Finally started on my Texas pole barn!

[Megado]

The next weekend brought great weather and allowed us to get a lot accomplished. We set the blocking for the roof rafters and then began the process of installing the shed rafters in place.



Below are a few pictures showing what was finished at the end of the weekend. I've discovered one 6x6x14' corner post that warped on me pretty bad after it was set in place that I'll have to straighten out before attaching the rafters to it. I'd love to get some ideas on how to best accomplish this if anyone has any thoughts or dealt with this before?

 

[3RRL]

Megado,
What a great thread you got going and the pictures are great. As I was reading each post and viewing each picture, I saw you finally got the clickable thumbnails to work perfectly now. Your pictures and detail of your building technique is very informative and well thought out. I'm sure many others will enjoy your thread as much as I am.

One other thing, all that fel work you're doing with ole blue sure looks like a bucket grapple and toothbar would come in handy for you. Also a couple grab hooks for chains. You are making the most of it though, I must say.
Great job and thanks for sharing.

 

[Megado]

With all the detailed pictures that you are taking, this might just be "THE" thread for others to learn how to build a barn.

I love the plan and think Steel Dust is doing a great job on his barn. There is one thing that you might think about. On your open section for storing implements. you also have one side as being open. I did the exact same thing on my open storage area and have come to consider it a mistake. It wont take a second to walk around the wall to get to the storage area, so that's not much of an argument. Having that extra wall there will be very, very handy for storing stuff like yard tools. I'm desperate to find a place to hang my weed eater and hand sprayers. I'm maxed out on storage in my open area and having another wall will really increase my ability to organize more things better. You can always change it later, so it's not an issue either way, just something that I'm going to change on mine.

What program did you use for your design and what was the learning curve like?

I learned something new in your pictures. I lift posts all the time into holes with my FEL, but never thought of a blocking board. I just lay the post next to the hole and lift. It would sure make things allot easier doing it your way. Thanks!!!!

Eddie

Eddie,

Glad I could be of help with the tip on using the blocking board while lifting the post into the hole. However, I'd be amiss if I didn't say that all the credit should go to SteelDust for the tip on the technique. I just followed his advice that he posted on his thread. Really works well though when lifting the larger timbers.

I'd thought about adding that extra wall to the open area when I was working up the drawings mainly to make the barn symmetrical. I decided not to include it for now since my plans are to park a trailer under the shed roof and I will need to be able to back the trailer in from where the wall would be. It's certainly something I could add later if it turns out the trailer gets parked somewhere else in the future. Thanks for the idea about the extra hanging storage and I'll keep it in mind.

I do a lot of drawing in AutoCad in my paying job and so creating the working drawings in 3D was something that I did real quick for fun. It's actually been beneficial because it's allowed me to "build" the barn on paper first and I've discovered some details and spacial conflicts that would have been expensive to fix in real time if I hadn't thought them through and discovered them on paper. As I'm sure you can imagine...it's always much cheaper to utilize the erase button than to have to waste good lumber.

Jim H.

 

[Megado]

Megado,
What a great thread you got going and the pictures are great. As I was reading each post and viewing each picture, I saw you finally got the clickable thumbnails to work perfectly now. Your pictures and detail of your building technique is very informative and well thought out. I'm sure many others will enjoy your thread as much as I am.

One other thing, all that fel work you're doing with ole blue sure looks like a bucket grapple and toothbar would come in handy for you. Also a couple grab hooks for chains. You are making the most of it though, I must say.
Great job and thanks for sharing.

Rob,

Thanks for the kind words. And yes...I've often wished I had a bucket grapple and toothbar on my FEL, along with a few grab hooks for chains. Those things are on that "to do" list I mentioned but I just haven't gotten to them yet. I'll get there someday though I'm sure!

I too have enjoyed your thread and have been following it for some time now. I must say that your place is incredible!

Jim H.

 

[SteelDust]

I'm glad I was able to contribute the pole setting method to the group. I had doubts that it was going to work and had images of the pole flipping backwards over my loader, and having to rely on the ROPS to bail me out. The first post must have took me 15 min of slipping my clutch (slooooowww) while fiddling with the loader position all the way in. I came up with the blocking the post after having to struggle to lift that first heavy SOB on to the frame of my forks. I think my poles were treated the day before I got them...all very wet.

There's an saying I once heard, "Progress is made by lazy men looking for an easier way to do a job." Not that I consider myself lazy, but after the near hernia on the first post, I looked over at the seven other and said, "There's got to be a better way."

Megado, great job on the progress. I picked up the roof metal/trim package today, I sure hope that I'm updating my thread with some pictures on Sunday night.

Anyone looking to buy metal roofing in the coming months, buy it ASAP. Waiting about 6 weeks after I first priced it out cost me a few hundred dollars. They told me today they are looking at a twenty cent price increase in the coming few weeks.

 

[jonbravado]

WOW. all i can say is wow. great work and great pictures.

If i wouldn't have found this website, who KNOWS what my upcoming pole shed would look like!!

Keep up the good work and pictures. great thread.

J

 

[KennethBrown]

I built my garage/car port out of 4X6's so their a little smaller than yours but we used the bucket and come-a-longs to straiten the posts. Mine sat in the sun in July for a couple of weeks so they were pretty rough. Just slowly bend/twist in the direction you want it to go. Let it rest severel hours and crank some more. It'll eventually straighten out.

 

[EddieWalker]

Depending where you bought your wood from, you should be able to return them. Try pulling it straight up with your FEL. I've had good luck with that when one's available. If not, I use a 20 ton jack and to take out posts. Just screw a piece of wood onto the side of the post so that the jack has something to get under. Once you get the post a few inches, they usually come out real easy.

The concrete isn't all that strong and usually breaks of without too much trouble. I also use an air chisel or my rotary hammer to clean cement off of stuff.

Return it and get another. Brace the new one right away. Preasure Treated wood is famous for twisting and turning. The smaller the lumber, the faster this happens and the worse it is. Try to find as dry/light a piece wood as possible. The wet stuff will change on you when it dries out moreso then the dryer stuff.

Eddie

 

[Megado]

Eddie,

Thanks but I think I'm going to try and straighten out the existing post before resorting to replacing it. I got them freshly treated from a lumber supplier (they weighed a TON!) and it was my fault for not tying it off quick enough. There were a couple of weeks that went by before I could get back to the property, and sure enough, it got hot and the post started to dry out and warp. I think I can straighten it back out using the technique that Kenneth mentioned. My neighbor had a similar problem when he was building his barn and he set one of his large trailers next to the post and used it as the anchor point. He then hooked up his come-a-long and would periodically tighten until he got the post straighten out. Of course...he just shook his head when I told him what had happened to me and he said "Dummy...didn't I tell you to tie off those post as quick as you get them in the ground?"

Jim H.

 

[Megado]

WOW. all i can say is wow. great work and great pictures.

If i wouldn't have found this website, who KNOWS what my upcoming pole shed would look like!!

Keep up the good work and pictures. great thread.

J

Thanks Jon! I'm right there with ya when it comes to how great this website is. I tell people about it every chance I get. There's a great knowledge base amongst all the members and an incredible amount of information just a click away. I can't tell you how many times I've wondered or questioned how to do something and said, "I bet someone has posted about this". Sat down at the computer, did a search, and sure enough...there's my answer.

Good luck on your upcoming shed project!

Jim H.