Indoor wash room

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farmermom

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Joined
Feb 28, 2010
Messages
91
Location
Galatia, IL
Not sure if this info is in the Hall of fame topics for barns, but I thought I would get new thoughts anyway. I'm from southern IL and have a 40 by 60 barn now.  Wanting to remodel some.  It was sliding doors on the North side between feed area and hay storage, and 2 pens on the south side with a working chute between them.  Both pens on the south side are open to small lots. One pen is used for calving if need be.  However, calf mostly outside since we calve mostly in March. The other south pen is used for show calves.  We have room for 6  yearlings age animals in that pen.  We also have a small siding door on the east side with 2 large runs for calves and lean to for shelter.  We would like to add an indoor wash area.  It would have to be on the west side of the barn as a lean too.  We have room for a small sliding door off the south pen where the show animals are tied. What are yourthoughts on adding this wash area and what about heated water for the winter?  We have some cool winters here, and the kids don't get the time to work at the barn as they should because of outdoor washing.  Also would one of those cargo containers work?
Thanks for any input in advance.  Any ideas would be great help.
 

MooMooLover

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Joined
Mar 5, 2009
Messages
87
Location
Ohio
We put in an indoor washrack 2 years ago. The BEST thing we ever did! I wish we had heated water, but just being out of the wind is great. I would like to put in some kind of pipes or something so they stay off of the walls. We converted a stall, so it's approx. 10x12 and we put in those heavy duty rubber mats from tractor supply. As long as my hose doesn't freeze in between animals I'm pretty happy.
 

farmermom

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Joined
Feb 28, 2010
Messages
91
Location
Galatia, IL
JRD Show Cattle said:
We put in an indoor washrack 2 years ago. The BEST thing we ever did! I wish we had heated water, but just being out of the wind is great. I would like to put in some kind of pipes or something so they stay off of the walls. We converted a stall, so it's approx. 10x12 and we put in those heavy duty rubber mats from tractor supply. As long as my hose doesn't freeze in between animals I'm pretty happy.

What do you do with the water (drainage)?  Do you have a drain in the stall?
 

MooMooLover

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Joined
Mar 5, 2009
Messages
87
Location
Ohio
Yes. Sometimes it freezes, but I have to heat a bucket of water to thaw everything anyway, so I just dump that down the drain.
 

Freddy

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Joined
Mar 31, 2007
Messages
2,720
Location
North central -- Nebraska on highway 183 - 30 mi
We found an old dairy cow staation part of our barn about  20-12 an cleaned it out an redid the trough for manure an put a drain on it
an also put water in there.  This would have worked but we found some refer panels ,INSIDES OF REFER TRAILER THAT ARE INSULATED ...an put those up an it is about like Fort Know .....Bring a little heater in there an you can wash an work on those calves very comfortably ...Jamie
 

herfluvr

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Joined
Jul 3, 2010
Messages
231
We have an indoor wash rack with warm water as we have an office and bathroom in the barn.  We have an overhead boom the hose runs into so it keeps it off the floor and easy to drain.  You can find them in most farm supply stores.  Looks like one for the car wash.  I would HIGHLY recommend some type of strainer for the drain and a good size drain .  Our drain is 1 ft by 3 ft and has a strainer the guy made that would remind you of expanded metal that sits down in the hole which is about 6 inches deep and then has a metal grid over the top so they don't fall into it.  It has saved up from having a stopped drain a lot.  Our drain runs out to a septic tank.  Have friends that the drain just runs down a grade.  We have those wash mats with the holes in them but don't like them.  Too flimsy.  We should have just roughed up the concrete. 
 

OH Breeder

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Joined
Feb 14, 2007
Messages
5,954
Location
Ada, Ohio
This was one of the best investments I made for my bones. We insulated the room with 3/4" plywood, moisture barrier and R30 Insulation. I run nip-co in winter and in the summer it doubles as a cool room. We dug down and put in drain. Make sure if you put in a drain you have a trap to clean it out. The hair etc can clog one in a hurry. Our rack has four ties and is 12 ft wide. the room is 22 x 24. We also lined the floor with the heavy stall mats from TSC. Painted the walls white and installed fluorescent bulbs above. If I have a heifer that i am worried about calving, we can stick them in the other half of the room and keep warm while on watch. In the summer I have a 3Ton AC unit hooked up and can keep it 55 on the hottest days without a problem. We did insulate both the walls and the ceiling.
 

cattlejunky

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Joined
Jun 22, 2007
Messages
538
Location
indiana
We have an indoor wash area with a drain, instead of tying to a wall we wash in a chute.  Works great.  We don't have heated water but we run our keosene heater when its cold.  If you have the chance to install on I highly recommend doing it.
 

rtmcc

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Joined
Oct 11, 2008
Messages
727
Location
Peterson, MN
As others have said. its the best addition we made!  Ours is 12' deep and 20' wide.  I wish it was a little deeper sometimes but thats how it worked out.  We heat ours with a LB White heater, put in an exhaust fan for blowing out and florissant lights.  Our show barn is an old hog finishing barn with a pit under part of it so the wash room is half slated floor and half sloped concrete.  Never halve to worry about a plugged drain at our house.  I put rubber mats over most of the slatted area to help keep the cold out.  Make sure you get an extra big drain set up with a sump to catch the dirt and hair.  Nothing worse than standing in your new wash rack and six inches of standing water.

We put two 10' coral panels in to make a pen for new babies and mommas this time of year.  Comes in handy when its -24* like this morning.  Gives those babies a chance to really get dried off and nursing before they face the real world.

One you have one you will wonder how you ever lived with out it!

Ron
<cowboy>
 

stkrdge

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Joined
Mar 5, 2010
Messages
168
Location
Janesville Wisconsin
this works really well with the trench drain and removable pipes. I can wash dry and clip without moving the calf.
 

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bruiser

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Joined
Dec 28, 2009
Messages
198
Location
Illinois (God&#039;s country)
Just put one in this fall. Our drain is a square landscaping drain that goes out top a 55 gallon barrel in the ground w/ washed rock under that. Same idea as septic tank only smaller scale. Its 12 x 20 w/ 6 in. insulation in the walls and 12 in. insulation in the ceiling. A small propane heater warms it nicely.
 
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