New Barn Build - 25x36 Pole Barn

[rocksnstumps]

Thanks Bows. Appreciate the kind words.

Yes, the unistrut is great to work with. You can see on the ceiling where I had to move it 3 times or so to get the placement right.

And yes, you got it. It will be a great place to hang a deer and bone it out. I am also going to have a hoist for the removable top of my Blazer in one of the bays. Got to do some math first. The trusses above are attic trusses are are engineered to carry more weight than normal trusses. Just have to be sure they can hold 300 lbs. or so.

Thanks again Bows. Your help with the wiring was huge! Hope I can repay you someday in some way.

Very nice. So what year is the blazer, 80s? Still remember borrowing the ole man's 72 blazer to go to work back in high school. Had a 350 which had some get up and go compared to all the pollution control choked down motors from the that era (before fuel injection was a big step up in later 80s)

Pretty sure you could take the top off the 72 model also but don't think ole man ever did.

 

[Natty Bumppo]

Very nice. So what year is the blazer, 80s? Still remember borrowing the ole man's 72 blazer to go to work back in high school. Had a 350 which had some get up and go compared to all the pollution control choked down motors from the that era (before fuel injection was a big step up in later 80s)

Pretty sure you could take the top off the 72 model also but don't think ole man ever did.

Thanks Rocknstumps. Yes, the tops came off those earlier Blazers too. Mine's a 1984. You can not find any old square bodies in the Northeast that aren't rust buckets due to the salt. Probably the same in Wisconsin. This one came out of Oregon. It's never seen salt, and the body and frame are in beautiful condition.
The top on mine comes off, but not along with the roof over the driver and passenger..kind of like a pickup cap. On the older Blazer's like your dad's '72 the top came off to include the roof over the driver and passenger...like a true convertible.

 

[Bowsnbucks]

Thanks Bows. Appreciate the kind words.

Yes, the unistrut is great to work with. You can see on the ceiling where I had to move it 3 times or so to get the placement right.

And yes, you got it. It will be a great place to hang a deer and bone it out. I am also going to have a hoist for the removable top of my Blazer in one of the bays. Got to do some math first. The trusses above are attic trusses are are engineered to carry more weight than normal trusses. Just have to be sure they can hold 300 lbs. or so.

Thanks again Bows. Your help with the wiring was huge! Hope I can repay you someday in some way.

Repay me????? Natty, you already did your share of heavy lifting in the Middle East when you were serving there - if I recall correctly. I'm glad I could be of some degree of help in some small way with electrical info. You can thank me by enjoying your barn & posting a pic of the first deer to hang in there !!!!! Enjoy pal !!

 

[Natty Bumppo]

Repay me????? Natty, you already did your share of heavy lifting in the Middle East when you were serving there - if I recall correctly. I'm glad I could be of some degree of help in some small way with electrical info. You can thank me by enjoying your barn & posting a pic of the first deer to hang in there !!!!! Enjoy pal !!

Thanks Bows...that's very kind of you.

 

[Natty Bumppo]

Found a decent used Rotary SP09 back in April and thought it would be an easy install on my 3 year old cement pad. Had the proper thickness and 3,000 PSI reinforced concrete, but I had some small cracks in the floor and a 1" void underneath the pad in some places. I had a Rotary installation company consult on the install and they could have made my lift work, but recommended I just cut out two 4x4 holes and repour. So that's what I did. Had a friend in the cement business and borrowed a concrete saw and rented a jackhammer. Took two days to get the holes cut, cleaned and pinned with rebar. My buddy came in on day 3 and poured the new pads with 5,000 psi concrete....9 inches thick.

I was going to do the install myself, but never having owned one or used one before I thought it would be smart to have it installed professionally. Glad I did...guys were great and found some pieces that were missing or needed replaced. Went up in about 2 hours.

No more working on the floor on a creeper for me.

 

[Bill]

I’m not jealous of that at all, no sir not me...

 

[Natty Bumppo]

I’m not jealous of that at all, no sir not me...

Too funny Bill. Since I began working on K10's and K5's back in the late 80's I've dreamed of a lift or a pit. When I began building this barn 3 years ago I thought very seriously about an old school pit. All my buddies in the military from small towns in West Virginia, Tennessee, and Kentucky all had pits. I had never even heard of them growing up in the Northeast. But you can do things with a lift you can't do with a pit. So...a lift it was.

 

[yoderjac]

very nice!

 

[Natty Bumppo]

Well, after 3 years and 4 full summers I am 99% done with my pole barn, and glad to finally have it off my plate. It has consumed almost all of my spare time for the past 3 years. Did everything myself except pour the cement pad.

Spent the last half of summer getting the deck to the 2nd story in place. Lumber prices were a little nuts, but I had to get it done. Built in a little drop down window in the railing so we can practice shooting from elevation. The upstairs attic space is storage for now. But we do have plans down the road to divide it in half and make a fun little recreation/fitness room...dart board, weight set, ping pong, etc. A place for the kids to hang out.






After much consideration, I also removed the barn doors on the gable end and sealed up that wall. The barn doors looked great. But as far as functionality, they were drafty and hard to seal. I lost a ton of heat out of those doors last winter. Thought about installing an overhead door behind them, but when I put my lift in the far vehicle bay the whole point of the barn doors was moot. So, I took them down and sold them on FB, and sealed up that wall. I also gained a ton of work bench and storage space inside by doing so.

Before....



After.....

 

[Tree Spud]

Wall space in a work building is critical, I put windows on ours up at the 12' height to gain usable space.

Looks good!

 

[hillrunner]

Looks great, I like the look of the wood on the interior walls. What lumber did you use for that?
Before I read your post I saw the slide doors and wondered why anyone would want those in a heated building. I read your post and I guess you realized you didn't want those either. :-)

 

[Natty Bumppo]

Wall space in a work building is critical, I put windows on ours up at the 12' height to gain usable space.

Looks good!

Thanks Spud.

 

[Natty Bumppo]

Looks great, I like the look of the wood on the interior walls. What lumber did you use for that?
Before I read your post I saw the slide doors and wondered why anyone would want those in a heated building. I read your post and I guess you realized you didn't want those either. :-)

Thanks hilrunner. I used the same wood on the inside as I did on the exterior...1x10 KD ship-lap pine, just ran it horizontally. I used KD as I didn't want the joint opening up as the lumber dried.

Yeah, I'm not even sure why I went with barn doors in the first place...inexperience I guess. Didn't take me long to learn they are not practical.

 

[H20fwler]

What an awesome project, have enjoyed following along.

 

[roymunson]

sharp looking build. Congrats. You'll enjoy that for a long time.

 

[Bill]

Looks great. Still jealous of the lift.

You might consider leaning a piece plywood up against the trailer tires when someone is shooting the bow......a ricochet off the bucks back could be ugly

 

[Natty Bumppo]

What an awesome project, have enjoyed following along.

Thanks H20Fowler...appreciate it.

sharp looking build. Congrats. You'll enjoy that for a long time.

Thanks for the kind words Roy.

 

[Natty Bumppo]

Looks great. Still jealous of the lift.

You might consider leaning a piece plywood up against the trailer tires when someone is shooting the bow......a ricochet off the bucks back could be ugly

LOL! Thanks Bill.

Yeah, I think I need to find a new home for the trailer, or move the target off to one side.

 

[Bowsnbucks]

Great-looking "barn" Natty!! But from the pics ........... I can VERY EASILY SEE that your roof line is 1/4" higher on the one end. Building must be out of level - or the pad. Such a shame you'll have to tear it all down & start over.

Pic of your young hunter is a great one! Nice deck shooting set-up for tree stand practice.

As Bill said - ricochets. The best backstop material I ever ran into was thick rubber composite(?) sheeting from hockey rinks where the players walk with skates on from locker room until they get on the ice. (Or maybe any thick rubber sheeting). An archery range I've shot at hung it from poles behind targets. Arrows bounce off with NO damage to shafts or practice heads. The rubber sheets last for years.

Good thing you have heat in that barn. If Santa Claus doesn't hit Mrs. Natty's Christmas list just right ............ Santa might have to hole-up in there for a while!! Have a happy & safe Christmas season for you & family!!

 

[Natty Bumppo]

Great-looking "barn" Natty!! But from the pics ........... I can VERY EASILY SEE that your roof line is 1/4" higher on the one end. Building must be out of level - or the pad. Such a shame you'll have to tear it all down & start over.

Pic of your young hunter is a great one! Nice deck shooting set-up for tree stand practice.

As Bill said - ricochets. The best backstop material I ever ran into was thick rubber composite(?) sheeting from hockey rinks where the players walk with skates on from locker room until they get on the ice. (Or maybe any thick rubber sheeting). An archery range I've shot at hung it from poles behind targets. Arrows bounce off with NO damage to shafts or practice heads. The rubber sheets last for years.

Good thing you have heat in that barn. If Santa Claus doesn't hit Mrs. Natty's Christmas list just right ............ Santa might have to hole-up in there for a while!! Have a happy & safe Christmas season for you & family!!

Thanks my friend. Good to hear from you.

Funny you mentioned it....but my building is actually 1" out of square across the diagonals. Nobody will ever know it...but I know it.

Great tip on those rubber mats. I'll be sure to put some up. If my wife ever saw the pic of my son shooting his bow at the camper I think I'd be spending the night in either the camper or the barn.

A Merry Christmas to you as well bows.