O/T Pole barn.........

I'm looking to put up a pole barn yet this fall, and I've been shopping around. Or trying to.

I've turned in online requests for a quote to all the popular brands, Morton, Astro, Rhino, and others I can't remember, and I haven't gotten a single response.

Has anyone else had the same experience? I went to an Astro building dealer's place of business hoping to talk serious business. One of the employees just shrugged and said the dealer "went somewhere" and he didn't know where he'd gone or when he'd be back.

I had that experience was it 3 years ago, went to a mid summer farm show and visited all 15 or so buildiers that were there. Most had a wife or girlfriend manning the booth, handing out business cards. Really didn't get a good feeling for the places. Talked to a few I really liked, said I'm letting air out of the tires to get the combine in the shed, am really serious... Only one called me back, so they got the job.

I know what you are talking about.

I think a lot of businesses have found on-line inquiries tend to be tire kickers, and not serious, so during busy times those get put to the back burner? If you are booked up, you need your people building or handling paper orders that are real, not online questions that have a low percent of turning into real orders. It's a catch-22, I can see both sides of that....

On the other hand, you are _way_ late and poor planning on your part to come this time of year and want a building up yet. Esp a year like this, depending on where you live, lot of farmers were planning buildings this summer and the push is on to put all those up, you will find many many over-booked builders at this time of year and will likely end up with a poor or overpriced builder that is 'available' this time of year for a rush job.

Not what you wanted to hear, and don't mean to be ragging on you, but you shoulda been talking with people in July or so if you wanted something up in 2012 yet?

--->Paul

I had a very nice one put up on schedule last fall by QSI. I opened my email link and can send you my salesman's name and number as I don't want to post it here for spam reasons. qualitystructures dot com.

I am still waiting for a reply from Morton, and my dad stopped there in person 14 months ago!

My neighbor just had one done this fall, up in two days. About a 30 by 60 or so.

Build your own! A few trees/logs (don't have to be sawmill quality), a cheap bandmill, a tractor and chainsaw,etc. Someone to help is a plus, but not totally necessary. Only out-of-pocket cost will be roofing and hardware.......plus concrete if you're putting in a floor. You'll WAY MORE than pay for the mill on this one barn......

Don't know your location or else forget, but I'm just a few miles north of Morton's home base and didn't ask them for a quote for the new building. Only asked for bids from Ragland and FBI. Went with FBI which was higher but matched Ragland's price. Nothing wrong with Ragland but neighbor and a couple of friends went with FBI and were very happy so tried something different. Have a ten year old Ragland and no complaints. Called both builders and had immediate response from the salesman. Both stopped to view the site and discuss the project. Ragland is located in mid-south Illinois and FBI in Indiana.

Nine years ago I had the same problem. Some responded some did, but months after pole shed was up, and some never did at all(Morton's). Went with a local independent pole barn builder with an excellent reputation.

Not sure where you are located, but Zenz Buildings in N. Illinois are top notch. Jim Zenz used to build for Brand X and broke away to do his own thing. Many farmers around here have used him and I've heard nothing but positive remarks. I know they travel some distance so they may be an option. Check them out on the web. Good luck.

A few years back I decided it was time for another machine storage shed (pole barn). I contacted Morton and a few other regional pole barn builders. I then contacted a local regional multi-store building materials dealer, who has his own saw mill and truss building operation. I asked about pole structures and they produced a bill-of-materials to suit my specifications. After a number of changes we had a completed bill and architectural plans. As I didn't want to put the structure up myself, I asked for suggestions regarding qualified builders. They produced a number of carpenters/builders who they worked with and after some discussion suggested one. I used my loader, post hole digger,etc and provided some of my own labor. The structure cost me about 60% of what it would have cost going through Morton and I got a superior building...more lumber and better bracing. I have other pole structures including a Morton and while the Morton is certainly a well built building my "cheaper" alternative sits next to it and gets high marks for being as well built and as esthetically pleasing.

Built two of my own bought from menards worked out great.

See our friend Lyle, I am sure he wouldn't mind a while outta the snow!
Sam

I just put up a 60x80. The local lumber yards do most around here(west central ohio)with amish builders. I bought my building from menards and the amish put it up for around 5000 cheaper than the lumber yards wanted.

I had Pleasant Dale lumber put mine up. Great job!
You could look at if you like.

Same here Amish crew I haul working on one 160"x300" in north west Pa.

160' x 300' - Is that a barn for poultry, dairy or beef?

Dairy.

I wonder why the cement work wasn't done first? How are they going to haul out the dirt now?

The fellow at Pleasant Dale Lumber was the guy who was missing in action.

Goose,

Something to think about.

Do you build a house on a rock or sand? I had a 30x40 pole barn put up 4 years ago. After the fact I learned that posts are the weak link in a pole barn. Recently a utility worker in Florida found out that a 50 year old pole broke off and paralyzed him from the neck down. My posts were put on sand and two bags of rock put around them. I had treated landscaping timbers eaten by termites in 4 years. If I had it to do over, I would insist on having a cement pad under my posts, termite treat the holes before they are back filled, and make something to anchor the poles to the cement floor. I don't care how good your posts are, sooner or later the posts will rot at ground level. This past summer, I had my barn termite treated. Have rigged up a way for my posts not to settle too.

I would also recommend, removing the sod, elevating the ground so rain water will run away from barn. I put my floor down after the building was build. Kept the sun from drying the concrete. Don't have the first crack.

I like eves on the sides to keep the rain and green mold from running down the sides. I like the idea of putting translucent panels under the eves to light the barn.

Hope you find a good builder.

George

I was going to go that route, but ended up conventional foundation and framing (I do better at conventional framing than pole framing...).
Being cursed or blessed (depending on what day it is) by being in the design and construction business, I couldn't bring myself to spend that kind of money on a foundation I didn't 100% trust. As well, was going to have them build the pole barn and most, other than Morton, couldn't get me any specifics or specs and at best gave me a napkin quality sketch and said "put an X where you want the window".
No thanks.
But the buildings do have good use and merit, just wasn't for me.
Don't know where you're located, but if you're just budgeting for now, DIY Pole Barns on the net has a good site and interactive pricing tool that helped me figure out what things cost without the hassle of a salesman.
Good Luck

Tony