Building Your Stalls Using Horse Stall Kits
Painted Steel, Galvanized and Mesh Stall Kits
Determining what you need to construct your stalls can be a bit overwhelming at first. The how to build horse stalls guide shown below will hopefully make this task a bit easier............
Horse Stalls Kits get their strength from support posts set into the surface of your barn floor. Normally, we suggest the depth of the support posts to be no less than 30" deep. Support posts should be at least 4" x 4" or larger. The support posts must be set on BOTH sides of the door opening as shown on the image below:
The opening for the stall doorway should measure approximately 4' center to center for the support posts. The additional support post placement will vary depending on if you are building 10' fronts, 12' fronts or larger. In many instances, you might be able to use the existing barn walls as walls for you horse stalls without having to install additional stall walls:
Depending on the construction of your barn, you may find that the existing walls are not suitable for being used as stall walls. In this situation, you will need to install adequate stall walls suitable for horses:
Our stall kits give you excellent flexibility in modifying the stalls to fit your individual needs.
We suggest the use of tongue and groove 2 x 6 inch lumber for maximum strength and general appearance. Tongue and groove interlocks with each board to prevent gapping when humidy levels change in the barn.
Lumber Requirements:
Stall Front (Including Door)
11 ea. 2" x 6" Tongue and Groove Boards
Grilled Side Wall
10 ea. 2" x 6" Tongue and Groove Boards
Solid Side or Back Wall
17 ea. 2" x 6" Tongue and Groove Boards
Frequently Asked Questions:
Living in Florida, everything rusts badly with the salt air in the coastal area. What type of stalls are best for me?
Our galvanized stalls would be your best choice for highly corrosive environments.
Can I mix and match different types of stall pieces like galvanized wall pieces with painted steel grills?
Yes, our stall components can be interchanged to get the look and strength you need.
Which of your stall grills is the strongest?
Our painted steel stall grills are the strongest as the upper and lower channels are welded to the grill bars.
Why don't you weld your galvanized grill sections?
Rust starts at the welds on almost everything. To weld our galvanized grills would be defeating the purpose of the corrosive protection of the material itself. Also, not having the bars welded in place makes it easy to replace if damage occurs in the future.
What type of rollers do you use in your door hardware kits?
We use an enclosed top track to keep dust and dirt from settling into the track and binding the rollers, plus a high strength thermoplastic roller system for long-
How can I make foaling stalls that can be removed easily?
Using our wall channels, you can attach them with the "U" facing each other at each end where you want your wall and simply slide your lumber into the wall channels.
What is my best choice for not rusting but high strength?
Our hot-
I live in a dry area of Arizona, what stalls would work the best for me?
The painted steel stalls would work very well for your area as you don't live in a humid climate.
Which is stronger? Steel or Aluminum? I have seen ads that claim that aluminum horse stalls are 3 times stronger than steel or galvanized horse stalls. Is this true?
Have a question? Send us your email at the link to the right and we may post it here to help other stall builders.
The short answer is no, it is NOT true. Without going into a lot of engineering terms, there are hundreds of aluminum alloys available today, some are much stronger than others. However, steel is much stronger than the best aluminum used in horse stalls. Comparing steel vs. aluminum with same limit of bending with the same load, the wall thickness of an aluminum tube would need to be more than 3 times the wall thickness of a steel tube. Steel is about 3 times heavier than aluminum. Steel is roughly .3 pounds per cubic inch, aluminum is roughly .1 pounds per cubic inch. So the aluminum grill tube with the thicker wall ends up weighing more than the thinner-
Bottom line: An aluminum grill tube would need to have a wall thickness of almost 3/8" to be as strong as 16 gauge steel. This would make the stall weigh more if it's made of aluminum than if it's made of steel.
Some people say your stall kits are difficult to assemble, the galvanized stall kits seem to be the hardest for the DIY stall builder. Why is that?
The issue for some people is a lack of basic handyman skills. The easy way to assemble the kits is to put together the grillwork flat on the floor. The same with the stall door, assemble it flat on the floor. DO NOT attempt to assemble the grillwork with the channels installed on the wood in an upright position. This makes inserting the stall bars into the channels very difficult.
What is the most common size for a horse stall?
For a full size Quarterhorse we suggest the stall be sized at 12 ft x 12 ft. This gives room for the horse to turn around in the stall and room for the handler when they are in the stall with the horse.