Finally time to pull the trigger . . . starting on the New (much anticipated) SHOP - Build

[747mopar]

Are you leaving the ends like that? They make what they refer to as rakers that really
give it a clean look so you don't have the sharp metal edge hanging over.

 

[conv67bdere]

Are you leaving the ends like that? They make what they refer to as rakers that really give it a clean look so you don't have the sharp metal edge hanging over.View attachment 1334735

Hey Devin . . .

I've got the Rake edges - but with the center section not completed, and not knowing the angles . . .
Not sure that I want to mess up the rakes and get them cut wrong . . . Eventually they'll get installed . . .

Thanks for watching my six . . .

 

[conv67bdere]

Here . . . Hold my beer again . . . and watch this . . .

Here we go again . . .

Had a "typical" evening storm blow through the other evening . . . and then it left us with this sunset . . .
Caught it as the dog was going for his evening walk . . .

Here we go . . . hold my beer . . . and watch this . . . ( what could possibly go wrong . . . )

The Jeep and the nylon strapping come through again and get the job DONE . . .

That's 1 down . . . and 4 left to go . . .
2 more cedars - probably a little smaller than this one . . .
1 pretty small oak tree . . .
And the remaining trunk of the big oak that you can see near the shop - in the picture above . . . OH BOY ! ! !

That one is not going to be very much fun . . .

More Later . . .

 

[conv67bdere]

Here we go again . . . Hold my beer ( x2 ) . . . and watch this . . .

Oh boy . . . I'm a bit sore today after the days adventures . . .

With 1 tree down, there's only 4 more that need to come down . . . yeah . . . Only . . . ( ugh )
No better time than the present . . . so I set forth on a task today . . . Cedar tree # 2 . . . Hold my beer . . .

Well . . . that didn't go "so well" . . . but the tree is now technically down . . . ( or 2/3 of it is down ) . . .

This tree was actually 2 trees growing very close together, and that's what caused them to split . . .

Tree #3 is an Oak . . . and it's ready to go . . . once again, hold my beer . . .

Did much better with this one as it was dropped right where I wanted it to go ( the whole thing too ) . . . ha ha

The carnage . . . I've got a bit of a mess that'll need to be cleaned up . . . like I need any more projects . . .

Glad to have 3 of the 5 down ( mostly down, that is ) . . . and only 2 more to go. Got a long weekend ahead of me . . .

More Later . . .

 

[kiwigtx]

Man you have gotten through some serious amount of work this month.....well done.

Shop is looking real good now.

 

[oldbee]

Here we go again . . . Hold my beer ( x2 ) . . . and watch this . . .

Oh boy . . . I'm a bit sore today after the days adventures . . .

With 1 tree down, there's only 4 more that need to come down . . . yeah . . . Only . . . ( ugh )
No better time than the present . . . so I set forth on a task today . . . Cedar tree # 2 . . . Hold my beer . . .

View attachment 1336999

Well . . . that didn't go "so well" . . . but the tree is now technically down . . . ( or 2/3 of it is down ) . . .

View attachment 1337000

This tree was actually 2 trees growing very close together, and that's what caused them to split . . .

View attachment 1337001

Tree #3 is an Oak . . . and it's ready to go . . . once again, hold my beer . . .

View attachment 1337002

Did much better with this one as it was dropped right where I wanted it to go ( the whole thing too ) . . . ha ha

View attachment 1337003

The carnage . . . I've got a bit of a mess that'll need to be cleaned up . . . like I need any more projects . . .

View attachment 1337004

Glad to have 3 of the 5 down ( mostly down, that is ) . . . and only 2 more to go. Got a long weekend ahead of me . . .

More Later . . .

I love my 2 Pin Oaks out front. I’ll die before they come down OR kill someone if they try! Both transplants from woods behind me, 30+yrs and they are mine! Even fought my neighbor for the first, he said “I found it first”! No, u were 30feet off,there’s yours! Can never really trust the Army,lol.

 

[conv67bdere]

Well . . . well . . . well . . . it's been a very busy morning . . .

Needed to get these last (2) "stumps" down on the ground . . . so I can get to the cleanup . . .

The cedar, that split on me was "not too bad" . . . but it's now down on the ground . . . WHEW ! ! !

This oak, on the other hand . . . was a whole lot more work . . . but . . . it's now down on the ground . . .

Now I've got a whole lot of cleanup that needs to get done on the grounds . . . and a long weekend to get at it . . .

Plus, with them down, the work on the forms for the next concrete pad are in the plans to get started on . . .

More Later . . .

 

[conv67bdere]

Side job . . . Neighbor lost a tree . . . time for some cleanup ( firewood ) . . .

Neighbor lost a tree, have no clue what kind of tree this thing is . . . but it's big.
As you can see . . . the trunk split in half . . . so it's only part of the tree . . .

Here's the leaf of the tree . . . anybody know what this tree is ? ? ?

The thing is pretty big . . . lots of branches . . . and a good load of wood to boot . . .
You can see one of the stack of branches in the back of this picture . . .

Another view of what I had to work on . . . and it's size . . .
What you can't see . . . is right in the middle of that "mess" is a peach tree . . .
Did everything that I could to cut the tree and prevent any more damage to the peach tree . . .

Look at that . . . there IS a peach tree under all of the other tree . . .

Got the majority of it all cleaned up and hauled home . . .

Just got this load of the bigger logs that I'll need to contend with and get hauled back . . .

Was not too bad . . . but the humidity is through the roof down here . . . and I was soaking wet when I finished . . .


Okay . . . Okay . . . Now you'll know the rest of the story on the big old oak tree . . . and how it go down . . .

I cannot tell a lie . . .

The busted off cedar tree . . . and how it got down ( it was moving a lot of ground in the process )
no wonder it snapped off at the top . . .

And the big old oak . . . Notice all the digging that he did at the base prior to giving it a bit of a nudge . . .
Wish I could claim credit for it . . . but there was NO WAY I was getting that thing down . . .
so . . . a neighbor and reinforcements were called in . . . And very much appreciated ! ! !

What a weekend so far . . . lots of tree stuff getting done and a lot more left to get done . . .
Hopefully, tomorrow will not be rainy as it stated on the Thursday/Friday forecast . . .

Will know better tomorrow . . .

More Later . . ..

 

[conv67bdere]

Start of a new week . . . and a new day . . . and work to get done . . .

Had a bit of a break yesterday, as much needed rain filled most of our day . . .

Got out there today after work and continued my "de-limbing" (if that's a real word . . . )
of the trees that I took down in my backyard . . .

Oh - first . . . another picture of the evening sky here in NC . . . tried to get the cows in the pic ( you can kinda see them )

After a bit of research today . . . it appears to me that the tree that my neighbor lost was a beech tree . . .
And I've got a good bit of "tree" to make a good load of firewood . . . Here's one of the loads . . .

Clearing out the branches, so I can get to the trees with a chainsaw . . . made some great headway tonight . . .

Got most of the limbs trimmed off the trees and out of my way . . . ready for tomorrow - and the chainsaw . . .

This was the first Cedar that was taken down . . . it's about ready too . . . plus the big ole oak in the background . . .

Finally . . . the base of the split cedar and the remaining part of the oak tree - some of it is already cut up . . .

Got the two remaining pieces of the beech tree at the neighbors to get - will need to cut them smaller so I can move them . . .

Got a bunch of cutting and stacking to do here . . . but I still need to move my firewood holder building . . .

Pecking away at it one bit at a time . . .

More Later . . .

 

[Kern Dog]

I'll bet when you look back at pictures from a year ago, you are amazed at how far you have come.
I love progress pictures. It doesn't matter what the project is, either. I love to see stuff get finished. I've taken pictures of every job I have worked since 2014 just to relive some of the memories.
Looking at your stuff, I must have skipped over the removal of the original shop that sat to the right of your one sided structure. Seeing it missing was a surprise. I do recall some pictures elsewhere where you relocated it to another spot.
Good luck with it all.

 

[conv67bdere]

One day at a time . . . one log at a time . . . progress being made . . .

Got a chance to pull out the chainsaw tonight and take a stab at the stumps . . .

But first . . .

Yet another beautiful sunset in the Carolinas . . . this just never get old for me . . .

This was how this tree was looking yesterday . . .

And today after getting some work done with the chainsaw . . .

The busted stump of Cedar and the oak tree yesterday . . .

And today - the oak is cut, just needs to be rolled and the final part cut from the other side . . .

Was very rewarding to see that much get cut up in a very short amount of time (now I have to gather and stack it)

OH BOY ! ! ! And my firewood holder is not relocated yet . . . gotta get that high on the schedule . . .

More Later . . .

 

[Kern Dog]

I love running the chainsaw.
For a few minutes…
I’ve often thought it would be a lot easier if I had a helper to flip the logs and branches where I can’t cut all the way through.
I hate it when I accidentally slip and touch the dirt!
I’m guessing you have better luck than I do though.

 

[Ultra mag]

Finally some more progress . . . kinda . . .

Last night had to do some fighting with the heatpump . . . and that was also my

Morning session:

This is what I needed to work on . . . my outside fan was not starting - at times ( = NO Cooling )

View attachment 1171545

This is what I found when I opened it . . . what a cluster . . .
- a 5 mf taped to the 45/5 mf ( with it's 5 mf not in use . . . DUH ! )
- and a "booster" added to the 45 mf capacitor

View attachment 1171546

Another view of the original "mess" . . .

View attachment 1171547

Got enough connections to this common lead . . . even had a cheater on it to allow an additional connection . . .
GAWD ! ! !

View attachment 1171548

Now - if the HVAC people replace this for you - they charge you $300 for this . . . bought it for $30 . . .

View attachment 1171549

Motor cost me $175 . . . don't even want to know what they'd charge . . .
Only "trouble" that I thought I had . . . these nuts would not fit - so on the lathe, drilled and tapped out to 10-32
These are VERY large - with a 1/2" socket head on them . . .

View attachment 1171550

Here's my finished wiring job - showing some pride in my work . . .

View attachment 1171551

Including adding grommets through the metal to protect the wires . . .

View attachment 1171552

Everything worked great after getting it ALL put back together . . . EXCEPT . . .

The motor spins in the wrong direction ! ! !

Thought it was a direct replacement - never checked that direction . . . till it was all installed ! !

MY bad . . . morning session done . . .More later . . .

The booster is just for helping the compressor To start. I have enjoyed reading about your project you do make tired from all the reading you Are very Dedicated dude that was a lot of bags to mix might had been a good idea to put down poly before you poured the slab it keeps moisture from coming thru ,I made that mistake.We live in the same town and when you finish your project I would like to come by and check it out. See ya paw paw

 

[conv67bdere]

The backyard smells great . . . the aroma of cedar is everywhere . . .

The cleanup has added a nice aroma to the backyard . . .

This was the start of the limb cutting ( you can see some more behind the pile that need to be cut ) . . .

And the tree cleanup is going well as it's all getting stacked on the old concrete slab ( for now ) . . .

Had a beautiful full moon shining one night and thought I'd take a picture . . . but I was greatly disappointed . . .
The picture does NOT look anything like the brightness that I was seeing with my eye . . . but it's still pretty . . .

Tree cleanup . . . is still moving along . . .

The last cedar has now been cut up . . . and ready to be stacked . . . .

As is the oak tree . . . and some of the bigger branches in the foreground . . .

Not that big of a tree but it'll be great firewood for this winter . . .

The stack of tree limbs has been growing steadily . . . as is the stack of logs . . .
You'll notice that the stack of limbs behind the logs is no longer - they've been added to the stack out front . . .
Obie is getting the hang of this and he's liking the little cooler temps as he's staying out longer with me lately . . .

He's also "helping" . . . yeah right . . . he grabs a cut limb, runs out on the grass, chews on it for 5-10 minutes . . .
Then he's back in the stack grabbing another one (guess who gets to go pick them all up after the fact - AGAIN)

Would have gotten a bit further on the cutting but I ran out of gas - literally. No more gas for the chainsaw.

Side Note: when I get gas for the chainsaw or lawnmower, I ALWAY get non-ethanol as it's cheap "insurance".
- that ethanol "crap" is what gums up the carburetor if you leave it in the saw . . . non-ethanol won't do that . . .

Looks like I'll be going to get a commercial chainsaw ( probably today - it's raining ) to help with the bigger logs
that I've been getting lately and help me get them cut up faster as it won't bog down like the smaller ones do . . .

More Later . . .

 

[Cranky]

Wish I could find non ethanol gas around here....so my only choice is to treat it with Sta-Bil and double dose it. So far so good but I do run the gas out and put the saw up dry.

 

[HawkRod]

He's also "helping" . . . yeah right . . . he grabs a cut limb, runs out on the grass, chews on it for 5-10 minutes . . .
Then he's back in the stack grabbing another one (guess who gets to go pick them all up after the fact - AGAIN)

Nah, he's "inspecting" them to be sure you are doing an adequate job - can't just expect him to check just one out!

 

[conv67bdere]

Got the neighbor's fallen tree all cleaned up . . . and some wood cut . . .

Finished up the cutting and moving of the fallen tree at my neighbor's house . . .

Had a bit of a surprise in the tree . . . carpenter ants . . . lots of them too . . .

Got the last of the logs cut up and hauled back to my house . . .

Did a little bit of cutting on the smaller limbs of the tree to get them into firewood lengths . . . or close . . .
sop that they can start drying out a bit . . . I hope . . . the stack before the work . . . or during . . .

This is pretty cool . . . as they dry they're splitting . . . self splitting firewood . . . Gotta LOVE it ! ! !

The much diminished stack after the cut logs were stacked . . .

Just glad to have their yard cleaned up, as I said I would . . . and can get back to my yard clean up . . .

More Later . . .

 

[conv67bdere]

Back to some clean up on my property . . . and things are moving along alright . . .

Not able to get a lot done due to 2 days of rain . . . but took advantage of that today . . .

Two days of rain, and the root balls laying on their sides HELPED with the cleanup . . .
This is the worst root ball at the house (excluding the big oak) . . . I can barley move this thing . . .
This is the bottom view of the root ball . . .

From the side doesn't look much better . . . lot of dirt stuck in these roots . . . and I need to fill the hole . . .

But . . . with the rain, and dirt getting loosened up a bit . . . they can be cleaned up a whole lot better . . .
Look how much of the dirt has bee hacked away from the tree stump . . .

Not only that . . . there was a huge cavity up under the stump that was holding dirt and it got removed too . . .
Needless to say, this root ball will be MUCH easier to be moved now . . . thank goodness . . .

This was a different stump . . . and a couple minutes with a few splitting wedges . . . even doubled them up ! ! !

And then this . . . this is just about ready to be part of the firewood pile now . . .

This is the big old oak tree . . . and I spent a little time with it and some cleanup . . .
There are actually 3 more cuts in the log but they were being held together with the pressure of the tree against them

Had to pull out a pry bar and get them to separate from the rest of the trunk . . . .

Still got a lot of work to get done, but made some really good progress with this stuff today . . .
The rain did not help, in some ways . . . but helped out in other ways . . . I'll take what I can get . . .

More Later . . .

 

[oldbee]

I’ll bet all that cedar really smells good.

 

[conv67bdere]

Looks like it snowed at my house . . . what do you think ? ? ? ?

Finally broke down and got myself a new commercial grade chainsaw to help with the cutting.
And the verdict is in . . .

Holy Qwap ! ! !

This saw is a "beast" . . . and it made this huge oak tree a simple task . . .

Look at the chips that this thing threw out . . . and bog down . . . No way ! ! !

Went pretty big but it is well deserved and it'll really help with cutting part of firewood . . . for sure.

More Later . . .