PICS OF BARNS; Any barns; All barns; My barn; Your barn; Not your barn

[Wagtail]

,How did three sided structures become the building of choice? Was it cost, a very dry climate with little rain or snow and mild weather in the winter season?

G'day 6Ds. I reckon you've got it right about the weather, especially during winter. Even here down south (think 'upside-down'... north is warm/hot, south is cool/cold) it rarely snows unless you're at a high elevation. The worst I've received this winter (so far) is a brief -1c morning frost. There's no need to truly house large livestock... heck, even the dairies are open-sided.

The only real exception I've seen down here would be some large hay storage structures to keep rain & critters out.

 

[TomSeller]

I was also wondering why they built it so high - if they stacked hay that high they had to get it up there every year.

Hay was stored loose in the old barns. There'd be a hay hook or hay spear that lifted the loose hay off of the hay trailers, then the hay was pulleyed up to the rafters and dropped along the pile. Different day back then. The baler wasn't even a twinkle in anyone's eye.

Pitchforks were used to load the hay trailers in the fields and the old timers bragged on how much of a bend they could get in the handle as they forked it onto the trailer which meant they were pitching a larger forkful than their brother or whoever. What took a crew back then is now one guy on a tractor.

Our hook still hangs up there waiting for the next trailer of loose hay.

 

[Creamer]

Hay was stored loose in the old barns. There'd be a hay hook or hay spear that lifted the loose hay off of the hay trailers, then the hay was pulleyed up to the rafters and dropped along the pile. Different day back then. The baler wasn't even a twinkle in anyone's eye.

Pitchforks were used to load the hay trailers in the fields and the old timers bragged on how much of a bend they could get in the handle as they forked it onto the trailer which meant they were pitching a larger forkful than their brother or whoever. What took a crew back then is now one guy on a tractor.

Our hook still hangs up there waiting for the next trailer of loose hay.

A assume the hook was horse powered via a rope pulley system?

 

[buckeyefarmer]

Our barn still has the hay forks, forget what we called it. We used to use a trip rake to rake hay into piles, then a buck rake on the front of the tractor to pick up the piles of hay and drop at the end of the barn. We used the tractor to lift the hay with the hay forks, all ran with ropes and pulleys, and a main rail down the middle of the barn. Pull the hay into the barn and trip it, it would fall in a pile inside. My job as a kid was to pitch it from the middle of the barn toward the outside edges, or you had a big pile in the middle. I have pics of our hay forks, but not on my phone.

 

[ovrszd]

A assume the hook was horse powered via a rope pulley system?

Yep, with a steel track in the peak of the barn running the full length. The forks were loaded at the trailer, then the horse or later tractor was signaled to pull the rope. It elevated the forked hay up to the loft peak and then the roller system allowed it to follow the track into the barn loft. A second rope ran the trip system and when pulled allowed the forks to release the hay in the proper place. Men in the loft then forked it toward the sides to fully fill the loft. This same system was later used to lift bales of hay into the loft. Our forks would handle 8 square bales at once.

 

[ovrszd]

Our barn still has the hay forks, forget what we called it. We used to use a trip rake to rake hay into piles, then a buck rake on the front of the tractor to pick up the piles of hay and drop at the end of the barn. We used the tractor to lift the hay with the hay forks, all ran with ropes and pulleys, and a main rail down the middle of the barn. Pull the hay into the barn and trip it, it would fall in a pile inside. My job as a kid was to pitch it from the middle of the barn toward the outside edges, or you had a big pile in the middle. I have pics of our hay forks, but not on my phone.

Should have read your post before I replied. I still have the steel rail and pulleys in my barn but I don't have a set of forks.

 

[sixdogs]

Here is one where I had dinner a couple of months ago. Amazing structure! I am just wondering how they cleaned all those rough cut surfaces.
View attachment 473459

There are some buildings like that around here that I got volunteered to help clean a few years ago. It was a rough type structure they stored old farm equipment in and I was not looking forward to cleaning it. It was shocking but they used leaf blowers wherever possible and they did a beautiful job in a very short time. It's not going to work in your house but on an old barn it came out great.

 

[buckeyefarmer]

View attachment Image155_OH_barn.jpg

The barn in it's better days. lol you can see the rail for the hay forks at the top right.

View attachment Image157_OH_barn.jpg

here's the hay forks in our barn. Can still see a little rope hanging for the trip, and the rail at the top.

 

[JWR]

This barn was built in the 1920's in central WV. Withstood over 80 years of weather when a micro twister came along and surgically removed the entire center roof section, intact, rotated it 270 degrees and dropped it where you see it in this picture.

 

[Sysop]

Pre-civil war barn.