Tire Door Keeps Heat In Hog Barn

Tire door keeps heat in hog barn TIRES/WHEELS New Uses 14-5-6 "Tire doors" installed across the open doorways of Ron Holubar's hog finishing barn solved health problems caused by drafty conditions inside the barn. The Solon, Iowa, farmer uses a linoleum knife to cut the sidewalls off bias ply tires, leaving 6-in. wide tire strips that he cuts in half so they're 3-ft. long. He bolts the strips side by side across a 2 by 6 board that he lag bolts underneath a sheet of plywood that covers the upper two thirds of the door. The plywood is hinged at the top so he can swing the plywood sheet up and hook it, leaving enough room to get in with his skid loader to clean out the pen. The tire strips, which just barely scrape the ground, swing freely back and forth as hogs go in and out between them. "They keep heat in and drafts out and are maintenance-free," says Holubar, who has built six "tire doors" so far. "Hogs chew on the tires, but they're practically indestructible and absorb all the punishment hogs can give them. I built the first one seven years ago and it still works great. I take them off in summer." Holubar drills two 5/16-in. holes into each tire strip and drills 1/4-in. holes in the 2 by 6 board to match. He uses 1/4-in. carriage bolts to fasten the strips in place. "Radial tires are too difficult to cut. Wide implement tires won't work be-cause the tread is too thick and tends to curl up," notes Holubar. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Ron Holubar, Rt. 4, Solon, Iowa 52333 (ph 319 644-2965).

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