Barn de-construction

[1938farmall]

I know there are many experienced t/f building people here, and maybe some have had the occasion to take down a large t/f.  If so, i could use some words of advice.   The building in question is a 36'x120' barn with 22' side walls.  there are 9 bents of 10" sq. sticks.  The rafters lay on 2 purlins and the ridge.  The main purpose in my idea of de-constructing is to avoid having to deal with the roof (until i get it on the ground).  The barn sits with the long axis north/south.  My thought was to remove all the outside boards & girts.  Then attach cables high in each gable end & and anchor them to stabalize the frame.  Next, cut out all the north/south knee braces, the door headers, and finally cut all the support posts to 1" of hold wood.  At this point the only thing left attached to the 9 bents would be the purlins & ridge.  Now I release the south anchor & pull north.  The bents easily pull loose from the rafter purlins as they fall north and all my big posts are intact & will live to be used another day.   ;D  And now I can deal with the roof.  Am I getting senile?  thank you,  al

[Brad_S.]

The best way to deconstruct a barn for the most useable material is to reverse the process used to put it up. IMO, even 10x10's have a chance of breaking if just pulled down.

[Brad_bb]

It appears you're just wanting the material and not to reconstruct - which would be the most advantageous thing, since the joinery is already cut.  Either way, pulling it over is going to at the least ding up a bunch of your material, and at worst, crack and damage large pieces. 

Reverse construction is best.  Remove the roofing materials and siding.  Then de-construct the frame in the order is was assembled.  Remove pegs by installing a screw in the end of a peg, use a slide hammer with a vice-grip attachment or a home made fork attachment.  Sometimes a recip saw with a long blade can be used on damaged pegs that won't readily come out by pulling. 

Use a crane or block and tackle and loader to lower bent to the ground. Others on here I'm sure will have additional tips if you want to do it the right way to save the material or take it down for re-assembly.  If slated for reassembly, tag all members and make a numbered picture map.  I don't like to see them pulled down where pegs or joints are busted apart, as it damages the timber and loses it's integrity and cannot be used for another frame.

[1938farmall]

thanks for the input so far.  i was not thinking of reconstructing the barn - probably saw the beams into flooring.  al

[shinnlinger]

Those beams will crack up pretty bad and not be good floor board material if you pull it down and your method sounds complicated and dangerous.  I say you need to rent something like a crane or manlift or Lull to speed up and make your deconstruction go smoother.  Is it a metal roof?  You may find folks interested in that to assist you efforts.  Can you pile up and burn what you don't want in the end???

Dave

[Holmes]

Your method sounds dangerous to me. You would have to trust the barn stand still until you are ready,even with anchors on it. Does it have any rot? Of course climbing on the roof and working your way down also will be dangerous.