Ummm. Prolly not strong enough. Scotty and the mods have the money though. Before the GTG, they could rent two at the same time and have them "place it at your house".
Minimum effort, maximum results. I like the way you think. Now, how do I explain the 60 ft long firewood shed to the wife and neighbors ...
O brother you would love my paycheck! I get to drink while setting here being paid in love from all you great guys and Gals!
I would not assume that. On many occasions, the siding on barns and outbuildings the siding is what is keeping it up. If I were doing this job, a pry bar from the outside would be your best bet. We've done a 100 barns this way and its really the best method. A sledge from the inside will not give you the results your looking for. If you don't have the equipment, this is a dangerous and laborious job at best.
You're right, can never be sure of an old building's structural strength. All 3 of the barn's I've been involved in taking down, really didn't want to fall. It was crazy how many diagonal braces were pulled, etc before it would finally go. Every one is different. This corn crib is "really" different.
Yup! My brother's place (in Houlton) had a good sized barn that was leaning 48 ways from plumb and was scary to be in. A breeze made it creak, groan, and sway! Seemed like a rope tied to a truck would pull it over. Yeah.... After cutting most of the beams they dared (had to be in the barn to cut) they chained up a small dozer (d4 sized) and that old barn just laughed. Ended up tearing it down with an excavator. Was a pain to cleanup too, it had 1950s asphalt siding so it had to be removed before burning the junk wood.
From the picture I don't think the horizontal slats don't take any loading but they do provide integrity to the structure. They keep the tall walls from "wracking". I would suggest leaving a few installed while you disassemble the walls. Maybe every 6th or 7th one. That way if you get caught in a wind, it won't come twist severely or worse yet come tumbling down on your head. Playing Jenga is fun, but probably not on this scale.
