Built a New Home for my Tractor Today

[BoylermanCT]

Construction projects never seem to go as planned. I am building a new barn that will have room for animals and the tractor. But the new barn is going in the same spot as the old barn, so the old barn had to go. I was planning on tearing it down in October, and building the new barn before Thanksgiving. Delays with the demolition company pushed the barn demo to mid-December. Here's a 1 minute time lapse.

Barkhamsted Barn Demolition - HD - YouTube

I bought a pole barn kit and have all of the building supplies stored in my 2 car garage. I pulled the building permit for the new barn, and had the holes dug for the new pole barn. When the building inspector came to sign off on the holes, he said they looked fine, but since the ground was frozen, we could not move forward with the new barn until Spring. He said we would not be able to backfill the holes / set the poles properly, or bring in the 2' of fill needed to level the building site, and any poles we set now would shift come Spring.

So now I need a place to store the tractor during the winter. I decided a temporary garage would fit the bill and picked up a Harbor Freight 10x17 garage and put it up today. Would have been easier with 2 people, but I managed to get it up by myself in 3 hours. As long as it lasts 1 season I am good, as the new barn will definitely be up by next winter!

 

[drssg]

That seems like a good temporary solution. I did the same thing before my barn was built. Those things kind of remind me of putting up a tent. It's awkward to get started a stabilized. Once you have something solid, it progresses more quickly.

In very humid weather, I had quite a bit of condensation inside the shelter, but it's better than leaving the tractor outside.

 

[TractorGuy]

I have one going on two years. I did pull the cover off for the last hurricane. It is holding up well. The zippers were getting a little stiff so I rubbed them down with candle wax.

 

[Jstpssng]

I've been over a year working on a shed for my tractor, and still only have the walls up. You did it in a day. :thumbsup:

 

[s219]

I suspect there are options that would let you set the poles in frozen ground. But it may come down to timing, and if the holes were dug and then you had to wait for the inspection and the base of the holes froze in the meantime, that would complicate things and the inspector was probably playing it conservative.

There are ways to thaw a footing base and you do have a mild spell of weather coming. If the base of the hole was thawed and kept from freezing for a couple hours, I think you could set the cookies down in the holes and backfill the poles with dry concrete mix. That is more reliable and not temperature/frost sensitive like using the soil/spoils to backfill the poles. The concrete gives better wind resistance too.

 

[dlctcg]

I suspect there are options that would let you set the poles in frozen ground. But it may come down to timing, and if the holes were dug and then you had to wait for the inspection and the base of the holes froze in the meantime, that would complicate things and the inspector was probably playing it conservative.

There are ways to thaw a footing base and you do have a mild spell of weather coming. If the base of the hole was thawed and kept from freezing for a couple hours, I think you could set the cookies down in the holes and backfill the poles with dry concrete mix. That is more reliable and not temperature/frost sensitive like using the soil/spoils to backfill the poles. The concrete gives better wind resistance too.

I completely agree with you.... Odds are he could build & should be allowed to build...... but (& a big pain in the butt)... being a contractor in CT... the AHJ's are not easy to deal with.... Usually code is up for interpretation here.... their's (the AHJ's). So... no harm, no foul on waiting & putting up the temp shelter... If you buck the system in CT now... It will buck you back.... Done it more than once as a contractor for our clients... (I have attorney receipts to prove it) but for those projects it was worth it...

 

[Gee Ray]

I bought the same thing. I did not like the force fit of the pipes. I used self tapping screws to help hold the joints together. I also placed the building up on 4 railroad ties. I lag bolted the post to the ties. Then I put the ground screws in and tied them to the legs. I bought extra ground screws for the 4 interior posts. No snow to worry about but the wind has not been a problem. I did not put a tie across the closed end. The opening on each end allows for nice ventilation but no wind blown rain. If you buy the extended warranty for $50 they will replace the tarp if damaged within 2 years. So about 21 months in the wind is going to poke a hole in it.

 

[BoylermanCT]

I suspect there are options that would let you set the poles in frozen ground. But it may come down to timing, and if the holes were dug and then you had to wait for the inspection and the base of the holes froze in the meantime, that would complicate things and the inspector was probably playing it conservative.

There are ways to thaw a footing base and you do have a mild spell of weather coming. If the base of the hole was thawed and kept from freezing for a couple hours, I think you could set the cookies down in the holes and backfill the poles with dry concrete mix. That is more reliable and not temperature/frost sensitive like using the soil/spoils to backfill the poles. The concrete gives better wind resistance too.

I think he saw how much fill I am going to need to bring in. During the barn demolition they removed 6 20 yard truck loads of concrete and rocks. So I need to bring that back plus another 6+ loads to bring up the building site by 2' as the site slopes away from the driveway. The old barn had a step down floor, where the back half was 18" lower than the front half. I want the new barn to be all one level. Plus backfilling the holes is going to take a bit of dirt too. The holes were dug by the 70,000 lb excavator that did the demo, so each hole is about 4x4x4, so its not like backfilling a 12" diameter hole! I am OK with waiting until Spring. Not a fan of working in freezing weather.

The building inspector is also brand new to our town. I have worked with our old inspector quite a bit, but he just got a full time inspector job in a nearby city. He had been the part time inspector for 3 towns located within 45 minutes of each other, so he had a lot of travel as a result. I was disappointed to find out we had a new inspector. Figured it best to get on his good side since this was our first meeting.

 

[dlctcg]

Figured it best to get on his good side since this was our first meeting.

Could not agree more.... stay that course until you have no choice.... :thumbsup:

 

[shooterdon]

Around here, those shelters last 2-3 years. Good luck.