Price Check L5740--Need Opinions on Value--Have Pics!

[Dutch61]

#17 is the solution. Aside from the issue as to weather it will handle the weight, and it looks sound, the decking I use is 1 1/8 plywood (not OSB) with a tongue and groove. If the top floor is open and you could add this decking it serves many purposes..

1. it provides the ability to distribute the weight
2. it probably provides a level of racking control at that plane, and I guess this is a benefit
3. it protects the floor from tractor "mess" tire rubber, oil, other fluid leaking over time.
4. when you want to convert to a use that would take advantage of old barn planking, you are set. (but for now, it's a barn floor, get over it)
5. I would not cut plywood decking around obstacles (it goes under), only the perimeter.

If the top floor is heavily partitioned, then time to "slip it under" walls might be a hassle, but the occasional post, supported, jacked, cut and then slipped under, does not seem like a big deal.

I could not find the other post referanced.

17. The problem, again, is the barn planks. I've been told I could cover them all with 1" plywood or even particle board, and VASTLY increase their load-bearing ability. Opinions? My "bugaboo" about that is, I WANT to see those barn planks. And I don't want to buy, then screw together, 20-30 sheets of anything that's 1" thick.

 

[Verticaltrx]

Didn't read everything, but I will give a little input. I wouldn't hesitate to park a B3030 up there even in it's current state. They are probably around 4000lbs ever with a loader and backhoe. With just a loader about 3000lbs.

I personally wouldn't feel very good about parking a grand L up there without either much closer inspection or reinforcement.

With that said, I think it was probably capable of handling much more weight than we are talking here. I couldn't tell by the pics (maybe missed the dimensions) but I bet it would hold at least 500 bales of hay. That's about 25,000lbs. If it is bigger it may have held closer to 1000 bales which could be upwards of 50,000lbs. (Yes, I know based on the age of this barn it was designed for loose hay, but I'm sure baled has has been stacked up there for years and years.)

The biggest difference is that hay is equally distributed over the entire area it is stacked. All of a tractors weight is on 4 small points, probably less than 2-3 sq ft total.

At the very least I would put down planking (running perpendicular to the existing boards) where you will be parking the tractor. Heavy plywood may be good too, but I agree it wouldn't look so good. You could probably get some rough saw 2" thick oak plans from a local saw mill and put those down for a tractor parking 'pad'. After a few years they would start to blend in with the rest of the floor and maybe look like it was there all along.