barn disassembly

Could someone describe their general approach to taking down an old pegged barn. The local Amish have developd a business out of stripping the outside boards, hiring a truck, wrapping a chain around a few posts and pulling down. They cut the braces, unpeg what they can and sell in pieces as recycled wood. They dont generally look to restore or rebuild. In many cases, that makes the most sense, but what is the takedown procedure if you want to rebuild. I dont have a structure now but could come across if I make an effort.
Thanks,
Bob

After the barn is stripped of all boards. Study the frame. You need to stand in the shoes of the framer who put it up, and take it apart the exact opposite way he put it together. You'll need a full set of drawings including all dimensions so you can label the drawings and then the parts so you'll know which one goes where, once disassembled.
Everything will need to be properly braced off so that it can come apart safely and without any damage.
You may need a man lift and a crane to do it.

I would echo Jim's comment about labelling while the frame is standing, and also take photos. Use labels that indicate up and down if possible. I'm working with an old frame now that has aluminum pie shaped labels with stamped numbers. Generally speaking, rafters come down first, then top plates and purlin plates, then queen posts, then the bents will tip over one by one. A crane is a great idea, especially if the barn is big.

Thanks for the help. Can the pegs normally be driven out or is it more likely that they need to be bored out?
Bob

getting the pegs out depends on how much drawbore was used. If one comes out, they will probably all come.

If the pegs are through bored holes you can get a piece of steel that is smaller in diameter and sometimes pound the peg out from the back side using this piece of round steel stock as a "peg pusher."
If the timbers are blind pegged then you'll have to pull them from the side where they were driven in.
This can be done by using a screw, such as a timberlock screw.
Bore a small hole into the peg center. Insert the timberlock screw and leave the head out about 1" or so. Use a crow bar or pinch bar and place the forked end under the head of this screw and pull the peg out, blocking up the bar as needed to pull the peg out.
If the peg splits due to old age, the put a hose clamp round the peg to hold it together while pulling.

Thanks for the help and pictures. Pretty cool.
Bob

I'm just trying to learn how to remove pegs. I have some pine beams with some braces still attached. The pegs are oak. I tried to pound out a thru bored peg and it wasn't working well at all. My wooden dowel would get stuck(maybe I need steel) and I found out the peg was broken and the tip end was jamming in the hole. I'll have to try the screw technique, and get a steel rod. I also should get a small boring/auger bit to try center drilling a stuck peg. I spent way too long getting 3 pegs out. I'm sure it will be easier with all of these techniques handy.

I have had good luck removing old pegs by using a steal drift pin. usually you can get on at any steal supply store. If that dosn't work get yourself a good sharp doulbe spur auger bit the same size as the peg and drill it out. use a big powerful drill with a slow speed setting. I use a milwaukee hole hog. the best auger bits i have found have been at wood butcher tools in woolwich ME. they have a web site but you have to call and tell them which bits you want becouse they are not at web store. good luck!!

Looking at the pics above using the timberloK screw, I wonder if it would be easier to pull using my slide hammer(dent pulling hammer)? It might pull straighter? What lengh should I get to try this with? I found them online in 2.5, 4,6,8,10 inch lengths hex head. I'd buy a box of 25 online unless someone has some extras I can buy off them.

Brad, the slide hammer works very well, you can attach a set of vice grips to the end, you want a heavy model not a light one. I refiled the teeth on my set of VG's to better grip the peg. My order to peg removal is, 1st-drive from the back if that doesn't take, drill a pilot hole and use a large shank screw, the small ones will snap, 4"-6" screws are a nice length. Timber lock screws can be found at Home Depot etc. for small quantities. The hose clamp helps also. With the bent down on the ground, it is difficult to drive from the back. If it's new construction and a peg has to be removed for some reason or another and the peg has not been cut off just clamp the VG"s to the peg and pull away. Some combination,there abouts usually works. My last resort is to bore the the peg. Tim

Thank you. I never thought the big boxes would have these. I avoid going in HD if at all possible, but I'll check at Lowes when I go today and if they don't have them, I'll go into HD.

The slide hammer and vice grip combo tool is also the best way in the world to pull old nails from recycled timber. We've tried them all.

Gabel, Is this a commercially made tool you speak of -vice grip attached to the slide hammer? If home made, could you provide a pic? Thanks.

Try your local auto parts store. Some come with a selection of adaptors for pulling different items gears, dents etc.. You screw out the adjustment screw on the VGs and screw in a the adaptor which screws onto the slide hammer, I ended up welding the adaptor to the slide hammer due to over use, the threads pulled away. Its a slick tool. Tim

homemade -- the adjustment screw on the end of the vg's handle is welded to the slide hammer. I don't have any pics right now, sorry.

Here's one I found commercially available. I'm not so sure it's made by irwin or not. Could be home made with the right tools.


So you use this for pulling pegs? I must assume you mean to grab the timberlock screw you have in the peg.

Now weld that to a slide hammer and you're good to go. As for pulling pegs with it, you might could just grab the peg.

All we've used them for is pulling nails -- the stubborn, broken off brittle kind. it is helpful to sharpen the beaks a little for nail pulling -- the hammer drives the jaws down into the wood around the nail, you clamp the nail really tightly, and use the slide hammer to withdraw the nail, causing minimal damage to the surface of the wood.

Yes, that it, and as I have mentioned above, I filed the teeth on the jaws to grip onto the peg. Every sitiation is different, and for old pegs we sometimes have to use a screw, but not always. I will have to try it with nails as well. Tim

I would think this piece is a replacement for the original screw adjuster. the back end should be threaded to accept the threads of the slide hammer. No need to weld it to the slide hammer unless you wanted a dedicated tool. My slide hammers have a thread on the end and each attachement is held on with a nut; an axle puller flange, and an L shaped fork as well as bearing pullers.

Speaking of the L shaped fork, you can use such a bracket to hold the timberlok screw and yank with the slide hammer. I will try it in the next couple of weeks if not this weekend.
For broken off nails, I bought and old fashioned nail puller. It's over 100 years old probably. It has a handle that extends and a foot attched to one of the jaws so as you apply force to the handle, it acts to clamp the nail more while pulling it. I haven't used it much yet, but in the next month will be denailing some timbers and trying it more extensively.

brad you are correct, the adaptor doesn't need to be welded, I welded mine because it was rejected by the mechanics shop where they couldn't swap it around for those needs you mentioned. I dedicated it to timber framing. The 100 year old nail pullers work well, with very little damage to the wood surface, they do need a head to bite onto, so they might not work well on 100 year old broken nail stubs, but its worth a try. Tim

I called Home Depot last night to make sure they had Timberlok screws before I drove 35 minutes to get there. The girl on the phone assured me they had them and I spelled the name and told here it was the brand name and described them and asked if she was sure that they did. She said yes, they had them in the concrete section of lumber. I drive there and cannot find them, no associate has any idea of what I'm talking about. They can't find any such thing on their computer. I've already searched concrete, lumber and hardware, but of course each associate hears screw and tells me 'you've got to look in hardware'. I go back and forth between lumber and hardware and talk with 3 associates to no avail. Of course no one admits to taking my call 50 minutes earlier. Depot never seems to have simple things I am looking for let alone something like this. So Home Depot has once again wasted my time unnecessarily. An hour and a half of my life taken by Home Depot. I've said it before, but now I really mean it. I WILL NEVER ENTER A HOME DEPOT AGAIN AS LONG AS I LIVE!!!

Thank you to this forum for allowing me to vent today.

McFeeleys has them. And try their square drive screws. You'll never buy a phillips head screw again as long as you live (eh?).

Robertson heads. A Canadian thing, eh?
:lol:

I did get some of the screws from McFeely's. Shortly after I noticed that my local Menards carried them
Last weekend I tried using the timberlok screws with both an axle puller and a crow bar. by far the crowbar worked best. The down side was that I had to keep shimming under the bar with white oak blocks to keep my pry angle at it's maximum advantage. Just yesterday I sketch up a puller tool that I could use with a cordless impact wrench and it would grab the head of the timberlock screw. I don't really have time to build it right now though.