Barn Modernized With Low-Cost Bi-Fold Doors

Barn Modernized With Low-Cost Bi-Fold Doors BUILDINGS Livestock 28-3-26 When Louis Wierenga set out to save his 100-year-old barn, he modernized it by building and installing 25-ft. high, 22-ft. wide bi-fold doors that open from the side. The doors are big enough that he can drive a combine in. The Pinconning, Mich., farmer used materials that he already had to build the doors. "We saved more than $4,000 over what a smaller version of an overhead-type door would have cost us, not including the cost of a powered door opener," says Wierenga. Wierenga also removed the barn's hay loft and made about 75 percent of the length of the barn "clear span" to a height of 18 ft., installing the bi-fold doors at one end. To build the doors, he made four 18-ft. long by 5 1/2-ft. wide panels in his shop, using 2 by 6's to build the frames and covering them with the metal sheeting. He used lengths of 1/2-in. dia. steel rod to brace each panel from the top corner to the opposite bottom corner. Door hinges were made using flat steel and 3/4-in. thick wall tubing, which was milled out to accept hinge pins made from galvanized bolts. A track was then installed above the door opening. The doors were loaded onto a truck and hauled to the barn site. At the barn, the doors were unloaded, opened to their 11-ft. widths, and pulled up into place using a cable. A metal-roofed awning was built above the doors to keep rain and snow off anyone entering the door. To build the awning, Wierenga nailed triangle trusses onto the barn wall and covered them with painted barn steel. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Louis F. Wierenga, Jr., 1132 E. Coggins Rd., Pinconning, Mich. 48650 (ph 989 879-2248)

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