What do you do for affordable hay storage?

[dizze98765]

We are going to be putting a pole barn up when we move, but don't want to put hay in the same barn. A stable I boarded at once had a barn fire due to the hay, so I'm paranoid. We can't afford a another huge pole barn, so is there something smaller that anyone uses? We have 2 minis and 1 big horse so it doesn't have to be huge. Has anyone priced the smaller coverall/utility buildings? How big is yours?

 

[nysart8902]

At my parents we put up one of those car garage things for the hay and shaving bags. We just put pallets on the ground and put everything on them.

 

[Bess Kelly]

Yrs ago I purchased a 28' trailer (as in tractor/trailer), which was great!! Mine is aluminum sided, wood floor, wood lined inner walls. I have air vents at the top on sides. Had it towed in and there it is!

Not for everyone but, that or one of the similar transport boxes. Mine is great! Could move it by hiring someone to come hook/tow. We built a moveable set of steps, and small deck at the back and bonus, the horses love to stand under it for shade.

I had a barn fire years ago and for same reason, don't like to keep a lot of hay in the barn. Generally only a few bales.

 

[Marty]

You are smart not to stack hay in your horse barn. I don't either.

Honestly the best priced thing you can do is to build another pole barn. When you start talking pre-made stuff, you are paying for that and you will most likely get lesser quality than if you built your own.

Last year I needed a run in shed. Everything pre-made I priced was over $3,000 and built like crap out of cheap wood that wouldn't hold up in a breeze. We ended up building our own 2 stall barn 24 X 24' for well under $500 including tar and shingle roof. We used 4 X 4 posts, then 2 X 4's and OSB boards for the walls. I think it was closer to $400-$450. It gets vinal siding on it this year. We are also going to build a really large pole barn for hay storage, materials priced out at less than $700.

 

[Filipowicz Farm]

We went to our local lumber yard store. We asked for wood that was not as straight as others that they would sell at a discount. We also asked for peices of steel left over from projects that others had and was returned My husband then built a large shed like he does for the horses but put a slider on it. We can store about 600 square bales inside on top of pallets. The outside has white , brown and grey and beige metal . We might paint it one day but gives us lots of storage.

 

[ruffian]

Not a solution for storage, but for hay saving is using tires to stack on instead of wood or pallets. I had so many pallets break under me as I stepped on them, or tripped over them because half the pallet was still under the stack. I use old tires (just the tires, not on rims, and never have any issue with mold or rot. They are easier to move and never break.

 

[SampleMM]

Around here, there are several retired farmers who have big barns and still put up hay every year. They are more than happy to deliver small amounts of hay even in the winter or you can stop and fill up your pickup truck.

 

[Shari]

We are using our garage.

Some day we will be able to afford a building just for hay.

 

[Carolyn R]

Around here, there are several retired farmers who have big barns and still put up hay every year. They are more than happy to deliver small amounts of hay even in the winter or you can stop and fill up your pickup truck.

Same here, I just drive 7 or 8 minutes down the road and get 30 bails at a time. Our neighbor(1/4 mile down the road) has the 700 pound bales of timothy for sale, nice hay, but I am reluctant to change sources in the middle of winter, it isn't broke, don't fix it.

The pole buildings with the 4x4 or 4x6 posts work great too. Once the poles,framework and roof are on, the sides can be tarped until the weather or pocketbook allow further construction.

Carolyn

 

[Magic]

At my parents we put up one of those car garage things for the hay and shaving bags. We just put pallets on the ground and put everything on them.

This may be the cheapest solution for you. A two-car sized metal roofed cover is around $1000, and you can get the legs of it longer to be able to stack hay higher (though that would cost more). You could build something about the same size for lots less I'm sure. Tarp the sides if necessary, as someone else mentioned, and you're set!

We spent a huge amount of money on a new hay barn last year, super-high so that the hay wagon could back right into it and deposit the stacks in the barn for us. We were really tired of moving and stacking hay by hand all the time. Our shelter is fully enclosed on three sides and keeps the hay completey dry. Last year we had stacked the hay by hand, then tarped it. Can you say "major headache"? We lost hay to mold because even being double-tarped, moisture still got in. This new hay barn is worth the expense. Not saying you need to do something similiar-- we have two big horses and 34 miniatures so we feed a LOT of hay!

I'm just saying that the initial expense of something that will keep your hay dry is very much well-worth it.

 

[ontherisefarm]

we use a 12X16 wood utility shed like people use to put garden stuff in. It works great and keeps the hay out of the barn. We have a small pull wagon that we put a bale of hay in at a time to feed in the barn.It works great and I sleep a little easier...