New Pole Barn Started

[BoylermanCT]

In December, I tore down my 200 year old barn to make way for a new pole barn.

https://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/rural-living/420251-220-years-gone-30-minutes.html

We started construction this weekend and I took this week off of work to focus on barn. I had help from my father-in-law and two brothers-in-law. The new barn is 30x40x12. Will have a 12x30 tractor bay on one end and 28x30 area for animal stalls with an aisle in the middle. Has two 9x9 overhead doors. On day one we set half the posts. We were using my father-in-law's New Holland TC-29D with backhoe. As we were setting the 6th pole, and he was scooping up a load of dirt we heard a crack and the tractor split in two. Bell housing cracked completely through. So lost the backhoe and his front end loader. We finished up the day using my tractor to move dirt and backfill the post holes. We also installed electrical service to the new barn so we have power to run our compressor and other tools.

Today it was only one brother-in-law and me, so we focused on building the walls with the posts that we had set on Saturday. Made good progress.

Rented a Kubota 6500lb excavator so tomorrow we can set the remaining posts. Our goal is to complete all of the framing by this weekend. This is the biggest construction project I've ever undertaken, and so far am very pleased with the progress we've made in two days.

 

[otlski]

Congrats on the start of your new barn. Sounds like quite the project. To bad on the FILs tractor. Does Grunders still sell and service New Holland?

 

[BoylermanCT]

We are checking Grunders and the NH dealer in NY he bought the tractor from. Looks like a new bell housing is around $1600. A deacon in our church just retired from the John Deere dealer in Canaan, and he is going to do the repairs as soon as we get the part.

Added the expense of renting the excavator from Bremar in Canton for $350 a day, and now we have to finish up the posts in one day or we have to rent for a second day which I want to avoid.

 

[BoylermanCT]

End of day 3. All the posts are in and we spread 32 yards of fill to raise the barn floor 12". Have another 6" to go and then bring in 6" of gravel in preparation for a concrete floor. Tomorrow we are focusing on the wall girts, bracing and main truss beams. The Kubota excavator was a great machine for setting posts.

 

[shovelmike]

A nice start on what is sure to be a great barn. I am also glad that you have ready and competent help to fix your father in law's tractor.

 

[EddieWalker]

Love seeing barn builds!!!! Sorry to hear about the tractor. Hopefully you can get the part and it's not too bad of a job to fix it.

Why are you going with 9x9 doors? I have a 10x10 on my shop and wish that I had gone 12 feet wide.

 

[EddieWalker]

Love seeing barn builds!!!! Sorry to hear about the tractor. Hopefully you can get the part and it's not too bad of a job to fix it.

Why are you going with 9x9 doors? I have a 10x10 on my shop and wish that I had gone 12 feet wide.

 

[ovrszd]

I'm with Eddie. I'd not like a 9' door. I'm old and a bit careless, I'd be into the sides a lot.....

What is the double header on the eave side for?

Thanks for the pics and follow up. Looking forward to seeing it to completion!!!

 

[yanmars]

Did the tractor have a subframe for the backhoe?

 

[BoylermanCT]

Day 4 complete. Finished the skirt board and making sure everything was level. Has been using a transit for level, but could not get it dialed in fine enough. So we went old school and created a water level to make sure the skirt board was level. Then we put braces on all four corner posts. Had to take off 4 large branches of an ash tree that is near the back of the barn. Finally we completed the framing on the north side of the house including the 9x9 door.

The door size was based on a 30 foot wide barn with 10' stalls on both sides and a 10' aisle. I was debating between 9x9 or 9x10 doors. The taller door just didn't look right so I went with 9x9. My old barn had an 8x8 door which was a bit tight, so the 9x9 will be better. My tractor is 7'11'' tall with ROPS up, and my snowplow is 7' 6" wide, so everything should fit thru the new doors with more space than I am used to.

The double 2x12's header form the main beam which holds the trusses up. Both eave sides have double 2x12's 40' long on both sides of the posts. We have 2 in on the east side. There will be 2 more next to the ones there, and then 4 more 6" behind them on the opposite side of the posts. Each one is 20' long and is a bear to get in place and then nailed to the posts. 40D nails. I ground out the head on my $15 HF palm nailer to accept the 40D nails, and drive them in that way.

Tomorrow we are getting rain all day, so I have a day off to rest!

 

[BoylermanCT]

Did the tractor have a subframe for the backhoe?

The New Holland backhoe has 6' long arms that go from the backhoe to the middle of the tractor and bolt into hangers under the bell housing. I assume that's considered a subframe. It was not a 3 point hitch mounted hoe. The bell housing broke when he moved into a large dirt pile to scoop up a load of dirt with the front end loader. The New Holland loader also mounts right at the bell housing. Seems like a break waiting to happen. Here's a pic I found of how the loader and backhoe mount. We have his loader and backhoe removed. Was a job since we could not start the engine to use the hydraulics to help remove them. Our mechanic friend says he saw this happen all the time with the smaller Deere's. Too much stress and not enough support.

 

[BoylermanCT]

Rained most the day today, about 3/4". Needed the rain for the veggie gardens. Hopefully we won't have mud issues with the barn floor tomorrow. The goal is to complete the framing of the walls tomorrow and Saturday if necessary. The ground was very dry, so this will cut down on the dust. Will be getting 32 yard of fill as well. That brings me to 96 yards so far.

In the meantime, we had a visitor show up.

 

[s219]

That's a healthy looking bear. Nice to see as long as he/she behaves!

I don't like using those 40D nails, too hard to drive in on the end of the posts. I found some structural lags with a flat head that can be driven in with an impact gun, and they are much nicer. More expensive but much nicer to work with.

 

[/pine]

looking good...I would make it a point to make sure that on all four sides that the grade is pitched to move any storm runoff away from the structure and has a place to go...

 

[fried1765]

Rained most the day today, about 3/4". Needed the rain for the veggie gardens. Hopefully we won't have mud issues with the barn floor tomorrow. The goal is to complete the framing of the walls tomorrow and Saturday if necessary. The ground was very dry, so this will cut down on the dust. Will be getting 32 yard of fill as well. That brings me to 96 yards so far.

In the meantime, we had a visitor show up.

View attachment 659378

Building inspector ????

 

[EddieWalker]

Rained most the day today, about 3/4". Needed the rain for the veggie gardens. Hopefully we won't have mud issues with the barn floor tomorrow. The goal is to complete the framing of the walls tomorrow and Saturday if necessary. The ground was very dry, so this will cut down on the dust. Will be getting 32 yard of fill as well. That brings me to 96 yards so far.

In the meantime, we had a visitor show up.

View attachment 659378

That's really cool!! We are starting to get bears here in East Texas. People have seen them on game cameras about 20 miles from where I live, and a realtor that I know had one cross the road in front of her closer to the LA border. They are protected and Game Wardens have asked for people to call in all sightings of them. I guess it's just a matter of time until I see one here.

 

[skipperbrown]

If it's not too late, I'd consider a higher door. My TN85 won't fit under a 9' door. I don't know of any RV trailers that will fit under a 10' door except Airstream. Tall tractors and cargo trailers may not be in your current plans, but later .....

 

[BoylermanCT]

Day 5 complete. We finished the truss carrying beams and framed the south and west walls. Did run out of 40D nails, so I have to find another box of those. The kit came with 10 lbs, but that obviously was not enough. We need another 50 or so. We used a Harbor Freight palm nailer to drive the 40D nails. Had to grind the opening on the nailer wider to accept the 40D's, but it drove them no problem.

Tomorrow we finish the framing by adding the header on the 2nd door and the 2x12 header that will support the 30x28 lean to off the south side. The lean to will have two 12x32 covered bays for trailers and such and 4x32 covered firewood storage with southern exposure to season 4 cords of firewood.

Have 32 more yards of fill being delivered on Monday. The floor of the barn will be 4 inches above existing north and east grade, 12 inches above the south grade and 24 inches above the west grade. We'll see how many more tri-axles of fill I will need to bring in to smooth everything out.

 

[BoylermanCT]

Day 6 complete. We finished all of the wall framing. Added the header over the shop door and the header on the south side which will support the 28x32 lean to roof. My week's vacation is over, so it may be a few weeks before we start on the next phase of construction of setting the trusses and completing the roof.

Still trying to figure out the best way to set the trusses. I have access to an older telehandler if I pay the transportation fees to get it to the job site. I just don't know if it will be able to lift the trusses high enough to clear the 12' walls and get the truss centered so we can set it on the walls. I have seen videos of setting them with 2 ladders and a long pole, but the 12' walls seem to make this difficult. If anyone has done this, how did you do it?

 

[BoylermanCT]

Stumbled across a YouTube video for HitchLift. Does not seem to be available any longer, but has anyone built something like this to attach to their tractor?

HitchLift - Setup Guide - YouTube

I'm thinking you could take a SSQA plate and weld a 16' pole to it. Raise the front end loader to its max height of 8' and you have 24' of lift. Support the pole with cables going from the tip of the pole to a 3 point quick hitch. Put a pulley at the end of the pole and use a winch and cable to lift the truss.