Both for me. My great-great grandad built (2) 36' x 46' post and beam barns in the early 1880's. After my grandad passed away, in the early 1980's, they suffered some years of neglect. When I bought the farm from my grandmother in 2000, they were past the point of economical repair. The roof's were beginning to leak and the foundations were failing. They still worked for keeping my tractors out of the weather, and I even had enough space to store a few seasons worth of firewood inside. Both barns had hay-lofts, which were great for storing and seasoning rough-cut lumber.
It was a lot more economical to build a new pole barn, than it would have been to repair those old structures. This project is still underway. I had to move the firewood outside and shed some equipment in order to fit it all into one of the old barns, as I dismantled the other one. I saved most of the old beams and lumber (mostly American chestnut) that was still in good shape. I hired a friend to put up a new 36' x 50' metal pole-barn, with (2) 10' x 25' porches, on the site of the dismantled barn. After he got the shell up, I built a 30' x 12' loft inside, using reclaimed beams and lumber from the old barn. I like the looks of those old hand-hewn beams, especially after power-washing them and applying a couple coats of polyurethane.
Currently, I am completing a 20' x 12' wood shop, and a 10' x 12' metal shop, under the loft in the new pole barn. I poured a concrete floor for those areas and for one of the 10' x 25' porches, but the rest of the floor in the new pole barn is crushed stone. I prefer that, because it is much cheaper and some of my old tractors leak a bit of oil here and there. Having that nice level concrete floor in the shop areas, and on the porch is really nice though. So far, my favorite things about the new barn is the leak-free roof, concrete floor and the LED lighting.
Last night, after I got home from work at the factory, I hauled a bunch of stuff up from the other old barn. I had to get it done then because we are getting a big thaw and rain today, here in Western NY. It sure was great conditions for hauling last night though, with frozen ground, no water, and good lights on my 4wd tractor. What I did not get then, I will have to carry by hand or wait till late spring when everything dries up.
I hope I can get everything out of that remaining 1883 barn before it collapses. The other one collapsed while I was at work, after having removed all of the siding and some of the diagonal braces. It was a lot nicer clearing out the old shingles when they were down on the ground. I ran a half-inch diameter steel cable from a beam on the remaining old barn, to a big tree out back, to keep it from collapsing onto the new pole barn. My plan is to hook onto that cable with my biggest tractor and a snatch block (to double my pull), after I get all the siding torn off. I need some of that siding to finish enclosing the wood shop in the new pole barn.
