# Fell through the barn floor



## paoutdoorsman

I had a little surprise when I went to pull some 3x3's out of the barn to load out on a waiting truck. Backing out of the barn with the first stack of 3 and the left front wheel dropped through the floor. Talk about a pucker moment. After I got my wits about me, I was able to put down pressure on the loader to lift the left front wheel out of the newly created cavity, and plant the right rear wheel back on earth, and then back out leaving the stack for dead.

I had put all these 3x3's and several stacks of bundles in the barn without issue, and even shifted them around in the appropriate sized stacks to load into a van trailer the night before. I guess it was just time, or the old timbers are more brittle on a 14 degree morning... At any rate, I've got a little repair work to do.


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## endrow

paoutdoorsman said:


> I had a little surprise when I went to pull some 3x3's out of the barn to load out on a waiting truck. Backing out of the barn with the first stack of 3 and the left front wheel dropped through the floor. Talk about a pucker moment. After I got my wits about me, I was able to put down pressure on the loader to lift the left front wheel out of the newly created cavity, and plant the right rear wheel back on earth, and then back out leaving the stack for dead.
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> I had put all these 3x3's and several stacks of bundles in the barn without issue, and even shifted them around in the appropriate sized stacks to load into a van trailer the night before. I guess it was just time, or the old timbers are more brittle on a 14 degree morning... At any rate, I've got a little repair work to do.
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It is sometimes hard to tell hay quality in pics but that hay lpooks pretty nice


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## SCtrailrider

The floor does look a bit thin from here....


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## BWfarms

I can't believe y'all drive 12k plus equipment on those floors.


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## Vol

Yep Dana, I guess you will have to patch the hole in the floor and then patch the hole in the seat cover in the Deere. 

Regards, Mike


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## paoutdoorsman

BWfarms said:


> I can't believe y'all drive 12k plus equipment on those floors.


It'd be nice if they would have put weight rating tags on these things when they built them. My wife's grandad was 8 years old when this barn was built and he used to tell how he was responsible for helping drive the pins in during construction. It was rebuilt then as a result of a fire.

I know I put ~75 tons of hay in each of the left and right mows each year, as well as additional hay and equipment on the center floors. The outer mows are built lighter than the center floors. I know those floors wouldn't support equipment. The center floors are 2" planks on 4x8 joists.


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## slowzuki

Our barn has a drive through centre aisle but I’ve never dared drive a modern tractor inside. Neighbours barn had 4x8 recycled bridge decking floors and it would drop a tractor tire through at least once a year.


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## danwi

The spacing on the floor joist looks wide there unless a broken one fell down. On our side mows we put extra floor joists between the ones already there and then put 3/4 in plywood over the floor, we drive on them that way with a skidsteer and 3 3x3x7 bales. Maybe the front of the tractor weighs more then the skidsteer.


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## endrow

Many people have broken through Barn floors with equipment,. Not only is the equipment getting heavier the barns are getting older. I believe every year you take hay in and out of there it just puts a little bit more strain on those Timbers and wood. I believe when you go to lift that stack out of there with the loader it's a stack is kind of jammed in and the loader is trying to lift it up that puts a massive amount of downward pressure on those Timbers below.. we have broken some Barn floor boards and that is often when they give away.


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## IH 1586

Is the floor only single board? Both barns we drive on have double boards and overlapped. I fell through our cause the guy that rented left sawdust on it year around.


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## RockyHill

Being able to drive in the loft (a southern term for mow) is as foreign as baling hay at night  

Shelia


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## danwi

The other thing you have to make sure of is that all the posts are in under the main beams in the basement of the barn, there too it never hurts to add extras. That lesson was learned a very long time ago when people started filling hay mows full to the peak of the roof with small square bales. Also the worst place is right in the doorway of the mow as the moisture from a door left open in the rain or the ends of the beams sitting on the wall can rot. Another bad spot is if you have a fan or door in the basement you get more rotting there from condensation during weather changes.


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## SCtrailrider

Y'all do some sketchy stuff up their for sure.... it'd half to be steel for me to have the b***s to try that....


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## hillside hay

We grew up driving wagons into our hay mow. Our barn has 2*12 12OC with 12*12 carry beams on 7" columns. It's pretty stout. The skid steer is harder on it than the 2940. Weight distribution and all. We still drive the tractor and baler up in there to bale up the broken ones or rebale rounds


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## danwi

We had a neighbor who had registered Holsteins had a barn fire in the 1980's when they rebuilt the barn after the fire the whole hay mow floor was made with spancrete. The barn was a couple hundred feet long and they could drive anywhere in the hay mow. They now fill it with round bales. Still milking a barn full of cows.


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## SVFHAY

Maintaining barn floors is a yearly deal here. Have a 50'x80 bank barn with 3 drive in bays & 2 end floors. The ends get bundles stacked 3 high and drive in goes 4 high, stuffed completely full with skid loader. Excellent place to cure hay, poor place to stack mechanically for sure.

This old structure was filled to the peak every year of my youth and built in 1914. Maybe even harder on it is the cattle wintering in the bottom.

Local outfit stores big squares using tele handlers. Planking the floors is easy enough but they pushed 2 large ones down by repeatedly driving in, they weren't meant for this abuse.


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## PaMike

We have 2 1/2" tongue and groove floors in ours and that does the trick..


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## Shetland Sheepdog

Brother rebuilt his barn using rough cut Hemlock! Joists are 3"x8" 14' long with 2" planks on top for floor, Joists are 12" on centers in main bay, and 16" on centers in side bays. carrying beams are 12" steel I-beam


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## Farmineer95

Aging wood lofts+new equipment=sketchy. We have a complete loft that went down full of bales. No what, tear the loft out and drive in from the basement?? Or rebuild it...glad no one was hurt. From the looks or ours it was like Domino's when a post gave out. Looks like yours broke a stringer?? I really like timber frame, but I like to avoid puckers more. 
Do you have additional posts in the basement? Might add a bunch where the weight is concentrated (front tire track) when loading.


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## paoutdoorsman

Yes this failure was from a broken joist/stringer. Upon close inspection it appears to have been partially split for years already and finally gave way. Will be getting a new one cut, and possibly adding some additional steel beam stringers underneath. Ultimately I really need to build a modern hay barn.


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## Shetland Sheepdog

Ooops, Sheepdog's Brother tells me the joists are 3"x10", not 3"x8"! My bad!

Brother designed the floor system, then had it checked by a structural engineer.

Told the engineer he wanted it good for 10 tons.

Engineer told him that his design was adequate!


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