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Eight Sided Barn
You can build your own octagonal barn that's a perfect scaled-down version of full-sized 8-sided barns which were popular over 100 years ago in the northeastern U.S.
"Octagonal barns are gradually vanishing from the landscape," says Ted Tucker, Lincoln, Mass., who built his first octagonal barn to accommodate hi
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Eight Sided Barn AG WORLD Ag World 12-6-20 You can build your own octagonal barn that's a perfect scaled-down version of full-sized 8-sided barns which were popular over 100 years ago in the northeastern U.S.
"Octagonal barns are gradually vanishing from the landscape," says Ted Tucker, Lincoln, Mass., who built his first octagonal barn to accommodate his daughter's pony. He now offers detailed plans for do-it-yourselfers.
The 8-sided barn with a central silo be-came popular in the late 19th century in the northeastern U.S. and across the border in Canada because it made raising cattle easier. They could be easily fed from the center silo and manure wa easier to clean out at the periphery. "Many , sizes were built and the largest of the roofs were masterpieces of engineering," says Tucker.
Tucker's down-sized octagonal barn, which measures 26 ft. 9 in. across, has a loft for hay storage and a cupola for air circulation and light. He designed it around standard 18-ft. long, 2 ! .y 8 rafters and 12-ft. long sills so that lumber could be easily purchased. His two sons completed construction in one month.
During construction, Tucker took photo-graphs of details and wrote an article which appeared in Country Journal magazine. The article produced more than 2,000 inquiries, and Tucker sent copies of his construction plans all over the country. Many of his correspondents constructed barns with ornate hardware and lanterns and a few modified the design to convert the barn into a house.
Recently, Tucker compiled some of the correspondence he received from barn builders and produced a booklet that includes photographs of about a dozen barns that evolved from his original plans, with brief descriptions by the builders of the variations and modifications they made.
The booklet sells for $5. Detailed plans for the barn are also priced at $5. House plans, complete with sketches and specifications, are also available.
For more information, contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Ted Tucker, Winter Street, RR 7, Lincoln, Mass. 01773 (ph 617 259-0204).
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