By Kim Breyley,
It was a dilemma. Nelson Yoder, Troy resident, had a 40 x 64 ft. machinery barn located behind his home on St. Rt. 700. “I needed a building to house our poly furniture inventory,” said Nelson. “The machinery barn was located perfectly, but it was aged, lacked insulation and was not as sanitary as he would have liked. Nonetheless, it made a great machinery barn and was in good condition.
Several years prior, Nelson and family started a poly furniture business, Wayside Lawn Furniture. The business was flourishing and growing and required more inventory space.
He thought about building a new structure for the machinery, but it wasn’t the machinery that needed a new barn. “So, I had this wild idea,” he said. “Why not move the machinery barn, and rebuild in the front? Barn moves have always intrigued me; my dad did several during his life, but never on this scale.” Nelson spoke with his wife Nancy and eventually convinced her of his plan.
This move was to be quite an undertaking. Fortunately, Nelson has carpentry experience as do many of his family members. His uncle and brother are master carpenters and offered some suggestions. They set to work developing a plan. “After calculating the weight of the building, 32,000 lbs., I added 3000 lbs. just to be sure,” said Nelson.
He created a lumber list and purchased 2x4s etc. to build the interior lifting frame knowing he would reuse the wood to construct the new building on the existing foundation. “We set to work, cleaned out the building and began constructing the frame. We measured four times and cut once. It had to perfect.”
They also had to prepare a new foundation to the exact measurements of the existing structure for which to set the machinery building on.
Nelson and family contacted more than 50 church districts requesting volunteers for the moving project. He needed at least 800 men. “We had a chart, watched it fill. It just came together, and we were excited.”
“Early into the planning, I was concerned about getting enough help,” said Nelson. “The plain community responded in droves. We needed 800 and received responses suggesting there might be as many as 900. The date was set for Tuesday, Oct. 11, 2022, and it had to be done as this was the optimal time. “It wasn’t until about two weeks before,” said Nelson, “when I realized the brevity of this project. Oh well,” he smiled. “It was too late to change our minds.”
The evening of the event, the weather was perfect. Not only did they have more than 800 Amish men show up but with much curiosity, the neighboring community showed as well to see this great feat. Parking was a consideration. Nelson had it covered. The field east of the new foundation for the used barn was ideal. Backup plan? In case of rain, there was a prepared lot down the street.
It was Nelson’s brother, John Yoder, who did the directing the night of the move. He stood on the farm wagon across from the barn with a portable microphone and guided the movers. After a practice lift, the men moved the building north off the foundation with ease, then northeast (approx. 200 ft.) until the building was lined up with the new foundation. They then set it down and turned to face south. Still under the direction of John Yoder, each stepped over the north end of the new foundation and moved southward. With each corner above the new foundation, they were then instructed to set the building down. The older machinery building fit perfectly flush to the new foundation. All went according to plan and the entire move took less than a half hour.
“We are so grateful for the help,” said Nelson. “We as a family weren’t out to attract any attention, but it sure was a great experience.”
Photo caption: More than 800 men and many onlookers gathered Oct. 11, 2022, to move and observe the moving of a 35,000 lb. barn in Troy Township.
