Pole Barn Questions

[JCook5003]

While not actually a garage I am planning to build a 36' x 48' horse barn on my property. It seems to me this would share almost all the same construction techniques as a pole barn garage.

I should first list my plan: a 36x48 pole barn with poles on 12' centers with a double 2x12 band along the top. 2x4 purlins laid flat on clear span trusses on 48" centers. I also planned on turning the sidewall purlins on flat edge so the interior and exterior walls could be finished with the same board. (Commercial Framing?)

Now my questions. I need posts in the interior of the barn in 12' increments in a grid pattern to attach stall fronts and sides to. I'm a little lost on how to secure these posts to make them sturdy. Scabbing them to the trusses came to mind?

Also I am also considering building a loft and using traditional roof framing, my truss quote came in at $1300 any guesses as to how much adding a loft would add to the cost?

Also in 4 of the stalls I would like to frame in a 48" dutch door, obviously on one side this could be attached to the 6x6 post but how do I frame the other side for the door? Do I need to sink a whole other post in the ground or are there other options?

Thanks for the help in advance guys. I will try to upload some drawings I made at work (I'm a drafter for a living) so you can get better ideas of what I'm saying.

 

[tkiranch]

Wont the stall walls, with corner posts buried be enough? I would think that putting another post on the other side of the dutch door would make it very sturdy. What are you going to use as floor for the stalls? I am looking into floors for my barn. So far I have gone back and forth between cement with mats, or railroad ties with matts. what are your thoughts.

 

[JCook5003]

I dont believe any horse should be subject to standing on concrete, it's terrible for their joints. My fiance is a DVM in Equine Science, she is the lead instructor at the Virginia Tech/Maryland School of veterinary medicine, she insists that a mix of sand, blue stone and clay is optimal for horses. It provides good support, proper drainage and enough bounce to protect joints from injury (Think anyone who works on a concrete floor now has a rubber mat to stand on....)

The barn will have the 12' center aisle poured in concrete as well as a 12 x 24 tack and storage room as well as a 12x12 wash rack. The pole will be on 24" column foundations and the stalls will be backfilled with that clay/sand/blue stone mix to match the concrete floor level.

 

[JCook5003]

Another question to allow a free and open area upstairs, a span of 48' will be required for the ridge beam, would I need a paralam beam for the rafters or would a home made beam of 2x12's be enough? How can I find some data to calculate that?

Also of note is that I wont be actually putting the posts in the ground, every post will rest on a 24x24 concrete footing and will be attached with a bracket like is shown on this site. PermaColumn WetSet Brackets I just dont think putting treated posts in contact with the ground will create as permanant a solution as this option will.

 

[Nighttrain]

JCook,

Take a look at this website. www.ag.ndsu.nodak.edu-abeng-plans-6337.pdf

It is a North Dakota University engineering site that has hundreds of plans, best one that I can find for horse barns. It goes into detail for construction of pole barns.

I would highly discourage you to put the 2x4 flat on the beams. They will bend before you even have the roofing material on. Place them on edge. Also think about the snow load you will have up in Maryland. The drawings in the NDSU will show snow load roof designs. Don’t skimp on this. The last thing you want is that roof to collapse on the horses.

Post pictures of your construction. A lot of guys on here build pole barns for garages. They just put other types of mustangs in there than you will

We are building a 20x36 shed row style barn. Same plan as on this site. As for flooring I agree no cement except for a wash out area. We are using a crushed granite gravel with a sand on top.

Good luck!

 

[JCook5003]

I was considering buying these plans just for reference it says it's easy to add material to reach any length you want but the plan only covers 36x36, I would love to hear from someone who has used these plans specifically.

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