How would you configure this barn?

[SugarCubes]

Just put a contract on a new property and of course, I’m already brainstorming ideas for the barn! There is a 40x40 pole barn with concrete floors, electric, and water. It’s a blank slate to finish however I’d like. The interior of the barn is really 30x40, and the other 10’ is off the overhang of the barn with a sliding door - perfect for hay storage.

So, first question - how many square bales would a 10’x40’ area accommodate?

Secondly, how would you configure your stalls in a 30x40 structure? When you walk into the barn, immediately to the right is a sink, so that area will likely become a tack room and next to that would be a wash stall, given the location of the water heater. Other than that, it’s fair game…

My first thought was 10’ aisle, with 3 10x12 stalls on one side, and a fourth stall on the other side? However, I’d like to have 5 stalls, if possible. Wash rack outside instead perhaps? Give me your ideas!

[2DogsFarm]

I store 300 small squares (45-50#) on pallets in a 12X24 area in my 36X36 barn.
Across the -12’ - aisle from my 3 stalls: 2 12X12 & mini-sized 10X12.
Stacked bales reach to the 10’ rafters & about a bale’s height above.

My hydrant is on the left as you enter, same side as hay, so tack & feed areas are setup in the remaining 12’ there.
I also store the mini’s EZ-Entry wire cart, have tack hooks/saddle racks, a repurposed media unit & resin tall cabinet in the space.

Do give yourself a wider aisle.
My hayguy can drive a loaded wagon through mine. Plenty of space for shoer & vet to work.

I don’t have a purpose-built wash rack.
Hose from the hydrant to the gravel-footed sacrifice area just outside the barn serves.

[Bluey]

If you only have a handful of horses and no easy way to sacrifice room inside a small barn for a wash rack, don’t.
Washing horses outside in most weather, even just hosing legs off in really cold weather, can be done outside.
Private barns without much traffic are fine without an inside wash rack, nice as those are, the space better used for other.

We are getting now our hay in skinny 21 bale bundles made out of 7 bales wide and 4 tall.
Those use a 8’ wide, one bale long space.

The way hay is handled changes over time.
You may find a big saving with round or big square bales later, or bundles of several kinds.

Maybe consider if you have space close by to have a separate place for hay.
One hay delivery can be accessed with machinery, skid loader or FEL tractor with pallet points.
Then you can take bales to the barn as needed every few days.

A shed with screens in front can serve that purpose.

Just more options to consider.

[avjudge]

@SugarCubes

So, first question - how many square bales would a 10’x40’ area accommodate?

How tall is this area? That matters!

Is the overhang to the side or back as you walk in the barn? Meaning, is it 30’ wide and 40’ deep, or the reverse? I think from my first reading I may have made an incorrect interpretation of the orientation. And is the doorway centered on the 30’ or 40’? It sounds from the way you write that you plan to keep the existing doorway.

[Guilherme]

@SugarCubes

Just put a contract on a new property and of course, I’m already brainstorming ideas for the barn! There is a 40x40 pole barn with concrete floors, electric, and water. It’s a blank slate to finish however I’d like. The interior of the barn is really 30x40, and the other 10’ is off the overhang of the barn with a sliding door - perfect for hay storage.

So, first question - how many square bales would a 10’x40’ area accommodate?

Several hundred, depending on stacking style and height of building.

Secondly, how would you configure your stalls in a 30x40 structure? When you walk into the barn, immediately to the right is a sink, so that area will likely become a tack room and next to that would be a wash stall, given the location of the water heater. Other than that, it’s fair game…

What are your needs? How many horses of what kind (minis take up less space per head that drafts ;))? Do you stall keep routinely or are they outdoors and only in if need be? Where are you located? Will you need to insulate the building?

My first thought was 10’ aisle, with 3 10x12 stalls on one side, and a fourth stall on the other side? However, I’d like to have 5 stalls, if possible. Wash rack outside instead perhaps? Give me your ideas!

I presume your aisle would end at the hay storage? It doesn’t have to, but you sacrifice 100 square feet if you want the aisle all the way through. 10’ is about the minimum and 14 is WAY better but that will cost you a fair amount in stall size.

Concur that outside wash rack is a better idea. It might even make sense to think about a “lean to” outside for hay storage.

What are you going to use for flooring in the stalls? Concrete is generally not favored as a stall flooring for horses routinely stall kept. For short term use, as in tie stalls, it’s just fine and relatively easy to maintain.

G.

[DoubleDown]

I have my wash rack in the aisle. My concrete aisle is slightly angled out the back door. Works perfectly as it’s just me with 3 horses. I didn’t have the budget to put in drains for it. I have a smaller hot water tank that sits on top of the tack room.

[fourfillies]

I retrofitted a building 30’ wide by 60’ long with a concrete floor. I matted the stalls and used a 8’ wide 1/4” rubber rubber in the 10’ aisle to eliminate slip. Worked great except hard to sweep. My stalls were 10’x12’ which worked well. As I had plenty of length and also wanted 5 stalls I included an indoor wash stall which I rarely used in the 10 years we were there. If you need the 5 stalls I’d skip the wash stall in favor of a nice tack room with lots of storage. Most folks love a wide aisle for the reasons mentioned above. I never felt limited by 10’ but wouldn’t go smaller.

Be clever with the extra couple of feet you net on each side. You can do a lot in a 4x10’ space if you plan it out.

Congratulations!

[clanter]

8’ wide 1/4” rubber rubber in the 10’ aisle to eliminate slip. Worked great except hard to sweep

battery powered leaf blower is the easy method

[SugarCubes]

To answer some questions…

Current barn has a 10’ aisle which works well, nothing is stored in the aisle and the staff has no issues driving the tractor and spreader down the aisle to clean stalls, and I like the width as far as cross tying goes, so I’m going to stick with that.

The door is centered on the 30’ wide side, and the barn is 40’ long. The overhang is to the left of the entrance, and is 10’ wide and goes down the length of the barn, 40’. Not sure on height.

My current barn has soft stall mattress systems in stalls and I plan on doing the same, and putting mats in the aisle.

I have three horses, but will no doubt accumulate another one or two

The property already has a paddock built for minis/goats/donkeys, etc with a run-in and no climb fencing, so if I do begin collecting adorable farm animals (likely!) they won’t be taking up precious real estate in the main barn!

I am on the fence on the indoor wash rack - my last personal barn had one that doubled as a grooming stall, but I actually preferred giving them baths outside anyway. I’m thinking I could skip the indoor wash stall, and just put crossties in the aisle to tack up and groom.

Horses will likely be out 10-12 hours a day, or even overnight in nicer weather. My biggest horse is my warmblood mare and she’s 16.2, so no monster horses to accommodate - which is why I’m hoping 10x12 stalls will be sufficient.

@fourfillies Your set up sounds similar to what I’m envisioning! Did you buy stall kits or have someone build them from scratch? You’re totally right, I’m already thinking one of those 4x10 areas would house a wheelbarrow, pitchfork, leaf blower, etc.

[King_s_Ransom]

Just sharing what I did with limited space, a little contrary to conventional wisdom.

Because three of my horses are big (one is normal, but the others are 16 and 17H), I wanted bigger stalls. I had 10x12 stalls before, and ended up making one a double for my WB. No room here for a double, though I do have one over-sized at 16x12. I opted for a narrower aisle. Mine is only 8 feet wide.

Cannot even drive my compact tractor safely down my aisle.

HOWEVER, my horses are well-behaved and two of the stalls have dutch doors to open outside.

To avoid shenanigans, I went with full-grill stall fronts … so no one can stick their head into the aisle.

I CAN drive my Kubota ATV down the aisle, and easily maneuver everything else I need.

I bring horses in and out one at a time. Two come down the aisle, two use their outside doors.

It’s not ideal, I would prefer big stalls AND a wide aisle. But it’s working really well for me and I’m happy I chose to sacrifice the aisle over the stall space.

Just another opinion. Obviously, your needs drive your decisions!

[seabreeze]

If your pasture and prevailing winds are such to accommodate it, I would use the 10’ overhang as a loafing shed, open four 10’x12’ stalls into it, and then leave the rest of the interior of the barn open, perhaps, except, for a dedicated tack room that you can lock. Having stalls open to the outdoors (as well as into the interior of the barn), especially into a lean-to, can save considerable time in daily horsekeeping and make it really easy for a horse-sitter to care for the horses in the event of your absence or, heaven forbid, injury.

[NancyM]

The two stalls at the end of the barn do not HAVE to be on either SIDE of the aisle. They can take up the ENTIRE of the end of the barn, so that there is no 10’ aisle between them, so each one is 5’ wider and open directly onto the length of the aisle. I’ve done this in the past, it was great. That aisle between two stalls at the far end is wasted space. Turn that space into stall space. Just run the wall right down the center with two doors opening next to each other into the length of the aisle rather than the side of the aisle. I’m sure I sound confusing with this description, if interested and need more info, just ask.

Congrats on farm purchase, always exciting!

[Bluey]

Consider making the stalls larger and just three to one side of the aisle, one on the other side.

Then count on expanding the barn lengthwise, now or later.
Add two more stalls to the length, on whichever end you can add those 12’ more feet.
Which should not cost much and give you then that extra room and bigger stalls all around.

I like the idea of stalls where the overhang is and that part of turnout, to make horse keeping so, so much easier and in reality safer, with two exits to stalls, to the aisle and to outside.

If you consider bigger end stalls, you can still leave a little 5-6’ aisle and a people door, between them, to walk thru and out that end of the barn.

[furlong47]

Seems to me like plenty of room to fit in everything you want? This has a ten foot aisle, 5 10x12 stalls, an 8x10 washrack and 8x10 tack room, a 4x10 area for your tools and wheelbarrows to park, and a 6x10 area that could be a feed room, second tack room, lounge, or you could extend the two end stalls into that area and make them 15x12. (Or remove that area and just have aisle all the way down if it won’t work for some reason. You didn’t mention if there was a door at each end of the barn or just one end, and if the walls between stalls are solid vs bars then it might be too dark to have part of those two stall fronts obscured by a wall. Also if you have sliding doors vs swinging doors there may not be room for them there.)

[js]

I would keep both ends of the aisle open to have doors that can be open for air flow; I’d put the wash rack outside to save space on the inside. If you use the overhang for hay storage the stalls on that side will not have an exterior exit. I highly recommend each stall has an exterior exit. Maybe get a car port cover for storing hay and keep the overhang free for stall doors and a small area for equipment storage.

3 stalls on one side, two stalls and a tack room on the other side, that gives you 5 stalls and a tack room in your barn, provided you could live with the wash rack outside. That would make each stall approximately 13x10 and your tack room 13x10. Remember you will lose a few inches on each stall both in width and length to accommodate walls and stall dividers.

[SharonA]

I agree with the idea of putting two larger stalls at the back end, so you can accommodate bigger horses if you need to. So, along the left wall as you walk in, you could have two 10 by 12s, and then two 15 by 15s along the back, and another 10 x 12 along the right hand wall, plus room to store a few days’ worth of hay, and a tack room. If the back stalls can have windows, you should have nice ventilation (or make any or all of the stalls in and outs. If you already have the overhang, if it’s tall enough for horses, I’d prefer to use it for the horses vs for hay). Me personally, I don’t find indoor wash stalls worth the space and extra engineering. Maybe better to put the money into thoughtful lighting in a grooming area or one section of the aisle, so vets/farriers can see well, including lights down low for working on feet/legs?

[Bluey]

Depending on what your management requires, you may not even need a tackroom.

You can have a tack cabinet, larger if you have much stuff that needs to be in the barn.
You can have rodent proof grain containers, upper cabinets for supplements.
Even room to hang pitchforks and shovels and blowers, dollies and wheelbarrows below.
All that, without being it’s own room, would not use hardly any room and leave you more space for other you want worse.
Just be sure a loose horses could not get into the grain.
All that would not take more than maybe 4’ along one end wall.

Also, not all stalls need to be similar sizes.
One barn long ago I worked out of had a row of stalls, the last stall was a little shorter and the lower part were cabinets for medicines, brushes, hoof dressing etc.
Those didn’t stick into the aisle because they were built taking some room from that last stall.

Someone here had one such barn with the tack closet in a corner, etc.
They liked that way to organize things for their private barn just fine.

[MsM]

If the barn doesnt have a floor drain in a place where you would like to put a wash stall you would have to figure in the cost of putting drainage of some sort in. Of course an outside wash rack could drain down a slope or you can put drainage in without having to cut up concrete!

Where you are and how you like to use the facilities influences a lot. I could live without an indoor wash stall, even in CT since I dont need to bathe in the winter and you would have a sink. I would like the idea of a bigger stall just in case, even if it is just having removable boards between two. And I would probably put in stalls that could also be used for tool storage etc if I didnt need it as a stall right away but thought I might later.

[Bluemountainrider]

I love using this event planner site - I used it for my wedding, but you could easily put the dimensions of any barn/space into the generator and even play around with where to put stalls, adding windows, etc.

And it’s totally free!

https://www.allseated.com/

[SugarCubes]

@NancyM

The two stalls at the end of the barn do not HAVE to be on either SIDE of the aisle. They can take up the ENTIRE of the end of the barn, so that there is no 10’ aisle between them, so each one is 5’ wider and open directly onto the length of the aisle. I’ve done this in the past, it was great. That aisle between two stalls at the far end is wasted space. Turn that space into stall space. Just run the wall right down the center with two doors opening next to each other into the length of the aisle rather than the side of the aisle. I’m sure I sound confusing with this description, if interested and need more info, just ask.

Congrats on farm purchase, always exciting!

I love that idea, actually! Thanks for sharing

So many great ideas all around - thank you all for giving me so many things to consider! I would love all stalls to have attached paddocks like my old barn had, but the location of this barn doesn’t make that feasible (overhang for hay storage is on property line) so instead I plan to have a dry lot built off the back of the barn so the aisle will open directly to the dry lot.