They say time heals all wounds, or at least, appears to.
Although it has the same footprint, the new building has only half the square footage that we had in the old since it is one storey. But it is really nice to be able to stack rounds 5 high on the flat so we gain a bit there while losing half the pen space of the former barn.
There is also a fair bit of area in workshop - 32'x60' at one end, and what a pleasure to work in a (relatively :wink: ) clean, dry spot for building stuff and fabricating projects. And I hope to finally get the in-floor heat working before year's end. Up until now, the main heat source has been the big polycarbonate, overhead door facing south.
Ya, I originally posted under Maple Leaf Angus when I found this site but took a timeout for a while. When I came back, I was burnt out so the name seemed apt. (Lots of days 'Stupid' would work too. But you can just call me John.)
Losing the original timber-frame bank barn is still sad because those old-styled buildings are irreplaceable. The plate timbers (that the rafters rested on and measured 12" x 12") and purloins (8" x 8") were 60' long - one piece. The cross-ties were 40' long and also squared 10" or 11".
The framing sticks were all hand hewn from local elm and/or beech, representing hundreds of hours of skilled, but hard labor. Those late 1800's builders were not just carpenters, they were artisans, wielding hand saws and swinging adzes or broad-axes like precision instruments. Not one nail or spike in the entire frame - it was all held together with wooden pegs driven into holes bored through the mortise and tenon joints.
And where "new", engineered barns have in recent years collapsed under normal snow loads (sometimes in less than 10 years) our old barn withstood over a century of blizzards and windstorms until a roaring fire took it down in less than 3 hours, along with a winter's supply of hay and straw.
So yes, I like the new building, but I loved the old barn and all that it represented.
http://ranchers.net/photopost/showphoto.php/photo/8749/ppuser/2584
