How We Built a Loafing Shed for $6

My daughter signed up to do a bottle calf in 4H this year.  Although we live on some land in the country, we did not have any outbuildings suitable for animals.  We did, however, have a compost bin. Since we did not use the compost bin, my husband decided to take it apart and use it to build the frame for a loafing shed.  The compost bin was 16 feet long and the upright posts were 10 feet tall so he decided to make the shed 10×6.  He welded the sides together and used bolts from the compost bin to fasten the sides together. After the frame was welded up and assembled, we needed to find some siding.  He found some people who were demolishing a small shed and asked if he could take away their scrap sheet metal siding.  They were glad to be getting rid of it without hauling it somewhere so they didn’t charge anything.  They were even nice enough to save the insulation and the colored screws that held the metal on the building for him.

We wanted the shed to be portable so we decided to put it on some wood skids to make it easier to move.  We contacted a local municipal utility company to find out if they had any used cross-arms from power poles we could have.  They had just done an upgrade of a high voltage line and had some nice long used 4×6 cross-arms left over.   Those were cut down to 12 foot lengths with the ends tapered making the shed easier to drag.   Next he needed to fasten the two skids together with some 2×6 treated boards.  This is where the $6 comes into play.  We couldn’t think of any way to get free boards so my husband went to Sutherland’s to get them.  We had just gotten our Friends of the Family reward check so the boards and lag bolts to hold them together only cost 6 dollars instead of 20.  He notched the 4×6 skids and bolted the 2×6’s to them.He then bolted the frame to the skids.  Next he cut the sheet metal for the sides and the roof, then screwed it to the frame.  Since we don’t know where the calf we will get is coming from yet, its disposition is a mystery.  We didn’t want a wild calf kicking dents in our new shed from the inside out so he used 1×8 wood dividers from the compost bin to put halfway up the inside walls.  While he was at it, he put in the foam insulation he got when he brought home the sheet metal.  To do this my husband screwed a 2×2 to the horizontal pieces of the frame that are halfway up the sides.  He cut the foam insulation to fit inside the frame and then nailed the 1×8 boards vertically over the insulation.

After this was done, all that was left was to attach some chain to the skids so it could be dragged into position in the field.  And this is our 6 dollar loafing shed.