This looks like it could be used for all kinds of things. We just built a shed for sheep out of pallets. It's fun to watch all the creative ideas people use to build things. Thanks for sharing.
Nice job on those lap joints! Glad to see you added the hardware cloth and are moving those eye bolts. Good plan on the cutting those bottom edges, it will pull much easier now.
Thanks! Probably other ways I could have joined the frame together, but I really don't have a lot of experience doing lap-joints. Figured, this would be a good project to start learning my way around. I may end up moving single eye bolt to the center, and putting one on each end. That way we can move it both directions easier.
Single eye per end will have you saying bad things while you're moving out in the pasture. Think water skier and how a single pull rope the skier can move from side to side of the boat instead of tracking behind. Putting your eye bolts in the cross grain will make it a more sure hold too. Placing them in the ends of the woods with the grain, no mechanical holding and will pull out pretty easy. Having pull points on both sides would have advantages. If you are still putting a wall on end, it will make it heavier of course, pulling with the heavy side will cause it to dig in more, even with the corner edges beveled. bet you find find, having the pull from the light end of your fort will go easier on you, your 4 wheeler and fort.
Someone suggested we should have rolled it the opposite direction so it didn't collect rain in the crack. That was great feedback, just not sure we could have rotten it tight enough then. Hopefully it works out
I really like it! Much better design than ours! We can get very high winds where we are... if you get the same, consider securing it to the ground. We had a terrible accident last year that killed one of our goats because we didn't secure it.
The cross lap joint really weren't too bad. Just make sure your measurements are right before you start cutting. You can always cut or chisel more if needed - but you can't put any back if you go too far.
Gotta love a video that makes you laugh 1st thing in the morning! What a handsome goat you have with an awesome beard! LOL Im sure you will get lots of enjoyment from your goats - I know I love mine (most days).
I love it! It looks perfect. Good call on the hardware cloth over it. Did you see Weed 'Em and Reap's goat that broke it's leg? It tried to climb the fence and fell over with it's leg caught. They have a cast on it now.
Cool goat fort. I have one question. Would you need to stake it down on windy days or is it heavy enough to counter the potential sail effect of the tarp? I love how simple it is! I also love you you notched the wood. I haven't used that method before.
Cross Lap Joints :) As for the wind, I'm not too worried. Between the hardware cloth, cattle panels, and treated 4x4's... I bet as a whole it's coming close to 100 pounds. Of course 60-70mph winds may be a challenge - we'll see how it goes. We plan on trying to keep the back (closed end) facing SW, which should help a lot.
Seems like one of the more sturdy portable goat shelter designs. Hows it holding up? Have the goats ripped the tarp yet? Are you able to pull this by hand?
It's very heavy so I'm (Rachel) not able to move it by myself. I attach to 4wheeler to move around. Honestly the goats never used it we ended up using it with our pigs. They were pretty rough scratching themselves on it and rough housing in it. Held up amazingly
This is nice but we tried a high version of this and our goats literally used it as a fun launching pad and flattened it lol. I like it for sheep though.
It's pretty tight, so I'm hoping the wind won't tear it up too quickly. Definitely UV from the sun, mixed with rain, will definitely shorten the life of the tarp. Probably could have put another layer of hardware cloth over the top, but at level it seemed a bit overkill. A new tarp will run me about $12. If I have to replaced it every 2 years, no big deal.
New subscriber (I thought I subscribed to your channel a month ago, but I guess not). This is a great project. I’ll be curious about how the roof holds up long term and whether or not the goats jump up there. Thanks for sharing!
I'm sure it won't last forever. Tarps in general last a year or two, if left out in the elements. Since it's just secured with some screws and a board, for about $12 (new tarp) and about 15 minutes - it'll be as good as new. At least that's the plan.
Just to the posts. The tarp, I don't remember. I used on of those flexible tape measures to figure out what size worked for my build and measured across the top curve.
Do you remember the measurements for the wooden square? Also if you put the 2X3 the other way wouldn't the rain run off better and not gather in the valley that the tarp creates? Might rot the wood ... Just thinking out loud
Straw Family Farm your probably right about the 2x3, shoulda woulda coulda, lol. Todd isn't quite sure on where width ended somewhere between 5 and 6 ft for boards. Length is 8 ft, but lap joints use up some of the dimensions.
The length was right at 8 ft. We didn't cut those 4x4's. This works good, because most cattle panels are right around 4 ft wide. So they fit nicely. The width was about 5 ft. But keep in mind, that if you go narrow it will make the "hoop" tall - and if you go wider the "hoop" will be lower. So you can adjust this freely to get the height you want. You can only go so high though, because cattle panels only have to much "bend factor" to work with. There was also about 3.5" of overlap for the lap joints - which is why I had to cut the cattle panel to fit around the lap joints. You don't have to lap joint them though, it was just something I wanted to incorporate because I don't have a lot of experience with making them.
Yes folks don't make this for goats unless they are almost 20 years old. Our two would jump on this and stomp it down in about 30 seconds. I have video of our goats jumping up about 5 ft to climb in a tree. Looks like a great pig shelter. Nice work.
This looks like it could be used for all kinds of things. We just built a shed for sheep out of pallets. It's fun to watch all the creative ideas people use to build things. Thanks for sharing.
Mrs Farm Alarm we originally started with pallets as our idea too, but then thinking through multiple used when with those design.
Nice job on those lap joints! Glad to see you added the hardware cloth and are moving those eye bolts. Good plan on the cutting those bottom edges, it will pull much easier now.
Thanks! Probably other ways I could have joined the frame together, but I really don't have a lot of experience doing lap-joints. Figured, this would be a good project to start learning my way around. I may end up moving single eye bolt to the center, and putting one on each end. That way we can move it both directions easier.
Single eye per end will have you saying bad things while you're moving out in the pasture. Think water skier and how a single pull rope the skier can move from side to side of the boat instead of tracking behind. Putting your eye bolts in the cross grain will make it a more sure hold too. Placing them in the ends of the woods with the grain, no mechanical holding and will pull out pretty easy. Having pull points on both sides would have advantages. If you are still putting a wall on end, it will make it heavier of course, pulling with the heavy side will cause it to dig in more, even with the corner edges beveled. bet you find find, having the pull from the light end of your fort will go easier on you, your 4 wheeler and fort.
Thanks for sharing your design. I'm researching mobile shelters for pigs so great to know your pigs adopted the fort :)
It's perfect for the pigs!
nice and simple is usually the best
Agreed!
I like how you did the tarp, that is a good hint to use a smaller board.
Someone suggested we should have rolled it the opposite direction so it didn't collect rain in the crack. That was great feedback, just not sure we could have rotten it tight enough then. Hopefully it works out
Cute! Can't wait to see the goats use it.
You and me both!
It did turn out very nice!!
Thank you!
I really like it! Much better design than ours! We can get very high winds where we are... if you get the same, consider securing it to the ground. We had a terrible accident last year that killed one of our goats because we didn't secure it.
Ok thank you for the caution!! Hopefully they like their fort 😉
I think it's wonderful! You guys did an excellent job!
Good idea with the hardware cloth, can't wait to see the goats climb on it, lol. You made those notches look so easy to do.
Evolution of a Homestead haha me too
The cross lap joint really weren't too bad. Just make sure your measurements are right before you start cutting. You can always cut or chisel more if needed - but you can't put any back if you go too far.
Thank you for this.Great work.
Gotta love a video that makes you laugh 1st thing in the morning! What a handsome goat you have with an awesome beard! LOL Im sure you will get lots of enjoyment from your goats - I know I love mine (most days).
Glad we made you smile :) Meeeeaaah!
I love it! It looks perfect. Good call on the hardware cloth over it. Did you see Weed 'Em and Reap's goat that broke it's leg? It tried to climb the fence and fell over with it's leg caught. They have a cast on it now.
Yes that is what made me think of it
Very nice, excited for your additions!
Yb Family Farm me too!
So nice love it congratulations on 1000 subs can’t wait to see the goats!!
Thanks Sandy
Watching this with husband on his account and he says, "we gotta build one of these. My girls would love it.
Rivenfae Wolf oh cool!
I really like this build i think i will build mine similar but with 2 cattle panels and make mine wider great video.
Glad you enjoyed! Our goats, never really used it much. We have since moved it to our Pig Pen, and they absolutely love it.
This is great. Would also make a great chicken tractor with a little more to it. Y’all have the best quality videos. Love them!
Thank you Kristin
Very handy, looks like it will be quite useful!
Figure we can use it for several things down the road!
Congratulations on a thousand!
Thank you Breanna!
Cool goat fort. I have one question. Would you need to stake it down on windy days or is it heavy enough to counter the potential sail effect of the tarp? I love how simple it is! I also love you you notched the wood. I haven't used that method before.
Cross Lap Joints :)
As for the wind, I'm not too worried. Between the hardware cloth, cattle panels, and treated 4x4's... I bet as a whole it's coming close to 100 pounds. Of course 60-70mph winds may be a challenge - we'll see how it goes. We plan on trying to keep the back (closed end) facing SW, which should help a lot.
Oh I just love this Project!! Thank you so much for sharing Your knowledge and skills !!
Homestead Tessie your welcome, have a super weekend
Nice fort👍
Looks great!
Good
Seems like one of the more sturdy portable goat shelter designs. Hows it holding up? Have the goats ripped the tarp yet? Are you able to pull this by hand?
It's very heavy so I'm (Rachel) not able to move it by myself. I attach to 4wheeler to move around. Honestly the goats never used it we ended up using it with our pigs. They were pretty rough scratching themselves on it and rough housing in it. Held up amazingly
Great idea. I would have to brace the ends and secure to the ground against those Montana winds
good
pretty cool!
This is nice but we tried a high version of this and our goats literally used it as a fun launching pad and flattened it lol. I like it for sheep though.
Hi I am Rivenfae's husband, just a thought to put some sort of fence over the tarp to protect it from hoof's and wind ect.
It's pretty tight, so I'm hoping the wind won't tear it up too quickly. Definitely UV from the sun, mixed with rain, will definitely shorten the life of the tarp. Probably could have put another layer of hardware cloth over the top, but at level it seemed a bit overkill. A new tarp will run me about $12. If I have to replaced it every 2 years, no big deal.
What a great idea!
could one put a back and door on it for sleeping stalls
New subscriber (I thought I subscribed to your channel a month ago, but I guess not). This is a great project. I’ll be curious about how the roof holds up long term and whether or not the goats jump up there. Thanks for sharing!
I'm sure it won't last forever. Tarps in general last a year or two, if left out in the elements. Since it's just secured with some screws and a board, for about $12 (new tarp) and about 15 minutes - it'll be as good as new. At least that's the plan.
That 1870's Homestead - Sounds like a good plan. Oftentimes cheap is the better way to go, if the maintenance isn’t too bad. 👍🏼
Shorting the chain so it raises it up to help move
It takes a while to do stuff
Did you attach the hardware cloth to the cattle panel or just to the posts? And what size tarp was that?
Just to the posts. The tarp, I don't remember. I used on of those flexible tape measures to figure out what size worked for my build and measured across the top curve.
Do you remember the measurements for the wooden square? Also if you put the 2X3 the other way wouldn't the rain run off better and not gather in the valley that the tarp creates? Might rot the wood ... Just thinking out loud
Straw Family Farm your probably right about the 2x3, shoulda woulda coulda, lol. Todd isn't quite sure on where width ended somewhere between 5 and 6 ft for boards. Length is 8 ft, but lap joints use up some of the dimensions.
LOL I know .... I do something and then see 100 ways I Shoulda done it ... LOL Just letting you know II may be stealing this idea .... LOL
The length was right at 8 ft. We didn't cut those 4x4's. This works good, because most cattle panels are right around 4 ft wide. So they fit nicely.
The width was about 5 ft. But keep in mind, that if you go narrow it will make the "hoop" tall - and if you go wider the "hoop" will be lower. So you can adjust this freely to get the height you want. You can only go so high though, because cattle panels only have to much "bend factor" to work with.
There was also about 3.5" of overlap for the lap joints - which is why I had to cut the cattle panel to fit around the lap joints. You don't have to lap joint them though, it was just something I wanted to incorporate because I don't have a lot of experience with making them.
Thanks for the info ... It helps
What kind of goats are you getting?? Are they going to be for milking??
Nubians, yes for dairy, but that will be down the road they are just babies
How long was the panel?
Put an Allen wrench in you drill to screw in eye bolts
Check another project off the list... good job
Thanks Valerie
You guys are so cute and perfect together❤️ great project!
Tamara Wheeldon thank you
What size cattle panel did you use ?
Was a full panel, cut in 1/2 to make two sections
Did you ever do a update on the fort ?
Lol, go watch our pigs last day on the farm video, that's about the most of an update we did. Ended up being loved and adopted by them
Where can I buy similar pens if I can't make it myself?
Not sure. Closest I can think of, are the plastic cattle hutches.
Human shelter or Dog house or cat shelter
Cool idea, but I think my goats would smash that.
we ended up using for our pigs instead, they LOVED it
Excellent build, try some fold-up wheels on the back end.
That would probably work quite well.💙
I don’t know about your goats but my Goats would have it torn up in 10 minutes
Turned out, we found it much more useful for our Pigs, instead of goats.
Yes folks don't make this for goats unless they are almost 20 years old. Our two would jump on this and stomp it down in about 30 seconds. I have video of our goats jumping up about 5 ft to climb in a tree. Looks like a great pig shelter. Nice work.