Salvaging old barn

[Arerhodes]

Here in Virginia , I have an old barn on my property that needs to come down. Got a lot of usable timbers. I believe it's all pine. Some beams have some termite damage and a lot has old powder post beetle holes. Barn built for mules at the turn of the century, maybe older. Has cedar shingles under the tin. All wood still dry but structurally not sound, has a mean lean to her. Starting to formulate a plan, going to salvage and repurpose into a new barn/ garage. I'm Ag excempt so I can build whatever, we have a working farm here. 

 

 

 

[Ljohnsaw]

Yeah, 90° is a nasty lean! :D

How big of a garage?  What percentage of the old wood do you think will be usable?

[Hooterspfld]

What type of equipment do you have? I'd think you're going to need a skid steer, skytrak, half a dozen guys and 3-4 days. Beyond that, reverse the order of how it went up. Take the roof off first and and work your way down, add bracing every time you can. First, brace against the lean, cause any work you do is going to put more strain on that. Then every piece of siding you take off is essentially removing a brace, keep that in mind. Never done one this big, so just my 2 cents for what it's worth. 

[florida]

That's going to be a huge job and I don't see much there worth saving.  I'd pull it over with a chain and pick through it on the ground but more likely would burn it where it is.

[Brad_bb]

I'm glad to see you're into re purposing the old wood.  It can be some of the prettiest stuff.  I hope you have some place to store the material.  Outside is NOT a good place.  It will get wet, it will rot.
You might want to see some advice on how to go about taking it down and salvaging the most material.  Not sure what equipment you have?  If you can do it anytime but in the blazing heat of summer, you're better off.  Is there a look that you want to end up with.  With the beams for example, will you Wheel brush them with a nylon abrasive bristle wheel?


 

Or will you de-nail and plane the timbers?
That could be pretty too.

Once you get them down and evaluate what is good, if you have significant PPBs, will you have a kiln run a 24-48 hour cycle on them at 160F to kill them?  They die at about 133F, but you have to run the kiln hotter and give it time for the heat to work it's way in the timber.

I've de-nailed and planed reclaimed beams, but they were Beech.  I use a beam planer on my saw mill track.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vqrN4dzH8uI

Value-wise, The best barns are the ones with nice oak hewn beams.  Heart pine would be great.  You could be dealing with white pine or yellow pine or heart pine.  Many don't put much value in sawn pine, but it depends on the barn. No matter what you'll get some reclaiming experience.Depending on the wind situation, will determine if you start by removing the siding or the roof.  Once the roof is off, you need to get the job done so your wood isn't exposed for too long.

[Arerhodes]

I believe most all of the wood is "heart pine" southern yellow longleaf, hard to tell but I cut some end grains and it seems to add up. Yellow for sure, strong as oak, broke screws when building a shelf out of it a year ago. If I don't re-use it for building I definitely want to reclaim/salvage. could make some beautiful stuff out of it.  Disassembly will be a job, I don't have any lifts or cranes, just ladders and tractors.