It's alright to be Little Bitty!

Our home is going up. All 1,200 sf. We're downsizing!

Look out Cousin Eddie!

This is where we lived for about 10 months while we were building our home and working on our storage barn and planting trees. I would do it again, it was great but very difficult at times. We started off dry camping with one battery.  I carried water from the spring with a 4 gallon backpack. Electricity was supplied by a large gas generator. Later a 30 amp Yamaha generator was added and 3 more marine batteries in parallel.  The 4 batteries would keep the heat going all night with plenty of power left over in the morning and the 30 amp generator was much quieter.

Just Add Water?

My new (well new to me) 2010 F250 King Ranch. The above Video is the Moonroof leaking. My wife is running the hose on the moonroof from the bed while I video inside. I keep returning it to the Sarasota Ford
dealer but they say it is not leaking. You should have seen it during one of our local Thunderstorms. It was really ugly, water was running down the right front post and onto the floor and apparantly into the fuse box.

Bought this truck so my wife, dog and cats can pull a fifth wheel around the country in a little bit of comfort. Apparantly now were going to have to wear rain suits when it's raining. That is if I don't find someone who can figure out how to stop my sunroof from leaking.

                                    Here is a video of the land after bushhogging. What a difference! I left the patch of grass at the end of the video for the birds. I saw an Indigo Bunting several times in this area along with many other small birds that seemed to be foraging for food in this area, along with some (I'll call them field mice) which I am sure are a tasty treat for the red foxes that live in the den in the low area.

The Campsite, If only my new 2010 Ford F250 HD Turbo Diesel would be as reliable as this old 498N Ford. It amazes me how it starts every time on the first try. The hotter it gets the better it runs. It is an awfully simple system, not near as complex as the vehicles made today.

Not too many level places on this piece of property.

                                                                           

Just A Thought

I was sitting here looking at my last post with the pegs in the bucket and thinking that maybe I should have somehow tried to make the pegs myself. By the looks of the eight sided pegs I figured I would only have needed a table saw and some oak boards and I could have done these myself. The problem is I have no table saw and nowhere to put the thing and where would I get the oak boards from. I guess it was bothering me that these things weren't cheap and if I put two per joint like I planned then I would probably need about 100 more than I have already bought. This is in addition to the learning process I am going through trying to figure out the best way to use a gin pole for my small barn project. I am sure that one will help out especially if I only have a couple of people helping me but again the thing isn't cheap and the logistics are all new to me. I purchased a strap from Tractor Supply that is really too long but it looks sturdy and if I wrap it a one or two  times around the beam then the 20' stap is effectivly reduced to the length I need. The strap has the hooks with the spring loaded self locking lever which I liked and has a hook at both ends. This means I will need two straps and end up with four hooks coming together at the block. Four hooks coming to one hook is not going to work so I purchased what I'll call an adapter but the end that will accomidate the four hooks isn't large enough so above is a picture of my compromise. This is one strap so imagine two of these hanging on the block. I don't know about you but I'm thinking this looks a little rediculous although I do believe it will work. I guess my point is I'll tackel these issues one at a time so for now I'll just pay for someone else to do the pegs while I try to figure out the best way to put this thing together and not hurt anyone.

Really Hot outside, Ordering the joist hangers, and buying the pegs and straps for raising.

Got New straps for raising!

New Pegs or wood nails. Probably gonna need more. I'm soaking these in a mixture of linseed oil and turpentinde. These are 8 sided and 12" long. I didn't count but should be approx. 80 per bucket. 

Pegs oiled and ready. Since these pegs appear to be dried when they arrived, I believed it was a good idea to oil them so they wouldn't draw moisture from the timber surrounding the pegs. Probably make them go in a little easier also. I Hope.

The Learning Continues

Just purchased this Double Pulley Wood Block and Tackle for 3/4 inch rope to help with lifting during the assembly process. Got it for about $80 with shipping which is a whole lot less than a new set. Now I have to pick out  a nice straight pine that I can gert and peel to use for a gin pole. I have never used one so thanks to the internet I should be able to figure it out. Here is pretty good website that explains the setup and safety. I figure a bent will weight just under 1,000 lbs. so with a couple of strong backs and a pulley at the bottom of the gin pole to redirect the pull and hooked to a tractor, the bents should be pretty easy to upright once assembled.

http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/policy/navy/nrtc/14251_ch6.pdf

Another really good site that describes the construction of a similar shed as mine is:

http://www.forestryforum.com/board/index.php?topic=16300.0
and

http://www.forestryforum.com/board/index.php?topic=30792.0

Although my maximum beam  length by design is 12', I believe that it will still be beneficial for me to use a gin pole if I can figure out how to do it effeciently and safely. I still need to find me a single redirecting block for a 3/4" rope.