Raising the Roof

With 48 inches of rain (37 inches more than our usual) and only a tarp system to protect our feed supply, we – most unfortunately – lost a lot of hay this year. Prior to this year, the cost effectiveness of tarps and cords far outweighed the price of a hay shed. But after losing the battle of tarps against Saskatchewan winds and more than an acceptable amount of expensive square bales ($8 per square), we decided a hay shed was in order for Winter 2010.

Watching the creation of this structure on our farm over the course of the last couple of weeks has been somewhat exciting for me. It was decided that 3/4 of this new building will used to store round bales, square hay bales and straw. And the last quarter will be used to house our breeding dummy. Finally, we\’ll have a very private area for stallion collections.

The hay shed began to take form in what appeared, at the time, to be the middle of a big ol\’ mud yard. Holes were dug and posts were erected on the first day.

By the end of the second day, the entire perimeter of the shed was lined with support posts.

Temporary support beams were braced against the posts to straighten and level them out properly.

Braces followed on the opposite side.

Horizontal rails were then nailed to the support posts.

Then roof construction began, adjacent to the building on the ground. This part threw me for a loop – I wasn\’t sure how the giant ceiling would take eventually shape on top of the massive structure.

And that\’s when a giant crane appeared in my back yard.

One section of roof:

Then the remaining sections of roof:

And this is our hay shed so far! When it progresses further, I\’ll try and keep you posted!