Re: Thanks for the help on the floor - lets talk doors
The pole barn kit I bought used the same kind of National "nail on board" slider tracks. The Fabral metal siding trim came with cover for this type of slider that seals the whole thing up perfectly.
Re: Thanks for the help on the floor - lets talk doors
The kit also came w/ extruded aluminum "Easy Rails" for constructing the exterior sliding doors. These made for extremely light, strong, and simple to build interlocking doors. They are absolutely fantastic.
Re: Thanks for the help on the floor - lets talk doors
And the most important thing in the barn (except the fly system), the 2' fan on a thermostat. This is a little overkill for a barn this size, but the barn is never hotter inside than out (in the summer anyways [img]/forums/images/icons/grin.gif[/img] ).
Re: Thanks for the help on the floor - lets talk doors
Steve, that's an impressive barn! I'm not a horse person so most of the details are beyond me but your workmanship and attention to detail are first rate. I'm hoping to build a barn in a couple of years... I'll be sure to check back to your photos for ideas. Nice work [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img]
Re: Thanks for the help on the floor - lets talk doors
Overall your barn and stalls look great. [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img]
One thing. I see where you cut out a couple bars to be able to feed. It's not a question of it but when one of your horses is going to get seriously hurt there. If they ever get scared or bored they are going to try to go through that space with a leg, head, etc. Save yourself from future vet bills and heartache and come up with something now that they can't get a leg or head through.
Re: Thanks for the help on the floor - lets talk doors
You really think so Richard? Up in this neck of the woods every stall I've ever seen has had a feed opening above the feed tub. I saw some stall grills at a show once that had a feed opening with a door on it, but I can honestly say I've never seen one in use in a barn. The opening is sized so a horse can't get their head thru, maybe only stick their nose out a few inches. Worst case senerio, I don't think these grills would hold a horse at all. They are the cheap non-welded type where the bars just sit in holes in the metal channels. They were easy to put up and the right price at the time, and actually they've worked just fine. I bet a horse could pull one of those bars right out if he ever had the mind to. Just bend one bar a little and it would pop right out.
How do you access you're feed tub? We try to be very safe with our stalls so I'll want to look into it some more. This is why we went with those hanging rubber feed tub. Where we used to board our horses they had the plastic corner tubs. You would think they would seem safe enough. But the horse had chewed on the lip of the tub and it had a few little cracks. One of our horses caught its eyelid on the jagged edge and tore it pretty good. Fortunately it healed up fine. We put a new feed tub in there but it was back to the same condition within months. The rubber tubs have been working out much better.