barns

Ok i know has been a topic that is in the hall of fame but as i read threw it didnt answer some of my questions.  I going to build a barn in the next few months and curious about size.  Metal frame or wood.  i can build either.  Insusuation in cool rooms, wall coverings, and size per calf.  I have been inside a few nicer barns but i have always heard people say what they would change.  I personally have built everything u can think of in my line of work.  Materials arent that hard to get or install. I want to over do it so my family can grow with it and it be practical for the next 30 years.  sound like a good idea anyways rite.  any body that could help me get my plan in tact thanks in advance.

metal.  pads that are graded for cleaning with pressure hose out the door with a graded cement or similar area around barn so the heavy traffic areas don't become maintenance holes.  integrated with chutes,lead up etc.  wash rack with drain far from barn along with the gutters.  overhead/hanging electrical outlets, 220, insulated walls on the south side as well as the ceiling.  overhangs to keep sun off walls.  functional ceiling ventilation that is closeable.

make it bigger than you want it, i never heard anyone say that  "man this shed/building/barn is too big, i wish it was smaller". once your get a storage spot for fans, show box, blocking chute, buckets, beer fridge,  what ever you plan to do, that stuff takes up space. you can never overdue the electricity, more lights and plugs ins the better.

agree with above post about water drainage. site and location of construction site is huge, don't necessarily need a cement fortress just good water managements and a high spot for hte water to run away from.
manure mangaement- unless you have an entire 4-H club that love cleaning pens, make it cleanable w/ tractor/skidsteer, anything but the pitchfork.
we built our cattle/calving barn about 10 years ago and we made it lots bigger than neccessary, (it is 70x46 w/ a12 foot open face leantoo off to the south side) in the off time the corn head on the its trailer is parked in there and its convient to store 200-300 square bales on a trailer if the rain is coming and the rest of the other shed are full.

JWW

Metal.

Biggest mistake on mine is my 20' wide by 10' deep wash rack isnt deep enough.  The 20' is wide enough to wash three big calves at the same time, but 10' isnt deep enoiugh.  Barely can walk behind a big calf tied up.

There is a thread in the hall of fame with a lot of good photos

http://www.steerplanet.com/bb/index.php?topic=1230.0

Metal is for sure the way to go if you want it to last. That is also definately true about never hearing that it is too big!! Our new barn has a wash rack that is aprox. 16x25 and wouldnt want it any smaller. We have a 16x12 tack room and that is tooooooooo small. Should of went another 6 ft longer. We also have a tie are that is 16x24 to work with the cattle. We would of liked to of gone even bigger but thought about it and figured if we kept adding 6ft lenght for everything it would of been 300ft long!!!  We went 30x60 outside and kind of wish we were maybe 12 ft longer. One thing this way is we can only get so manycattle in to work with. My daughter had figured we should show 20 head this fall so probably a good thing we didnt. We see -30 at calving at times so it will also double as a new calving barn. If you can do it all yourself really helps with the cost. We would of put up the shell ourselves but with working off the farm never had time. WE did absolutely everything else from the prep work for ground, having water and a drain inside, cement prep,and all electrical, and ALL the inside including splitting it up for the different rooms, insulating half the building, and installing tin on the inside half that was insulated. A 12ft sheet of tin was sure heavier when  holding it above my head and my wife was trying to get it fastened up!!!! This is where renting the drywall lift possibly saved our marriage, LOL!!! I hate to even think what the cost would of been if a person did nothing. We had our doubts about building when we did but when our crappy weather hit in October and my wife and daughter had a building to work in I felt then it was worth it and will someday pay for itself. Funny  how my daughter's heifer had to be the first one in the new wash rack. Good luck and I hope you enjoy the barn you build as much as I know we will.

The one thing I am glad we did in our new barn was to install in floor heat in the washroom and office.  You never have to worry about wet slippery floors in the winter, we heat our home with an outside wood burner so it was very economical for us too.

We are in the process of putting up a new barn as well that will be a dual purpose for calving/show barn. The few things i have learned in this process is take your time designing it we have been planning this for over two years.  Look at plenty of other barns and visit with people to see what mistakes they made or things they would change just a bit.  Ours started out as just a 40x60 with four 15x15 pens to a 48x80 with 18 foot lean-tos down both sides to basically make it a 84x80x16 feet tall.  We made ours this tall so incase we ever get out of the cattle business we can store machinery in it.  Also we have concrete pillars 2ft high every where a post is gonna be two keep it out of the crap and protect it from the skid-loader.  Wash rack is 18x18 and wish we would have went bigger but oh well. Also we have concrete walls 4 ft high everywhere the cattle will be to keep them from tearing up tin and rubbing against the building. We included a feed room at the last minute as well as an office.  They are the same size as the washrack.  Also flag it out after you design it and see what it looks like down to every detail of where the pens will be it helps alot or it did for us atleast.  So in the end we have 8 inside 16x16 foot pens and can have twice that many if we want to use the lean-tos, an office, feed room, and wash rack.