11/15/11
Tractor Problems
Well, the tractor isn't doing so hot. I've had some trouble starting it lately. Ultimately, I think I've got an electrical problem. I didn't come to that conclusion until I removed the starter to have it tested. And unfortunately when I reinstalled it, I broke the plastic housing on the magnetic switch. So it looks like I'll be spending $480 on a new starter. Parts for this tractor are very hard to come by. I'm considering trading up in the spring for something more easily repaired. Its a shame though, I really like this tractor.
The Barn: Update
The barn project has slowed down significantly. After a bunch of car/truck repairs and many other tasks needing attention as winter sets in, the barn went on the back burner. Hopefully this spring I'll be starting it up again in full force.
Chicken Nugget (to be)!
Well, we reduced our flock down to 9 chickens. They are delicious. And yes, they've final started laying. I actually preformed a C-section on one of the slaughtered chickens to retrieve and egg! And there were like 3 or 4 other shell-less eggs in their too. It was neat.
7/24/11
The Garden
We decided to go with raised beds this year. Our soil is pretty terrible. Pure, nearly saturated clay. I used timbers milled on site, from the woodlot.We got a good deal on bagged compost from the guy that I bought gravel from. So, were starting small, and testing out the waters this year. So far we have
Tomatoes (big beef, and Cherry)
Peppers (green, and banana)
Lettuce mesclun, butter head
summer squash
zucchini
cucumbers
Broccoli
Peas
Potatoes (grown in old tires)
Celery
nasturtium
garlic
green onion
spinach
and a few others.
Shelley is the real gardener. I take care of the potatoes, but that's about it. I'll do a separate post on them later.
Start Your Chicken Tractors!
Here is our first attempt at making a chicken tractor. We will almost certainly going through several versions in seasons to come. This one is made from scrap lumber, cut from my sawmill, and the portable garage that was taken out by a storm last fall. It has an automatic feeder, which holds enough food for about 2 days, and an automatic waterer using chicken nipples, which last for about 4 days. So far it looks like moving it every two days is best. This version doesn't have any wheels, you just drag it.
The tractor can be used on its own, but for added protection, we've decided to buy and electrified poultry net. It keeps the birds in, but also protects against predators, while the wander around for seeds and bugs. You have to clip their wings, so they don't fly over the net. We'll see how it goes! We're trying Kencove, but Premeire1 is also a well known brand. Here's how it looks:
The tractor can be used on its own, but for added protection, we've decided to buy and electrified poultry net. It keeps the birds in, but also protects against predators, while the wander around for seeds and bugs. You have to clip their wings, so they don't fly over the net. We'll see how it goes! We're trying Kencove, but Premeire1 is also a well known brand. Here's how it looks:
So far so good. Both dogs were promptly shocked and ran off yipping and now keep their distance. Will it do the same for coyote? I hope so.
7/19/11
Primary Coop Almost Done!
We've been a bit too busy to post much these days. Here is an update on the progress with the primary chicken coop. Not quite done yet, but close. It's insulated, and built for 6-8 layers, once the rest have been slaughtered. For the summer though, the chickens will be out to pasture.
6/8/11
4/28/11
Hunt Update
I know I left everyone in suspense about the hunt I went on last fall. No deer! It sure was fun though. Well as fun as camping in gale force winds and rain can be. Which is very.
Beer Brewing!
I got a Groupon for a beginners beer brewing kit from Midwest Supplies. Shelley and I have been talking about brewing our own beer for some time. Two years ago she bought me Homebrewing For Dummies, but I never took the next step- buying supplies. The groupon was just enough of a kick in the butt to make us HOP in to action.The kit includes everything you need, except a brew pot and bottles. We ordered a 36 quart brew pot on Amazon and bought used bottles from the redemption center for $3.75. Can't wait to start brewing!
Chickens: Delivery
Monday morning Shelley got a phone call from the post office. The chickens have arrived! We ordered 25, all hens. They also include one free rare breed chicken with every order. Unfortunately, our rare chick died during delivery. Cause of death is not know, but I suspect foul play.
4/13/11
The Barn Project
As the snow melts, I've been thinking more and more about building the barn. I've been milling wood for a couple of months now, but I'm getting anxious to dig some dirt.
I've been using Google Sketch-up to make a cut list for milling. It's a pretty neat program you can use on just about any project, large or small.
So far I've got about 2/3rds of the lumber milled. I'm using mostly 6x8s and 4x8s for the structure itself, and lots of 2x6 decking for the plank and beam floors and roof.
Instead of tongue and groove, I plan on using a blind spline. I should be able to make a simple jig on the sawmill to cut a groove on both edges of each plank. I could theoretically do tongue and groove, but I would have to handle the wood a lot more, and make more adjustments as I go. I should be able to park a tank on top the barn when I'm done.
On that topic... what qualifies me as an engineer/architect? Nothing! But the idea of this type of timber frame, is to overbuild everything. Not only am I using timbers that are bigger than necessary, I'm also using larch (one of the strongest woods available for this purpose), I'm keeping my spans between posts fairly short, and I'm only using simple joints (almost all of which are over posts). A great resource for this kind of construction is Timber Framing, for the rest of us, by Rob Roy. Traditional timber framing requires quite a bit of skill. Many amateurs have attempted projects using the traditional method, with great results. But it takes more time, better tools, and more patients. All things I have little of.
Right now I'm having a dilemma over foundation options. Originally I was going to go with a post and pier foundation. Unfortunately they aren't good in cold climates, and often don't last as long as other options. Despite their drawbacks, they are relatively easy to install, and are well suited to soft saturated ground (which I've got). But since I've burnt all the barn debris, I've noticed I need to deal with whats left of the original barn's foundation. It was more or less a rock filled ditch. Those rocks are likely to be in my way when digging post holes for the concrete piers. If I were to dig them out, I'd be left with a hole much larger than I intended. That's not ideal when back filling on your Sonoco tubes. You want as little disturbed earth around the tubes as possible. I'd be worried about the shifting and expanding of my clay soils. Now I'm leaning towards a rubble trench foundation.
A Rubble Trench foundation uses the idea that if you eliminate the possibility for water to collect or saturate the ground underneath you, then it can't freeze and heave. To do this, you dig a trench below the frost line, place perforated pipe at the bottom sloping to daylight, and fill and compact with crushed rock. This saves on concrete, and the labor that goes with it. You can even use urbanite instead of paying for crushed rock. Then you build forms for steel reinforced concrete grade beam on top of the rubble filled trench. From their you can start building, and use it just as a perimeter foundation, or you can poor a slab within the perimeter. This does mean however, I will need to rent some excavation equipment.
RANT WARNING
I'd like to take a moment to mention why I do things the way I do. That is to say; the hard way. Its not really to be "green". I don't like that term, if its good for the environment, its generally a byproduct. The real reason is it's cheaper, often more efficient, and satisfying! Did you know that even though the US has almost identical acreage of productive forest land, 2/3rds of construction lumber comes from Canada? Some of that lumber was harvested in the united states, shipped and milled in Canada, and sold back to us! That's ridiculous! Whether or not you believe in man-made climate change, diesel fuel is expensive! In fact, fuel prices often make or break the markets for forest products these days. If fuel is too expensive, its not unreasonable to expect timber to stop being harvested. And what's it all for anyways? A spindly, crooked, waney piece of kindling for $2.38 plus tax? Sorry, its not worth it. And stop calling them 2x4s if they aren't 2x4! I guess one and a half by three and half studs don't roll of the tongue so well. I'm proud to say the stumps from my lumber are within a few hundred feet of where they were milled and used. And they are 2x4 inches! And if I were the kind of guy who would order a prefab barn, I'd probably be the type of guy who wouldn't need a barn at all. After all, the only reason I need a barn is to pursue all my DIY activities. If I were the "other guy", I'd be paying other people to do everything for me, so I could watch TV in my spare time. No thanks.
RANT OVER
So hopefully I will get the trenches marked out soon, to start breaking ground. I'll be sure to post pictures as I go. If I forget, I'm sure Shelley won't!
I've been using Google Sketch-up to make a cut list for milling. It's a pretty neat program you can use on just about any project, large or small.
 |
| Plank and Beam roof... I'll be using blind splines instead of tongue and groove... |
Instead of tongue and groove, I plan on using a blind spline. I should be able to make a simple jig on the sawmill to cut a groove on both edges of each plank. I could theoretically do tongue and groove, but I would have to handle the wood a lot more, and make more adjustments as I go. I should be able to park a tank on top the barn when I'm done.
On that topic... what qualifies me as an engineer/architect? Nothing! But the idea of this type of timber frame, is to overbuild everything. Not only am I using timbers that are bigger than necessary, I'm also using larch (one of the strongest woods available for this purpose), I'm keeping my spans between posts fairly short, and I'm only using simple joints (almost all of which are over posts). A great resource for this kind of construction is Timber Framing, for the rest of us, by Rob Roy. Traditional timber framing requires quite a bit of skill. Many amateurs have attempted projects using the traditional method, with great results. But it takes more time, better tools, and more patients. All things I have little of.
Right now I'm having a dilemma over foundation options. Originally I was going to go with a post and pier foundation. Unfortunately they aren't good in cold climates, and often don't last as long as other options. Despite their drawbacks, they are relatively easy to install, and are well suited to soft saturated ground (which I've got). But since I've burnt all the barn debris, I've noticed I need to deal with whats left of the original barn's foundation. It was more or less a rock filled ditch. Those rocks are likely to be in my way when digging post holes for the concrete piers. If I were to dig them out, I'd be left with a hole much larger than I intended. That's not ideal when back filling on your Sonoco tubes. You want as little disturbed earth around the tubes as possible. I'd be worried about the shifting and expanding of my clay soils. Now I'm leaning towards a rubble trench foundation.
A Rubble Trench foundation uses the idea that if you eliminate the possibility for water to collect or saturate the ground underneath you, then it can't freeze and heave. To do this, you dig a trench below the frost line, place perforated pipe at the bottom sloping to daylight, and fill and compact with crushed rock. This saves on concrete, and the labor that goes with it. You can even use urbanite instead of paying for crushed rock. Then you build forms for steel reinforced concrete grade beam on top of the rubble filled trench. From their you can start building, and use it just as a perimeter foundation, or you can poor a slab within the perimeter. This does mean however, I will need to rent some excavation equipment.
RANT WARNING
I'd like to take a moment to mention why I do things the way I do. That is to say; the hard way. Its not really to be "green". I don't like that term, if its good for the environment, its generally a byproduct. The real reason is it's cheaper, often more efficient, and satisfying! Did you know that even though the US has almost identical acreage of productive forest land, 2/3rds of construction lumber comes from Canada? Some of that lumber was harvested in the united states, shipped and milled in Canada, and sold back to us! That's ridiculous! Whether or not you believe in man-made climate change, diesel fuel is expensive! In fact, fuel prices often make or break the markets for forest products these days. If fuel is too expensive, its not unreasonable to expect timber to stop being harvested. And what's it all for anyways? A spindly, crooked, waney piece of kindling for $2.38 plus tax? Sorry, its not worth it. And stop calling them 2x4s if they aren't 2x4! I guess one and a half by three and half studs don't roll of the tongue so well. I'm proud to say the stumps from my lumber are within a few hundred feet of where they were milled and used. And they are 2x4 inches! And if I were the kind of guy who would order a prefab barn, I'd probably be the type of guy who wouldn't need a barn at all. After all, the only reason I need a barn is to pursue all my DIY activities. If I were the "other guy", I'd be paying other people to do everything for me, so I could watch TV in my spare time. No thanks.
RANT OVER
So hopefully I will get the trenches marked out soon, to start breaking ground. I'll be sure to post pictures as I go. If I forget, I'm sure Shelley won't!
2/8/11
The new sawmill
After we bought the house, we knew right away we were going to need a barn or garage. I've got too many tools and toys to keep or use in the house, and Shelley would like a place pot plants and raise seedlings. We quickly determined the existing barn was not going to fit the bill. We've been brainstorming for a while, trying to design a multipurpose outbuilding. That said, I didn't want it to cost much.
So why not build it ourselves, with lumber from our own woodlot! This was the perfect opportunity since we were having it logged. I simply paid the loggers, by the cord, to haul logs to my back yard. How do I make the them into usable lumber you ask? A bran new Toy!
I bought a Logosol M5 sawmill. Logosol is a Swedish company that makes a lot of high-end, innovative wood sawing, planning, and shaping products. The M5 has been around a long time and is used all over the world. The idea is to take a powerful chainsaw, with a special ripping chain, mount it on an aluminum track, elevate the log to the appropriate measurements, and saw away. Whats great about this type of chainsaw mill, is there is no pushing. You winch/crank the saw through the wood; much easier on your back. Likewise, elevating the logs into place, small winches are used. You do however half to get the log up on the "Deck" some how, but its not as difficult as you would think. A little prep work before the logs arrive solves this problem, or you can build a log ladder. If the logs are REALLY big, you can actually turn the mill upside down, on top of log without moving it. The size log you can mill is only limited to how much guide rail you buy, the size bar and chain you have.
So far I'm having a bit of trouble getting things adjusted. By I'm confident I'll get it all figured out. More to come.
So why not build it ourselves, with lumber from our own woodlot! This was the perfect opportunity since we were having it logged. I simply paid the loggers, by the cord, to haul logs to my back yard. How do I make the them into usable lumber you ask? A bran new Toy!
 | |
| Logs, fresh from our own property |
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| Logosol M5 |
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| First Cut |
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| Turning the log over |
So far I'm having a bit of trouble getting things adjusted. By I'm confident I'll get it all figured out. More to come.
Barn Burning
Well, 9 months after I took it down, I'm finally able to clean up the mess!
It was taking a considerable amount of time trying to tear it apart with little fruit for my labors. While we were having our woodlot log, I asked my logger if he could pick out some of the nicer timbers with the excavator and pile up the rest. He charged me $80, which was well worth the time it would have taken me to clean it up by hand (several more weekends).
This past weekend I took some diesel to her and set her ablaze. With the proper permits of course (unlike the demolition itself). The first pile took right off, the second pile burned into the night, but with much success. That night though we got our first winter rain and the "leftovers" wouldn't burn well the next day. So we have a couple little piles left to go. Hopefully this means little site cleanup in the spring, and I can dive right into building the barn.
It was taking a considerable amount of time trying to tear it apart with little fruit for my labors. While we were having our woodlot log, I asked my logger if he could pick out some of the nicer timbers with the excavator and pile up the rest. He charged me $80, which was well worth the time it would have taken me to clean it up by hand (several more weekends).
 |
| After the excavator separated and piled |
This past weekend I took some diesel to her and set her ablaze. With the proper permits of course (unlike the demolition itself). The first pile took right off, the second pile burned into the night, but with much success. That night though we got our first winter rain and the "leftovers" wouldn't burn well the next day. So we have a couple little piles left to go. Hopefully this means little site cleanup in the spring, and I can dive right into building the barn.
 |
| Before |
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| After |
I spoke too soon!
Operation free heat hick-up! Chimney fire!
I came home from work one afternoon to see Shelley standing in the doorwaym with smoke billowing out, in tears. Apparently the elbow from the cook stove got red hot and was pretty scary.
Luckily we are having our wood lot harvested, and the loggers saw the black smoke from the chimney and leaped into action. It just so happens they were volunteer firefighters too.
So once the stove pipes were all cleaned out we got to thinking. Is it a good idea to burn what we're burning? After a little further research I discovered that not only does all wood have the a proximate BTU per POUND, all wood produces about the same amount of creosote. There's a trick to this though... softwood CAN burn at a higher moisture content than hardwood, and is more tempting to burn before its properly seasoned. I think this is our problem.
We've decided to only burn only the dead standing trees I cut this past year, not the stuff that was still alive. I have heard larch takes quite a long time to dry. So hopefully, no more chimney fires.
As a byproduct of the timber harvest we've got about well over 15 cord of firewood, about half of it larch. Some of it I'll be sawing up into lumber with the new sawmill, but I think it will be ok to burn as long as we wait long enough. I need to get that split soon if we want to burn any of it next year.
I came home from work one afternoon to see Shelley standing in the doorwaym with smoke billowing out, in tears. Apparently the elbow from the cook stove got red hot and was pretty scary.
Luckily we are having our wood lot harvested, and the loggers saw the black smoke from the chimney and leaped into action. It just so happens they were volunteer firefighters too.
So once the stove pipes were all cleaned out we got to thinking. Is it a good idea to burn what we're burning? After a little further research I discovered that not only does all wood have the a proximate BTU per POUND, all wood produces about the same amount of creosote. There's a trick to this though... softwood CAN burn at a higher moisture content than hardwood, and is more tempting to burn before its properly seasoned. I think this is our problem.
We've decided to only burn only the dead standing trees I cut this past year, not the stuff that was still alive. I have heard larch takes quite a long time to dry. So hopefully, no more chimney fires.
As a byproduct of the timber harvest we've got about well over 15 cord of firewood, about half of it larch. Some of it I'll be sawing up into lumber with the new sawmill, but I think it will be ok to burn as long as we wait long enough. I need to get that split soon if we want to burn any of it next year.
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