Why Are/Were Barns Painted Red?

scott_vt · Jan 16, 2007

RobertN said:
Because the owners had Farmalls. Hence, the barns were painted Farmall Red.

The JD owners painted thiers green, but it looked funny, and they could not find thier barns amoungst thier green fields of corn, grain and other crops. They had no choice but to cede to the fact that it is just to hard to beat Farmall Red.

Mornin Robert,
I totally agree !!!

JDGREEN4ME · Jan 16, 2007

JoeR said:
Ferrous Oxide (Rust) was cheap, and it inhibited moss and fungi from growing on the wood. I think they mixed the rust with linseed oil to create the tinted paint. If the barn was used for livestock, they usually turned white from the whitewash paint used on the interior. The lime was good at killing bacteria, and after time it would bleed through the wood to the exterior.

Joe

Plus where I grew up the red went good with the "Chew Redman" ad that was painted on the side of the barn.

DANOCHEESE · Jan 16, 2007

DieselPower said:
From what I have heard over the years from some very old farmers that were told this by their fathers and grandfathers the reason is that if you put iron scraps into a large barrel of buttermilk, lime and linseed oil that the buttermilk would be transformed into a durable red paint in one or two weeks. That this paint was so easy and so inexpensive to make explains why so many barns were red in color.

OK So who is going to try this out!!!! maybe just a gallon bucket for the trial.

RobertN · Jan 16, 2007

scott_vt said:
Mornin Robert,
I totally agree !!!

Note also, most Fire Engines are Red. If I park my Farmall next to my stations E28 or E228, the color similarities are amazing. Makes me wonder how involved McCormick/International were in Fire apparatus...

Although there was some expieriments with Cat yellow and JD greene for emergency vehicles, it has mostly been found to have no advantage over RED, Farmall Red

I did read a magazine at the station a couple months ago though, about a small fire district that had Black fire apparatus; it was the Chief's favorite color, and since he had the final say so...