to take galv decking screws & go back over all the sheeting to re-attach it correctly. They had used staples and the stapels rusted as well as pulled out due to sun bake/moisture differances from inside to outside...

I'm still satisfied right now though.

I have been working on plumbing this week and are almost got rough piping in for waste lines.


mark M

 

[bigballer]

Well this project is pretty much completed, I need to do some final cleanup and such but the big work is done, I think it turned out pretty decent and should perform as intended.

Timber - those are big posts you put in the ground, i bet that looks good. i used 6"x6"x10' PT post for my stall corners and put them 30" deep. I set it up so I could add sliding doors as well. I use 2x6 tongue and groove for the walls. There are 4 stalls total and I added channels between them so the seperating walls can be removed easily for a foaling stall for our mare.

Spiker - great pics, thanks for sharing, the photo tool works great, huh? ;-)

3RRL - those 2 trees ended up being about 10ft from the wall but they are coming out anyway, they are too close to the barn and when alders get too big, they tend to rot out and eventually fall. the way it's leaning requires it to come out before it gets to that point. I'll drop them this winter, very carefully i might add. heh..

Well - I thought I would add a couple after pics to show the difference between what it looked like before I started and how it looks now. compare these to the first set of pics on this thread:




I tried to stich the 2 and this is what came out:


View from front:


Just enough room to get the tractor in there:

 

[SPIKER]

hey all: just wanted to put on a pic of the first berm I made way back when, and it is in the previow posts but you can't see it from the grass... there is a TREE where the berm starts, that same tree can be seen on the left of the other photos prior on the LEFT far side of the S side of the barn, this grassed over berm is some 500' long, starts out on the S side of the barn, going West up hill, turns 90 degrees heads N across the West side of the barn, makes a 45 deg - 45 deg zig zag on the west side @ the N corner and continues some 300' north to where the creek land slopes off some 1' drop in 25' or so, and that is where I stopped. in the center it is some 2' high and is about 6~15' wide depending. SO here are the photos.


berm on S side of the barn going away is heading West then turns to the right of the photo which is N dirrection. the FIRST photo in my above post is looking from the same dirrection, from east side looking west shot along the S side of barn. the tree can be seen in the 3rd or 4th photo back in center there is a wishing well wihch I since removed but both photos were taken from about the same spot and that wishing well is just to the left of where the 1st berm starts.




just for fun back in dec 2002 storm



edit in 3rd photo with text showing described above.




oh and BTW I LOVE this photobucket and right click to re-size photos that was posted above ! I'm working on a bunch of different galleries if you want to see take a look

WPSPIKER - Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting

Mark M
END EDIT IN
Mark M

 

[Timber]

oh and BTW I LOVE this photobucket and right click to re-size photos that was posted above ! I'm working on a bunch of different galleries if you want to see take a look

Isn't that just the best way to post pics, When I 1st saw Robs posts I said now that is sweet the way those pics work. It would be nice to have that pinned to the top some where.

 

[SPIKER]

it would be real nice for new people & old alike to have a good help section on how to do this or perhaps a post onn HOW to get it all set up, I'm still learning but it is pretty easy & self explanitory from your above post but few people may actually visit this post in regards to learning how you shows otjhers here how to do it.

anyhow off to eat some pizza

Mark M