December 2023 issue of the Farmworx Magazine

called “litter carriers”) saved farmers
considerable time in moving manure
from the barn to the manure pile or
manure spreader outside.
The carrier was a large, rectangular-shaped,
metal box with a rounded
bottom. Overhead tracks enabled the
carrier to be moved around the first
floor of the barn’s interior. Later models
featured pulleys and chains that
allowed the carrier to be lowered to
the barn floor so it could be loaded
and raised again to be moved to the
next spot. When it was time to empty
the carrier, the box could be rotated to
dump the manure outside the barn.
“I’m still deciding what I’d like to
do with this,” said Melohn, who plans
to repurpose the Louden equipment,
which had to be removed from the
barn prior to the move.
While the old Green barn hasn’t
sheltered livestock for decades, previous
owners took good care of the
structure and even swept out the barn
a couple times each year. The barn still
has traces of white paint on the top of
the exterior walls and a band of faded
red paint around the bottom, although
time and the elements have been hard
on the building. The east wall was falling
off the crumbling concrete foundation.
The barn was never anchored to
that original foundation. “The barn itself
weighs about 65 tons, so it wasn’t
going anywhere,” Melohn said.
When it was time to roll, the Vote
House Moving crew estimated the total
weight at 80 tons with all the moving
equipment and the barn. As the rig
pulled the barn into the south driveway
at the Melohn farm, the massive structure
glided silently to its new location,
almost like a large ship passing quietly
in a harbor. “They make it look so
easy,” said Ron Hanson of Pomeroy,
who watched the barn move to its new
home.
“It’s an amazing barn”
While the move itself didn’t take too
long, the Vote Housing Moving crew
had started preparing the barn for this
process earlier this fall. The Melohns
Page 8
A hydraulic system helps large buildings like this barn move smoothly from one site to another.
also worked for several weeks this fall
removing livestock pens, stanchions
and more from the barn’s interior.
An area contractor poured the new
concrete foundation and floors in late
October 2023. “I’m raising the barn up
3 feet higher than it was in its previous
location, because I want to be able
to drive a skid loader in there easily,”
Melohn said.
After the barn was moved on November
28, the crew positioned the
barn onto its new foundation. The haymow
door still faces the south, just as
it did when the barn was located half a
mile to the southeast.
“Now we have three generations of
barns here,” said Melohn, referring to
the white barn his grandfather Kenneth
Melohn built in the 1960s and a metal
pole barn built around 2005, which are
located east and north, respectively, of
the former Green barn.
Melohn and his family plan to remodel
the century-old barn and will
add steel siding to the exterior. They
look forward to using the barn for a
variety of purposes. “We’ll use half of
it for livestock, and we’ll use the rest
of it for living space where our family
can hang out,” said Melohn, who has
horses, cattle, goats, chickens and
other livestock. “We might put some
bedrooms in the haymow.”
Melohn knows the renovation process
might take a number of years, but
his family is up for the challenge. “I’m
glad we can help save this building. It’s
an amazing barn.”
Troy Melohn plans to repurpose the antique Louden
equipment that was previously located inside the barn.
December 2023