Metal Building converted to barn

[scrbear11]

Does anyone have one? I have received a very reasonable quote from TNT Sheds and Carports about a metal building (36 x 48) as a barn. We will finish the inside ourselves. Four stalls on one side. A tack room (12 x 12 in one corner), wash stall (12 x 12 in the other corner) and open area/hay storage on the other side. If you have one, and have a picture, I would love to see if for ideas.

I would put the tack room and wash stall in opposite corners because I want it to remain open and airy since the metal building will only have a 14’ ceiling. There will be a garage door opening on the other long side, and a garage door opening on the center aisle. The stalls will have dutch door openings to the outside as well as normal stall fronts with sliding doors on the inside.

Any words of wisdom or advice?

[Bluey]

Sounds like a good plan.

Adding, consider portable stalls, so you can move them around, add, take some out, as your will see better ways to handle that space when in use and your needs will change over the years.

[clanter]

Agree with Bluey as if you use portable stalls that are not attached to the building frame the stalls are considered furniture which if you ever were to move you can take with you.

Also, for down the road if you ever wanted to refinance the place the build will appraise at a greater value as a garage than a barn

Our main barn is clear span building with free standing stalls, the building appraised at twice the value as a garage/shop man cave thing verses as a barn

[scrbear11]

@Bluey

Internet photo of all purpose metal structure with portable stalls:

That’s what I want!!! I love it! I’m stealing this photo to show the Mister. Hope you don’t mind.

The portable stalls I have found all only come with the frame. Is it difficult to install the lumber? How sturdy are they? One mare is a b-- and kicks her walls in the stall. She would go on an end stall, next to her buddy, but may still kick the wall if one of the boys walks by her. Do I need to reinforce her dividing wall somehow? Or is the portable stall going to be OK as is?

[Bluey]

That picture is from the internet.

There are all kinds of portable stalls, some only the frame, some guaranteed kick proof, like the MDBarnmaster ones, the portable and framed into the barn, both.
That is what a friend trainer has had for years now and has had horses kick it very hard without even leaving a dent.
Those are aluminum clad wood, I think.
There are others with puck board, I think Noble was the brand.

[Simkie]

If you go with something like Priefert–and that’s what Bluey’s pic looks like, at least to me–that’ll certainly hold up well. The t&g lumber they sell in as part of their kits is quite sturdy. Bit of a bear to get it in and out, but it’s not going to go anywhere. While the Priefert stuff is modular and can be taken apart, reconfigured, moved, etc, it’s not really “portable” in the “easy to move” sort of way. That stuff is HEAVY.

I really liked our Priefert stalls. Here’s a pic of what we had in MN: http://s155.photobucket.com/user/sim…ml?sort=3&o=37

Do consider that you may want your washrack next to your tackroom, so you can stash the water heater in the tack room to keep it warm and unfrozen in the winter.

[scrbear11]

I was quoted by a company on a barn with 12’ legs. The peak of the roof at the highest point would be about 14’, the lowest point would be 9’. Tall enough? I have a warped sense of how tall things really are. I might get the tape measure out and measure my current barn tonight.

[KittyinAus]

@scrbear11

I was quoted by a company on a barn with 12’ legs. The peak of the roof at the highest point would be about 14’, the lowest point would be 9’. Tall enough? I have a warped sense of how tall things really are. I might get the tape measure out and measure my current barn tonight.

9’ is not tall. My horse could smack his head.

[clanter]

How sturdy are they? One mare is a b-- and kicks her walls in the stall. She would go on an end stall, next to her buddy, but may still kick the wall if one of the boys walks by her.

our stalls are nearly thirty years old …no problems. For the kicking mare use dimensional lumber as the lumber filler as normal (2 by 8s or 10s) then cover with at least 3/4 inch AC plywood to give extra strength (and will hold everything together) … the AC will be sanded one side giving you a smooth finish. If smooth is not needed or desired use CDX grade

[2DogsFarm]

:yes: You pretty much described my polebarn… except bigger.

My metal barn is 36X36 - rafters @ 10’, peak At 14’ - with 2 (true)12X12 stalls & 8X10 mini’s stall on one wall, 12’ center aisle and hay storage on the other side.
Stalls have Dutch doors at the back that open to my sacrifice paddock, which in turn opens to pastures on either side.
The barn is centered in the paddock with a human door on the side opposite the stalls & a 12’ slider at the front.
Slider has a gate so it can be left open for ventilation.
Tack area - not enclosed - is on the same wall as hay with added hanging storage for tack on the outside wall of the last stall.
Horses have free acces to stalls 24/7/365.
I LOVE the arrangement, makes my horsekeeping Life EZ-PZ,

[Bluey]

For a horse that kicks, hang 3/4" rubber mats from 2"x4", so there is a little airspace there, where she may kick, so she won’t hurt herself or the walls.

[red_mares]

My BO has had portable stalls in his arena for 15-20 years. They are steel, Amish-made and indestructible. They are unbelievably solid. He’s had a few kickers over the years & the stalls don’t show any dents. They make Barnmaster stalls look like tin foil.

[OneTwoMany]

I second the Noble stalls. Great quality products. Great people to work with. Will customize if needed, which in our case, included a reinforced freestanding grooming stall. The resale value was decent.

https://www.noblepanels.com/stalls-barns.htm

[TheJenners]

On my phone so I’ll try to upload… but the shelters in my paddock are that style, we just moved them from an old location to my new farm. They needed a bit of welding because they have been in the weather for about 10 yrs but otherwise in great shape. If maresy kicks the boards, hang a mat, or just replace boards are necessary. They are a bit of a pain to get in and out but. … [ATTACH=JSON]{“data-align”:“none”,“data-size”:“medium”,“data-attachmentid”:9880223}[/ATTACH]

[Callista17]

I bought a property with a free standing 40×60 metal barn. It was a garage for a milk hauling truck. It has a huge roll-up door on one short end, and I had another smaller sliding door cut into the back opposite short end for ventilation, and easier access to the pastures.
We built solid stalls permanently into the one long side, then there is a spot that SHOULD be the wash stall, but someone bought a tractor and parked it there.
Then I have the water hydrant across from it, shavings, tack over there, then a person door that was there, then hay. Lots of hay. Lol It is nice. I have heavy plastic pallets, so we roll up the big door, the hay trailers/trucks back in, and we toss and stack the hay inside on the pallets.
Good luck. I like my barn…we talk about putting up gutters…and it can get warm in summer, so we’ve talked about ventilation cut into the top, but…then contractors say it would leak, or have a huge fan. It is perfect in the winter.

I do wish I could TURN the whole barn, lmao but…that’s all. It serves its purpose well.

[enjoytheride]

I would put your tack stall next to your wash rack and your water heater inside your tack stall with the walls insulated in the tack room. The water heater keeps the tack stall above freezing through most of winter and having the wash stall pipes in the insulated wall means you can heat the tack room when it does drop below freezing and keep the water pipes from freezing.