Morton Buildings - Anybody Have one?

We have always like the Morton Brand Farm Buildings/Barns/Shops. We just got a flier in the mail the other day about them and there are surely some nicer ones than they used to have. I looked on their website and I just fell in love with several. Just curious to hear about who all has one, which kind, see a picture, and know how much they cost.

THey didn't offer a "base price" on their website so for someone thinking about it, its tough without calling for a quote. I'm not going to do that because I'm not ready to build

They make a nice building, but I think you pay a pretty good premium, whether or not it is worth it, you have to decide.

What David said. I just finished a 48x96, used a loal contractor, lumber yard. Got a great building and think I came out ahead.

If these guys are near you I used them for my pole barn. Cheaper than Morton. I liked Morton's cantilevered trusses better but went with the lower price of the stockade. Bill
stockade buildings

I have a commercial storage building, 24X110 built by Morton, like others say they cost more but I think it was worth it

Like David said, they make a nice building and you pay for it. That said, my dad had a 54' x 105' built in 1994. Upgraded to the aluminum sliding doors, still looks great. Roof is starting to show the 2x4's from the snow load, but other wise no issues.

I had their salesman here last week for a proposal. I very much like their new post anchor system that keeps wood above ground level.

I had them here five years ago for another proposal but decided to use a local post barn builder instead.

Morton builds a good building and offers a good warranty (not transferrable) but you will pay a substantial premium.

Dean

Well I have two Morton buildings, one locally built/supplied, one Cleary and one Lester. The Mortons are a far better building. The metal holds the paint better and I love their door design. The metal rails instead of wood make the door much lighter but just as strong. I also like the fabricated post over a single cut post.

The reason they do not advertise prices is that they build the building to the requirement you need for snow load and building codes.

They also have two different levels of buildings. One is the premium one and one is more of a economy model.

I feel it is like most things you get what you pay for. If you want to go with another brand asked to see one that is 15-20 years old and go look at the metal.

The Cleary I have had to have new metal installed at 20 years as the paint had come off an there where cracks in the metal where the barn shifts in the wind. So additional bracing and new metal. That cost as much as the original building did. So nothing was saved by the cheaper building.

Their concrete post system looks intriguing to
me.
Our pole barn for cattle built in 89 (26 years
ago) have some posts half rotted already, but I
do have poor drainage and high water table in wet
years.

Somebody told me they priced with Morton a few
years ago and they wouldn't tell him what the
snow load was on their building. They guaranteed
the roof regardless but what good is that when
its laying on top of your irreplaceable antique
tractors or your restored cars etc.

Have two Mortons and one locally owned metal sheeted pole sheds. One of the Morton buildings is set up as a greenhouse (20x60) the other Morton is the machine shed (50x100). The local contractor put up the workshop(30x50). All three are simple, nothing fancy, pole buildings built between the early 70's to mid 90's. Standing strong after years under snow and high wind.

My dad kept track, in 94 or 96 we had 30 pole buildings collapse in a 30 mile circle, a Morton was not amongst them.

We've had a 54x90 Morton since 1978 and it's been mostly flawless. I've replaced one roller on one door and that is the extent of the structural problems, aside from the door I got too close to with the loader. And the two sheets I replaced after the wind blew a wagon down the hill and into the side of the shed. The finish looks nearly as good as it did new where some other branded sheds of equal age in the neighborhood are down to the primer. A few years ago we had a bunch of snow load roof collapses in this county and an insurance adjuster claimed the Mortons built after 1982 stood the load OK. Mortons built before 1982 had some roof collapse problems.

We have a 36x30 Morton building, It's a 2 car garage with a small shop in the back. It also has a second story on half of it. This thing is super strong. Due to snow load and the second story, they used 8x8 laminated posts on that part and 6x6 laminated posts on the rest. Very happy with it, they also took care of the building permit, inspections and follow up.
Tom

I have a 24 X 38 X 12 Morton built in 94. One O/H
door and one walk door. Very plain with no
overhangs or fancy trim. Very satisfied. Had a
very heavy hail storm one summer and some of the
stone marks show inside, but no problems from
them. Only thing I forgot was to have it
insulated. Now years later working on doing some
insulating is a pain with all my junk in the way.

My uncle had one. Paint peeled, crappy doors and locks, and knee rafters would hit exhaust and taaaank extensions. Plus the area salesman was a arrogant smart azz. I would buy a FBI if wood but would rather have steel.

I have a 40x60 Cleary that I use for machinery storage. I HATE it. The metal "sings" when it is windy - I am constantly putting in more bracing and screws. There is a pen behind it and I loaded the cattle for slaughter through the back door of it today. The corner metal was singing so loud we couldn't even hear each other to get the cattle loaded. The trusses are way too far apart in my opinion. The purlins are spaced well, but all the purlins in the world won't make up for a lack of trusses.

Growing up having a Morton building meant you spent some serious money and really cared about how your place looked. There are some that are 30 years old and look just as good as this season's sheds.

I had a 43 x 60 built in 98. 15 foot side wall, raised cord truss. White with green roof and trim. All the bells and whistles. Built it for my diesel repair/ pump shop. It doors get opened and shut many times each day, average 28 days a month. I used the Morton insulation package with waste oil heat. Very best investment I have ever made. I live 13 miles from the big lake so we get very heavy snow loads and a lot of wind. Paint looks as good as the day it was put up. I am very hard to please and have a good eye for something to be off. I could not find anything not straight when it was done. If I could do it again I would only change the size, but at the time that's all the money I had saved. The crew put it up in two days. They came two weeks early and set the short posts in cement. I have never seen such a well run building crew. every step had a purpose, each guy a job. Never heard the foreman tell anyone what to do, they just moved. I was told they get a bonus for getting a job done ahead of time, and a bonus if there was no mistakes. Might be hard to justify if you are building a corn crib, but for expensive equipment or a shop you will spend lots of time in I don't see how you could go wrong. Believe me, not to many guys are as fugal with money as me yet I think the Morton was not expensive. Look at the warranty and quality of the job. On top of all of that it is a SHARP looking building. Al

The church across the road from me is a Morton,it is about 125ftX60ft and two stories high,the roof started pealing with 1 year left on the warranty,they replaced the whole roof for free.
I priced a building from them and it was $13,000.00 the one I had put up was $5,700.00

I have a Morton deluxe machine storage shed that was put up in Oct, 2008. 60'X 88' X 16'. I looked at a lot of shed mfg's offerings before I decided on Morton. In fact, my cousin and her husband sold Cleary buildings at that time. Anyway, I got 2' roof over hangs for two reasons. One to deposit snow and ice slide offs farther away from the building and, most important of all, to accommodate soffit vents. I also got the continuously vented roof ridge. This allows fresh air to be pulled in through the soffit vents and exhaust through the roof ridge vents. Believe me when I say NOTHING rusts in that shed. I have an 8' disc that I haven't used in over two years in there and the disc blades are as shiny as the day it went in. A dark colored roof will facilitate roof heating which will accelerate snow/ice slide off and cause greater air flow. And, contrary to what some might think, with 16' high sides, the temperature at floor level with the doors open will be whatever the outside temperature is. I went all the way with white sides and a black roof. Ten skylights allow plenty of light during daylight hours so you don't need to have lights on to work on machinery. My doors are on the ends (I'm in snow country). Big door on main end is plenty wide enough to allow combine w/soybean header in and high enough, too. Door on far end is standard width to allow corn planter and anything else in and out. Saved a little money that way. Doors open and close so smoothly that they can be pushed with one finger. Wainscot on sides makes it easier and cheaper to replace any damaged panels. I haven't had any damage even with considerable snow/ice piles. People doors should be on ends if possible. Again, snow/ice coming down. Or, have stoops over them. I paid extra for a 4' overhang over the main entrance end but the roof is so high that it doesn't do much good. It would help a lot more on a lower building. I put a 5" concrete floor down on highly compacted Wisconsin sand. Re-Rod crisscrossed every 30" with thicker concrete and additional re-rod at entrance doors. Trusses are on 8' centers which is what Morton prescribes for snow loading in my area. 50 year snow load warranty. Side posts are laminated 2X8' posts because of the 16' height. Some mfg use 6". I didn't put any side windows in because I didn't want anyone looking in. I am completely satisfied with Morton and recommend them. We had 70 mph straight line winds a few years ago that blew down old barns, trees, ripped off roofing, etc. and my shed had no damage at all. Order your Morton in Feb during their sale days.

I looked at Morton but they couldn't give me the roof pitch that I needed. I have a friend who builds most of the buildings of that type around here now. If you just get a good local guy who builds plenty of that type of building, and go through all the specs, so that you are sure that he knows exactly what you want, he should be able to beet Morton handily on an apples to apples comparison.

There quality seems good but they are on the high end of price range. Also they charge for quotes and here seemed to go through the "car buying dickering process of upgrades plus fees" That alone soured me.

Three things on Morton. You put up Mortons building,not maybe the one you want or need.2 Unless it is a unfaced Corp.thing buying,NOBODY ever puts up the second Morton building.3 They skirt the ratings as close as they can and hope(plan)on no recalls(the reason for the higher prices to cover)3-4 yrs.ago during a snow-ice storm,they had more failures then ALL others put together. Plus they might put your building up when the building is delivered and it could be 3 maybe 4 Months later.

I have one built in 1981. Bottom of it is rotting away and one
day the wind will just blow it down. The tin is still covered with
faded paint, no rust except for bottom of gutters. I vaguely
remember ordering the 20 year paint.

It has a cupola and even though I had them come out and fix the
leaks, they replaced it but it still leaked. Wasn't a dripping leak,
was when it rained hard and the wind was blowing pretty good.
Some kind of a whirling vortex. I had a vent fan installed in the
thing but the fan had a real heavy duty motor and cast alum
blade spinning at a high rpm. It just roared. Used it once.

When I built my new shop in 2005 I used the 10' ridge runner
vents rather than the cupola and had a different supplier who
was less expensive.

Personal opinion is that they are the Cadillac with their boxed in
soffits and gutters and other amenities they include.

I got my money's worth out of it.

(quoted from post at 17:02:56 02/01/15) We have always like the Morton Brand Farm Buildings/Barns/Shops. We just got a flier in the mail the other day about them and there are surely some nicer ones than they used to have. I looked on their website and I just fell in love with several. Just curious to hear about who all has one, which kind, see a picture, and know how much they cost.

THey didn't offer a "base price" on their website so for someone thinking about it, its tough without calling for a quote. I'm not going to do that because I'm not ready to build

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I have one. I'll never have another. Biggest issue is the crew that erected it. Morton would not stand behind those mistakes.

Our church put up a Morton building in 1996. We use it as a picnic shelter. In 2003 hurricane Isabel blew a limb out of a nearby tree onto the roof. It punched a hole about 4" in diameter in one roof panel. Salesman said no problem, he'd order a replacement to come with the next building he ordered, we could pick it up and replace it. It never came, and he wouldn't take our calls after that. Paint was fading within 5 years, too. They blamed it on acid rain, and said it wasn't covered. We are looking at a building for our farm, and it won't be a Morton!

Mine is maybe 5 years old. They cost a tad more, but have
been around a while, and did a very pro job. My salesman was
a bit of a blow hard, but everything went well, the construction
crew was very good, the one issue was taken care of without
delay when I emailed a pic of a broken truss after it was
unloaded. Mine is a simple storage shed.

Went tote farm show here that summer, visited 10-12 dealers
at that show. Several had a seat warmer manning the booth,
didnt know nothing, didnt really care. I didnt bother taking their
phone number.

Few others just didnt seem right for me.

Talked seriously with RAM and Morton. Said I was tired of
letting air out of the tires to put the combine in the shed, I was
ready to build, both took my info and will get back to me within
a week.

Morton called me the following Monday; I'm still waiting for
RAM to call me back - that was 4-5 years ago like I said.....

I saw sheds that 'local contractors' put up and I really like to
support the local fellas, but... It seems always a door is
missing, some trim is missing, its 6 months later and stuff is
still hanging not finished.....

Morton sat down with me in August, we has something signs a
week later, the materials were dropped off mid October, the
crew came a week later and had the shed done, all trim, all
finished, really done, 5 and a half days later. No fuss, mess,
hassle, they worked hard and well.

I was pretty happy with all that. My salesman was new, and
wasn't working there the following summer, he was the
weakest link in the deal, but everything worked out great.

In general I hear fairly good things on the warranty they offer,
and one of the few builders in business long enough to be
around maybe if I need something in 20 years. Local
contractors won't be there, others who knows, and it don't put
a lot of faith in a long term warranty anyhow but perhaps my
best chance from what I have head locally.....

Paul

Very similar deal to yours, tad smaller but same colors and vents.

I do not like a hole in my roof, I would think long and hard on any sky light in a machine shed. I put the translucent side panels in and like that. A roof gets a lot of sun and hail and snow load, putting that on plastic over the decades,.... You always see the rusty roof starting where those busted roof holes are when you go to auction sales. I would not put the window in the roof.....

Summer after mine was build, I was trying to put the pickup away for a storm coming up, drove to the door in the dark, got inside the walk in door, and whooooosh! No way to open the big door or even the small walk in door, pickup was running outside with the lights on, storm hit full on with heavy rain going by sideways, strong wind.

I just had to ride it out in the she.

Blew a tree over 50 feet away from me, many branches down the next morning.

Two years later we had a fall storm, blew my corn over, pea hail, heavy rain, the wind was so bad it blew my gravity box over 4 feet. I've never seen machinery move like that, very surprised I didnt flip the wagon. That had to be around 90mph microburst, my farm looked like a war zone.

Both those events the Morton got the full blast, no grove protection and actually up a hill for winds from that one direction.

Didnt bother the building any.

Paul

I've always wondered how well those type hold up, seems that's the type people put in these days. I have a Behlen, square kind. Heavy/stout vertical panels on the sides and roof. It's about 35 years old and it looks basically new. No support structure other than the panels bolted together, which are very tough. The curved kind was more popular I think around here, at least I notice more of them around. Like this. http://www.behlenbuildingsystems.com/curvets.htm Needs a cement floor/foundation. Curved ones, you can't park right next to the wall like mine, but depending how big, the height of them lets you get fairly close. I'd hate to guess what they would cost now, if they are made as good as they were. The ones I've been in, don't hear the building move in any wind, and the panels can take quite a hit without bending.

Yeah, my cousin (Cleary) warned me about leaking skylights. So, in my research on buildings, I stopped at every Morton building I could find that had skylights and asked if they had any problems. I found one that was put up in 1970 that had just developed a small leak. The owner said he thought he could go up and fix it in about a half hour but hadn't got around to it. If any of mine develop a leak or problem I intend to call Morton and have them fix it, pronto. But, so far, no problems. And, I've had lots of snow and ice and hail. The black roof really pays off in the winter. As soon as a little black shows through Mr Sun really gets to work and the snow slides right off in sheets. Sounds like a freight train going by when you're inside. I like the translucent side panels but with 2' overhangs I didn't know how much light I would get. Cleary had a ridge with vertical translucent side panels that my cousin insisted was better than skylights but when I walked into the building on a bright sunny day, she had to turn the lights on. It wasn't adequate at all. And then, when I went to Morton to spec out my building, the subject of side panels didn't even come up. I don't know if they even offered them then. (Feb of 2008) I can tell you one thing that I should have included in my post above. My neighbors have a Morton shed without ventilation that they put up in the 70's at a bargain basement price. They have to leave the doors open year around to keep down the moisture buildup inside.

I priced one when I was building my 60'x156'x16'
riding arena. Morton - $120k, General pole
building contractor - $80k, Amish crew - $58k,
take a guess which one I went with? Am very happy
with the results, the crew did an awesome job and
had the barn complete in 4 weeks. The barn is
over 10 years old and still looks great.