What to use for securing big sliding barn doors?

[driz]

This is on a horse barn. It is open all along one side with 10' sliding barn doors. Steel pole building on 6 x 6 poles. The doors are all 1" pine on the usual stanley national roller track setup (no tracks on bottom or door stops. Plenty heavy so they won't be too prone to wind bashing around 400 lbs each and 10 w by 9 high each. My daughter has her useless horses living there. They come and go freely most of the time so I can't have anything "sticking out" within horse reach. They can get at both sides of the door as well. Anyone who ever dealt with horses knows they are complete idiots and will find any tiny thing to shred themselves on in the worst way. Yea they are that dumb. I know a woman who had a horse that scalped itself on a nail head that would hardly manage to tear your shirt, oh yea did I say dumb. It did it all itching it's head, a foot long L shaped flap right to the bare bone.
With that in mind what is a good way to pin or secure those doors when closed? I'm not interested in security, just protection from racking in the ugly NY winds we get here and I am on a hill. The ends lay against the outside of the 6x6 post and I was considering some sort of sliding pin setup possibly homemade up fairly high (above foot lift level) with a simple blocking cover in front made of wood . This isn't the sort of thing that is going to be used frequently so convenience isn't such a big deal. Anybody got a super idea before I reinvent the wheel?

 

[383 240z]

Every horse (yes they are stupid as a box of hammers) barn I've ever been around uses these on the jambs http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000AY45E8/?tag=atomicindus08-20

 

[joe_padavano]

Every horse (yes they are stupid as a box of hammers) barn I've ever been around uses these on the jambs http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000AY45E8/?tag=atomicindus08-20

^^^X2. Every horse barn I've ever been in uses these. Get a bottom track on the doors. It makes a big difference.

I regularly ask my wife how horses ever survived in the wild. They are just an accident waiting to happen.

 

[driz]

Every horse (yes they are stupid as a box of hammers) barn I've ever been around uses these on the jambs http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000AY45E8/?tag=atomicindus08-20

Thanks. I saw those but couldn't see where you mount them so they don't manage to mangle the tenants . Oh yea, I think your comment just insulted all good hammers

 

[383 240z]

Mine are hidden in a void made by the 2x4 purlins. I've boarded TB's (REAL stupid horses) that couldn't get to them. Did however crib on the hood of a truck that was less than 96 hours old!

 

[driz]

Mine are hidden in a void made by the 2x4 purlins. I've boarded TB's (REAL stupid horses) that couldn't get to them. Did however crib on the hood of a truck that was less than 96 hours old!

Funny. I used to paint my cars with arcylic enamel and a couple of them would rub on the hood of a couple of em. Poor Honda CRX looked like a prop from a Jurassic Park movie. They never did develop a taste for the newer clear coated vehicles. Good thing for them or I'd consider giving up being a vegetarian and start eating LOCAL meat

 

[XxToolAholicxX]

Hello and welcome to thee Garage Journal....

 

[jimgood]

If there's a separate door to get into the barn, there are pull latches that work from the inside. I have them on all the sliding doors on my barn and indoor arena. You mount them on the inside of the post and then there's a square plate that mounts on the door.

The only time they're exposed is when the doors are fully open. If you them mount up as high as you can reach, that will reduce the odds that a horse can get injured by them.

Found an example by searching for "barn door latches". Note that the way these are shown (second attachment), it is intended to hold the door when it's open as the bracket on the right side is going to mount on the edge of the door.

The way mine are mounted (first attachment), instead of the bracket I have flat plates with square hole in the middle. On the edge of the door that would be closest to the post when closed, a hole is chiseled out and the plate mounted over the hole. The hook goes through the hole and pulls back on the plate.

Edit: I just realized that the flat plates for mine were custom made. Not a big deal as you could just as easily use a 1/8" flat plate with a 1" round hole drilled in the middle. The plates on mine are about 3" x 3" with a 1" x 2" sq hole stamped into the middle.

 

[driz]

Thanks Jimgood and especially for that pic of how they really mount. I had zeroed in on those early on but couldn't figure out how you hook them with that cheesey tin catch they give you. I see now that you can easily fab up anything that hook will hold onto. I'm pretty good at fabbing those sort of things up and mine will be far better than the sharp tin. I'll just weld an eye onto a piece of steel plate, bevel the edges and paint. Thanks for that illustration again.

 

[jimgood]

Thanks Jimgood and especially for that pic of how they really mount. I had zeroed in on those early on but couldn't figure out how you hook them with that cheesey tin catch they give you. I see now that you can easily fab up anything that hook will hold onto. I'm pretty good at fabbing those sort of things up and mine will be far better than the sharp tin. I'll just weld an eye onto a piece of steel plate, bevel the edges and paint. Thanks for that illustration again.

Just keep in mind that the plate method I have is designed to be flush with the face of the door, not the edge. This allows the door to slide past the post without interference. After my morning conference call at work, I'll go out and take a pic of one of my doors. It will make more sense.

 

[jimgood]

Bump. Edited above with pic. Hope that helps. And good luck!

 

[driz]

Nice idea. Say, how thick is that door? Looks like something they have sheltering a nuke missile launch tube.

 

[jimgood]

Nice idea. Say, how thick is that door? Looks like something they have sheltering a nuke missile launch tube.

I think they're 2 1/4". It's really only the outer frame that's that thick. Amish built. Similar to this one but not a Dutch door. Construction is the same, just not split across the middle. The one I showed above is the door to our hay loft.

But, yeah, it's stout. Easily a couple hundred pounds. In 2014, the wind caused one to come part way off it's track. It was a loft door so the track is almost 20' off the ground and I didn't have a ladder high enough. I had to get a neighbor to help me get it remounted.

 

[Big Daddy Chop Shop]

Pops has sliders on his barn (old horse barn converted to auto shop). We ran a chain thru the horizontal door beam, and made a loop (with a lock closing the end). Then, on the door frame, mounted an eyebolt to run the lock thru. Nothing to snag on, and invisible from the outside. The second door (for access inside) still had the eyebolts and latches (think oversized screen door hardware- pic below) and we just throw an add-a-link and a pad lock on from the outside.