I don’t think the question is about the cold, but about what all you protect under the roof.
A shedrow, stalls with or without overhang open to the elements only protects so much.
You are working in the open, if with some cover from an overhang where there is a sizeable one.
Then a center aisle, as in a barn under a roof with space to work in there out of the weather protects so, so much more.
I don’t consider those shedrows closed in front a real shedrow.
That is more of an enclosed barn as it has protection all around.
They are a barn using a minimal foot print.
Those are a good alternative to a center aisle, but still a barn, not a true shedrow, open to the weather.
That minimal footprint for small spaces is the main advantage of a shedrow.
You should probably go back and read the op’s first post.
Let me help you.
[h=2]“Shed row barns in the cold— any fixes?”[/h] "Sep. 30, 2018, 03:06 PM
The time has come for me to build a barn, yo. This will be in Aiken, SC so the building’s most important job is to keep horses cool and in-a-refuge from bugs. To me, that says “well-sited shed row.” But! They do have winter there and I’ll be out there working and riding in it. Does that mean “well-insulated, well-sited center aisle” barn? One build thinks so.
In the winterS, I have worked in shed row barns in Northern California and couldn’t imagine loving that during the winters I spent in Central NY. And so I was wondering about any usual fixes to the cold problem in a shed row barn. Here, I’m more worried about tacking up and the “slow” work, not while I’m just out there and active for things like mucking.
Have any of you guys test-driven these:
Those roll-down covers on the front side of a shed row that encloses it a bit? Think those old-school racing barns with a block of stalls in the middle and an “aisle” that encircles them. Ugly but effective at trapping heat?
A solarium in the wash stall? I’d just tack up there?
Any other ideas?"
Thank you! I turn into a nasty bizatch in the cold, so help me to help you, LOL. Tags: None [HR][/HR]
You are right, that was the initial question, that we have drifted by now in several directions.
I hope the OP did get enough ideas about her initial question and some more that she may not have considered yet.
I think that one important question is, for a few horses in a private stable may carry different considerations than more horses and different people tending to them.
Training stables that are very busy do better when most of the work can be done well protected in inclement weather.
There is more leeway for a private stable that can wait for better weather to do more or less of the work.
Bluey raises a good point. If you have one or two horses and you can wait until the afternoon when it is warmer and you might not ride when it rains, etc, shedrow may be perfect. For us, with 6+ horses that get worked 6 days a week, the shedrow was very not perfect when working in the winter. Also - it may depend on your weather tolerance. Someone here said they wore shorts all last winter. I found last winter quite cold for a month or so - like I said, our well pump froze (until I learned I needed to wrap it in and put blankets over it) and my hoses froze multipe times. Not short weather for me!
My center aisle budget was destroyed by my first contractor running off with my down payment. I had major buyer’s remorse after getting the 12x48 shedrow installed (waa! I was supposed to be living it up in a center aisle!) but after living with it for awhile I love it! I have a man door from stall #1 (tack/feed room) to stall #2 and skylights in all 4 stalls. It’s airy and bright. It’s just me working out of it so I put whichever horse is going to be worked in the second stall so I can tie them to a ring in the wall and walk directly from the tack room to their side out of the wind and weather. I dart through the rain to dump feed and manure tubs, but it’s not a big deal with a good rain coat. Each stall has 2 dutch doors so they can walk right in from the sacrifice paddock. I have 4 rubber mats out front of stall #2 with another tie ring that is my wash area. I dont miss the overhangs… I figured I’d add them later if I did. The cost from the manufacturer was ridiculous.
I rented/ co-oped a small shedrow barn for a while before I built my place. It wasn’t the cold ( I am in Alabama) it was the heat in the summer and the rain in the winter. The winter rain was always blowing too. It did have a small overhang in front but I remember filling water buckets, feeding, cleaning stalls with the rain blowing in on me. And walking in back of the stall in the pouring rain trying to close a window.
The experience made me decide on a center aisle barn. Since I spend so much time in the barn I needed to not be miserable in it. Better to eat pork and beans for a while than settle for a barn that wasn’t going to be comfortable.
Thank you all! I think I found a center-aisle barn that dead ends into a small house that I like. I think I’d need to site it so that prevailing winds in the summer blow in through that back door of the center aisle.
Do you guys think siting the barn so that the wind blows down the aisle is a big deal? I think it is, but I’d love to be wrong so that I could have more freedom to move the building around according to other criteria. But temperature control and ventilation in the summer is a major priority. Oh, and I do appreciate having a good place for all people to work in the winter.
I have a shedrow style barn that I designed and it’s not going anywhere, but I don’t love it. I’m glad you found a center aisle style that works. And yes, you want the prevailing winds to go down your center aisle.
It looks like you found a solution, but I live in Aiken and have a shedrow, lots of people have shed rows and We all manage to keep our vets and farriers!
As far as wind in your center aisle definitely talk to your builder, we do get tropical systems blowing through here so make sure that won’t be a problem.
whatever you do just remember heat is the problem here.
We had almost 5 months of hot weather this summer, if it gets cold in the winter it is generally short lived, but summers can be endless!
I have a center aisle barn here in Midwest hell. It is situated so that the prevailing wind runs right down the middle on the barn. So, 90% of the time that door is closed and I have no airflow because otherwise the wind just carries everything through the barn and out the door into the cornfield. It is impossible to work on any task that involves paper. Now Aiken likley does not have that hella wind action, so YMMV. I also find that my metal barn holds in all the moisture in both humid summer days and damp winter days. Wood breathes better, but apparently does not hold up as well there.
I think a lot of people that have the shedrows in Aiken have the 12’ overhangs. I think that makes a huge difference.
Here, I’ve noticed that center aisle barns with the wind blowing down the center can become wind tunnels. The ones with additional cross ventilation, not so much.
