How much to build a farm

[GraceLikeRain]

“It depends” lol I know I promise but I’m genuinely curious. If someone purchases a 3-5 acre property that is cleared and relatively flat, what is a general range for a 2-3 stall simple barn and safe pasture?

Again, I know how caught up people can get on “it depends” because there are countless things that impact the final number from fencing material to barn style.

I am more hoping to hear a ballpark for what you’ve heard from other horse people who’ve done something similar to this in the past 10 years or so.

For example, a 3 stall shedrow that is safe but very basic with two 1 acre pastures done with no climb and a top sight board. Is that a $25k set up or are people paying $60k minimum?

In the next five years we really would like to go down the farmette road but without some very general budget in mind, it’s hard to have any concept of what may be feasible.

[Outyougo]

DH and I built out own house starting in 1983. I am on my 23 copy of “Will’s Guidefor the $10,000 House”

[GoForAGallop]

Honestly this is pretty easy to price out yourself, with the quality of vendor websites these days.

I’m a big Woodtex fan, so I’d probably just budget plunking one of these down: http://www.woodtex.com/locations/ny/himrod/473/ That’s $25k, factor in another $5k for limited sitework and some electricity. If your area is warm, you might not need the aisle. I would not want to go through a New England winter without one. No hay storage though, so plan on a separate building. ($5k)

A friend JUST built a two stall + storage shedrow for about $8k in materials. But they bartered for the labor/did most of the labor themselves/had access to the equipment to do the sitework. It’s a nice little building though.

Assuming a square, you’d need about 8 200’ rolls of no-climb. $249/roll for me locally. http://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/non-climb-horse-fence-48-in-x-200-ft?cm_vc=-10005 That’s $2000 right there.

Factor in about 160 posts ($8/post for me locally) http://www.homedepot.com/p/Pressure-Treated-Timber-2-Southern-Yellow-Pine-Common-4-in-x-4-in-x-8-ft-Actual-3-56-in-x-3-56-in-x-96-in-194354/205220341 and that’s $1300.

You’ll need another 160 sight boards. ($6/board for me locally) http://www.homedepot.com/p/2-in-x-6-in-x-10-ft-2-and-Better-Kiln-Dried-Heat-Treated-Spruce-Pine-Fir-Lumber-161721/202091222 $1000

Add another $1000 to the fencing job for gates, staples, bracing, broken posts, the paint for the sight boards, etc.

If you’re going to do it yourself, spend $300 for a two-person gas job post hole digger, or $1000+ for a PTO one for the back of the tractor. (Plus $15k for a tractor that can operate one.) Lord help you with pricing if you want someone to do it for you, whether “it” is pounding posts or the whole job. Spend $250 on a sprayer to stain the sight boards and posts as well.

Let’s assume you’re putting them close enough to the barn so that you can just run a hose, and you don’t have to run water lines.

So what are we at? $45k? For a “basic” setup?

It’s always, always cheaper to buy something that already exists as a horse facility, even if it means you have to replace or fix things up. Of course, there’s no reason you can’t buy a $2500 run-in shed, put up two lines of electric on t-posts, and have a perfectly safe set-up for $5k that you can then upgrade as needed.

[SharonA]

As an aside, Woodtex – which in my limited experience was fantastic in every way – is no longer making horse products, if I understand correctly. I think they may have some stock items that are still for sale, but, my dream Woodtex barn is no longer. Well, now it will just be some other Amish/Menonite modular barn. But Woodtex’s customer service was so awesome.

[Nestor]

My personal barn is certainly not the most basic, not by a long shot, but for a 3-stall barn with a storage area and paddocks, from nothing to functioning, we paid about $50k, with getting materials at cost or free and doing ALL of the above-ground labor ourselves. A chunk of that was the foundation, not sure if you’re thinking no foundation but that would save a good chunk. Some of that was also the electric, mostly digging a trench for that and water. Water is kind of a must, so adding electric doesn’t add cost other than a little time.

We considered doing it cheaper, but the future daily aggravation wasn’t worth it. Do it right or not at all is my theory.

ETA: we built in 2013, so not long ago, and we’re in CT so not cheap.

[clanter]

[QUOTE=GoForAGallop;8807816]
.

Assuming a square, you’d need about 8 200’ rolls of no-climb. $249/roll for me locally. http://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/non-climb-horse-fence-48-in-x-200-ft?cm_vc=-10005 That’s $2000 right there.
.[/QUOTE]

here it is 5% cheaper to buy that same fencing in 100ft rolls from TSC

http://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/non-climb-horse-fence-48-in-x-100-ft

manhandling a 100dt roll is somewhat easier than the 200ft things if you are having to go in/out between trees and other obstacles

[LookmaNohands]

Whatever it is, it’s never enough!

[IFG]

I have a 3 stall Horizon Shed row. It is 8 years old now, and looks great. Cost was about $7500 delivered, but I think prices have gone up:
https://www.horizonstructures.com/horse-barns/shedrow-horse-barns#estimate-price

[SugarCubes]

[QUOTE=GraceLikeRain;8807788]
“It depends” lol I know I promise but I’m genuinely curious. If someone purchases a 3-5 acre property that is cleared and relatively flat, what is a general range for a 2-3 stall simple barn and safe pasture?

Again, I know how caught up people can get on “it depends” because there are countless things that impact the final number from fencing material to barn style.

I am more hoping to hear a ballpark for what you’ve heard from other horse people who’ve done something similar to this in the past 10 years or so.

For example, a 3 stall shedrow that is safe but very basic with two 1 acre pastures done with no climb and a top sight board. Is that a $25k set up or are people paying $60k minimum?

In the next five years we really would like to go down the farmette road but without some very general budget in mind, it’s hard to have any concept of what may be feasible.[/QUOTE]

I can help a little - I have a three stall L-shaped shedrow barn with tack room and wash stall. 3 acre property with 2 acres fenced. 1 acre pasture, 2 dry lots, and an arena. We built our house and the house and land are wrapped into our mortgage so I won’t count any of that. After we closed, we built the barn, dry lots, arena and did fencing.

So rough estimate for 3 stall barn (including plumbing and electric) with it’s own driveway, 2 dry lots, 100x150 arena, and white vinyl fencing came to right around $100K.

ETA - Obviously, arenas are NOT cheap. If you don’t need an arena, this number will go way down…I think you could do a very basic set up for around 50K and then keep adding over the years to make it just how you want it.

[SugarCubes]

[QUOTE=SharonA;8807935]
As an aside, Woodtex – which in my limited experience was fantastic in every way – is no longer making horse products, if I understand correctly. I think they may have some stock items that are still for sale, but, my dream Woodtex barn is no longer. Well, now it will just be some other Amish/Menonite modular barn. But Woodtex’s customer service was so awesome.[/QUOTE]

This is who built my barn - I’m so sad they’re no longer doing barns. I was wanting a run in shed from them, the quality and service is amazing.

Front:http://i1373.photobucket.com/albums/ag393/leahyhm/IMG_2316_zpsm9472cpb.jpg

Back: http://i1373.photobucket.com/albums/ag393/leahyhm/Paddocks_zpsapq4qoov.jpg

[allons-y]

I took out a personal line of credit loan at low interest for 25K to do my place. 6 acres for horses, one for house and out bldgs. minimal fenced with barbed wire and one h2o faucet already there.

Super simple 36x36 5 stall, 12x12 tack
Fence 2nd couple acres
Replace all barbed wire, fence new arena/paddock
electricity to barn, all lights
Husband did H2O to/in barn and to 2nd big pasture.

Almost outta money

[2DogsFarm]

When you say “relatively flat”, how flat is where you want to put your barn & pastures?
Do NOT forget to consider drainage.
My excavator talked me into siting my barn farther from the house based on elevation & drainage & I am glad I listened.
MY idea of where gets really soggy when it rains & takes some time to drain.
His location has never flooded in the 12yrs it’s been up.

Also budget for making a level base for your structure.
12yrs ago that cost me $10K for the base for my 36X36 barn w/attached 60X120 indoor arena.
That got me a 9" gravel base, compacted & leveled, 6" stonedust over that for my stalls & aisle & 2" of angular sand for the indoor.

Of course material prices have changed since 2004 when my place was built.
And pricing can vary regionally as well.

I had my fencing done professionally & it cost $10K+ to fence 2 pastures (total = ~3ac) & my approx 50’X75’ sacrifice paddock that surrounds the front of the barn.
6" treated posts set @ 12’, 3 strands of coated tensile (top can carry a charge) & Centaur-clone top rail.
Aluminum 5-bar gates - 1-4’, 2-12’ - included.

[Jersey_Fresh]

We spent about $90k for a 4 stall barn with tack room and 12’ overhang (granted ours was 36x60 because we wanted storage), 7 acres divided into two pastures with 3 board KY wood fence, running water lines to the barn and pastures, a 12x24 run in shed, concrete aisle/tack room/grooming/outdoor wash stall, a 100x135 arena. My dad did the electric and lights in the barn, so that was at least at cost.

No climb in this area is very expensive. You can estimate how much footage you would want fenced and call a fencing company to get an idea of what they charge per a linear foot. Ours for instance was $78/16ft panel for 3 board.

You can for sure do it cheaper as we have more land and a bigger barn, but I would bank on adding another $15-20k to just the cost of fencing and barn alone. This includes excavation and base for the barn (we got a deal on ours because he did the arena at the same time), concrete, electric, water lines, permits, gravel, and reseeding. Do not skimp on the electric-my dad ran ours all in conduit and with weatherproof outlet covers.

[TheJenners]

[QUOTE=GraceLikeRain;8807788]

For example, a 3 stall shedrow that is safe but very basic with two 1 acre pastures done with no climb and a top sight board. Is that a $25k set up or are people paying $60k minimum? [/QUOTE]

I can’t speak of the barn, but I can say that the fencing for two one-acre paddocks will be close to $10k in materials. I know because I’m looking at it. I’m having my posts installed professionally and paying $$$ for it, but in my experience, a. pounded posts are far superior to augered, and b. I’ve augered and set five paddocks on four acres before with an ex, and it almost resulted in divorce and/or murder, him killing himself on the rented equip, and me feeling like I had been worked over with a steel pipe. I’m doing the non-climb myself with help and hoping for a sight rail of Centaur/Ramm due to having a boredom-beaver. I suspect with my two one-acre paddocks (connected, shared fenceline will be four strand poly-hot and posts will be as far apart as the fence guy will let me go (18-24’ I hope)) and my one half-acre donkey paddock will be about $10k in pounded posts and another $7k in fence materials.

I am lucky that my property is clear and slopes ever-so-gently from the road down, and is at high elevation already on the island and should be very dry. My well was finished last week and it went 290’, which is DEEP for wells in this area. It also already had a four-stall barn with tack/wash rack/hay stall on it from Barnmaster. No water (obvs), no septic, no house, no power. A friend who hires out will dig my water lines, etc for $20 an hour, a huge savings. Another friend who owns dump trucks told me he has a buddy deal for screenings and will let me in on it for my sacrifice area near the barn, and will deliver.

If I take out the house I’m building and the septic, I’m at about mmm $250k for the land/barn/water/fence. Not including an arena… I may sell my eggs in a couple years for that. :lol:

[Jarpur]

Looking at it in a slightly different way, we found that about 50% of the cost of our barn was not the actual barn itself: dirt work (leveling, bringing in rock, making the pad, the concrete work, which is expensive), bringing in the electricity and plumbing (having lots of outlets, everything in conduit, everything GFCI, water shut-offs for the barn and each stall, water everywhere to be convenient, trenching is expensive), the rubber mats, the auto waterers, the attached corral and sacrifice paddock fencing, the insulation, the utility sink in the tackroom, the stocks, the hooks/shelves/saddle racks in the tackroom - all the odds and ends other than the actual barn structure that make the barn work well.

So, you might want to be prepared for that.

But our set-up operates smoothly and we are so, so very thankful in bad weather that it all works as well as it does.

[MysticOakRanch]

So much depends on (a) where you are, (b) the quality of your land (level, compacted, etc), © what you actually want (and here are all kinds of variables, including water, power, paddocks, center aisle,materials, tack room, etc).

I agree with Jarpur - prepping (and base) are going to cost more then you realize. I bought an 8 stall pre-fab (actually has 2 double stalls, 3 regular stalls, and a tack room), and my land was level. But prep work, concrete (just for the supports, not full concrete floor, trenching, electric, mats, etc were more then the price of the barn.

And you have to consider what you really want and need. For example, I wouldn’t ever want just a shedrow, I want an area undercover to groom and tack up - so that means either a shedrow with a great overhang, or a center aisle (I opted for raised center aisle - gives better airflow, cooler in the heat, and sheltered on all sides in bad weather).

Do you want/need power (lights, plugs, etc)? That adds money. Do you want auto waterers? If so, you have trenching, piping, AND insulation costs. Or are you OK hand watering (still some trenching).

Do you need a tack room, or can you just buy a small storage shed? Do you need paddocks? How big do your stalls need to be? Hay storage? Shavings storage? See how quickly the barn gets bigger!

And those are just barn decisions -then there is arena (and don’t forget water and electricity to that), pasture fencing, etc. I can pretty much tell you from experience - get some quotes, then double it…

[fjordie03]

Like buying a horse, paying for the barn structure is often the cheapest part of owning a barn. I’ll just talk about footing/dirt/soil and water. We bought a property comprised of a shell of a house and two 12’x12’ wood sheds in bad repair. One horse had been living on the 1 acre cleared paddock but that had been years ago. We learned, through experience, that our land is comprised of a lovely thick layer of topsoil, then about a foot of gravely dirt then a hard pan of 2"-5" of clay which is not water permeable. We bought a 1 acre bathtub full of topsoil that doesn’t drain and causes fence posts to heave unless you pierce that clay level and cement into the subsoil. And this was our main turnout. We’ve brought in countless loads of rock for drains and stone dust for footing in that paddock and to create usable road around and to/from the barn. What saved us is 1. we bought an ancient backhoe for $15K and did much of the work ourselves, 2. we are a half mile from a professional site work company and our neighbor gets us great deals on dump truck loads of gravel/stone dust, etc.

So if possible, add “living near a gravel yard and heavy equipment operator” to your list of Wants (which should also include:“living near the vet’s office”)

[hosspuller]

I estimate with 3 strand high tensile wire*, fiberglass posts and such with one gate, 4 wood posts / braces for 2 acres (our sacrifice pasture) about $1k in materials. A 12x12 three sided run in $ 1 k in materials if bought new.

Labor is the biggest variable… DYI vs $5k -8k hired labor

Farm building is like home building, more features is more money. Basic is very doable on a small budget.

• In 20 years, Both myself and another local horse owner with the exact same fence system haven’t had an horse injury with our electrified high tensile wire. The fence itself has suffered falling trees, heavy equipment, and mower damage repeatedly. It’s easily repaired.