pole barn question

[Homegrown Tomatoes]

OK, we are really needing to upgrade our housing for the goats and were thinking of building a pole barn OR buying some sort of portable building to house them this winter.  (They're outgrowing their dog houses, plus, the dog might want his house back once it starts getting cold even though he is happy on the front porch during warm weather.)  We don't want to spend a lot of money.  So, I was on craigslist this morning and found an 11' by 20' pole barn someone wants to get rid of, and it isn't too far from us (maybe a 15 minute drive).  They're asking $250 OBO.    The barn was built in two sections and could be moved in two sections (11' by 10' sections).  So... how would you go about something like that?  Do we have to completely disassemble it?  Would we have to hire someone to move it, and if so, would that end up costing us more than just building a new pole barn?  They are assuming the corner posts aren't set too deeply, because another building on the property that they took down had the posts only about 12" into the ground.  Thoughts?  Would we be better off just building our own?  FWIW, the one end of the building is enclosed, like a feed room or something.  the other end is mostly enclosed but has a wide walk through door.

[glenn kangiser]

Being a pole barn, and set in the ground I assume, there is not too much chance you will be able to move it in assembled units I don't think.

You may be able to move an assembled wall or roof section with purlins holding the siding or roofing together if you can handle them.  Otherwise you may have to disassemble it.  Just a bit of an educated guess though.

You would just have to total the material costs and see if it is worth the work between old and new cost, condition etc.  Keep us posted, Homey.

[glenn kangiser]

If the value looks low but you are still interested you might offer them less.

[Homegrown Tomatoes]

The guy seems to think you could move it in two sections, but I couldn't figure out how you'd do that, either.     He says the posts are only set about a foot in the ground, but how on earth would you be able to dig up all the corner posts without tearing up something else?  Don't know.  We'll probably end up building new, but whatever we do, we need to get it done SOON.  I was all in favor of using the cedar posts from our own property, and building using as much of what we have on hand as possible... and I thought it would be fun to experiment with a thatch roof.  If we didn't have a time-consuming baby, I would have been all for trying a cordwood building.  However, with a demanding newborn, makes it kind of difficult and we'd never finish it before it gets cold.  I looked at some portable buildings, but think they're awfully expensive for what you get (some that were smaller than our chicken house we built cost nearly $1000.) 

[peternap]

If it's built correctly, an 11X10 section is going to be heavy. If you have enough people it could be picked up though.

250.00 sounds steep. What kind of roof, what kind of posts, what is used for purlins?

If the posts are square, you can just cut them at ground level and box them with new lumber on site.

[Redoverfarm]

HT without actually looking at it I would say that it would entail a lot of time for which I don't think you actually have if you would dismantle.  There is the option of cutting off the ground post and bracing it to be moved.  But that would mean that the overall heigth of the builing would be considerably less.  But then again "how tall do goats usually grow."   .  The building could be split, layed upon their backs (eve side) then winched upon a flatbed.  But even at best you are looking at having to have a piece of equipment at least a fairly good size tractor w/ bucket to lay down and then upright at your place.  The building could be erected on a modified foundation.

[desimulacra]

Like the idea of first bracing then cutting posts off at ground. Install new posts (cedar, black locust...) and bolt posts together, no lost height or you could make taller. have seen it done here and worked great.

[Homegrown Tomatoes]

We kicked around the idea of trying to move it, and after a while we decided to just try to build something new OR buy a building and have it moved.  From a time perspective, buying a building is the most logical, because with a new baby, I'm not the kind of help I could be on building something.  On the other hand, I would like it to be a super-simple pole shed/barn, with an enclosed feed room on the north end and two stalls, a milking stanchion, etc.  Our climate isn't so harsh that the goats will spend much time indoors, anyway, but I would like the ability to close it up to help keep it warm for kidding in early spring, etc.  The silly thing is that we have a HUGE barn already.  It is practically empty except for junk left by the  previous owner.  But, DH doesn't want me using it for livestock!  It would be so much simpler to put in another door at the back end and build a feed room and couple of stalls... far more cost effective and logical that building a whole new building, but try to tell my husband that!!!  Plus, it has the advantage of already having electricity run to it.  Even if we took a 12' section across the back of the barn to use for animals, DH would still have a huge part of the barn (far more than enough to stack firewood, park the camper, and work on vehicles, plus house tools, etc.)  ARGH.

[MountainDon]

I think I have to side with you in taking a corner of the existinmg real honest to goodness barn and setting it up got the goats. At least I'd rather do that than try moving a pole barn.





I thought this a more appropriate forum than Off Topics

[Homegrown Tomatoes]

thanks, Don.  I actually meant to post it here in the first place, but accidentally posted in the wrong place.  Wish that I could get him to agree on using the existing barn too!  Winter's coming and we need something done yesterday!!

[glenn kangiser]

How about adding a lean-to on one side of the existing barn if he needs or wants all of the existing space.

Men have needs too you know.......

Just yanking your chain a bit Homey - but it could be an option.

[firefox]

I was going to say the same thing, but got that warning about Glenn beating me to the punch
Bruce

[cmsilvay]

I make 3 sided shelters for goats. The are only 5 foot tall in the front sloping down to 4 in the back. I build basic stick frame 2 ft on center and use landscape ties as the sill. They are portable and cheap. I mostly build them out of left overs. It takes 2 sheets of 4x8 for the back and sides and either metal or another sheet for the roof. One thing to remeber is that bykeeping them low they hold heat better. In the bitter cold I have an extra sheet with an opening cutinto it thatI screw onto the front.

[Homegrown Tomatoes]

Cmsilvay, what climate are you in?  We don't usually have really harsh winters here, but still I worry about kidding in March, because March here is very unpredictable.  It could be cold and blustery and snowy, or it could be warm enough to go wading.  I have been working on my husband and finally have him convinced that there is a heck of a lot of room in that barn, and he could spare the back 1/5 or less for the goats.  NOW... the tough part!!  Cleaning out the garbage left by previous owner and framing up a door and a good strong dividing wall... because I really don't savor the idea of the goats chewing up his tools or my garden stuff any more than he does.  We have a bunch of 2 by 4s left from when we had the roof done.  The pallets that the metal roof sheets were in were made of good long 2 by 4s, and then there is a lot of scrap wood left by the previous owner.  I know we'll have to buy SOME stuff, but I'm all for using what we can of what we've got first.  So far it is staying warm.  In fact, in the house tonight, it is nearly hot.  I wish I had a window or two still open.  The barn is built down below the house, so it is pretty sheltered from our dominant south winds.  The trees to the north form a good windbreak, too, so it actually stays fairly pleasant in there most of the time in the winter unless we have several days of bitter cold.

[glenn kangiser]

I was going to say the same thing, but got that warning about Glenn beating me to the punch
Bruce

Sorry about that, Bruce.... the punch is a little flat anyway... could use a bit of ginger ale and some 151....

[cmsilvay]

We are in eastern OK just north of I 40 our winter can chance in a heartbeat. The boys 13&14 are supposed to build on this week (if i can get them to use the lumber for its intended purpose instead of tree stands LOL) I will see if I can get some pics and real measurements. What we also like about them is at 8 ft wide we can put 2 next to each other and then we put 3 16ft cattle panels around the front and have large kidding pens.

[firefox]

No worries Glenn. They are much better off being in the barn.

Can goats eat their way through the sides if there is no sheet
metal on the walls?
Bruce