I've commented here several times in the past most of what I've gotten
done since coming back to family farm hasn't been "fine"
woodworking...here are a few pictures from the barn reroof/refurb,
there's one of the detail on the old doors; I didn't have one of the
replacement in progress but there's one on the south side west end in
the "then and now" as well as the haymow small door that were done at
that time...I've still not gotten to the big main doors...
<http://s1194.photobucket.com/user/bozarthd/media/OldIsNewAgain_zpsqqsovwdx.jpg.html>
I'm the one in the overalls standing w/ the roofing hatchet...
--
On Monday, November 9, 2015 at 1:00:26 PM UTC-6, dpb wrote:
> He'd just finished getting mugged=20
> while riding a freight back from El Paso and had spent the previous week=
=20
> painting tank batteries for one of the local oilfield service companies=
=20
> but hadn't found anything yet that morning when I called for that=20
> day/week. After we got stuff unload, he say "Need somebody to help set=
=20
> it up tomorrow?" and ended up working for me full time for almost two yea=
rs.
I have to say, I really admire your project, but admire this aspect of it j=
ust as much. Sometimes folks just need a hand up for a while. Good on ya'=
for giving a man a chance. Surprisingly, being an employer for almost 33 =
years now, I still find a good man to bet on now and then.
I hope you continue to post pics of your barn project. I don't think you n=
eed to hold your hat in your hand about it not being "fine woodwork". Almo=
st without exception, I can easily take my cabinet makers out to a job site=
and ask them to establish the size of a common rafter and then cut jacks b=
ased on wall perimeters and requested pitch and they don't have a clue. Th=
ey don't know standards framing walls to loads, rigidity, nor do they know =
all the million little details that go into installing a waterproof roof, h=
ow to stabilize/repair structures, etc. They don't know practical design el=
ements needed to create well functioning purpose built structures. Convers=
ely, many of the guys that are conversant in those skills can't easily buil=
d a piece of nice furniture.
I started out in the trades more than 40 years ago (sigh...) with my trade =
being woodworking. Over the time I have that I have been doing all manner =
of wood contracting for a living and learning more skills along the way, I =
learned years ago to appreciate the skills needed to do what you are doing =
just as much as I do someone that builds fine furniture.
The work looks great from here! I hope you continue to post more as you go=
along.
Robert =20
"dpb" wrote:
> I've commented here several times in the past most of what I've
> gotten done since coming back to family farm hasn't been "fine"
> woodworking...here are a few pictures from the barn reroof/refurb,
> there's one of the detail on the old doors; I didn't have one of the
> replacement in progress but there's one on the south side west end
> in the "then and now" as well as the haymow small door that were
> done at that time...I've still not gotten to the big main doors...
>
> <http://s1194.photobucket.com/user/bozarthd/media/OldIsNewAgain_zpsqqsovwdx.jpg.html>
>
> I'm the one in the overalls standing w/ the roofing hatchet...
-------------------------------------------------------------
Now that is by definition, is a never ending project.
Looks like you are gaining on it.
Good luck.
Lew
On 11/9/2015 11:05 AM, Sonny wrote:
> On Monday, November 9, 2015 at 8:48:45 AM UTC-6, dpb wrote:
>> I've commented here several times in the past most of what I've
>> gotten done since coming back to family farm hasn't been "fine"
>> woodworking...here are a few pictures from the barn reroof/refurb,
>> there's one of the detail on the old doors; I didn't have one of
>> the replacement in progress but there's one on the south side west
>> end in the "then and now" as well as the haymow small door that
>> were done at that time...I've still not gotten to the big main
>> doors...
>>
>> <http://s1194.photobucket.com/user/bozarthd/media/OldIsNewAgain_zpsqqsovwdx.jpg.html>
>>
>>
> That's one heck of a nice (hobby) project. Good for you, to restore
> it.
>
> Are you near the coast? I suppose a barn with a widow's watch is not
> too common. That's a nice feature. *With those silos, I'm thinking
> you're not near the coast, but in middle America. Or is that
> feature called something else, in your neck of the woods?
Personally, I don't think that's a Widow's Walk or Watch. Most likely
what we're looking at is the Central Air Conditioning System. ;)
You can see - in both the before and after photos - the slats that
allowed for ventilation.
All barns have roof vents or one sort or another.
Very neat project and nicely done, dpb!
On 11/9/2015 6:33 PM, Ed Pawlowski wrote:
> On 11/9/2015 3:03 PM, Scott Lurndal wrote:
>
>>
>> Most city-slickers don't realize the amount of heat generated
>> by drying hay. Easily sufficient to cause a fire if the hay
>> isn't dried and stacked correctly. Thus, one leaves a gap between the
>> barn walls and the hay to allow airflow to extract excess heat
>> while the hay dries and the cupola acts as an outlet.
>>
>> Of course, drying it before baling it is preferred.
>>
>> Most of this has been obsoleted by the use of outdoor storage
>> techniques (large round bales, silage socks, etc).
>>
>>
>
>
> You can avoid fires by building the storage facility from fireproof
> material. I have word from a reliable sources (Ben Carson) that they
> used stone to build the pyramids so the stored grain would not burn them
> down.
Bullshit, Ed. They were built out of stone because there were no trees
and the sand wouldn't hold its shape! Brian Williams was there and he
told me that's what the deal was.<g>
>
> Meantime, that is quite the restoration project. Glad it is being done
> to save a nifty looking building.
On 11/10/2015 10:18 AM, dpb wrote:
> On 11/10/2015 9:55 AM, Scott Lurndal wrote:
>> dpb<[email protected]> writes:
> .
[snip]
> bidders. A-C blowers were the best; they, unlike Gehl or all others had
> curved blades. Story goes they reached a limit of how high could lift
> ensilage with flat blades at reasonable rpm and somehow the problem got
> over to the Allis Chalmers power generation people and a steam turbine
> engineer designed their blower blades for them.
>
> I've thought if ultimately get the shop really set up to take that
> blower as the core of a dust collector...and how's that for back "on
> topic"??? :)
Pretty smooth segue. If you do use that for a dust collector, won't you
have to bolt the Powermatic table saw to the floor? I can see where you
might have a problem loosing the off cuts as well. ;)
[email protected] wrote:
> ... Moreover, since there are many off topic threads, I think
> hearing
>> about farming in SW Kansas would also be interesting.
"dpb" wrote:
> Well, today is one of the those W KS days w/ wind sustained 30-40+,
> projected as much as 60 gusts, so not a lot I'm wanting to do
> outside... :(
>
> So, here are a few from haying a few years ago when had some rain
> and things looked pretty good. From the start, looking east back
> towards the home place; good eyes can spot the white of the house
> towards the south end of the larger group of trees; the broad view
> of bales is west towards town; can just make out the sorta' square
> shape located on horizon about halfway between the two full bales in
> the foreground towards the right and the shiny water tower closer to
> the right hand side. Those are about 5 and 6 miles, respectively,
> to give an idea of the terrain (it's pretty flat :) ).
>
> The last, over the collected-up group (I took all these the day we
> were hauling and was running tractor loading and between loads would
> "gather up" the 34 that fit on a semi so could load them all in "one
> swell foop" instead of having to keep moving truck every time) looks
> off to the southeast. On the horizon is the hint of the row of sand
> hills that leads to the "breaks" that run along the Cimarron River
> as it makes a big bow from the very southwestern most corner of KS
> out of NM/OK then back to the southeast on into OK. We're located
> just 2 mi from the OK line about 60 mi from CO.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
You are jogging my memory of when I was growing up in the '50's and
living
in farm country.
These were the days when crop rotation (corn, alfalfa, wheat and oats)
was
followed closely since corn took so much out of the ground.
Got 2 cuts of alfalfa and brought the "tedder" into play as a means of
drying
the alfalfa.
The wheat was chocked, especially in Amish country.
Later, the wheat was cut and baled in one operation with tractor
pulling the
baler and spitting bales of straw out onto the final wagon where they
were
stacked.
The baler had a guy on each side it insert baler twine into bale.
Definitely not a particularly safe operation, but it was an
improvement.
Watching those operations convinced me I didn't want anything to do
with farming.
Lew
On 11/9/2015 6:33 PM, Ed Pawlowski wrote:
> You can avoid fires by building the storage facility from fireproof
> material. I have word from a reliable sources (Ben Carson) that they
> used stone to build the pyramids so the stored grain would not burn them
> down.
Yabbut, back then If you liked your insurance plan, you could keep it...
--
eWoodShop: www.eWoodShop.com
Wood Shop: www.e-WoodShop.net
https://www.google.com/+eWoodShop
https://plus.google.com/+KarlCaillouet/posts
http://www.custommade.com/by/ewoodshop/
KarlCaillouet@ (the obvious)
On 11/10/2015 2:25 AM, [email protected] wrote:
> The work looks great from here! I hope you continue to post more as you go along.
Ditto ...
--
eWoodShop: www.eWoodShop.com
Wood Shop: www.e-WoodShop.net
https://www.google.com/+eWoodShop
https://plus.google.com/+KarlCaillouet/posts
http://www.custommade.com/by/ewoodshop/
KarlCaillouet@ (the obvious)
dpb <[email protected]> writes:
>On 11/10/2015 10:33 AM, Unquestionably Confused wrote:
>> On 11/10/2015 10:18 AM, dpb wrote:
>...
>
>>> I've thought if ultimately get the shop really set up to take that
>>> blower as the core of a dust collector...and how's that for back "on
>>> topic"??? :)
>>
>> Pretty smooth segue. If you do use that for a dust collector, won't you
>> have to bolt the Powermatic table saw to the floor? I can see where you
>> might have a problem loosing the off cuts as well. ;)
>
>Actually, it probably is too large but there's a smaller one left from
>the silo unloader that is probably what I'll actually try it with. It's
>about 24" diam instead of 36 or 42 or whatever the ensilage blower
>actually is (I really don't know w/o measuring it but it is sizable).
>
><https://www.google.com/search?q=allis+chalmers+silage+blower&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8>
><http://www.allischalmers.com/forum/uploads/175/blower1.jpg>
>
>The first picture on the left of the first link is the one we've got;
>the next to the right is the later, big brother version...
The picture below is similar to the blower we used, although
ours was Massey Harris/Ferguson, I believe. The local implement dealer was
Massey Ferguson/Hesston (the JD dealer was 30 miles away).
http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c261/pappathopoulosm/Corn%20Silage%202012/IMG_0243.jpg
scott
On 11/9/2015 9:48 AM, dpb wrote:
> I've commented here several times in the past most of what I've gotten
> done since coming back to family farm hasn't been "fine"
> woodworking...here are a few pictures from the barn reroof/refurb,
> there's one of the detail on the old doors; I didn't have one of the
> replacement in progress but there's one on the south side west end in
> the "then and now" as well as the haymow small door that were done at
> that time...I've still not gotten to the big main doors...
>
> <http://s1194.photobucket.com/user/bozarthd/media/OldIsNewAgain_zpsqqsovwdx.jpg.html>
>
>
> I'm the one in the overalls standing w/ the roofing hatchet...
>
> --
That's a beauty of a barn. But a hell of a lot of work.
Glad you have some help, as it could take a long time alone.
--
Jeff
On 11/9/2015 8:48 AM, dpb wrote:
> I've commented here several times in the past most of what I've gotten
> done since coming back to family farm hasn't been "fine"
> woodworking...here are a few pictures from the barn reroof/refurb,
> there's one of the detail on the old doors; I didn't have one of the
> replacement in progress but there's one on the south side west end in
> the "then and now" as well as the haymow small door that were done at
> that time...I've still not gotten to the big main doors...
>
> <http://s1194.photobucket.com/user/bozarthd/media/OldIsNewAgain_zpsqqsovwdx.jpg.html>
>
>
> I'm the one in the overalls standing w/ the roofing hatchet...
>
> --
Darn fine looking barn. I wish it was in my back yard and I wish I had
a back yard big enough to put it. :~)
I would love to see inside and out pictures when you get done, if that
ever really happens. I could see something that big as being a constant
work in progress.
dpb <[email protected]> writes:
>On 11/09/2015 12:13 PM, Unquestionably Confused wrote:
>> On 11/9/2015 11:05 AM, Sonny wrote:
>...
>
>>> Are you near the coast? I suppose a barn with a widow's watch is not
>>> too common. That's a nice feature. *With those silos, I'm thinking
>>> you're not near the coast, but in middle America. Or is that
>>> feature called something else, in your neck of the woods?
>>
>> Personally, I don't think that's a Widow's Walk or Watch. Most likely
>> what we're looking at is the Central Air Conditioning System. ;)
>>
>> You can see - in both the before and after photos - the slats that
>> allowed for ventilation.
>>
>> All barns have roof vents or one sort or another.
>
>Correct, it's a cupola. The barn loft was built to handle loose hay
>(the track for the fork(*) is the structure projecting out from below
>the roof ridge) and the cupola is the outlet for the upflow thru the
>loft for ventilation. There are eight openings, four each side, along
>the long walls that were both locations for access and the air ingress
>locations. There are no windows in the loft except those very high on
>the east/west ends.
Most city-slickers don't realize the amount of heat generated
by drying hay. Easily sufficient to cause a fire if the hay
isn't dried and stacked correctly. Thus, one leaves a gap between the
barn walls and the hay to allow airflow to extract excess heat
while the hay dries and the cupola acts as an outlet.
Of course, drying it before baling it is preferred.
Most of this has been obsoleted by the use of outdoor storage
techniques (large round bales, silage socks, etc).
On Monday, November 9, 2015 at 7:33:53 PM UTC-5, Ed Pawlowski wrote:
> On 11/9/2015 3:03 PM, Scott Lurndal wrote:
>
> >
> > Most city-slickers don't realize the amount of heat generated
> > by drying hay. Easily sufficient to cause a fire if the hay
> > isn't dried and stacked correctly. Thus, one leaves a gap between the
> > barn walls and the hay to allow airflow to extract excess heat
> > while the hay dries and the cupola acts as an outlet.
> >
> > Of course, drying it before baling it is preferred.
> >
> > Most of this has been obsoleted by the use of outdoor storage
> > techniques (large round bales, silage socks, etc).
> >
> >
>
>
> You can avoid fires by building the storage facility from fireproof
> material. I have word from a reliable sources (Ben Carson) that they
> used stone to build the pyramids so the stored grain would not burn them
> down.
>
Look up the history of Portland Maine. City hall burnt down twice,
once during the Great Fire of 1866 and then again in 1908. The 1866
fire was the largest fire in the US up until Mrs. O'Leary's cow
caused some minor damage in Chicago 5 years later.
After the second fire, they rebuilt City Hall using granite, concrete,
slate and other fire resistant materials. This was a state of the art
building in 1909. Many others took their cue from City Hall and began
to build fire resistant buildings.
In 2012, Portland's "new" City Hall celebrated it's 100th birthday.
http://bangordailynews.com/2012/08/23/news/portland/portland-city-hall-celebrates-100-years-after-two-previous-versions-destroyed-by-fires/
On Monday, November 9, 2015 at 8:48:45 AM UTC-6, dpb wrote:
> I've commented here several times in the past most of what I've gotten=20
> done since coming back to family farm hasn't been "fine"=20
> woodworking...here are a few pictures from the barn reroof/refurb,=20
> there's one of the detail on the old doors; I didn't have one of the=20
> replacement in progress but there's one on the south side west end in=20
> the "then and now" as well as the haymow small door that were done at=20
> that time...I've still not gotten to the big main doors...
>=20
> <http://s1194.photobucket.com/user/bozarthd/media/OldIsNewAgain_zpsqqsovw=
dx.jpg.html>
>=20
> I'm the one in the overalls standing w/ the roofing hatchet...
>=20
> --
That's one heck of a nice (hobby) project. Good for you, to restore it.
Are you near the coast? I suppose a barn with a widow's watch is not too c=
ommon. That's a nice feature. *With those silos, I'm thinking you're not =
near the coast, but in middle America. Or is that feature called somethin=
g else, in your neck of the woods?
Yeah, the view of the interior would be a nice, but considering the size of=
the barn (multiple "shops" in one building!?), the effort you're putting i=
nto it and the general view of the surroundings, I'm wondering whatall othe=
r interesting things you got going on, to warrant all that effort (beyond t=
he barn restoration)? =20
To me, those kinds of restorations are almost candidates for a vacation spo=
t, to visit, see the restoration process, etc.
I can imagine some of those old (past/before.... and recent?) pics hanging =
in various places, inside, when done.
Hats off to you!!
Sonny
On Monday, November 9, 2015 at 9:48:45 AM UTC-5, dpb wrote:
> I've commented here several times in the past most of what I've gotten
> done since coming back to family farm hasn't been "fine"
> woodworking...here are a few pictures from the barn reroof/refurb,
> there's one of the detail on the old doors; I didn't have one of the
> replacement in progress but there's one on the south side west end in
> the "then and now" as well as the haymow small door that were done at
> that time...I've still not gotten to the big main doors...
>
> <http://s1194.photobucket.com/user/bozarthd/media/OldIsNewAgain_zpsqqsovwdx.jpg.html>
>
> I'm the one in the overalls standing w/ the roofing hatchet...
>
You missed a spot. ;-)
Man, I'm not sure what to say. Spare time project? Full time job?
Nice. Really, really nice.
dpb <[email protected]> writes:
>On 11/10/2015 7:58 AM, Scott Lurndal wrote:
>> dpb<[email protected]> writes:
>...
>
>>> We never baled anything until very recently...we had an old twine binder
>>> and bound and shocked sorghum for winter feed thru the 70s and 80s if
>>> had more than would go in the silos.
>>
>> Ah, the binder. Not so fond memories of times walking after
>> the binder shocking oats.
>>
>> Feeding the beast:
>>
>> http://www.lurndal.org/images/thresh1-300.jpg
>
>Other than at steam or other old exhibitions never used a stationary
>thresher but had essentially the same task--we had (actually still have
>it just no longer used) stationary chopper that had to haul the bundles
>to...I didn't mind shocking nearly as much as the retrieval; by then the
>dirt had blown into them, often had to dig out of snow, was invariably
>cold and windy I seem to recall... :)
We had a chopper that we pulled with the MF180, and a blower to
fill the silo. Mainly chopped corn for silage.
Threshing oats was actually enjoyable - it was a multi-neighbor
event - two farms shared the binder and threshing machine; we'd
set the threshing machine up in the center of the field early in
the AM (level it, then grease every one of the hundred+ (at least
it seemed that way) zirks) then thresh until dusk. We ran the
thresher with a Farmall M, and used either a Farmall B
or a Farmall Super C to fetch the shocks.
Baling the resulting pile of straw was a dirty, messy job.
dpb <[email protected]> writes:
>On 11/09/2015 2:03 PM, Scott Lurndal wrote:
>...
>
>> Of course, drying it before baling it is preferred.
>
>For the "mandatory" definition of "preferred"... :)
>
>Once it's baled, if it's not sufficiently dry first about the _best_ one
>can hope for is some deterioration, far more likely is mold and useless...
>
>The bales are tied too tight for effective drying once done.
>
>We never baled anything until very recently...we had an old twine binder
>and bound and shocked sorghum for winter feed thru the 70s and 80s if
>had more than would go in the silos.
Ah, the binder. Not so fond memories of times walking after
the binder shocking oats.
Feeding the beast:
http://www.lurndal.org/images/thresh1-300.jpg
On Mon, 09 Nov 2015 13:33:01 -0600, dpb <[email protected]> wrote:
>I'll not burden the newsgroup w/ more unless is actual interest...
I found your post much more interesting, and informative, than posts on the
merits of straight vs curved cauls, or the merits of various style clamps.
Restoring a barn may not be "fine" woodworking, however, this group isn't called
rec.fine.woodworking. I would like to hear more about the progress of the
project. Moreover, since there are many off topic threads, I think hearing
about farming in SW Kansas would also be interesting.
Jerry O.
On Wed, 11 Nov 2015 10:52:50 -0600, dpb <[email protected]> wrote:
>On 11/09/2015 10:59 PM, [email protected] wrote:
>...
>
>> ... Moreover, since there are many off topic threads, I think hearing
>> about farming in SW Kansas would also be interesting.
>
>Well, today is one of the those W KS days w/ wind sustained 30-40+,
>projected as much as 60 gusts, so not a lot I'm wanting to do outside... :(
>
I live on the eastern edge of the plains in Oklahoma. Our winds were only about
20 miles an hour with gusts to 35 mph..
Here is a link to a wind map that you might like. It does not auto update, it
has to be manually refreshed.
<http://hint.fm/wind/?inf_contact_key=5aa7bf424016b8009a91fd9103bc9d9d811ff8a29caa9af1098b875c4af03338>
>So, here are a few from haying a few years ago when had some rain and
>things looked pretty good. From the start, looking east back towards
>the home place; good eyes can spot the white of the house towards the
>south end of the larger group of trees; the broad view of bales is west
>towards town; can just make out the sorta' square shape located on
>horizon about halfway between the two full bales in the foreground
>towards the right and the shiny water tower closer to the right hand
>side. Those are about 5 and 6 miles, respectively, to give an idea of
>the terrain (it's pretty flat :) ).
>
Yes, it is. After living over 40 years in the rice country of northern
California I miss that. (We went to California to go to college and wound up
staying 44 years until we retired.)
Here, the horizon is usually less than a mile away. I have to drive several
miles to get to the top of the highest hill around close. From there the horizon
looking to the West is about 10 miles away.
>The last, over the collected-up group (I took all these the day we were
>hauling and was running tractor loading and between loads would "gather
>up" the 34 that fit on a semi so could load them all in "one swell foop"
>instead of having to keep moving truck every time) looks off to the
>southeast. On the horizon is the hint of the row of sand hills that
>leads to the "breaks" that run along the Cimarron River as it makes a
>big bow from the very southwestern most corner of KS out of NM/OK then
>back to the southeast on into OK. We're located just 2 mi from the OK
>line about 60 mi from CO.
>
Unless I am mistaken that puts you a little West of Liberal Kansas. It's been a
while since I was through there. We stayed a couple of nights south of Liberal
at an RV park. Liberal was an interesting town, and we drove around the
countryside checking things out. There were some very large circular irrigation
plots interposed with dry land farming.
From Liberal we went West over to the Cimarron National Grasslands as we slowly
meandered westward back to California.
>This is all native grass re-established in the mid-90s; a mixture of a
>multiple species the primary including big- and little-bluestem, sand
>love, blue- and side-oats grama, buffalo, sand love, Indian grass, ...
>
><http://s1194.photobucket.com/user/bozarthd/library/2010Haying>
Excellent. It's heartwarming to see parts of the Great Plains being restored.
Can you purchase a mixture of the natural grass seeds or do you have to mix them
yourself? Where I live here in Oklahoma Johnson grass is the preferred grass
for hay. Where we lived in California it was considered noxious and the state
tried to eradicate it as did all the farmers and ranchers.
This summer I did something that I never intended to do again. I helped an old
friend haul hay. He's a grumpy old fart and he got mad at his wife because she
wasn't driving the truck the way he wanted. She jumped down out of the truck,
told him to go to hell, and went to the house.
He called me and I went over to drive the truck for him. Before we started I
told him that if he started shouting at me I wouldn't go home until after I
dragged him off the tractor and kicked his butt. We got along okay but we wasted
a lot of time because he really didn't have a plan. Rather than driving in
straight lines we just meandered all over the field. Before long, I was wanting
to shout at him but I didn't. I just grinned a lot as I maneuvered the big
truck and trailer around wasting a lot of time and fuel.
The second cutting I drove the tractor and did what you did. By the time he got
back with the truck the next load was gathered up and ready to load without
moving the truck. It saves a lot of time, but I got the distinct feeling that
he wasn't happy. It wasn't the way he liked to do things.
Jerry O.
On 11/09/2015 12:13 PM, Unquestionably Confused wrote:
> On 11/9/2015 11:05 AM, Sonny wrote:
...
>> Are you near the coast? I suppose a barn with a widow's watch is not
>> too common. That's a nice feature. *With those silos, I'm thinking
>> you're not near the coast, but in middle America. Or is that
>> feature called something else, in your neck of the woods?
>
> Personally, I don't think that's a Widow's Walk or Watch. Most likely
> what we're looking at is the Central Air Conditioning System. ;)
>
> You can see - in both the before and after photos - the slats that
> allowed for ventilation.
>
> All barns have roof vents or one sort or another.
Correct, it's a cupola. The barn loft was built to handle loose hay
(the track for the fork(*) is the structure projecting out from below
the roof ridge) and the cupola is the outlet for the upflow thru the
loft for ventilation. There are eight openings, four each side, along
the long walls that were both locations for access and the air ingress
locations. There are no windows in the loft except those very high on
the east/west ends.
> Very neat project and nicely done, dpb!
Thanks...
(*) The fella' in the yellow shirt on the scaffold at the corner (same
one on the roof where I'm in the lift and we're replacing a section of
the bed mould on the upper section) is a guy I found at the local
homeless shelter the day before the scaffolding was coming in by truck
and I needed some help to unload it. He'd just finished getting mugged
while riding a freight back from El Paso and had spent the previous week
painting tank batteries for one of the local oilfield service companies
but hadn't found anything yet that morning when I called for that
day/week. After we got stuff unload, he say "Need somebody to help set
it up tomorrow?" and ended up working for me full time for almost two years.
--
On 11/09/2015 1:00 PM, dpb wrote:
> On 11/09/2015 12:13 PM, Unquestionably Confused wrote:
>> On 11/9/2015 11:05 AM, Sonny wrote:
> ...
>
>>> Are you near the coast? I suppose a barn with a widow's watch is not
>>> too common. That's a nice feature. *With those silos, I'm thinking
>>> you're not near the coast, but in middle America. Or is that
>>> feature called something else, in your neck of the woods?
>>
>> Personally, I don't think that's a Widow's Walk or Watch. Most likely
>> what we're looking at is the Central Air Conditioning System. ;)
>>
>> You can see - in both the before and after photos - the slats that
>> allowed for ventilation.
>>
>> All barns have roof vents or one sort or another.
>
> Correct, it's a cupola. The barn loft was built to handle loose hay (the
> track for the fork(*) is the structure projecting out from below the
> roof ridge) and the cupola is the outlet for the upflow thru the loft
> for ventilation. There are eight openings, four each side, along the
> long walls that were both locations for access and the air ingress
> locations. There are no windows in the loft except those very high on
> the east/west ends.
>
>> Very neat project and nicely done, dpb!
>
> Thanks...
>
> (*) The fella' in the yellow shirt on the scaffold at the corner (same
> one on the roof where I'm in the lift and we're replacing a section of
> the bed mould on the upper section) is a guy I found at the local
> homeless shelter the day before the scaffolding was coming in by truck
> and I needed some help to unload it. He'd just finished getting mugged
> while riding a freight back from El Paso and had spent the previous week
> painting tank batteries for one of the local oilfield service companies
> but hadn't found anything yet that morning when I called for that
> day/week. After we got stuff unload, he say "Need somebody to help set
> it up tomorrow?" and ended up working for me full time for almost two
> years.
Oh, and the point of the above was to say he really wanted to see the
hay rake work again, but we didn't get that far -- have _not_ opened the
big door at all; it, unlike many others, is _NOT_ hinged at the bottom
to swing but is in a set of vertical "tracks" built on either side an
hangs on a couple of block and tackle ropes. Those are, I'm sure the
originals dating back to 1920 or thereabouts(**). I am unwilling to
risk removing the blocking underneath the door until those have been
replaced; they look to still be in good condition but I'm not going to
risk it; the potential damage plus risk to life and limb if that comes
down is too great.
(**) I do not know precisely when the barn was finished; the two silos
to the east were put up by 1916/17 and the foundation poured for the
barn shortly thereafter. But, the WW I rationing on lumber occurred
before the lumber was obtained and so the actual construction didn't
commence until after Armistice Day (Nov 11, 1918) so know it likely was
1919 when completed. The story goes that the local lumberyard owner is
supposed to have called grandpa the day after the armistice was signed
and started the conversation with "Andy, we can build that barn now!" :)
--
On 11/09/2015 11:05 AM, Sonny wrote:
> On Monday, November 9, 2015 at 8:48:45 AM UTC-6, dpb wrote:
>> I've commented here several times in the past most of what I've gotten
>> done since coming back to family farm hasn't been "fine"
>> woodworking...here are a few pictures from the barn reroof/refurb,
>> there's one of the detail on the old doors; I didn't have one of the
>> replacement in progress but there's one on the south side west end in
>> the "then and now" as well as the haymow small door that were done at
>> that time...I've still not gotten to the big main doors...
>>
>> <http://s1194.photobucket.com/user/bozarthd/media/OldIsNewAgain_zpsqqsovwdx.jpg.html>
>>
>> I'm the one in the overalls standing w/ the roofing hatchet...
>>
>> --
>
> That's one heck of a nice (hobby) project. Good for you, to restore it.
>
> Are you near the coast? I suppose a barn with a widow's watch is not
> too common. That's a nice feature. *With those silos, I'm thinking
> you're not near the coast, but in middle America. Or is that feature
> called something else, in your neck of the woods?
>
> Yeah, the view of the interior would be a nice, but considering the
> size of the barn (multiple "shops" in one building!?), the effort you're
> putting into it and the general view of the surroundings, I'm wondering
> what all other interesting things you got going on, to warrant all that
> effort (beyond the barn restoration)?
>>
> To me, those kinds of restorations are almost candidates for a
> vacation spot, to visit, see the restoration process, etc.
>
> I can imagine some of those old (past/before.... and recent?) pics
> hanging in various places, inside, when done.
>
> Hats off to you!!
>
> Sonny
Your supposition is correct, nowhere near a coast; it's far SW KS (and
hence, there are no "woods" anyways close to be in a neck of! :) ).
At the moment I have virtually none of the interior and it's also
currently in such a mess I'm ashamed to even let anybody else inside.
It's interesting, but as you can tell from the one where were replacing
the sill plate it is conventional frame construction, not beam and post
or the like. The lumber is all SYP but is far removed from what one
commonly finds today; very fine grained, slow growth virgin timber and
lengths to 28-ft in the loft columns which are multiple 2x nailed
together rather than large dimension stock. Some of those even that
long are essentially knot-free. The 3-1/4" siding and 2" mow flooring
is fir; I had a small shop in Wichita run some for the replacement;
could not find it available at all any longer other than the 5-1/4".
There was only one corner are that had a pretty solid roof over it w/o
too many leaks when we returned; it had been converted into use as a
grain bin for storing seed wheat back in the 50s, even, so has a second
inner wall on the north wall and had interior walls to near ceiling on
the interior with just a small entry area with slatted cross boards in a
corner. I took one of the short walls out, removed some the siding down
to about 4' on the long inside wall and wired it and added some
additional light where I have crammed in the TS, jointer, BS, and the
small shaper. It's been enough to "get by" but is cramped and low
ceiling which is part of the reason not much else in "real" wwing is
getting done. I had the original intent of eventually moving the shop
to the mow, but there's been "issues" with that as well...
I'll not burden the newsgroup w/ more unless is actual interest...
--
On 11/09/2015 9:56 AM, Leon wrote:
> On 11/9/2015 8:48 AM, dpb wrote:
>> I've commented here several times in the past most of what I've gotten
>> done since coming back to family farm hasn't been "fine"
>> woodworking...here are a few pictures from the barn reroof/refurb,
>> there's one of the detail on the old doors; I didn't have one of the
>> replacement in progress but there's one on the south side west end in
>> the "then and now" as well as the haymow small door that were done at
>> that time...I've still not gotten to the big main doors...
>>
>> <http://s1194.photobucket.com/user/bozarthd/media/OldIsNewAgain_zpsqqsovwdx.jpg.html>
>>
>>
>>
>> I'm the one in the overalls standing w/ the roofing hatchet...
>>
>> --
>
>
> Darn fine looking barn. I wish it was in my back yard and I wish I had a
> back yard big enough to put it. :~)
Indeed, which is why I just couldn't stand the thought of letting it go...
> I would love to see inside and out pictures when you get done, if that
> ever really happens. I could see something that big as being a constant
> work in progress.
It's kinda' bogged down for the time being, I'm working on trying to get
another shop area closed in so can have enough heat to do some things
like build the windows during cold weather this winter if nothing else...
I'll try to get a few of the inside when I get a chance to pick up some
of the litter--I started trying to fill in some of the areas that hadn't
had slab floor poured and got sidetracked and things have just gotten
worse from there...
--
On 11/09/2015 10:46 AM, DerbyDad03 wrote:
> On Monday, November 9, 2015 at 9:48:45 AM UTC-5, dpb wrote:
>> I've commented here several times in the past most of what I've gotten
>> done since coming back to family farm hasn't been "fine"
>> woodworking...here are a few pictures from the barn reroof/refurb,
>> there's one of the detail on the old doors; I didn't have one of the
>> replacement in progress but there's one on the south side west end in
>> the "then and now" as well as the haymow small door that were done at
>> that time...I've still not gotten to the big main doors...
>>
>> <http://s1194.photobucket.com/user/bozarthd/media/OldIsNewAgain_zpsqqsovwdx.jpg.html>
>>
>> I'm the one in the overalls standing w/ the roofing hatchet...
>>
>
>
> You missed a spot. ;-)
Only one? :)
> Man, I'm not sure what to say. Spare time project? Full time job?
Been some of both; we hit it pretty hard while doing the roof and
initial work for a couple of years; wasn't much farming going on as was
so dry and Dad had put most of our ground into grass...since, have
started more work elsewhere on the place and it has (finally!) rained
some this year so other priorities have brought progress to pretty much
a halt.
Was trying to get restarted plus had an electrical problem w/ the
neutral feed which prompted me to post a query to another group while
was have brain cramps figuring out what was the issue. Ended up being
the connector from the meter pole overhead and had commented there when
found it that having the manlift was a boon; another commented in jest
that having one was clearly "cheating" which prompted me to post these
showing it in action. That got me thinking that at least some folks
over here might would like to see the wood parts...
> Nice. Really, really nice.
Thanks...have to credit my grandfather with "doing things right!"
--
dpb wrote:
> I've commented here several times in the past most of what I've gotten
> done since coming back to family farm hasn't been "fine"
> woodworking...here are a few pictures from the barn reroof/refurb,
> there's one of the detail on the old doors; I didn't have one of the
> replacement in progress but there's one on the south side west end in
> the "then and now" as well as the haymow small door that were done at
> that time...I've still not gotten to the big main doors...
>
> <http://s1194.photobucket.com/user/bozarthd/media/OldIsNewAgain_zpsqqsovwdx.jpg.html>
>
> I'm the one in the overalls standing w/ the roofing hatchet...
That just ain't right - way too high up in the air...
--
-Mike-
[email protected]
Mike Marlow wrote:
> dpb wrote:
>> I've commented here several times in the past most of what I've
>> gotten done since coming back to family farm hasn't been "fine"
>> woodworking...here are a few pictures from the barn reroof/refurb,
>> there's one of the detail on the old doors; I didn't have one of the
>> replacement in progress but there's one on the south side west end in
>> the "then and now" as well as the haymow small door that were done at
>> that time...I've still not gotten to the big main doors...
>>
>> <http://s1194.photobucket.com/user/bozarthd/media/OldIsNewAgain_zpsqqsovwdx.jpg.html>
>>
>> I'm the one in the overalls standing w/ the roofing hatchet...
>
> That just ain't right - way too high up in the air...
Oh yeah - around here, we hire the Amish to do that crap...
--
-Mike-
[email protected]
On 11/09/2015 2:03 PM, Scott Lurndal wrote:
...
> Of course, drying it before baling it is preferred.
For the "mandatory" definition of "preferred"... :)
Once it's baled, if it's not sufficiently dry first about the _best_ one
can hope for is some deterioration, far more likely is mold and useless...
The bales are tied too tight for effective drying once done.
We never baled anything until very recently...we had an old twine binder
and bound and shocked sorghum for winter feed thru the 70s and 80s if
had more than would go in the silos.
> Most of this has been obsoleted by the use of outdoor storage
> techniques (large round bales, silage socks, etc).
Indeed, we've not filled the silos since in the '80s altho it was by far
the "most funnest" job of the year; great fall weather by then plus we
filled with several neighbors so were big crowds of people around so was
as much a party as work...
The south one of the two small silos had been rotated slightly by a
small tornado years ago and was standing on only one remaining block on
the south foundation. I finally knocked them both down some time after
the bulk of these pictures were taken.
--
On 11/10/2015 7:58 AM, Scott Lurndal wrote:
> dpb<[email protected]> writes:
...
>> We never baled anything until very recently...we had an old twine binder
>> and bound and shocked sorghum for winter feed thru the 70s and 80s if
>> had more than would go in the silos.
>
> Ah, the binder. Not so fond memories of times walking after
> the binder shocking oats.
>
> Feeding the beast:
>
> http://www.lurndal.org/images/thresh1-300.jpg
Other than at steam or other old exhibitions never used a stationary
thresher but had essentially the same task--we had (actually still have
it just no longer used) stationary chopper that had to haul the bundles
to...I didn't mind shocking nearly as much as the retrieval; by then the
dirt had blown into them, often had to dig out of snow, was invariably
cold and windy I seem to recall... :)
--
On 11/10/2015 2:25 AM, [email protected] wrote:
> On Monday, November 9, 2015 at 1:00:26 PM UTC-6, dpb wrote:
>
>> He'd just finished getting mugged
>> while riding a freight back from El Paso and had spent the previous week
>> painting tank batteries for one of the local oilfield service companies
>> but hadn't found anything yet that morning when I called for that
>> day/week. After we got stuff unload, he say "Need somebody to help set
>> it up tomorrow?" and ended up working for me full time for almost two years.
>
> I have to say, I really admire your project, but admire this aspect
> of it just as much. Sometimes folks just need a hand up for a while. Good
> on ya' for giving a man a chance. Surprisingly, being an employer for
> almost 33 years now, I still find a good man to bet on now and then.
...
He was an unusual duck; extremely talented mechanically and an excellent
worker but absolutely unable to maintain a long-term job if it was
tightly structured. Had all the certifications for aircraft mainframe
maintenance and repair, had been in Rome w/ TWA when they went belly-up,
eventually had gotten on w/ Boeing in Wichita and got hit in the big cut
there. Had some experience in plastic injection as a kid growing up in
Miami so had heard of a supervisory position available in El Paso was
why he had ridden the freight down there. W/ not buy one or two teeth
left, unkempt hair to his shoulders and all he wasn't exactly corporate
America's vision of supervisory talent so that didn't pan out! :)
He did yeoman work and was about 90% of the labor in the paint prep and
painting while I was doing the other structural and rebuilding the
couple of doors and so on as he wasn't an expert woodworker w/ all his
other talents...As you can see in the one where he's working on the west
end, it was sanded and washed over every square inch before painting--a
tremendous amount of time and effort; I've no idea how many manhours we
did spend in that prep work, I regret not keeping a better diary.
I'll try to post some of the detail work and as said, I'm trying to get
ready for I think the third winter to get the windows done over the
winter plus hopefully the mow floor areas that buckled owing to the time
while the roof was leaking badly.
--
On 11/09/2015 10:59 PM, [email protected] wrote:
> On Mon, 09 Nov 2015 13:33:01 -0600, dpb<[email protected]> wrote:
>
>> I'll not burden the newsgroup w/ more unless is actual interest...
>
> I found your post much more interesting, and informative, than posts on the
> merits of straight vs curved cauls, or the merits of various style clamps.
>
> Restoring a barn may not be "fine" woodworking, however, this group isn't called
> rec.fine.woodworking. I would like to hear more about the progress of the
> project. Moreover, since there are many off topic threads, I think hearing
> about farming in SW Kansas would also be interesting.
Thanks, I'll try to keep it at least sorta' on topic... :)
--
On 11/10/2015 9:55 AM, Scott Lurndal wrote:
> dpb<[email protected]> writes:
...
>> Other than at steam or other old exhibitions never used a stationary
>> thresher but had essentially the same task--we had (actually still have
>> it just no longer used) stationary chopper that had to haul the bundles
>> to...I didn't mind shocking nearly as much as the retrieval; by then the
>> dirt had blown into them, often had to dig out of snow, was invariably
>> cold and windy I seem to recall... :)
>
> We had a chopper that we pulled with the MF180, and a blower to
> fill the silo. Mainly chopped corn for silage.
...
Yes, we had ensilage cutter (2-row Gehl's) and an Allis blower for
silo-filling as well. Too dry here for reliable dryland corn; we used
other sorghum feed crops for the ensilage source. Of course, the
irrigated folk use corn for ensilage altho they all use trench or
surface pile storage any longer; nobody fills an upright any more.
In the olden days, the blower was run off the flat belt w/ an old 'M';
it was converted to direct PTO drive and one of the smaller Deere's
used. We went from M to 400 to 560 Farmalls before the 4010 and up
Deere transition as the power unit for the chopper.
I broke out the old ensilage blower a couple of years ago to run a bunch
of old straw bales thru to break up for use when we regraded the yards
around the house to restore drainage. After 60 plus years including the
"Dirty 30s" and the 50s in particular when had so much dirt blowing the
elevation had increased around the house by as much as 8-10" so it was
sitting in a hole when we returned that had caused some foundation
settling...drug it back down to more nearly its original level to
reestablish drainage for when it does actually rain on occasion...when
Dad had his "retirement" sale a few things either didn't sell or were
never collected by the buyer; the ensilage blower was one that had no
bidders. A-C blowers were the best; they, unlike Gehl or all others had
curved blades. Story goes they reached a limit of how high could lift
ensilage with flat blades at reasonable rpm and somehow the problem got
over to the Allis Chalmers power generation people and a steam turbine
engineer designed their blower blades for them.
I've thought if ultimately get the shop really set up to take that
blower as the core of a dust collector...and how's that for back "on
topic"??? :)
--
On 11/10/2015 10:33 AM, Unquestionably Confused wrote:
> On 11/10/2015 10:18 AM, dpb wrote:
...
>> I've thought if ultimately get the shop really set up to take that
>> blower as the core of a dust collector...and how's that for back "on
>> topic"??? :)
>
> Pretty smooth segue. If you do use that for a dust collector, won't you
> have to bolt the Powermatic table saw to the floor? I can see where you
> might have a problem loosing the off cuts as well. ;)
Actually, it probably is too large but there's a smaller one left from
the silo unloader that is probably what I'll actually try it with. It's
about 24" diam instead of 36 or 42 or whatever the ensilage blower
actually is (I really don't know w/o measuring it but it is sizable).
<https://www.google.com/search?q=allis+chalmers+silage+blower&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8>
<http://www.allischalmers.com/forum/uploads/175/blower1.jpg>
The first picture on the left of the first link is the one we've got;
the next to the right is the later, big brother version...
The second link is a brochure picture showing the curved paddles. It
shows unloading out of the back of a truck which was prone to the whole
load sliding out at once and slugging the blower. We used a
custom-built drag box that Dad designed that let you dump the truck onto
it and it was driven by variable-speed hydraulic motor to allow precise
control over feed rate to the blower. Once had a third to half the
truck unloaded, then could just finish dumping on the drag and head back
to the field instead of waiting to finish pushing it all thru the blower
before heading back out. Key to not keep the cutter waiting for longer
hauls...
--
On 11/10/2015 2:39 PM, Scott Lurndal wrote:
> dpb<[email protected]> writes:
...
>> <https://www.google.com/search?q=allis+chalmers+silage+blower&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8>
>> <http://www.allischalmers.com/forum/uploads/175/blower1.jpg>
>>
>> The first picture on the left of the first link is the one we've got;
>> the next to the right is the later, big brother version...
>
> The picture below is similar to the blower we used, although
> ours was Massey Harris/Ferguson, I believe. The local implement dealer was
> Massey Ferguson/Hesston (the JD dealer was 30 miles away).
>
> http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c261/pappathopoulosm/Corn%20Silage%202012/IMG_0243.jpg
In _those_ daze, we had Oliver, Minneapolis-Moline, Allis-Chalmers, JI
Case, International/Farmall and Massey-Harris as well as Deere
dealerships all in town. Now there's only Deere local; nearest red
(Case/International) is 60 miles. The Deere dealership also distributes
for most of the major implement manufacturers but they're the only
factory dealership in the county. They're actually one of if not the
largest single-location independent Deere dealerships in the country by
sales volume I'm told...
--
On 11/09/2015 10:59 PM, [email protected] wrote:
...
> ... Moreover, since there are many off topic threads, I think hearing
> about farming in SW Kansas would also be interesting.
Well, today is one of the those W KS days w/ wind sustained 30-40+,
projected as much as 60 gusts, so not a lot I'm wanting to do outside... :(
So, here are a few from haying a few years ago when had some rain and
things looked pretty good. From the start, looking east back towards
the home place; good eyes can spot the white of the house towards the
south end of the larger group of trees; the broad view of bales is west
towards town; can just make out the sorta' square shape located on
horizon about halfway between the two full bales in the foreground
towards the right and the shiny water tower closer to the right hand
side. Those are about 5 and 6 miles, respectively, to give an idea of
the terrain (it's pretty flat :) ).
The last, over the collected-up group (I took all these the day we were
hauling and was running tractor loading and between loads would "gather
up" the 34 that fit on a semi so could load them all in "one swell foop"
instead of having to keep moving truck every time) looks off to the
southeast. On the horizon is the hint of the row of sand hills that
leads to the "breaks" that run along the Cimarron River as it makes a
big bow from the very southwestern most corner of KS out of NM/OK then
back to the southeast on into OK. We're located just 2 mi from the OK
line about 60 mi from CO.
This is all native grass re-established in the mid-90s; a mixture of a
multiple species the primary including big- and little-bluestem, sand
love, blue- and side-oats grama, buffalo, sand love, Indian grass, ...
<http://s1194.photobucket.com/user/bozarthd/library/2010Haying>
--
On 11/9/2015 2:00 PM, dpb wrote:
> On 11/09/2015 12:13 PM, Unquestionably Confused wrote:
>> On 11/9/2015 11:05 AM, Sonny wrote:
> ...
>
>>> Are you near the coast? I suppose a barn with a widow's watch is not
>>> too common. That's a nice feature. *With those silos, I'm thinking
>>> you're not near the coast, but in middle America. Or is that
>>> feature called something else, in your neck of the woods?
>>
>> Personally, I don't think that's a Widow's Walk or Watch. Most likely
>> what we're looking at is the Central Air Conditioning System. ;)
>>
>> You can see - in both the before and after photos - the slats that
>> allowed for ventilation.
>>
>> All barns have roof vents or one sort or another.
>
> Correct, it's a cupola. The barn loft was built to handle loose hay
> (the track for the fork(*) is the structure projecting out from below
> the roof ridge) and the cupola is the outlet for the upflow thru the
> loft for ventilation. There are eight openings, four each side, along
> the long walls that were both locations for access and the air ingress
> locations. There are no windows in the loft except those very high on
> the east/west ends.
>
>> Very neat project and nicely done, dpb!
>
> Thanks...
What do you have in mind to do with the barn once it's finished?
(Assuming "finished" is even an appropriate word).
>
> (*) The fella' in the yellow shirt on the scaffold at the corner (same
> one on the roof where I'm in the lift and we're replacing a section of
> the bed mould on the upper section) is a guy I found at the local
> homeless shelter the day before the scaffolding was coming in by truck
> and I needed some help to unload it. He'd just finished getting mugged
> while riding a freight back from El Paso and had spent the previous week
> painting tank batteries for one of the local oilfield service companies
> but hadn't found anything yet that morning when I called for that
> day/week. After we got stuff unload, he say "Need somebody to help set
> it up tomorrow?" and ended up working for me full time for almost two
> years.
Nice. For *both* of you, it sounds like. I can't say I've done anything
like that. But I can trace a tile floor to a period of time when one of
my friends was out of work for a while. And a kitchen backsplash too,
but that was a different guy. I've got another ugly job that needs
doing - one I really don't want to tackle myself - but unfortunately
(ha!) all of my friends seem to be gainfully employed at the moment.
On 11/11/2015 12:18 PM, Greg Guarino wrote:
...
> What do you have in mind to do with the barn once it's finished?
> (Assuming "finished" is even an appropriate word).
Well, my goal firstly was to prevent it from falling down; couldn't
stand the thought of it going to pot (and thankfully have enough
resources could afford to do so). It is, afaik, the last one in the
county from the initial settling time frame in any shape at all; the
neighbor to the mile south had one of almost identical form built by the
same chief carpenter/crew just after this one was finished. It fell
down a number of years ago owing to neglect and that it never had the
poured floor slab and always was surrounded by the corrals such that it
suffered much worse from the waste. Also, they got into enough
financial difficulty that there were no resources available to be put
into it when it could still have been saved.
I had (not sure if I still do or not) original idea that could move the
woodworking shop into the mow which is completely open with the
exception of a column row under each gambrel break but there's 14-ft
between the two rows and the sidewalls are 6-ft high at the edge so the
whole loft is essentially well above head height. It's almost 30-ft to
the ridge in the middle. Failing that, while ceiling height is fairly
low, there are long open areas on either side of the drive on the main
floor such that the shop could be arranged to be quite useable there.
It is too low and the driveway too narrow anyway for any current real
use from a farming standpoint other than for storage. There is a small
feed mill in the NE corner with an elevator leg to the bins that were
built in the loft that is still functional altho I've about quit running
cattle given recent years of drought which led to no winter wheat
pasture for three years running and subsequent increase in prices owing
to the major reduction in cow herds (we ran a stocker/feeder operation
buying weaning heifers in the fall, running on wheat pasture/milo
stubble over the winter and selling the largest part of them in the
spring to the feedlots to farm during the summer months other than a
small (300 or so) number in the feedlot depending on year) so
replacement costs got so high seemed excessive risk plus I've discovered
I've continued to get a year older every year...
So, the real answer is there is no "plan"...
>> (*) The fella' in the yellow shirt on the scaffold at the corner (same
>> one on the roof where I'm in the lift and we're replacing a section of
>> the bed mould on the upper section) is a guy I found at the local
>> homeless shelter the day before the scaffolding was coming in by truck
>> and I needed some help to unload it. He'd just finished getting mugged
>> while riding a freight back from El Paso and had spent the previous week
>> painting tank batteries for one of the local oilfield service companies
>> but hadn't found anything yet that morning when I called for that
>> day/week. After we got stuff unload, he say "Need somebody to help set
>> it up tomorrow?" and ended up working for me full time for almost two
>> years.
>
> Nice. For *both* of you, it sounds like. I can't say I've done anything
> like that. But I can trace a tile floor to a period of time when one of
> my friends was out of work for a while. And a kitchen backsplash too,
> but that was a different guy. I've got another ugly job that needs doing
> - one I really don't want to tackle myself - but unfortunately (ha!) all
> of my friends seem to be gainfully employed at the moment.
Was pretty leery the first few days as he was pretty rough-lookin' dude;
I figured after that first day when I gave him his day's wages and took
him back to town it'd be unlikely to see him again...but, he was ready
the next morning and to my initial surprise I never did see any evidence
he was into any drugs or excess alcohol or anything despite the
appearances...turned out to really be a pretty nice guy and was, as said
above, an excellent worker for the task at hand. Wouldn't have been
much of a farm hand; was a city boy from Miami and had very (as in no)
interest in the farm work going on around. The few times tried to press
him into that service were less than successful... :)
--
On 11/13/2015 2:55 PM, [email protected] wrote:
> On Wed, 11 Nov 2015 10:52:50 -0600, dpb<[email protected]> wrote:
...
>> Well, today is one of the those W KS days w/ wind sustained 30-40+,
>> projected as much as 60 gusts, so not a lot I'm wanting to do outside... :(
>>
> I live on the eastern edge of the plains in Oklahoma. Our winds were only about
> 20 miles an hour with gusts to 35 mph..
Well, peak we recorded was right at 50 instead of 60 altho Garden City
did hit 60 and farther north closer to the center of the low was as
strong or stronger. Still broke some ground loose, though, particularly
some of the later wheat where we didn't have as early rain to get it up
and covering the ground.
> Here is a link to a wind map that you might like. ...
Pretty kewl view; I hadn't seen that before. Thanks.
>> So, here are a few from haying a few years ago when had some rain and
>> things looked pretty good. From the start, looking east back towards
>> the home place; good eyes can spot the white of the house towards the
>> south end of the larger group of trees; the broad view of bales is west
>> towards town; can just make out the sorta' square shape located on
>> horizon about halfway between the two full bales in the foreground
>> towards the right and the shiny water tower closer to the right hand
>> side. Those are about 5 and 6 miles, respectively, to give an idea of
>> the terrain (it's pretty flat :) ).
>>
> Yes, it is. After living over 40 years in the rice country of northern
> California I miss that. (We went to California to go to college and wound up
> staying 44 years until we retired.)
>
> Here, the horizon is usually less than a mile away. I have to drive several
> miles to get to the top of the highest hill around close. From there the horizon
> looking to the West is about 10 miles away.
>
>> The last, over the collected-up group (I took all these the day we were
>> hauling and was running tractor loading and between loads would "gather
>> up" the 34 that fit on a semi so could load them all in "one swell foop"
>> instead of having to keep moving truck every time) looks off to the
>> southeast. On the horizon is the hint of the row of sand hills that
>> leads to the "breaks" that run along the Cimarron River as it makes a
>> big bow from the very southwestern most corner of KS out of NM/OK then
>> back to the southeast on into OK. We're located just 2 mi from the OK
>> line about 60 mi from CO.
>>
> Unless I am mistaken that puts you a little West of Liberal Kansas. It's been a
> while since I was through there. We stayed a couple of nights south of Liberal
> at an RV park. Liberal was an interesting town, and we drove around the
> countryside checking things out. There were some very large circular irrigation
> plots interposed with dry land farming.
>
> From Liberal we went West over to the Cimarron National Grasslands as we slowly
> meandered westward back to California.
Well, I was rounding pretty liberally (so to speak :) ); that is Liberal
in the background and the place is just to the east of town a few miles.
The edge of the major irrigation areas is just to the north and west;
much of the north half of the county is irrigated and probably 2/3-rds
of Haskell County to the north. There's water under us but not good
gravel formation so it's difficult to get a good quality well that can
pump hard enough for irrigation purposes without excess sand. KS has
since we've been back closed the Ogallala for new irrigation as the
water level is dropping drastically but OK hasn't yet acted except in
the most minute of ways. It's inevitable that the irrigation as being
practiced today is going to come to an end.
Speaking of being in the non-flat areas, I spent 30 yr, roughly in
Piedmont VA area and then E TN (Oak Ridge) which is in the hills of TN
and there isn't a flat and level spot much bigger than a quarter.
There, even if you get to the top of the ridge, it's tree-covered so you
can't see out and even if can, there's just another ridge in the way.
Even the top of the Smokey Mtn's are tree-covered with the exception of
a single peak so even there it's hard to find good vistas. Pretty
country but surely did get tired of being "closed in". To make it
worse, I spent some 10 yr of that time servicing/installing/supporting
online coal analyzers in the E KY, SW VA, WVA coal country which is even
more tight valley structure than E TN.
>> This is all native grass re-established in the mid-90s; a mixture of a
>> multiple species the primary including big- and little-bluestem, sand
>> love, blue- and side-oats grama, buffalo, sand love, Indian grass, ...
>>
>> <http://s1194.photobucket.com/user/bozarthd/library/2010Haying>
>
> Excellent. It's heartwarming to see parts of the Great Plains being restored.
> Can you purchase a mixture of the natural grass seeds or do you have to mix them
> yourself? Where I live here in Oklahoma Johnson grass is the preferred grass
> for hay. Where we lived in California it was considered noxious and the state
> tried to eradicate it as did all the farmers and ranchers.
It's pretty easily obtainable now altho one waits until drilling to do
the mixing as there's such a difference in size that it all settles out
by size in shipping if try to do it in bulk. Back when they first
started establishing these stands in the beginning of the CRP program,
it was pretty hard to come by as there just wasn't that much of some of
the native grasses still around, particularly the taller varieties that
tended to get grazed out leaving mostly just the buffalo (although
there's certainly nothing wrong with it; and there were large areas in
which it was essentially the only grass even before being broken out.
Johnson grass has had a metamorphosis in its assessment indeed. It
depends on whether it's in the place you want it or not--in wetter
places than here it's a bane for other crops as it is so invasive and
hard to eradicate.
> This summer I did something that I never intended to do again. I helped an old
> friend haul hay. He's a grumpy old fart and he got mad at his wife because she
> wasn't driving the truck the way he wanted. She jumped down out of the truck,
> told him to go to hell, and went to the house.
>
> He called me and I went over to drive the truck for him. Before we started I
> told him that if he started shouting at me I wouldn't go home until after I
> dragged him off the tractor and kicked his butt. We got along okay but we wasted
> a lot of time because he really didn't have a plan. Rather than driving in
> straight lines we just meandered all over the field. Before long, I was wanting
> to shout at him but I didn't. I just grinned a lot as I maneuvered the big
> truck and trailer around wasting a lot of time and fuel.
>
> The second cutting I drove the tractor and did what you did. By the time he got
> back with the truck the next load was gathered up and ready to load without
> moving the truck. It saves a lot of time, but I got the distinct feeling that
> he wasn't happy. It wasn't the way he liked to do things.
Hey, we old guys are pretty typically crabby!!! :) It's in the job
description.
--
On Mon, 09 Nov 2015 08:48:41 -0600
dpb <[email protected]> wrote:
> I've commented here several times in the past most of what I've
> gotten done since coming back to family farm hasn't been "fine"
> woodworking...here are a few pictures from the barn reroof/refurb,
> there's one of the detail on the old doors; I didn't have one of the
> replacement in progress but there's one on the south side west end in
> the "then and now" as well as the haymow small door that were done at
> that time...I've still not gotten to the big main doors...
nice to see a barn getting some tlc
i see a lot of reclaimed barn wood ads so i always thought that old barns
were dying breed
On 11/14/2015 11:18 AM, Electric Comet wrote:
...
> i see a lot of reclaimed barn wood ads so i always thought that old barns
> were dying breed
They are; there's no way to economically justify the investment in this
one; it has no real functional use in a modern operation; too small in
driveway width/height to get any equipment in larger than a half-ton
pickup, too small in capacity for animal usage; as another has already
said, hay storage is also passe with modern large bale handling and the
like...
I did it simply for the nostalgia purposes of being the home place and
perhaps eventually some shop space.
--
On 11/14/2015 12:28 PM, Leon wrote:
> On 11/14/2015 11:48 AM, dpb wrote:
> Snip
>
>
>> I did it simply for the nostalgia purposes of being the home place and
>> perhaps eventually some shop space.
>>
>> --
>>
> Reason enough!
Yeah, I agree altho at times with the "cut rate" deal they gave on
"hail-season ended" in stock shingles @ $100/sq and then some $8000 for
the paint as just a couple of the bills, I understood why dad had let it go.
The kicker is the oldest building on the place is the old grain elevator
which was built first as two separate buildings on either side of the
driveway; they lived in the west half and the east served as the barn
while they dug the basement for the house and got it "roofed over" with
the first floor subfloor. They then moved over there while it was
finished (ca 1916). They first moved out from further east in KS in
1914; at that time the ground had not yet been broken out of the natvie
sod. We still do have a small pasture that has never been broken out;
it still shows signs of original buffalo wallows and their paths; the
cattle, of course, continued to follow them.
--
On Sat, 14 Nov 2015 11:48:19 -0600
dpb <[email protected]> wrote:
> I did it simply for the nostalgia purposes of being the home place
> and perhaps eventually some shop space.
it can only add value and appeal to the property in the long run and
like you said shop space now
On 11/9/2015 3:03 PM, Scott Lurndal wrote:
>
> Most city-slickers don't realize the amount of heat generated
> by drying hay. Easily sufficient to cause a fire if the hay
> isn't dried and stacked correctly. Thus, one leaves a gap between the
> barn walls and the hay to allow airflow to extract excess heat
> while the hay dries and the cupola acts as an outlet.
>
> Of course, drying it before baling it is preferred.
>
> Most of this has been obsoleted by the use of outdoor storage
> techniques (large round bales, silage socks, etc).
>
>
You can avoid fires by building the storage facility from fireproof
material. I have word from a reliable sources (Ben Carson) that they
used stone to build the pyramids so the stored grain would not burn them
down.
Meantime, that is quite the restoration project. Glad it is being done
to save a nifty looking building.