Pole barns..
Pole buildings are a cheap way to get a roomy garage too..and no foundation to dig or pour..my friends dad built a huge pole barn for a workshop and hay storage by burying 3" galvanized schedule 40 pipe 12' high,in 5 gallon pails filled with cement 3 feet deep, to get below the frost line,and bolted 2x6 boards across the pipes lengthwise,to allow board and batten siding boards to be nailed on..(or plywood,metal sheeting,etc...)he used trusses for the roof,but a "shed" roof is easier to make..It has stood for 30+ years and has survived many 3' blizzards and hurricane force winds..
His floor was simply packed dirt for a long time,until he got the cash to buy cement and a mixer,and he poured sections at a time by hand,until the shop area was done..personally,I'd have had a Redi-Mix truck come and pour it all at once,its much less work,and a better end result..but he was old school,and liked hard work I guess..
He used "soil cememt" in the barn area where his tractors,hay,and horses were kept..its nothing more than Portland cement spread over the hard packed soil,and wetted down good with a lawn sprinkler!..you'd think it would be weak and crack all to hell,but we split a few John Deere's in half to do clutches on them,and the jack stands showed no sign of sinking into the floor,without any wood under them!...he made a driveway to the barn the same way..
If you have access to a post hole digger on a tractor,its a very inexpensive way to make a strong building..here in my area a regular concrete foundation was a bit cheaper,since few contractors here had a post hole digger,and those who did charged 100 bucks a hole!..(that may be different now,with all the Bobcats around with them nowadays)..I imagine out in the midwest it would be much cheaper,since more farmers have tractors,and post hole diggers are common for fence installation,etc..if I didnt buy a Quonset garage,I'd probably have a pole building instead...
