# "L" shaped cattle barn finished.



## FarmHand78 (May 22, 2014)

This is a loafing/calving barn one of my crews just finished. The main building is 32 ft X 96 ft with a 32 ft X 32 ft L'ed off of it on the open side. There is a 6 ft cantilevered over hang on the open sidewalls. The shed was designed to be 14 ft clear under the trusses, but after we started construction the owner wanted it shortened to just under 10 ft clear. The building was built on a 4 ft exposed concrete stem wall for easy clean out.

As having my own cow/calf operation I'm not a fan of the L shape, I feel the inside of the L won't permit enough sunlight in to the rear of the building for warmth at calving time. I also would use light transmitting panels on the cantilevered overhang roof.


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## swmnhay (Jun 13, 2008)

Why in the heck would anyone build a cattle shed with 10' sidewalls?Almost worthless for anything else.Its going to have poor ventilation and will have more respitory issues with cattle.

Saveing 4' of sidewall saved the guy very little $ and he will regret it later.


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## Grateful11 (Apr 5, 2009)

If the loafing/get out of the weather and feeding shed ever has to be replaced here my wife has already said it's going to high enough for a cab tractor to get in. Right now the Kubota L3940 won't even go in with the ROPS up.


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## ontario hay man (Jul 18, 2013)

It looks like a very nice barn. I dont mind L shaped barns. They are nice to block the wind from the north and west. As for the height i dont think it will be to bad. I fed many cattle in old barns with 8 or 9 foot ceilings and never had a problem. You just become a ventilation master lol.


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## FarmHand78 (May 22, 2014)

I tried telling the old boy it was a mistake to make the shed shorter. When we where in the planing stage of this build he said he wanted to to "look" like his other cattle barn, but wanted 12 ft clear under the headers in the open bays, witch mean it had to be 14 ft clear at the truss. We had the crew go measure his other cattle shed and it was 6ft 8in from foundation to eve. So with 11in of truss and purlins in the next building that only gave him 5ft 9in from foundation to bottom of truss. The customer has had a full set of prints for the original design since mid January, and had given me the final OK on design in March. The owner didn't even care about a cost savings, just wanted to look like his other barn... on a different farm... 4 miles away. To each there own.

Oh and the kicker was he just couldn't understand why we couldn't put a 12ft tall door in that building... I can build most anything, and always want to make the customer happy... but I just can fit a 12ft door in a 9ft 9in building.


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## barnrope (Mar 22, 2010)

You did a good job building a vintage looking shed. He has a building most would think was built in 1960 just with new looking tin.


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## FarmHand78 (May 22, 2014)

Thanks... I like to make our buildings work as best possible for the customer, and still look good.


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## ontario hay man (Jul 18, 2013)

What did that barn cost?


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## FarmHand78 (May 22, 2014)

Building put up was right at $48K. (thats figured at the 14 ft clear height) Foundation and all flat pour was $45K.


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## ontario hay man (Jul 18, 2013)

Thats a decent price. The mennonites that build for me charge $9 a square foot. Thats not counting cement or windows.


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## FarmHand78 (May 22, 2014)

That's about right... The original quoted building has a 32 ft full height divider wall, 14= 7 ft X 2 ft vent doors, 1= 12 ft X 10 ft sliding vent door (in divider wall above foundation) and 14 ft X 14 ft end wall sliding door.


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## PaMike (Dec 7, 2013)

Wow. Didnt realize buildings cost that much.... just shy of 100K. Ouch.
How many head will that setup hold?


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## FarmHand78 (May 22, 2014)

Building will house 100-150 head of cows come winter.


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