Poles for a pole barn

[BB_TX]

My better half is after me to get her a horse. I will need to build a pole barn for it (them?/w3tcompact/icons/hmm.gif). What should I use for poles? I have heard that horses will chew on treated wood post. What alternatives are there? I considered square metal tubing but then you have a potential rusting problem at ground level even if set in concrete. Suggestions?

 

[SteveBenson]

Typically, in a horse barn the structural poles would not be exposed to the horses for them to chew on. Horse stalls a typically sheathed with a 1 " hard wood (commonly oak), or hemlock or Southern Yellow Pine 1 1/2 to 2" thick. Most soft woods are problematic when it comes to chewing but horses find SYP not that tasty and hemlock gets quite hard when dry (should be worked green). Depending on how your stalls are constructed (or if your barn will have interior structural posts) you may have some interior post exposed to the horses. Applying galvinized steel corner protectors (basically pre-drilled angle iron) often prevents chewing (unless you have a real beaver).

For a small horse barn most people would use PT 6x6 posts. Also available are laminated posts that are pressure treated on the bottom and untreated on the top. These are probably more dimensionally stable than regular SYP PT posts and less likely to warp.

 

[phantom309]

Hi BB_TX-

If you're putting up a metal-sided pole barn for your horses, line the lower half of the inside of the barn with plywood. I failed to do this years ago and a mare kicked a hole in the side of the tin barn and cut her leg good on the sharp edge of the new hole.

Mark

 

[BB_TX]

Thanks Phantom. I had heard that before. But is always good to hear from someone who has been there.

 

[drpepper]

Bill, Up in this part of Texas, we get 2 and 3/8" upset tubing from the oil field. I set the posts in concrete. You can weld brackets to it that you can bolt lumber to. I paint it with a good rust preventative and oil base paint. The barn will last forever, and the horses can't crib on any important structure parts.