On Sun, 29 Oct 2006 12:24:50 GMT, Jim Behning
wrote:

Yes, as Prometheus mentioned the poles are 12' centers so I could get
a fair size stall for the horse. We have Morgans which are about the
same size as an Arab depending on the bloodlines. Some have been as
big as thoroughbreds while others have been huge ponies. The 20' poles
are the same spacing and a center support for my 2x8 rafters 16" oc. I
did not want to do trusses for a few reasons. One was ease of install.
I can install the 2x8 by myself if I had to or with one helper. The
next pole barn I built was about the same size but we used trusses. We
had at least 4 guys for the trusses. One running the crane and a few
carpenters. With the trusses it was free space inside because the
trusses can span a huge area when properly engineered. Rafters can
span a huge space but it requires bigger rafters and better
engineering than I know how to do.

We put up a few freestalls with LVL rafters this summer, and while
they did span large distances, the LVLs were so big that the crane was
needed anyway. In those cases, the design seemed to be that way so
that the stalls had solid posts to attach the gates to in the center-
though I know so little about farming that I'm not sure that that is
correct or necessary.

Trusses do require a minimum of three guys- one working the crane, and
one on each side to seat them in the top of the poles. But it's best
to have four- so a ground guy can toss purlins up to the guys on the
trusses.

I agree that a stick built on a poured foundation or slab would be
less expensive. I know that it is less work once you pay the
foundation man off. Digging holes, backfilling or mixing concrete by
hand to pour around the posts, tipping posts up. All that requires a
lot of back which you work in to if you are not in a rush.

There may be a regional difference with the requirements, but I think
you may have done a little extra work if you were mixing the concrete.
We'd drill the holes, then toss in a concrete cookie, set the pole and
brace it, then dump in three or four bags of dry quickcrete. At least
according to the engineers who designed the kits, the water in the
ground itself is more than enough to activate the concrete.

I used shingles because the last place we rented had an aluminum roof
with no insulation. That was noisy. A friend did a metal roof but they
used that bubble insulation between the roof and the purlins. That
made the roof much quieter.

No argument there- it is quiter, but man, is it a lot more work!
Three guys can roof a large building in an afternoon with steel
sheets, but shingling takes a lot longer. We used some stuff called
tough roll that is basically just the old fiberglass insulation with a
thick plastic face that will quiet the roof, add some R-value, and
keep condesation from dripping on your head. It unrolls from the peak
down to the overhang on top of the purlins, and the steel holds it in
place. Saves a lot of labor- though I don't know that it's any
quieter than the shingled roof. I'd just hate to strip and reshingle
one of those monsters.