Corn cratch.

I have to build a corn cratch, anyone got plans?

I will have to look in my Eric Sloane books, he has a drawing or two. Later corn cribs are a little different from a cratch. The building I am thinking of has two Xs that form both the legs, and the sides of the cratch. I think it may even have a little five sided ridge beam. Any ideas or photos, drawings, would be appreciated.

I have no references to that term, and neither does Wiki.

Where did you find it?

I googled it and it is a version of a corn crib....

I believe the reference is from one of the Eric Sloane books, but I haven't found it, yet. A cratch is a more primitive corn crib.

From define.com:

Cratch \Cratch\ (kr?ch; 224), noun [OE. cracche, crecche, F. cr['e]che crib, manger, fr. OHG. krippa, krippea, G. krippe crib. See {Crib}.] A manger or open frame for hay; a crib; a rack. [Obs.]

I found the reference to a corn cratch in Eric Sloane's "Diary of an Early American Boy". I can't find a photo of the drawing online, maybe I can make my own sketch of his drawing. It is definitely made up of two Xs on either end. I'm not sure how they would have been joined together yet. If any of you have "Diary" and would like to speculate on the design, that would be great.

Are you using the cratch to store whole cobs?

Yes. My friend Don has a large barn that he moved and restored on his property, and a ton of old one-cylinder engines. We will be belting up corn-shellers, grinders, and hammermills, among other things to the engines. Not a lot of people pick corn anymore, so we are going to try to grow some in the acre field in front of the barn. It won't be ready for the public weekend in Sept., but it will be ready for next years show. I think the little show he hosted last year is going to be become quite an annual event, and if there is some education going on, even better. I will have a portable forge there, and will be making a ton of hooks and probably some nails.

well, there are a few cribs, or cratches as you call them around my area still. I would say the main feature is a roof but no solid walls, just wire sides so the corn can breathe. I even see some of these with no roof...

I made a couple of sketches of Sloane's sketches. Not great, but they show the difference between a cratch and a crib.

Cratch



Crib




I'm sure many people have seen the ubiquitous crib, but other than Sloane's mention, I have nothing else to go on for the cratch. At any rate, I've got to come up with a plan to build this thing as a timber frame.

I like it, how are you going to fill the cratch? If you are using an auger, you will need a big door in the roof...
hmmm, you could put a little sliding door in the bottom and feed the pigs and chickens right under the cratch.
looks like a bit of bracing on those X'ed timbers would be a good idea, the corn does have some weight