Does Anyone Have Movable Stall Walls?

[fergusnc]

Another reno question….
Good friend/our horse vet came over for dinner and a farm tour this week…she had a GREAT idea about The Little Red Barn to get the tack/feed room and wash bay in the same barn as stalls will be (as opposed to being in the nearby Little Gray Barn). Only consideration…it would take away on of my stall areas from my plan…I was going to have two, side by side, 12x18' stalls up front with a (back up) 11x18' stall in back in case i ended up with a 3rd horse. It would also have an 11x18' covered area in front of that back stall for some storage of wheelbarrows, etc. and would also close it in so that it could be a little covered pen in case of stall rest.

She felt like I wouldn't like to go outside the fence with a hors to get to that back stall, wouldn't like having things parked on front of that stall, might not use that space to its fullest potential. Also thought it would be a drag walking back and forth between barns with feed and tack, and….it will probably be a LOT cheaper to build up the tack/feed room and wash bay in TLRB than what will be involved to reno TLGB to create the exact same set up.

My horse is a 17hh 1550lb guy who stocks up in a stall. He is currently in a 12x14' stall (which is a good size for him) though I looked forward to more room to encourage him to move about on really bad weather days by arranging hay in all 4 corners of 12x18' stall, or if God forbid stall rest/recovery is needed. I like keeping horses outside for the vast majority of the time, coming in to eat 2x/day and on really really bad weather days or in ridiculous amounts of mud, so he really won't be in the stall much.

My friend's solution was movable stall walls. Set it up for 2, 12x18' stalls and if I get a third horse, have 3 12x12' stalls. I know those are "good sized" in general, but a little smaller than what I like for my guy, or if I get a buddy who is also a Big Boy. Her thought…he's not in much (true). And if I have a stall rest situation, move the walls back as needed (intriguing solution). I have never seen this concept before, and she gave me the contact info for a client who has them and who said it would be OK for me and DH to come see them. That is on our To Do List if it ever stops raining!

I did a little googling and see walls that accordion up and fold back/attach to the wall, but are there any that can come all the way out? Does anyone here have either type and if so what are your thoughts/wishes for change/concerns/favorite things? DH is super handy and loves a challenge so he feels like he can come up with something…I am just hoping to help him not reinvent the wheel.

I admit I like the idea of a self contained barn, and I like that the wash bay would be a grooming bay right in front of the tack room. Otherwise i will be grooming and tacking up in stalls or straight tying to a post in the overhang area…also very doable. Thoughts?

Here is the thread that has some pix of TLRB in case that helps you visualize…
viewtopic.php?f=3&t=618

[boots-aregard]

My thoughts? Flooring. I can't quite get the details you are discussing firmly in my head, but I'm pondering flooring. The floor of a wash rack would be completely different from the floor of a possible stall area, wouldn't it? So are those two overlapping uses?

[Koolkat]

We have 2 removable walls in our 3 stall lineup. Our stalls are smaller (10x12). This was to facilitate a mare w/foal back when I did such things and it worked nicely. The separating walls are dovetailed (strength) and drop into a metal "U"/slot/angle iron (sticks out about 1 1/2 inch) and the boards/walls can be disassembled/reassembled relatively easily. My big gelding (17.2) is on the other side of the barn in a 12x12. Although he doesn't have stocking up problems, he does just fine in the stall. Rarely he will get in too close to a wall when he gets up and put some serious pressure on the boards when he gets up. We've had to repair three times over the course of 12 years. One of the mares does stock up, and stall size I don't think will help. It goes down within 1-2 hours of being out. They are on an ~12/12 schedule.

[fergusnc]

Boots...flooring will not be an issue at all. Raised wood floor for tack room (fully enclosed and insulated room) with concrete slab for wash out area in front. That part is easy and we can build ourselves (with our plumber and electrician, and a concrete guy for slab). Picture walking into a long skinny three walled rectangle with a roof....from where you enter to 18' back will be the wash bay with concrete floor. If you kept walking you smack into the front wall of the tack/feed room. The depth of that room in another 18'. You will step up through a closing door onto the raised floor of the tack room. Original hot water heater from the house is being repurposed in the tack room to heat the water of the wash bay. It is a great use of space in theory. It's just weighing pro's and cons of the barn having everything I need all together with three smaller stalls vs having stuff in two barns that are maybe 20' apart.

Koolkat...that is what I had in mind for stall walls....did you build yourselves putting the needed pieces together or did you order a kit? Any issue with the metal U sticking out when the wall is down (as far as potential injury or anything you need to do to cover it up.

[angela9823]

My barn was setup so I could add stall walls as needed and everyone of them could be wash racks as well. They all have drains and are concrete but I can put the rubber mats down over this. There are posts added for wall mounts - more for pipe type fencing versus wood but the setup would accommodate what KoolKat discusses with the U design. I took three different barn setups to model mine. Using the concrete barn was an idea from a friend's barn, going with concrete floors and drain was off a vet's facility and then put in feed chutes (can accommodate up to five horses at a time) was from another friend's design. I currently leave the walls out so the animals come and go as a herd as they please. I have an extra area that I put a mechanics fan in so they can come in and stand in front of that all day if they wish and have overhead fans too.

[fergusnc]

So over the last couple of days I have been thinking hard on the advice of "live with it for awhile" and "don't tear down any building you don't absolutely have to" thatbI got from you folks, as well as our realtor. It is amazing to me how ideas can morph and improve with time, new sets of eyes, Internet browsing and advice....even when you are CONVINCED you have come up with the best plan possible. I am so very glad I didn't rush into anything with the current buildings or put up a new barn with a design I thought would be perfect because I am sure I'd be having major "oh, mannnnnnnn...I should've done THAT" moments by now!

I am having a blast hearing about how different people have done different things, and some ideas are bloody brilliant! Was just reading a thread about sliding stall walls that impressed the hell out of DH.

[angela9823]

So many of us are so glad you decided to salvage that barn. I was one of the ones thrilled with you keeping it. It is just such a cute barn and adds to the history of the place.

[Koolkat]

Koolkat...that is what I had in mind for stall walls....did you build yourselves putting the needed pieces together or did you order a kit? Any issue with the metal U sticking out when the wall is down (as far as potential injury or anything you need to do to cover it up.

No problems with the metal sticking out (I was worried about that, too), there are no sharp edges. Not a kit, DH did it, it's straightforward and not particularly complicated. I believe we used a rubber headed hammer to get the boards in and out (dovetail works very well!), but it was no major problem. I can add a picture if it helps.

[Canyon]

My shedrow barn was built by the previous owner for his Arabs. The stalls are small, maybe 10’ x 11’. The divider half walls between the stalls are made of 2” x 6” planks and are topped by grills. The planks are stacked in slots between two 2” x 4” boards which are screwed to the outer walls. The stack of planks is held together midway by a 2” x 4” board, with screws through every other plank. We can remove the 2” x 4” slots from the ends of a divider, swing the divider over and screw it to the outer wall. My big WB now lives in a stall more appropriate for his size! I keep one set of Dutch doors closed; he can come and go into his run through the other set. The dividers are heavy, but we have moved them several times over the years.

[fergusnc]

Is dove tail the same thing as tongue in groove? I'd love pictures Koolkat, thanks!

Canyon, will you post a picture of the hardware that lets the divider swing? We are thinking that however we build the walls we will keep three horses in mind and make doors accordingly…so have three stall doors along the front even if there are only 2 stalls to start.

[Srhorselady]

Stall dividers don't have to be solid. I use pipe rail panels and have kept every thing on a 12 foot basis including the gates. My standard stalls are 12 x 24 with a 12 foot gate on both ends (one into the aisle the other into a turnout) that allows the tractor to strip the stalls. However, I have enlarged (and shrunk to 12 x 12) these stalls easily when needed since the panels just hinge together. Totally flexible and solid when hinged to the barn poles. When I needed solid walls for the mini stallion I atteached cheap wood pieces to the panels with hardware from Home Depot. Very flexible.

[fergusnc]

When you say pipe rail panels, do you mean something like what you see on round pen panels?

[Tarlo Farm]

Our fair grounds has several barns (cement floors) with moveable stalls. That makes the buildings so multi-purposed! Depending on time of year a building can be full of horse stalls, cattle pens, or wide open like at this time of year for winter storage of boats, cars, and campers. The stalls have solid lower sections and bars on the top half. The doors swing I believe. They lock together, so really provide a variety of lay-out positions.

[Srhorselady]

Pipe rail panels are more common in the West than the East, similar but not the same as panels used for round pens. Those are usually livestock panels of a more temporary nature. Pipe rail panels most commonly have 4 rails, but can have 3 or 5 rails and the metal gauge can vary. There are 3 legs, one on each end and one in the center, and the panels clamp together with metal clamps, usually 2 or 3 clamps. When using as fencing people frequently cement the legs in the ground. I always use metal sleeves of a larger dimension that are cemented in and slide the panel legs into the sleeves. I have moved my fencing a lot! Sorry not techie savvy enough for pictures. Pipe rail panels are relatively "cheap" compared to other types of stall kits. $80 to $100 per panel new in our area and you can frequently get them used.

[Canyon]

Canyon, will you post a picture of the hardware that lets the divider swing?

No hardware, just a human at one end balancing one end of the divider while another, stronger human swings the other end around to the wall. Then the divider is screwed to the wall. I suppose you could remove the divider entirely. You need to sweep shavings/bedding out of the way or else be really, really strong for the "swing" to work.

[Koolkat]

Here ya' go, sorry it took so long. DH says it's quite inexpensive=cheap.

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[fergusnc]

Thanks all! For what feels like the 100th time, DH and I have morphed the layout plan a little (who knew there were so many options for such a little barn?!) to use space more efficiently, but will still need to plan for a possible additional (moveable) wall. Hard to explain but due to where TLRB is walled off for wind/rain and how it's not a traditional open shed row design, we can have two big stalls that are layed out like an L. In the lengthier stall, there would still be the option to have that moveable wall that would give us two 12x11ish stalls, while keeping the other huge stall as an 18+x11 1/2' space. So as long as don't get three huge horses, I should be OK. more so, my DH who is really catching on to the ways of keeping horses safe, not only mentioned best use of space but also places for two horses to get "jammed up" and not be able to get away from each other if they wanted to come in the covered narrow hallway (that would have been blocked off at one end in the original plan. Since the new layout will take away more covered stand-around space (if stalls are not open), we are going to add a lean-to type run-in area at the end of the barn and they will have all sorts of "escape routes" for it and from the smaller hallway area. I think DH is enjoying himself though he may not admit it. Last night, out of the blue, he said "I was thinking...we can get started on that run in area any time now...shouldn't get in anyone's way with their work, so we can get materials when we get a minute". I just said "sounds great babe, thanks" and tried not to make any sudden movements.