Building a Minnesota Monoslope

May 27, 2016

At Morton Buildings, our wide array of building types serve many purposes. The beauty, longevity, efficiency and durability of our structures have served many different customers and made Morton America’s leader in custom timber-frame construction.

For Jim, a Morton owner in need of a functional facility to raise and sell Simmental-Angus cross cattle in central Minnesota, a relatively unique endeavor from Morton was a perfect fit.

“We needed a building that would help create a good environment to raise our bulls through our winter here in Minnesota,” Jim explained.

His end result was a state-of-the-art Morton livestock facility – 66’W x 290’L – with a monoslope-style roof, a perfect fit to create a suitable environment for raising and selling his cattle. The facility also gave Jim a space to comfortably showcase the bulls to potential buyers.

“We can protect (the cattle) if we have … bad weather … the day of the bull sale.”

The monoslope roof creates a large covered area – nearly 16,000 square feet of the overall facility – to keep the cattle, manure and other essential materials dry and protected. The roof provides ample shade for the livestock and the open design allows plenty of natural airflow to provide relief to the animals during warm summer months.

The property also features an enclosed area of approximately 4,500 square feet with two 12’ x 12’ Alumasteel sliding doors and a large picture window – 44 feet wide and 11 feet tall – that captures heat and natural sunlight in working areas. This portion of the facility also has a 24-foot extension of the monoslope roof system for a total width of 90 feet.

The facility is a classic example of Morton’s ability to provide a customized building that perfectly suits a customer’s specific needs.

“When we designed the building, we had some ideas on our own that we wanted to do,” Jim said of a facility that features a foundation composed of laminated columns on stilts with concrete footings.

“Our (sales consultant) was able to put these things on his computer and let us see what it was going to look like, give us a picture of the building – so you know exactly what you’re getting before you ever make the commitment. It’s very visible. It’s very easy to understand. The (sales consultant) was very accommodating to incorporate our ideas in what we wanted in a building into a Morton building.”

“It wasn’t just, ‘this is what we build and this is what we have’. (Morton) took our ideas and made our building.”

Morton’s superior craftsmanship and precise attention to detail is not lost on Jim, another member of Morton’s family of nearly a half-million satisfied customers.

“My dad had a saying: ‘if a job’s worth doing, it’s worth doing right’. Most people lack about 10 percent of getting the job done right. I feel like Morton … (gets) the job done right.”

A Morton with a monoslope-style roof is one of many agricultural buildings Morton produces each year. Morton also provides machine storage buildings and insulated workshops for members of the American farming community.

Click here to see more of Jim's monoslope livestock building.

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