# What is the best style of hay barn



## Chuck

I'm currently looking at building a new hay barn. I was thinking of building a barn with boards on the walls,,, this to allow air into the building for better ventilation. I think this might allow some rain and also some snow in the building ? I was also thinking of building an all steel building , but I think this might keep the moisture in the building that the hay expires. 
Any advice would be greatly appreciated


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## Swv.farmer

I like the three sided type leave the front open and leave the back wall about a foot short lets the air floe over the hay.


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## somedevildawg

I like wood for my climate because it doesn't "sweat" as bad as steel structures. My steel buildings will drip water from the "lathing" (they call it something else in steel building speak) usually not enuf to do any real damage but none the less I don't have the same problem in wooden structures......I like closed in on the two longest sides and open on the ends but that's my climate and yours will differ....
Btw my moisture is coming from the atmosphere not from the sweating of the hay.....hth


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## Josh in WNY

I just put an addition on my barn last fall that came out about 20 feet from the existing barn and ran the entire length with the long side and the back enclosed. I left the front open since it faced downwind and have had very little snow blowing inside. I figured I could always hang a tarp from the trusses if I need to close it off for the hay. My addition was wood framed, but metal siding and roof. I did have the builder (a local amish man) put "double-bubble" insulation on the roof and sides to hopefully take care of the condensation issue (let you know how that turns out this spring). My uncle's fully enclosed barn down the road will literally drip water on you in the spring from all the condensation that occurs, but he has no insulation at all. You can also have them put in soffit vents and ridge vents to help with the moisture and heat in the building.

The only other problem I have with my setup is ground water, but I'm going to be putting in some tile across the front and down the side to help take care of this as well.

By the way, what type of bales are you putting up? Round bales would probably be ok with a little bit of weather on them, but small squares (assuming large squares as well) would probably be a problem. This would also depend on where you are marketing your hay


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## slowzuki

Here anything with a lot of ventilation is better off than tightly sealed but it needs to provide a good rain screen to stop rain from getting in.

We have a wooden barn that was covered in steel, it has a roof vent and gable vents and lots of leaky (in terms of air flow) doors and conveyor access doors. Works well.


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## Teslan

For me this type of barn style is best. This is my new barn under construction. Roof only half on. Doors not installed yet. I'll post more pictures when it is complete. Maybe on Friday. They can't work today as it's much to windy.


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## Chuck

Very nice shed ! Your putting steel on the walls ? I need storage for small squares .


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## Teslan

Chuck said:


> Very nice shed ! Your putting steel on the walls ? I need storage for small squares .


do you mean steel on the interior? No. Exterior yes that is steel. This building is also just right for stacking small bales into it with a NH stack wagon.


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## Josh in WNY

Teslan said:


> do you mean steel on the interior? No. Exterior yes that is steel. This building is also just right for stacking small bales into it with a NH stack wagon.


I don't see any of the insulation like they used on my addition on the walls. Are you using the rolled style insulation just on the roof or doing something else? I considered using sprayed insulation, but it cost more than the rolled type (the Amish guys around here call it double-bubble).


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## Teslan

Josh in WNY said:


> I don't see any of the insulation like they used on my addition on the walls. Are you using the rolled style insulation just on the roof or doing something else? I considered using sprayed insulation, but it cost more than the rolled type (the Amish guys around here call it double-bubble).


why would you insulate a hay barn? I'm not and haven't in the past.


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## Chuck

What size is your new hay shed ? how many bales will you store in it ?


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## Teslan

Chuck said:


> What size is your new hay shed ? how many bales will you store in it ?


it is 60x150x18. Completely full it should hold about 1500 3x3x8 bales the way I stack them. But I sure hope I don't ever have to have it completely full. That would mean I'm not selling anything and because the 145 acres this building is on should produce about 2000 bales a year when in full hay production.


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## Rodney R

That double bubble like Josh mentioned looks kinda like the packing bubble sheets that are sometimes used in shipping. I used them in my garage to keep water from dripping when the sun comes up. It would also be nice in another shed that we store trucks in, but the hay sheds are just fine without it - they have a white roof, and the one that drips has a brown roof.

Rodney


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## Josh in WNY

Teslan said:


> why would you insulate a hay barn? I'm not and haven't in the past.





Rodney R said:


> That double bubble like Josh mentioned looks kinda like the packing bubble sheets that are sometimes used in shipping. I used them in my garage to keep water from dripping when the sun comes up. It would also be nice in another shed that we store trucks in, but the hay sheds are just fine without it - they have a white roof, and the one that drips has a brown roof.
> 
> Rodney


I knew that my uncles barn a mile up the road dripped condensation like crazy in the spring (it has a grey roof, my addition has a white roof) so I talked to the builder about it. It was only another couple of hundred bucks to have the double bubble put on the entire thing, so I figured why take the chance. I may not have needed it, but it would have been more costly to insulate after the fact. A barn of your size might not be as cheap to insulate that way, so the cost/benefit might not work out.

It seems that as with haying, everyone's barn choices seem to be dependent on location, climate, etc.


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## slowzuki

Tyvek works to stop condensation too, it's from the roof being cold at night, colder than the dew point.


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## vhaby

somedevildawg said:


> I like wood for my climate because it doesn't "sweat" as bad as steel structures. My steel buildings will drip water from the "lathing" (they call it something else in steel building speak) usually not enuf to do any real damage but none the less I don't have the same problem in wooden structures......I like closed in on the two longest sides and open on the ends but that's my climate and yours will differ....
> Btw my moisture is coming from the atmosphere not from the sweating of the hay.....hth


Our hay barn is similar to this except all steel, 15 ft at the highest interior point, 50 ft wide x 100 ft long, open on both ends and with closed sides. We positioned it open ends north and south so that the summer south winds blow across the newly stacked hay to help remove hay moisture. Made it 50 ft wide in order to turn a tractor with hay spears around without puncturing the side walls. This barn will hold sufficient round bale grass hay to feed our 40+ momma cows and bulls for two winters if needed. Each row of 4 x 5 rounds will have 21 bales. In a perfect world, that would be 525 bales, but now have begun to store alfalfa small squares in about 1/5th of the barn space. Now need to place large rock crushed limestone on floor. Any recommendations on the depth?


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