Can anyone think of a reason why building my stall walls with a kreg jig would be inferior to shelling out for steel channels to slide the boards into?
Sorry but what is a kreg jig?
It will be likely be weaker against kicks. A board in a channel is very secure. A board with a few screws at each end could get kicked through.
It will be more time consuming and everything will need to be more precise and rigid. With a channel, if your boards are 1/4 too short it will not matter, and if temperature, moisture or dumb horses make the front wall move around its free to do so.
If you want to do it because you think it will look nicer, it’s probably an option. If you want to do it because you think it will be cheaper than “shelling out” for channels I’m not convinced unless your time has zero value.
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Thank you I was thinking it would be weaker against kicks as well. I wasn’t sure if anyone had tried it. I build farm tables with pocket holes and it is fast and easy, but safety is my bigger concern
Thanks
I used wooden 2x2s instead of steel channels (for the removable partitions in big stalls) but same issues.
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Did you have issues with horses kicking the boards out?
I do not recommend using pocket screws for this application. The screws themselves are primarily to keep things together while glue does its thing and this applies even to the larger pocket screws for typical construction lumber. The mechanical hold of the screws isn’t substantial at all. Please note that I have decades of woodworking and construction experience and I"m not saying this lightly. Channels with tongue and groove (or splined) boards are going to be much stronger than using pocket screws while still retaining relatively easy ability to replace damaged material over time.
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Thank you Jim in PA
Oh, no I just meant same construction challenges as with any other stalls. 2x2s were located at posts and quite solid. Have never had a problem with them.
Instead of channels, I was thinking of using joist hangersinto a 4x4 post to support 2x6" wall boards. I’m also planning to have a 2-3" gap between boards for ventilation.
I have a Kreg that I’ve used for lighter duty carpentry like making the frames for the tops of chick brooders and making my Etsy crafts. I also made frame panels for poultry and goat pens with it. Whoever said that the pocket screws are a poor choice for this kind of application is 100% spot on. The joints are so weak. Even with Z style cross bracing. I have a weird knack for free form/off the cuff builds and could get the bracing really precise and tight. The panels still twisted too much under the weigh of a 50 lbs goat. I can’t imagine them holding up long in a horse stall.
, I once took care of horses on a property that was owned by a custom builder. When we needed a
quick divider in a run in he managed to rig up a pipe gate by mounting it to a 2 x 4 secured to the 4 x 4 shed bracing with carriage bolts. It worked well enough that if I ever need to temporarily divide a machine shed like I had at our old farm up I’d use corral panels to do what he did.
Whoever built my barn in the 80s did the channels with wood 2x2s.
The boards are standard 2x10s with 2" gap between each (Florida). The boards are screwed into the channels and have a center post they’re nailed into as well. They’re extremely sturdy.
IMO and experience you would be better off ship-lapping, glue and screws. Use metal corner brackets also for extra strength.
we had U channels just made locally by a metal shop whose primary work was furnace duct work, they used 9ga steel which was the heaviest their metal breaks could handle, since local made no shipping… cost was $5 each … the U channel was fitted for 2by lumber and six feet tall, still have several extras stuffed away
We added a 1by8 decking board vertically mid way on each side of a stall wall to insure the 2by stock remained in place. Used decking boards as the edges were pre rounded this no splinters
fully agree with gumtree about using ship-lap rather than T&G
quick divider in a run in he managed to rig up a pipe gate by mounting it to a 2 x 4 secured to the 4 x 4 shed bracing with carriage bolts.
an easier way is to use conduit c champs that is the size of the round tube, the c champ can be screwed directly into the wall or the 2x that is mounted to wall…here the center divider is just a stock panel that is attached that way in a 12by12 stall that we converted to house two miniatures
photo also shows vertical 1 by board attached to the stall wall midway [ATTACH=JSON]{“alt”:“Click image for larger version Name: 20180701_084542.jpg Views: 5 Size: 24.7 KB ID: 10305196”,“data-align”:“none”,“data-attachmentid”:“10305196”,“data-size”:“full”}[/ATTACH]
This is what we did in our barn, and they are screwed in as well. The 18hh warmblood who liked to kick and leap and bodyslam was no match for them.
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My comment above was based on looking at the picture you linked to. Though you were building door frames.
Now that I re-read you question and you are talking about partition walls. I still wouldn’t do it that way. Wouldn’t take much for a horse to kick the board, boards out, break at the joint.
Depending how the stalls are framed. Most have 6x6 posts on either side of the stall fronts. With another post for the door frame. How the partition was are made depends on the budget. I make my own “channels”. 6x6 post is 5 1/2 of face. I use 2/8 or 2x6 12 ft boards for the partition. They are 1 1/2 thick. Leading 4" I take 2x boards and rip, cut down to slightly less then 2 inches. Nail/screw to the posts leaving a 1 1/2+ slot to drop the wall boards into. 12 ft boards stacked on top of each other will have some play, wobble in the middle. If kicked hard in the center they can flex enough to pop out or possibly break. I put a “stiffener” in the middle. Can be made from flat steel, drilled and screwed. The way it was done in my barn Or cut a 2x4 in half. Depends on budget. The stall walls with metal bars on top never had any issues for the decades they were there. Even when teasing mares in the isle-way with the Teaser in the stall getting all worked up
I prefer 2x6, 2x8 T&G that my local barn material supply keeps in stock for stall walls or loft flooring. These are very stable, stiff, have deep groves and need to be pounded together. No wobble no need for a middle stiffener. But cost more $$ per board.
I can’t find t&g 2x6 anywhere. Are normal 2x6’s sufficient to build a stall?
look at the backwall of the photo I posted above, that wall is standard 2by8 with a center vertical deck board that has rounded edges attached to make sure the boards remain stacked in place…that wall is over thirty years old and is the former stall of one of our brood mares
