How to put halves of building back together?

[maradcliff]

Everyone told me I could not move a steel covered pole barn, particularly without cutting off the poles at ground level. Well, the barn is now on my property. The barn is 18 ft. wide, and 27 ft. long. The peak of the roof is about 15 feet, except the poles were in the ground by 3 ft. So, by the time I jacked it up, got it on a wagon, and set it on two long beams placed on top of blocks, it sat nearly 20 feet in the air.

I discovered that to move the entire building I'd have to use two hay wagons (somehow) connected together. I decided that it would be easier to remove the roof of the center section (all poles are spaced

9 ft. apart). I took the roof apart in the middle section, and removed the two middle sections of walls. Then I used my tractor loader to lift it out of the ground, get the wagon under it, and get the beams under it the whoe thing. What I ended up with was two sections standing on 5 poles (the right end and the left end). Plus the two center section walls and roof in pieces. I pulled each section home with my tractor.

I now have it standing on it's poles in roughly it's permanent location, and well secured with come-alongs, cables and chains in case we get winds.

Now comes the only problem. How in the heck do it get the ends to lines up so when I insert the middle wall sections and roof, the walls are straight? On top of that, I have to be real precise in spacing or the walls and roof steel will not fit together properly. In other words, the holes for the poles must be spaced precisely, and the two ends of the building must be exactly lined up. I have been scratching my head for several days trying to figure this out.

Does anyone know some way to get this lined up? I have a tape measure, laser level, and string. But how do I do it?

Note, I stretched the string from end to end, and either the one end is off, or the other, and then I am still not dealing with the spacing between the two halves. Would I be better attaching the center walls Before I dig the holes? One other thing to consider is that the walls are not 100% straight from roof to ground after the move. I used brace boards but there was some flexing after going thru several steep and bumpy crop fields and then down our gravel road.

A laugh goes along with this. I asked the local sheriffs about taking this down the road. I figured if they had a problem with it, I could take it all the way thru fields and cattle pastures, but the road was a much shorter and easier route. The sheriffs said that our road is not a majorly used road, so just be careful and they advised I had someone help direct traffic. Well, I got every one of the older neighbor kids to volunteer to assist directing traffic ON HORSEBACK. They had lots of fun. I got a good laugh too, because when we started and one of the horses saw that barn moving, his eyes bugged out and he decided it was time to spin around and run home. The boy had to get another (more experienced) horse.

Mark

[marson]

that's a good story! something tells me that by the time you get the peices back together, you could have taken the thing apart piece by piece and put it back together. i'd say off hand that it is impossible to cut a pole building into pieces and put it back together to that the steel fits again. but then i woulda said the pyramids couldn't be built either. my advice would be to forget about trying to get the steel to fit. just add some sort of flashing (a box built out of 2x covered in coil stock?) over the seams. could even be decorative.

[Thomas Kendrick]

Here's my proposal (and I realize that it's more work).

Plan A: Your move strategy divided the structure into thirds (A,B and C). Section B in the middle was disassembled. To re-assemble it, first install the whole sections (A and C) together with no gap in the middle, creating AC (18x18) sharing a common set of poles between them. Since section B is in pieces, add the necessary poles on either end (your choice) to make BAC or ACB. Remove the sidewall material as needed and re-install it on the outer side of B, then add the roof and back wall of B to finish.

Plan B: Place poles for secti>Everyone told me I could not move a steel covered pole barn,

[BobK207]

How to put halves of building back together?

Mark-

I would suggest setting one of the "complete halves" first; dig the holes for the poles so they're somewhat over sized, set the "half" in place, true it up (but unfortunately you might not have "as built" measurements?). Backfill (or set the poles however) so the first half is set in place & can be used as solid starting point.

Next dig (again over sized) the holes for the second half; place the second half

Using your equipment (loader, chains & come-alongs) jockey the second half around to allow the center section to fit, measure the center section pieces as you go so you have an idea about which part of the second half need to be moved around to fit.

I think your project is doable but most likely you'll have to redrill someone of the fastener holes.

cheers Bob

Depending on how succesful you are ar