I love people saving these old barns. Where I grew up in middle Ohio in the 60's and 70's we had huge barns. Most had at least two hay now's, some were bank barns and some you could pull a hay wagon through. The vast majority of these farms were dairy farms and had a row of stansions for milking. The trap door in the mow to feed the livestock was common along with a grainery to supliment the feeding during the winter. Sadly most of these old barns succomed to fire or just the ravages of time. With the trend moving away from dairy production keeping up the maintenance on these huge structures just didn't make financial sense. I have many memories of milking cows(by hand!) dropping hay, feeding the chickens and gathering eggs. When the chores were done then the whole barn became a playground in the winter and cooler rainier months. There was usually a basketball hoop in one end of the hay mow. Straw bales were used as huge Lego blocks to build all sorts of imaginary structures with the obligatory tunnels for access. Good rousing games of hide and go seek were a common pastime. So to say I have a soft spot in my heart for the old barns is an understatement. I guess the point I am trying to make is it is commendable that you are working so hard so save the barn. It would have been so much easier to have thrown thousands of dollars at tearing it down and putting up one of the soulless steel "Butler" style buildings. But the fact that you are willing to take the harder and fulfilling route proves that you have that grit and imagination to succeed in bringing your dream farm to success. Cheers! From an old farm boy.....
Lighting - Get yourself a Milwaukee M18™ ROCKET™ Dual Power Tower Light. It will help you all over the property when working and/or filming. I got one free in a bundle for Xmas and we had a power outage and a single charge ran for over 5 hours if I recall before I had to change out the battery. Well worth the money and has saved my bacon when I've needed a lot of light. Barn looks great
Feed all that lovely fertiliser to your trees! And just putting some welded mesh panels (1 inch by 1 inch squares) over your windows will give you all the protection you need there.
You are one hard worker. I love your videos and can't wait to see all you do in the barn renovations. Work safe. I worked 35 years as a nurse, now I have a really bad back. Just don't bite off too much, too soon.
Glass is pretty strong, and over time much longer lasting than plexiglass, if you’re really worried about it you can add film to glass to make it much stronger.
It would be nice to be able to open those windows in the summer time. Wire mesh would keep critters in and out too! I think I would build the poultry wire sections on top of the block wall to keep the bedding in the pens. My doors have to be cleared all the time from the chickens kicking the straw and manure against the wire. I love the idea for the brooder area, and would add another poultry pen for turkeys or quail. A loading chute would be a good addition to the outside pens with a head gate to work cattle too!
I am sure you can get a crowbar between the 2x10s just enough to get a long sawzall blade up there to cut the nails, so you can get a new PT 2x10 in to hold the little overhang. Home Depot has a Simpson Strong-tie bracket for the bottom of a 6x6 post to get it off the concrete floor, it is # ABA66RZ, and concrete anchors #SL50300H, I prefer sleeve anchors, because you have the highest chance of success, even in marginal concrete, just jack the header up level, one point at a time, measure (+1/16" for crush) cut and insert new post, and go to the next position. Keep up the great work, you have more energy then me.
I was saying as I was watching "PUT ON A MASK" LOL. I love reno projects! Why not put the old manure in the garden??? I was also thinking you could power wash the inside, another word for you, wheelbarrow! LOL Good stuff, SAVE THE DOOR!!! Your barn will be beautiful when you're done! TY
Barn is gonna look So Good when you get it all done =D Re: the lighting situation, something I thought of watching one of Lumnah Acres' videos is since you said getting electricity in the barn is gonna be a later project due to cost, have you thought of just getting a few sets of bright solar-powered outdoor lights to put in there until then? Like the one Al put on a tree outside of his goat barn? 2 would probably make a world of difference and there are so many different ones you can get now, I bet you would probably be able to find a couple that are fairly cheap.. ? :))
Try widening a Doorway so you can get your Tractor with the front loader in to clean out much easier. Also get cheap Whitewash or cheap White paint to paint the inside to brighten up & not require so many lights. I would put Chickens in a separate smaller building with a fence around so they have room to run.
The walls are cement block walls, so I don't think I could easily widen any of the doorways. If I built a new a barn, it would definitely be able to use a tractor to clean it out. But this old barn, I think I will always be cleaning it out by hand.
@@CountryViewAcres Get a Concrete Saw & it would be easy to cut the blocks. Many Rental places should have them. you will save hours in the cleaning & your back.
Now leave the windows like they are,but maby add a net like on the chicken coop in front of the window.Also looks like a tipper trailer would be useful, and the manure honestly just spread it on your garden,plow it or dig it in and well yeah!
I recommend that when you install lights in the barn (and other buildings) use LED bulbs.....Walmart has pkgs of 4/60w for $5, pkg 10 @ $17.96.....They will last for years and save tons on electric bills.
I was looking for this comment. Those are almost like pallets. I use them to keep things off the ground, like bales and equipment that's not on cement pads.
Looking forward to more barn videos! Where at in southern Illinois are you? I live in Central Illinois and would love to find a property similar to yours someday.
@@CountryViewAcres just subbed interesting Vid's, I'm past all that hard work . I was born in Elwood Indiana in 52. What's on Google maps is not my home town as I remember it. Your homestead gave me a smile, I'll hang around!!!
you may want to reconsider keeping chickens with other animals ( unless just a few hens), goats should not have chicken feed. (Causes Bloat) and chickens will be in the other animals feed as well I have 16 hens for eggs in same area as goats. it is a pain. and 165 meat birds in another barn with my pigs. the meat chickens ravish the poor pigs feed. Next year chickens will be in a back pasture and a Mobil h house. Love your videos
I grew up in a town of 150 people. Then moved to at town of 2000. Too many people there.. So I moved to the county. Now I live where I have 2 neighbors with a mile of my house. Never lived in a city.
Probably the only way to make money farming is to sell something that the corporation farms don't want to mess with. In a way, your dream was to have a mom and pop store. Now that you are partially there you come face to face with walmart. They can sell almost everything cheaper than you can. Selling farm products like milk, butter, eggs and meat is now all tangled up with sanitation laws, Peta people, insurance, licenses, feed requirements, inspectors, and almost no remaining co-ops. If you shift your goal to just farming for yourself, at least you can stop all the bookkeeping. $2 per egg and $12 fryers is not economically viable. As you said, you can buy everything cheaper in a store. Just face it and stop worrying about it. But why not shift to more select products like growing vanilla, raising chinchillas (or some equivalent), honey, pure bred dogs, etc. There is still money to be made in things walmart can't do. As you said early on, your one big asset is land. Grow something people will buy over the internet. Start making pottery. You just have to shift your thinking a little. It is surprising to me that a man of your years is so surprised by reality. You could have done thorough research and found the actual numbers involved. But you have a beautiful starting point. What a nice place to live you two have made.
You could have saved a lot of time by dumping that manure into a wheelbarrow and dumping that out into your trailer i think. Shoveling all that stuff twice and walking it all the way out on a shovel seems like a lot more time and effort.
I did think about my wheel barrow, but, the wheel barrel has a flat tire, it need to put a new inner tune in it. But what I really want is an airless tire to put on it, so I won't ever have a flat again.
I love people saving these old barns. Where I grew up in middle Ohio in the 60's and 70's we had huge barns. Most had at least two hay now's, some were bank barns and some you could pull a hay wagon through. The vast majority of these farms were dairy farms and had a row of stansions for milking. The trap door in the mow to feed the livestock was common along with a grainery to supliment the feeding during the winter. Sadly most of these old barns succomed to fire or just the ravages of time. With the trend moving away from dairy production keeping up the maintenance on these huge structures just didn't make financial sense.
I have many memories of milking cows(by hand!) dropping hay, feeding the chickens and gathering eggs. When the chores were done then the whole barn became a playground in the winter and cooler rainier months. There was usually a basketball hoop in one end of the hay mow. Straw bales were used as huge Lego blocks to build all sorts of imaginary structures with the obligatory tunnels for access. Good rousing games of hide and go seek were a common pastime.
So to say I have a soft spot in my heart for the old barns is an understatement. I guess the point I am trying to make is it is commendable that you are working so hard so save the barn. It would have been so much easier to have thrown thousands of dollars at tearing it down and putting up one of the soulless steel "Butler" style buildings. But the fact that you are willing to take the harder and fulfilling route proves that you have that grit and imagination to succeed in bringing your dream farm to success.
Cheers!
From an old farm boy.....
I would be proud to have you as a neighbor. My hat off to you.
Hi, Evan! Getting to see the barn from the time you began renovations is interesting.
Hi..... Thank you for sharing your video homestead 👋 bye 👋 bye 👋 bye 👋 🎥👍👍👍
Just watching you shoveling and carrying blocks is exhausting. (Of course I’m going on eighty.)
I saw what you did for the chicken coop before I saw what you started with. You are really a thoughtful builder.
The barn is looking good already. Looking forward to all the upcoming videos of you fixing up the old bank barn and bringing it back to life.
Lighting - Get yourself a Milwaukee M18™ ROCKET™ Dual Power Tower Light. It will help you all over the property when working and/or filming. I got one free in a bundle for Xmas and we had a power outage and a single charge ran for over 5 hours if I recall before I had to change out the battery. Well worth the money and has saved my bacon when I've needed a lot of light. Barn looks great
I am going tonight to look for some rechargeable work lights. I sure I will use them a lot.
Feed all that lovely fertiliser to your trees!
And just putting some welded mesh panels (1 inch by 1 inch squares) over your windows will give you all the protection you need there.
Love that old barn, keep the vids coming on your repairs. Keep the door if it is not good to use clean it up and hang it up to remember the days past.
Awesome property with huge potential. A lot of work to be done but wishing you both a lot of luck
Very cool old barn. Thanks for sharing.
You are one hard worker. I love your videos and can't wait to see all you do in the barn renovations. Work safe. I worked 35 years as a nurse, now I have a really bad back. Just don't bite off too much, too soon.
It's funny that you mention that, my wife is a nurse and she fights back problems. So I know exactly what you are talking about.
I would power wash the whole inside of that bran and then spray a sealer of some sort on walls ceiling and floor. Beautiful barn.
That door is cool hope you restore it.
I love the barn, man I'd love to have one
That old door would clean up real nice. New glass, sanding and a couple coats of paint would sharp
The pig manure would be good for the garden. Don’t let it go to waste
Beautiful old door.
Glass is pretty strong, and over time much longer lasting than plexiglass, if you’re really worried about it you can add film to glass to make it much stronger.
Enjoy watching your video
First time watching an am very interested in how you deal with this barn. Love to see these type of videos.
Wow! You guys have made tremendous progress. So nice to see the changes I remember Comet. I hope you are proud of your accomplishments. Great job.
Put hardware cloth on the inside of the window. Put it on a light wooden frame so it can be removed to clean the glass.
It would be nice to be able to open those windows in the summer time. Wire mesh would keep critters in and out too! I think I would build the poultry wire sections on top of the block wall to keep the bedding in the pens. My doors have to be cleared all the time from the chickens kicking the straw and manure against the wire. I love the idea for the brooder area, and would add another poultry pen for turkeys or quail. A loading chute would be a good addition to the outside pens with a head gate to work cattle too!
Love the trailer
you built.
I just subbed, So I can see this trailer You said he built!!!!
We had windows in our. Chicken house for ventilation.
I am sure you can get a crowbar between the 2x10s just enough to get a long sawzall blade up there to cut the nails, so you can get a new PT 2x10 in to hold the little overhang. Home Depot has a Simpson Strong-tie bracket for the bottom of a 6x6 post to get it off the concrete floor, it is # ABA66RZ, and concrete anchors #SL50300H, I prefer sleeve anchors, because you have the highest chance of success, even in marginal concrete, just jack the header up level, one point at a time, measure (+1/16" for crush) cut and insert new post, and go to the next position. Keep up the great work, you have more energy then me.
I was saying as I was watching "PUT ON A MASK" LOL. I love reno projects! Why not put the old manure in the garden??? I was also thinking you could power wash the inside, another word for you, wheelbarrow! LOL Good stuff, SAVE THE DOOR!!! Your barn will be beautiful when you're done! TY
Issue with powerwasher, carbon monoxide poisoning. The barn is a fairly closed area and could be dangerous with exhaust
Travis Johnson Get up to date, there’s electric ones, even cordless ones now.
I have electric power washer, I might end up using it in there one day.
Expanded metal welded to the window frames.....easy and cheap
The barn is worth saving. Keep up the good work!
Looks great, keep em coming !!
bonjour , yes i have been waiting for that i count on you to video everything . merci
sea spirit is right. I would spred all the caca and stray around your field excellent fertilizer for your field.
Maybe a small quad runner with a skinny long low trailer would have helped. Shovel once, dump once.
For the window problem I would say use plexi glass as it lets light through but wont break if hit.
Those are a good composed
Even, it’s going to one beautiful Homestead when your done, where is it.
Barn is gonna look So Good when you get it all done =D Re: the lighting situation, something I thought of watching one of Lumnah Acres' videos is since you said getting electricity in the barn is gonna be a later project due to cost, have you thought of just getting a few sets of bright solar-powered outdoor lights to put in there until then? Like the one Al put on a tree outside of his goat barn? 2 would probably make a world of difference and there are so many different ones you can get now, I bet you would probably be able to find a couple that are fairly cheap.. ? :))
I should install electric in the spring. If I get animals before the electricity I will consider some solar kights. Good idea.
@@CountryViewAcres solar lights would be way cheaper for the interim and could be used at other locations when the electric is installed.
Try widening a Doorway so you can get your Tractor with the front loader in to clean out much easier. Also get cheap Whitewash or cheap White paint to paint the inside to brighten up & not require so many lights.
I would put Chickens in a separate smaller building with a fence around so they have room to run.
The walls are cement block walls, so I don't think I could easily widen any of the doorways. If I built a new a barn, it would definitely be able to use a tractor to clean it out. But this old barn, I think I will always be cleaning it out by hand.
@@CountryViewAcres Get a Concrete Saw & it would be easy to cut the blocks. Many Rental places should have them. you will save hours in the cleaning & your back.
Now leave the windows like they are,but maby add a net like on the chicken coop in front of the window.Also looks like a tipper trailer would be useful, and the manure honestly just spread it on your garden,plow it or dig it in and well yeah!
Keep wearing the respirator and save you're lungs ! You only get one pair !
I recommend that when you install lights in the barn (and other buildings) use LED bulbs.....Walmart has pkgs of 4/60w for $5, pkg 10 @ $17.96.....They will last for years and save tons on electric bills.
That us all I have been using. LED everything.
Cover the windows with critter wire.
All the outside wooden planks, either replace with new ones or re-painted ?
We plan to eventually paint the barn.
Watch your back cause if you don’t take care of it now it will come back to remind you with a heck of a lot of pain later...just saying🙃
You are an amazingly hard worker. Wouldn't it be easier to use a wheel barrow?
Yes it would be the wheel Barrow has a bad tire and is overall falling apart. Planning on getting a new wheel Barrow soon.
I put 1/2" hardware cloth on the inside and out side of my windows to keep predators out.
Yea, I think that is what I will end up doing. Seems like the best option.
Its hard to judge the state of that wood used for floor but was it as bad that it wasnt worth saving or you just was not bothered ?
A lot of it was rotted, but some was still ok. But, I wasn't going to try to save any, since it was all covered in poop.
I was looking for this comment. Those are almost like pallets. I use them to keep things off the ground, like bales and equipment that's not on cement pads.
Keep windows original. You could put rebar on both sides of Windows
Looking forward to more barn videos! Where at in southern Illinois are you? I live in Central Illinois and would love to find a property similar to yours someday.
I live on the eastern side along indiana border. I am probably 8 to 10 ten minutes from the wabash river.
@@CountryViewAcres just subbed interesting Vid's, I'm past all that hard work . I was born in Elwood Indiana in 52. What's on Google maps is not my home town as I remember it. Your homestead gave me a smile, I'll hang around!!!
You should have invested in a wheelbarrow 😂😂😂😂
Yes, I totally agree.
you may want to reconsider keeping chickens with other animals ( unless just a few hens), goats should not have chicken feed. (Causes Bloat) and chickens will be in the other animals feed as well I have 16 hens for eggs in same area as goats. it is a pain. and 165 meat birds in another barn with my pigs. the meat chickens ravish the poor pigs feed.
Next year chickens will be in a back pasture and a Mobil h house. Love your videos
hardware cloth over wondows
Save those cinder block, and use them to block in that empty window opening.
Use rebar mesh for the windows on the OUTside. Greetings from Sweden.
Nice vid
You need to get a world barrel for real
All sounds exciting, but please consider electric first
I am planning to do the electric in the spring. Don't have the money for it right now. It won't be cheap, I have to run 350 feet of wire underground.
Shame you couldnt get a small skid stear in there would have taken 1 hour max
Replace the windows with bigger ones, at least double the present windows size if not triple.
👍🤠
It worried me that the snake might be still there with mice and rats about
Get a wheelbarrow lol, good job though
Dude! Wheelbarrow!
It has a flat tire, won't hold air, so it needs to inner tubes.
@@CountryViewAcres Yeah, I saw that on your next video. Thanks. :) Oh well, I guess you're staying in good shape. :D
You would have done half the work if you had used a wheel Barrow, but I would have knocked down and rebuilt using the concrete floor.
should have a wheelbarrow just handle once
city slickers lol.
I grew up in a town of 150 people. Then moved to at town of 2000. Too many people there.. So I moved to the county. Now I live where I have 2 neighbors with a mile of my house. Never lived in a city.
if you're not going to be opening the windows, nail some wire panels over them
That should go around your trees or dig into garden. Poop gold right there.
You need a wheelbarrow will make your life easier. Thanks for sharing.
I need a wheelbarrow without flat tires. Some airless tires would be nice.
U need a wheel barrel bro!
Probably the only way to make money farming is to sell something that the corporation farms don't want to mess with.
In a way, your dream was to have a mom and pop store. Now that you are partially there you come face to face with walmart. They can sell almost everything cheaper than you can.
Selling farm products like milk, butter, eggs and meat is now all tangled up with sanitation laws, Peta people, insurance, licenses, feed requirements, inspectors, and almost no remaining co-ops. If you shift your goal to just farming for yourself, at least you can stop all the bookkeeping. $2 per egg and $12 fryers is not economically viable. As you said, you can buy everything cheaper in a store. Just face it and stop worrying about it.
But why not shift to more select products like growing vanilla, raising chinchillas (or some equivalent), honey, pure bred dogs, etc. There is still money to be made in things walmart can't do. As you said early on, your one big asset is land. Grow something people will buy over the internet.
Start making pottery. You just have to shift your thinking a little.
It is surprising to me that a man of your years is so surprised by reality. You could have done thorough research and found the actual numbers involved. But you have a beautiful starting point. What a nice place to live you two have made.
You need a helper. Good job.
The wife was working nights, so she was sleeping. She usually helps if she isn't working.
@@CountryViewAcres I was thinking more of some local teenagers working for pizza. Your house is a fantastic build, you guys really did well with that.
Put the hog manure out in the new pasture before you plant the grass.
That didn't make any sense to shovel that twice
You really could use a wheel barrow............
I definitely could use a new one, with a airless flat-free tire.
You could have saved a lot of time by dumping that manure into a wheelbarrow and dumping that out into your trailer i think. Shoveling all that stuff twice and walking it all the way out on a shovel seems like a lot more time and effort.
I did think about my wheel barrow, but, the wheel barrel has a flat tire, it need to put a new inner tune in it. But what I really want is an airless tire to put on it, so I won't ever have a flat again.
Mate, please buy a barrow it will save you a heap of time and wasted energy. 🇦🇺
Yeah I need one with air less tires that never go flat. I looked at some the other day. I will probably get a new one soon.
Yeah burn the wood , put the manure out in a field let it sit for a while in the sun
put that in garden
You were doing good until you through the mouse against the wall. I have not watched any of your videos since. Thought I'd let you know.
John French no loss. Its a mouse for crying out loud! I kill any i find!