What is it?

[TimnSEVA]

Friends hay barn on his small hobby farm he recently purchased. These round poles with holes are in the drive in center bay. Hay storage on each side. Dairy on lower level. What would these have been used for?

 

[jon f mn]

Looks like repurposed telephone pokes to me.

 

[TimnSEVA]

Forgot to state that they spin or roll in place.

 

[rustred]

when they built log building long ago they drilled holes in the logs and drove round pieces like dowels into them to hold the walls together. was just thinking that might have been something like that, but the holes are not straight. nothing gets wasted.

 

[Cory Schmidt]

maybe a winch to pull something to the side then a rod could be stuck in the holes for leverage or the rope ran through and tied off to prevent it from turning.

 

[kcm.MN]

I think Cory nailed it; part of an old winch that was repurposed.

 

[leroy in ne]

pulley above with rope to 1 hole, other holes used with bars as winch to hoist hog on butchering day?

 

[Dan in Ohio]

Many of these old barns had a steel track in the top that carried a trolley that had large hook like cage suspended that was used to carry loose hay into the barn. The round pole with holes in it was used to tie the rope off. Just my guess.

 

[sms]

Nice barn. In the old days when the sleigh was no longer needed they were often hoisted up into the top of the barn. I remember the neighbors sleigh in the top of the barn where it was placed on a platform and never needed again. To me they look like clever winches/capstans for rope for some reason.

 

[Janicholson]

I have seen box wagons that were used on bob sleds and or wheeled running gear lifted for storage on these winches. it takes more than one, and a couple of people to get it up safely. Jim

 

[TimnSEVA]

I think you all nailed it. There is a track in top of the hay barn as well as in top of the old run in and hog barn. After some digging around we found an old trolley. The run in is open center, drive thru and corn cribs on each side. IWas told they ground feed up stairsin the run in and also has these winch poles. (New pics). The pics with the winch pole on the wall there is an elevated platform above and behind it and a door so you can walk under it. These buildings are original to the farm Built 1771.

 

[TimnSEVA]

New pics. Sorry trying to do this on my phone in the cold.

 

[Adirondack case guy]

You should contact "Barnwood Builders" as seen on Discovery channels and ask them. They would be all over that like fruit flies on a rotten peach. That is a really nice asset to an old post and beam barn, along with the rung ladder built into the vertical beams. You have a real gem there. Take care of it.
Loren

 

[CGID]

It's a "Spanish Windlass". A line leading to an object to be moved is attached to the drum. A pole is inserted in one of the holes, the drum is turned to expose another hole. The drum is held in place with the first pole while another pole is inserted in the newly exposed hole. The first pole is removed, the drum is turned with the second pole and so on. Due to the small diameter of the drum and the length of the poles, an enormous amount of weight can be moved with one of these.

 

[Brian G. NY]

Same principal in use today to "wind up" the spring on a roll-up door.