I bought the farm, as it were!

[Lynn Kasdorf]

Well, we are in fact buying this cool old farm with a nice 1849 timberframed barn, which will be the future home of my shop! I posted pics earlier, but here is the link again:

http://www.lkasdorf.com/houses/john_wolford/barn.htm

I had always planned to buy/build a shop on a concrete slab, but the floor of this barn looks to be plenty strong. The floor joists in the original section are trees sawed 8" thick. Massive horizontal timbers and posts. everything is white oak. The barn is about 32' x 63'.

My stone mason/timberframe buddy came out and gave it a once over. All I need to do is replace a cracked horizontal timber that is sagging and propped up with a lolly column. Fortunatley, he has the house jacks and skill to do this. I look forward to this task!

Once I fix that timber, I guess I'll go ahead and set up shop, even though I'd really like to build large rooms that are insulated and heated with radiant floor heat. I think this will have to wait, as our funds are extremely limited as we take on this new debt.

I'll likey be pouring slabs on the ground level, which will mostly be for tractor storage and restoration. I'll likely set up my 12" jointer down there, as it is a seriously heavy chunk of iron.

I plan to put in a loft for lumber storage, and building some small rooms in the loft for guitar repair, and an electronics lab. I haven't decided where the paint booth will go yet, but I intend to set up a proper finishing room with good ventilation, and dust free conditions.

I'm going to have to build a shed for my sawmill, since it needs to be situated where trees can be dropped off near it. Maybe the big jointer will go into that shed.

What a cool playground this is gonna be!

[Jim Becker]

Wow...nice structure! 'Makes some of the "Garage-Mahals", as someone else at SMC coined them, look diminutive...

I don't think you'll have any problem locating your big jointer in the shop proper. The floor should easily handle the load if you consider all the weight that it probably has been asked to carry over the years. (Get advice from your buddy on that, however)

[Tyler Howell]

Great old space Lynn,;)
Sorry I had to take a peek in the house........I wiped my feet!:mad:
Plenty of adventure ahead. Plenty of work!:D
Have fun.

[Dave Anderson NH]

It not only looks like you'll have all the space you'll ever need, but it's in great shape tool. From looking at your pictures I don't see any signs of sag, dry rot, powder post beetles, or any other of the myriad of afflictions old barns can suffer from. On the other hand, you are surely gonna have to chase the wrens, swallows, and sparrows out of the place unless you like all of your work "painted" white. Congratulations again.

[John Miliunas]

Lynn, that's just one heckuva' homestead! Looks like much, much updating has been done in the house, pretty much 1st class on the fixtures, too! Neat. Now, you sure that barn will be big enough for a shop? :D Congrats! :cool:

[Alan Turner]

Color me green with envy. I assume you will use the silo for shellac dipping after you seal it up?
Alan

[Lynn Kasdorf]

It not only looks like you'll have all the space you'll ever need, but it's in great shape tool. From looking at your pictures I don't see any signs of sag, dry rot, powder post beetles, or any other of the myriad of afflictions old barns can suffer from. On the other hand, you are surely gonna have to chase the wrens, swallows, and sparrows out of the place unless you like all of your work "painted" white. Congratulations again.

It is in remarkably good shape. The stone work was repointed a few years ago and is perfect. There is that one sagging timber, but we saw no rot or insect damage at all.

This place was apparently burned during the "war of northern aggression" :) - probably by Mr. Sheridan, who was fond of torching every farm he came across.

However, the Union apparently rebuilt it after the war. Mighty kind of them...

One thing I need to figure out is combining hay storage with shop areas. I will be keeping a small number of animals- llamas, and maybe a cow or 2, so I'll need an area for hay. I think you need to keep a hay storage area ventilated (hence the gaps in the siding). But I am also thinking down the road of insulating the whole thing and replacing the siding (with poplar planks sawed on my sawmill!). So, I'll need to figure all this out.

I think that this barn, like any shop building, seems huge at first but can have a way of getting clogged up really quickly, if I don't plan it right.

I would like to have the time and money to put in a raised floor with radiant heat tubing, before I load in all my stuff, but this will probably have to wait.

Yeah, that bird poop may turn out to be a big problem- gotta figure that one out. I think the answer is to make rooms.

The power lines that run right by the barn appear to carry 3 phase- so I am going to investigate a 3 phase drop. Probably too pricey, but ya never know.

[Todd Burch]

Man Lynn - I wanna come live next to you!!

[Lynn Kasdorf]

Color me green with envy. I assume you will use the silo for shellac dipping after you seal it up?
Alan

Yeah- what to do with that silo! It is such an interesting structure, and built really well. I can see cutting a door and windows into it, installing a central spiral stair, and several floors, for storing stuff. Actually, without doing any of that, I may use it for storing gasoline and diesel, and various other things that I don't want in the barn.

I thought of it as a drying kiln for wood that I saw, but kinda hard to get long things into and out of...

Maybe the compressor and dust collector cyclone will live there.

If it was easier to get into and out of, it could be a spray booth. There should be plenty of natural updraft on a warm day.

So many projects ahead of me...

The people put a bunch of money into the house, including a copper standing seam roof! I think they ran out of money befor ethey got aroudn to gutters, so I'll need to add them. It would only be right to put half round copper on this place.

There is going to be a lot of upkeep, but I think it will be worth it! Finally- all the room I need!

[Chris Padilla]

Man Lynn - I wanna come live next to you!!

Once that happens, I'd like to become Todd's neighbor! :D :D

Very cool place, Lynn. I'm sure you'll have a ball fixing it all up.

[Lynn Kasdorf]

This place is the reward after all the incredible work and hassle of the big flood we had last September. We are still fixing up the old house and trying to get on the market asap.

When all the dust settles, we'll have this great old place to call home. But we still have a major hurdle to get over- selling the old place!

It is nice to hear that you guys think it as cool as we do. We are streching a bit to buy this, as well as gambling on the price we'll get for our old place, and how soon. Kinda scary.

We decided that the chances were slim of finding another farm that was even half way affordable and had a great old house and a wonderful barn, so we jumped on this one. Not a bad commute either. Of course, when I set up my custom cabinet shop and quit the day job someday, the commute will be REALLY short :)

[Tom Sweeney]

Very cool Lynn,
That is gonna be a spectacular homestead. In my Realtor days I sold an 8 acre farm to a guy that had a stone bank barn - looked a lot like yours but maybe a bit bigger. He put a full WW'ing shop in the 2nd floor - don't remember if he had any big iron but I can't imagine it wouldn't hold it with no problem. His house was an old 1740's stone farmhouse - but yours is in much nicer condition & much better looking than his was. Good luck with it I'm jealous.

3 quick side notes about the farm I sold.

One of the owners was the Union soldier that gaurded Jefferson Davis after that war we won ;)

Jim Croce - the 70's folk singer lived in the house before he died

I met my wife at a halloween party held in the barn (actually the guy I sold it to fixed us up) :D

[Bart Leetch]

Seal the silo up with a sealed door on the bottom & put you cyclone up in the top. You won't need to empty it for awhile.

[Chris Padilla]

Of course, when I set up my custom cabinet shop and quit the day job someday, the commute will be REALLY short :)
Yeah, that commute across the yard won't be all bad...you could even sleep in a bit! :p

Seriously, Lynn, best of luck to you in selling the old place and I really hope it all works out in the end.

Living is the decisions we make! :)

[Kent Cori]

Lynn,

Looks like you'll have a lot of four-legged shop helpers. I just hope you don't go broke buying safety glasses and ear muffs for all of them! ;)

[Jim Becker]

Yeah, that commute across the yard won't be all bad...you could even sleep in a bit!

My biggest commuting decision when not traveling is, "Back stairs or front"... :D

[Bill Grumbine]

Congratulations Lynn! I know just how it feels to be looking at all those buildings and dreaming of the space. All we need is a few hundred thousand extra dollars and we'll be all set. :D We have a bird dilemma too. We must have upwards of 50 barn swallows living on the first floor, and boy is it a mess! I would like to move them outside, but I am afraid to do anything to make them leave. We have a zero mosquito population because of them. I've got some pigeons on the second floor, but there "aren't as quite as many as there was a while ago", if you get my meaning.

I wouldn't worry about putting your jointer up on the wooden floor with all the other machines. I have a 3000 lb Super Dexta sitting on the second floor of our barn, with a 750 lb rotary cutter on the 3 pt. Then I get on...

Have fun with it, and if you get any good ideas on how to use that silo, let me know. Mine looks just like yours.

Bill

[Dennis Peacock]

Lynn,

Really nice spot there. But ya know what...?

I belive I would put a few pieces of R-11 insulation in that barn.!! :D

[Anthony Yakonick]

Congrats on the new place, you must have a ton of ideas going through your head. Now, tell me about One Horse Town, first class stuff there ;)

[Pat Salter]

That is awesome! I've had a few dreams of something like that, but there aren't too many like it here in So. Ca. :rolleyes: about the silo...how about putting an observatory (sp?), telescope up there? I know MY favorite lady would love that.

good luck with the whole project!

[Chris Padilla]

Pat, even if you could find something like that along our coast line, it would exorbitantly priced, yeah?! :(

[Lynn Kasdorf]

Congratulations Lynn! I know just how it feels to be looking at all those buildings and dreaming of the space. All we need is a few hundred thousand extra dollars and we'll be all set. :D We have a bird dilemma too. We must have upwards of 50 barn swallows living on the first floor, and boy is it a mess! I would like to move them outside, but I am afraid to do anything to make them leave. We have a zero mosquito population because of them. I've got some pigeons on the second floor, but there "aren't as quite as many as there was a while ago", if you get my meaning.

I wouldn't worry about putting your jointer up on the wooden floor with all the other machines. I have a 3000 lb Super Dexta sitting on the second floor of our barn, with a 750 lb rotary cutter on the 3 pt. Then I get on...

Have fun with it, and if you get any good ideas on how to use that silo, let me know. Mine looks just like yours.

Bill

Wow- a Super Dexta is a real tractor. I may end up buying the nice Kubota compact tractor with loader from the seller. In which case I was thinking that maybe I could drive it in there to assist in moving some of the heavy items that are not on mobile bases. I'd be afraid to drive my Ford 650 in there, although it likely weighs less than your dexta. And my 9 ton Case 580B backhoe would be out of the question...

[harry strasil]

a couple of blinking 100 watt bulbs in the barn will keep the birds out, there is a little button you can buy to put in under the bulb that makes it blink, drives birds nuts. anyway that's what a lot of the farmers around here use to keep the birds out. Some use a lifesize owl replica also.

FWIW

irnsrgn

[David Rose]

Nice score Lynn! I'm happy for you. Work space! The light bulb idea sounds interesting for keeping out the birds.

David

[Jim Becker]

I may end up buying the nice Kubota compact tractor with loader from the seller. In which case I was thinking that maybe I could drive it in there to assist in moving some of the heavy items that are not on mobile bases.

Been there...done that! Excellent idea. Pick up some pallet forks for the 3pt or the FEL, depending on what you prefer, or a "carry-all" for the 3pt. It really makes moving heavy things around a lot easier. Even my small BX-23 has been a joy in that regard.

[Kelly C. Hanna]

Nice place! I like the house as well...have fun getting everything setup!

[Jim Martin]

Seeing the spacing of the siding on that barn do you think they used to dry tobacco in that barn?
Great space!

[Michael Ballent]

Nice digs!!! That will be one fine shop after you are done. Just one question.... what is all that white stuff outside the barn ;)

Congrats!!!
Michael

[Lynn Sonier]

Lynn, nice acquisition!
The main reason I am posting is that I am a male Lynn also and you just don't see that name too often. I have known two Lynns - one of whom was the gentleman I was named after.

Good luck in setting up your shop. You got lots of work ahead but ain't it fun planning!!
Lynn