Tearing down a barn - anyone done it?

[Greg Portland]

My grandmother has an old barn made of American chestnut & popular beams with black walnut boards for siding. The roof (tin) is in bad shape as are the sides. My family would like to take down the barn & use the wood since it will likely collapse if nothing is done.

Has anyone taken down a barn? What equipment was used? Obviously scaffolding to get at all the exterior boards but what about the main structure? Was a crane needed or just a super-heavy duty Genie lift? Did you sell some of the wood off to cover expenses?

[Britt Lifsey]

However you do it...BE CAREFUL! Would hate to have the thing come tumbling down on top of you! I recall an episode of This Old House where, after stripping the siding, etc, they did some strategic partial cuts in the framing. Then took a long cable connected to a dozer and basically pulled the thing over. Can't remember if that left most of timbers salvageable or if it destroyed them.

[Robert gree]

Neighbor years back had one taken down, Removed the siding and pulled it over with a tractor slowly. it came rather smoothly. a few of the 5x5 beams did break but they had rot.

[lawrence dosson]

Greg i have taken down several old barns basicaly just to get them out of the way of progress if you can safely cut most of the bracing the barn will almost fall over buy its self
if the framing is still solid on a non windy day cut the bracing with a chain saw and a farm tractor will pull it down clean it up with it flat on the ground .
[ HIGH LIGHT IF YOU CAN SAFELY ] lawrence

[Darrell Bade]

I had one to take down because it set where we built our new house 2 years ago. I ran an ad in the paper for a free barn if you tear down and haul off. We had right at 100 calls the first day. Almost had people fighting over the thing.

The guy that got it tore it down and rebuilt it at his place because he wanted a weathered barn. He took it down piece by peice and took the handmade trusses down in one piece. I was nervous because the sides were getting pretty shaky before they got it down. A lot of the boards split and broke when they took them off. Almost all the boards were poplar.

[William Duffer]

Greg you didn't say how big it is or if there is any clearance issues. You can try selling the wood. Hammer, circular saw, chainsaw, sawzall, sledge, and crowbars.

be safe

[Greg Portland]

Thanks for all the suggestions everyone. There are companies in the area that specialize in barn salvage (and they would definitely come running when they hear "american chestnut beams"). We have full access to farm tractors, chainsaws, etc. so pulling it down would not be a problem. My only concern would be that we'd destroy every beam as it hit the ground. It's frame is put together with hardwood pegs so I think we'd be able to lift each beam away separately with a Genie lift (the forklift / crane kind, not the little cart kind).

[Steve Southwood]

I would say you can do this yourself, of course be careful, think ahead.

And remember, No Pictures, It Didn't Happen

[Zack Teal]

i tour down a small barn at my friends house on Saturday but we took a sawzall down the middle and then his dad pushed it over with his tractor and loaded it in the back of a dump truck.

[Jeff Bartley]

Greg,
If this barn is a post and beam (timber-framed) structure don't just pull it down with a tractor! Old timber-frames are worth more than just the lumber they're built with. If it's in good shape de-construct everything but the frame, then label every timber and disassemble the frame by driving out the pegs.
This process is not within the scope of 'easy' for most as it involves a great deal of work and most likely a large crane; but if the frame is in good shape there are people who specialize in this type of thing. Start with the local timberframers--they might be able to help you assess it.
There's only so many of these old frames around. There's a barn that has half fallen in about a mile from my place, looks like the roof went, root followed. You can see one of the tenons sticking up out of the rubble.
Good Luck and post some pics!
Jeff

[Dan Friedrichs]

Greg,
If this barn is a post and beam (timber-framed) structure don't just pull it down with a tractor! Old timber-frames are worth more than just the lumber they're built with.

+1. There are groups and government organizations that often give grants to save (or relocate) old barns.