May 25, 2018

Hay Chute

Having a hole in the hay loft floor didn't feel very safe.


 Building a wall around it feels much better.


Dan made it from lumber scraps and leftover plywood.


All that's left to finish the loft is to install a small light and make a door.


Hay Chute © May 2018 by Leigh at  

14 comments:

Gorges Smythe said...

Glad you covered it; a few folks have been killed by falling down such things.

Leigh said...

Gorges, I believe it! Although in our case we'd fall into the hay feeder. Not that that's a good option!

Ed said...

I've about fallen through several hay mow floor openings over the year when we put up lots of hay in various barns. All it takes is for the mind to be wandering which seems quite prevalent when putting up hay.

Leigh said...

Ed, it's a good thing you weren't hurt. I can see how easy it would be to happen. When we were pulling up our loads of hay, all the attention was focused on getting the hay up. Either one of us could have easily fallen in unintentionally.

Mama Pea said...

Yep, like the "railing" around the hay chute very much. Also love that short-handled hay fork! Ours has a full-sized handle and I know shorter handles feel much more comfortable to me as I'm vertically challenged!

Army Guy said...

How has your land size worked out? Is it enough land for your needs? Private enough?

Ed said...

A small opening and keeping up momentum saved me every time. I quickly learned after a few errors to stack some hay bales around the opening but that only worked in the beginning. By the time you have bales ten and fifteen feet high all around the opening, you still have to remember it is there.

Back then I was young and indestructible which helped. These days I would surely fall and bust every bone in my body on the way down... which is one of many reasons I don't put up any hay anymore!

Leigh said...

Mama Pea, I really like shorter handled tools. I'm not even sure where we got that hay rake, but it's been excellent for the purpose.

Army Guy, welcome! Of our 5 acres, only about half (or a little more) is cleared, so that's mostly what we use. The woods is plagued with old falling pine trees that give a sense of being unsafe to walk in, although it's provided most of the lumber for this barn. So it's been a learning curve plus balancing act to work toward self-reliance on the 2.5 acres that's cleared. Unfortunately, it's not very private. Our road isn't a main one, but it gets a lot of traffic during work and school transportation hours. There are a lot of homes on the road, but in back there isn't, so we do have some privacy, although it's not enough for a wallflower like me. :)

Ed, that was good thinking. It pays to be clever!

Helen said...

Did you think of leaving the plywood board off the narrow end (leaving the top cross board in place?) Then you could 'shovel' hay into the opening, but still not have an unguarded opening.

Rain said...

Smart idea Leigh :) That hay loft looks so good, I'm sure you guys are so happy to be nearly done with it! The cat photo is priceless! :)

Cozy Thyme Cottage said...

Glad you put something around that hole. One can lose their balance so quickly and this will be much safer. Working with hay in hot weather can be miserable. I have helped my Dad before. Have a nice Memorial Day! Nancy

Leigh said...

Helen, no, we didn't do that but it would be a good idea. Mostly (besides for safety) we were thinking that they plywood would serve as a wall so we could pack more hay into the barn!

Rain, thanks! :)

Nancy, exactly! You have a nice Memorial Day too!

Quinn said...

Good design!

Paula said...

Oh yeah- mo' better. Trying to fork hay down that chute without the walls would have given me the hebejeebies.