I am getting close to finishing the design of my barn and I would like to get the advice of some of you. The barn is 12 stalls, center aisle with 7 of those stalls for horses.
Do you think the following are necessary or worth the cost.
14ft aisle vs 12ft approx $1500 increase.
automatic water feeders approx 7,000.00 increase
thanks
Barn Construction advice
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Just my humble opinion but having to fill and carry water buckets and keep heated buckets in the stalls in this kind of weather is such a pain in the rear - if money wasn't an issue I'd opt for the automatic waterers. I also wish hubby and put a bathroom in our barn !!!
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"My occupational hazard is that my occupation is just not around" - Jimmy Buffett
Automatic waterers are both a blessing and a pain. Horses can learn to play with some types and overflow them. They are a pain to clean, and the removable bowl types can be a REAL pain to take out. You cannot monitor water intake. I never tote buckets, I have a long enough hose to run up and down the barn.
The biggest problem is that sometimes you want to put a youngster in a stall with absolutely nothing in it, no feeder, no buckets, etc. because it might go nuts and you don't want it hurt. I am close enough to Lex to haul a mare over for a cover and leave the young foal behind. You can't take out the fixed auto waterer and boy they can bang themselves up on that.
Buckets are five or six bucks a pop... auto waterers are darned expensive to repair/replace if they get kicked in, bent, etc.
My barn has a very good big hayloft, and we have great big corner racks for hay in the stalls that can be fed from the loft. This is one of the greatest things.. no lost or trampled hay and none in the aisle.
Regarding the 12-14ft aisle, what kind of equipment do you have? I have a tractor with manure spreader, and my aisle is only about 9ft.. and it is tight but it fits just fine.
If I had a choice, over a wider aisle and auto waterers, I would go for a taller building with a hayloft. The insulation factor and additional storage are what I would choose (I know, it's not one of your choices
)
The biggest problem is that sometimes you want to put a youngster in a stall with absolutely nothing in it, no feeder, no buckets, etc. because it might go nuts and you don't want it hurt. I am close enough to Lex to haul a mare over for a cover and leave the young foal behind. You can't take out the fixed auto waterer and boy they can bang themselves up on that.
Buckets are five or six bucks a pop... auto waterers are darned expensive to repair/replace if they get kicked in, bent, etc.
My barn has a very good big hayloft, and we have great big corner racks for hay in the stalls that can be fed from the loft. This is one of the greatest things.. no lost or trampled hay and none in the aisle.
Regarding the 12-14ft aisle, what kind of equipment do you have? I have a tractor with manure spreader, and my aisle is only about 9ft.. and it is tight but it fits just fine.
If I had a choice, over a wider aisle and auto waterers, I would go for a taller building with a hayloft. The insulation factor and additional storage are what I would choose (I know, it's not one of your choices
)So Run for the Roses, as fast as you can.....
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Saddlestretcher
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I would definately go for the wider aisles. I have never heard anywone say, gee, mine are too wide... Also, if you ever sell your place, it opens up options for different deciplines. As far as the auto waters, the best I saw had the barn set up for auto waters, but had a lever style turnoff at each stall. (not the type you turn) All you had to do was put the end of the hose that was attached to the lever (where the autowater stopped) into the bucket, amd turn the lever. No dragging hoses around, no worry about horses that like to flood the stalls, and all the mechanics are on the outside of the stall. The only thing that is in the stall is the normal water bucket. Really easy.
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angelsprite
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WGC,
I would say the automatic waterers are not worth it as you have to check them everyday anyway. You may as well water them. You will need to have water to your barn anyway, because you should include an inexpensive, fire suppression system. People will quote you big prices on that, but you can do it yourself for cheap and end up with the same system. Go to a hardware store.
Wide aisleways are a must for safety of the handlers and the horses. I am assuming from your automatic waterer quote that you are having someone build this for you. It's too bad you couldn't do the work yourself, or have family help you. You can save thousands and end up much happier with the finished product if you don't let contractors breathe on it.
I would say the automatic waterers are not worth it as you have to check them everyday anyway. You may as well water them. You will need to have water to your barn anyway, because you should include an inexpensive, fire suppression system. People will quote you big prices on that, but you can do it yourself for cheap and end up with the same system. Go to a hardware store.
Wide aisleways are a must for safety of the handlers and the horses. I am assuming from your automatic waterer quote that you are having someone build this for you. It's too bad you couldn't do the work yourself, or have family help you. You can save thousands and end up much happier with the finished product if you don't let contractors breathe on it.
Have worked in a barn with auto waterers...fine until one filly decided that she liked to back her bum up to it and use as a toilet. Very difficult to clean as you could not remove it to hose it out. I think I'd have prefered buckets and hose that would reach.
What this very posh barn had that was well worth it: ceiling fans to keep air moving, fly spray system, heated wash stall...aisles were wide, though I don't know what the dimensions were.
What this very posh barn had that was well worth it: ceiling fans to keep air moving, fly spray system, heated wash stall...aisles were wide, though I don't know what the dimensions were.
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ratherrapid
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anybody had any positive experiences with automatic waterers? are there better built ones that need less maintenance? I once had them in a couple of paddocks in lexington and liked them. time savers. i liked my open barn. if i need stalls i can put them in. maybe someone can explain to me this thing about stalling horses. i'm just unable to get it.
hay lofts make me nervous, though i see the point on insulation
hay lofts make me nervous, though i see the point on insulation
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FancyHorse
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On one positive note!!! If for some reason you get held up somewhere and cannot go to check on your horses and no one is around, at least you know they have water!
My guys are at a full care stable with automatic watering systems and about a month ago, we had some low tempatures that froze our water and cracked our pipes. So if you do do it, make sure your pipes can hold up to certain temps. Those automatic bowls arn't exspensive, they are only like $20, so if your horse bends or breaks one, its a cheap replacement.
To be honest, though. I don't think they are worth the $7k extra
My guys are at a full care stable with automatic watering systems and about a month ago, we had some low tempatures that froze our water and cracked our pipes. So if you do do it, make sure your pipes can hold up to certain temps. Those automatic bowls arn't exspensive, they are only like $20, so if your horse bends or breaks one, its a cheap replacement.
To be honest, though. I don't think they are worth the $7k extra
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bcassidy
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In my opinion, definitely wider aisles over auto waters, it's a luxury to have them 16' wide, too many problems with the auto waterers in the stalls. The only place I like to use an auto water system is in the large fields far away from the barns, I prefer the Ritchie models over any other that I have seen. The new red and yellow plastic models don't require electric heat if they are installed properly. I prefer to store hay in the tractor trailer bodies that it is delivered in----a real time saver....
best regards Brendan
I built a Raised Center Aisle MD barn with a 4/12 pitch a few years ago. The salesman quoted 16' at first, for safety when two people leading horses pass each other. I live alone, so I opted for 12' and it is plenty wide enough. But I wouldn't want it narrower.
The auto waterers are handy when it is hot and you're not home to top off. But they have to be evacuated in freezing weather, and they are prone to horse damage. If money's tight, you can go with the hose. I made sure that mine are all valved off individually. I wish I had a main valve at the barn inlet as well. My drop lines into the stalls are PVC, surrounded by insulation, pulled through a larger PVC pipe and strapped in the corner. This way the horse can't grab the actual water pipe and yank on it. When you install them, make sure you run clean water through the pipes before you install the float, or it will clog immediately.
I got cement curbs around all of the stall walls to prevent vermin from running freely under the walls. I wish I'd had more rebar. All the cement cracked slightly from stress as soon as the weight of the building went on the cement.
I ordered all of the goodies and had them installed, and I was soooo glad of it. The barn took about five days to finish, but it was mostly done after the first day, and then I wanted so badly for it to be turnkey so I could use it! If I'd had to put in the 42 100-pound rubber mats, I'd have been dreading it, not smiling like I'd won the Ky Derby! In retrospect, I don't really use the tie ring in every stall or the blanket bars. I do use the power sockets I put in four places, the hose bibs on each corner of the barn, the heat lamp sockets in two stalls. And the tack room is a great thing to have.
Pay attention to which side of the barn gets the brunt of the windy weather and put the majority of the stalls on that side so that your paddocks don't get so muddy and the wind doesn't blow rain in the stalls. I didn't get the windows for the RCA gap, and the rain does blow in sometimes. I'm not sure I really want them, though, because I don't know how I would get up that high to open and close the windows. As it is, I will have to hire an electrician to change the light bulbs!
Good luck and congratulations!
The auto waterers are handy when it is hot and you're not home to top off. But they have to be evacuated in freezing weather, and they are prone to horse damage. If money's tight, you can go with the hose. I made sure that mine are all valved off individually. I wish I had a main valve at the barn inlet as well. My drop lines into the stalls are PVC, surrounded by insulation, pulled through a larger PVC pipe and strapped in the corner. This way the horse can't grab the actual water pipe and yank on it. When you install them, make sure you run clean water through the pipes before you install the float, or it will clog immediately.
I got cement curbs around all of the stall walls to prevent vermin from running freely under the walls. I wish I'd had more rebar. All the cement cracked slightly from stress as soon as the weight of the building went on the cement.
I ordered all of the goodies and had them installed, and I was soooo glad of it. The barn took about five days to finish, but it was mostly done after the first day, and then I wanted so badly for it to be turnkey so I could use it! If I'd had to put in the 42 100-pound rubber mats, I'd have been dreading it, not smiling like I'd won the Ky Derby! In retrospect, I don't really use the tie ring in every stall or the blanket bars. I do use the power sockets I put in four places, the hose bibs on each corner of the barn, the heat lamp sockets in two stalls. And the tack room is a great thing to have.
Pay attention to which side of the barn gets the brunt of the windy weather and put the majority of the stalls on that side so that your paddocks don't get so muddy and the wind doesn't blow rain in the stalls. I didn't get the windows for the RCA gap, and the rain does blow in sometimes. I'm not sure I really want them, though, because I don't know how I would get up that high to open and close the windows. As it is, I will have to hire an electrician to change the light bulbs!
Good luck and congratulations!
Last edited by majxmom on Tue Feb 20, 2007 5:56 pm, edited 1 time in total.
"When I am on my deathbed, I imagine I will say, 'Thank God I did that'" - Arthur Hancock, on buying back Gato del Sol from Europe after Exceller was killed in a slaughterhouse in Sweden.
I think I have a cheaper solution that works well, and doesn't require lugging buckets...
A barn I rode at years ago had water pipes that dropped down to each stall, with a hand spicket. Attached to the end was a short length of hose—just had to tip it in to the bucket to fill it. So, you can monitor water intake and you don't have to lug buckets!
I always thought it was a great idea... I don't know if you live in a cold climate, like we do, but I'm sure there's also a way to keep the pipes from freezing.
And I agree with majxmom about the wind... it's been bitterly cold here in NH the last few weeks, and very windy. Our barn faces the wind—with the front door closed and the stalls open on the opposite side, there's no breeze in the barn at all. I just blanket them in case they do want to go out... they're not used to being locked in at night, so they're happy that I don't have to!
A barn I rode at years ago had water pipes that dropped down to each stall, with a hand spicket. Attached to the end was a short length of hose—just had to tip it in to the bucket to fill it. So, you can monitor water intake and you don't have to lug buckets!
I always thought it was a great idea... I don't know if you live in a cold climate, like we do, but I'm sure there's also a way to keep the pipes from freezing.
And I agree with majxmom about the wind... it's been bitterly cold here in NH the last few weeks, and very windy. Our barn faces the wind—with the front door closed and the stalls open on the opposite side, there's no breeze in the barn at all. I just blanket them in case they do want to go out... they're not used to being locked in at night, so they're happy that I don't have to!
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nythoroughbredvz
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we have a really neat system in our barns. We do have removable buckets on those plastic clips. But the clips are on a swinging door. You can open it from the outside of the stall with a eye hook latch. You can also reach in to the stall to drop a extra flake or grain, it works really well. But I also agree automatic waterer are best left for cattle farms or paddocks.