Post and beam barn build

JimRB · Apr 12, 2016

We have a 11' barn aisle or maybe 12. i would have to run a tape measure out and 12x12 stalls. 11 foot can be narrow when bringing in round bales from the one end of the barn. Plenty wide at the other end. No big horses. Biggest might be 16 hands. Most are 14-15 hand. Anyhow I was using store bought lumber, I have been in a post and beam barn that had big stalls housing big horses. I know it can be done.

Cjm005 · Apr 12, 2016

Looking forward to this one

dieselcrawler · Apr 12, 2016

We feed square bales, and my biggest factor is available material. I intend to build with 100% of the wood coming from what I can harvest myself. I will only purchase fasteners, roof metal, and hardware.

I am also limited by the location, I can't go much bigger in width without running into the hillside and/or blocking the path/road below to the fields below. I may try to stretch the stalls to 10x10, based on materials I can harvest.

I do welcome the feedback and suggestions...

jk96 · Apr 12, 2016

Looking forward to watching your progress. Thanks for posting.

buckeyefarmer · Apr 13, 2016

Cool project.

My dad built his 60 x 80' barn with locust poles and his own milled lumber. He used round posts, squared off makes it much easier.

dieselcrawler · Apr 18, 2016

Over the weekend, I started sorting thru the poles I've gathered. I also skidded the last few to the field as well. I think I'm going to have enough of the 16's and 20's, but am seriously thinking of making it 40' long, not 30', and maybe 10' x 10' stalls, still leaving the center isle at 8'. Dang that's gonna be alot of 10's...

I need to get some borrowed forks rigged up on my loader bucket, so I can move them around more easily, and load the larger ones to haul to the mill. I'm at the point I need to get the long poles milled, and take stock at that point, and see what more I might need.

Lots of work, not enough time.

Dadnatron · Apr 21, 2016

I know there are limitations, but I would be VERY concerned about those stall sizes. It will really limit the utility of your barn in the future. This is a common issue with people who own 'ponies'. Up front, it seems reasonable. But down the road, the self kicking begins. I know of at least 2 people in the Lexington are who thought the same thing. Also, a small stall is more likely to cause stress on the horse, increasing gastric ulcer occurrence as well as Vet bills for other related issues.

As a horseman, I would recommend nothing smaller than 12x12 in any new build if AT ALL possible. Perhaps 12x10 in a pinch.

I know... reality is reality and dimensions are often pushed by material availability. But again, I would really recommend bigger stalls.

I'm looking forward to your build.

deanocraft · Apr 21, 2016

I can't wait to see this barn materialize. Please keep us posted!

threedogs · Apr 21, 2016

We built our pole building horse barn about 5 years ago, 30' x 40'. We have four 10' stalls on one side a 10' center aisle and the other side is for hay storage / tack. When we built I too read 12' by 12' was recommended and was worried that 10' by 10' was too small, but it has worked out well, and the horses seem fine. I wouldn't want to go smaller but wouldn't have a problem doing 10 x 10 again. Our horses are in the stalls about 12 hours of the day, I know some horses are in the stall a lot longer and that might warrant the 12 by 12 minimum.