2012 at the Hammond Barn

[Bob Carriere]

Colder than a mother-in-law's heart she was........

The wife convinced me that it would be toooo cold to work in the barn so we went photographing Snowy Owl....... it was minus 29C when we left the house at 7:45........ took me 30 minutes to get dressed...... felt like a two year old....warm but could not move. 4 hour Batteries lasted only about an hour in the camera before going dead........ did see 3 Snowy but they would not even respond to baiting with live lab mice......

Spent most of Saturday doing the snow/blow job while Grant did the roofs of the Winter canvass garages. Thanks for doing the shed/containers Rob.

More snow coming this week and Grant is toasting his buns in San Diago for the week.

Blowing snow is fine with modern conveniences.....sucks when the wind shifts and you wind up sucking most of it......
it was minus -15C when they were taken.

Bob

[maple_leaf_eh]

Good reminder to clear the accumulations off the soft-skin shelter. The accumulations in the front of the driveway have been relentless but not impossible to clear. Better to turn 180 degrees and start raking. Monday the weather is expected to break, and get into single digits below zero.

[RHClarke]

It got busy this week at work. Deadlines tend to focus one's thoughts and actions. Now that I have had some time to catch my breath, here is what happened last Sunday. It was cold, but not stupid cold (which I think is easier to survive that stupid hot...). Nonetheless, all three of us made it to the barn for what turned out to be a short day. The first to cross the barn's threshold has the joy of feeding Lucifer and confusing the local mosquito population - they actually do show up when Lucifer is at full glow!

Once Lucifer was sated, I got on to painting some of the items taken off of the Pilot Model HUP. The throw out arms from the windshields, sunshine hatch stopper plates, a few spring clamps and the two upper support pillars got their first coat of black paint.

Whilst slapping the paint on the pre-heated parts, Bob arrived. I think he was amused at how fast the paint dried on the parts. It might have something to do with having spent a few minutes resting on top of Lucifer's fire box. Shorthly thereafter, Grant arrived sporting his California tan. We spent the rest of the morning yakking about cleaning up the barn and other tasks - Bob proudly showed off his "air dryer". The boys put a fresh tarp over one of Grant's shelter to keep the ice and snow at bay. Then we drove to the thriving metropolis of Rockland for a nice sit down full breakfast. It was good to see Bob was behaving himself and was eating wisely.

Back at the barn we fiddled around with various bits and pieces and decided to call it a day. Sometimes you need a small break in the action - or maybe we were just plain lazy. We will make up for it in the future.

Photos

1 - Yep. It is still cold - Bob thawing out the air regulator with the "air dryer"
2 - Pilot Model parts awaiting a new coat of paint
3 - The same with their new coat airing themselves near Lucifer- notice Bob's new rack in the background

[RHClarke]

The boys were out to the barn on Saturday and they took care of shelter maintenance, snow removal and playing with a box. Bob can elaborate. Today was a very nice day with the mercury hitting -3 oC. The sun was out, so the first thing I did this morning was start up the HUP.

Bob arrived shortly after the HUP had warmed up and headed into the barn to spark up Lucifer. I jumped in the HUP and took a ride to the front of Bob's property where Grant was just pulling in. After turning the truck around, I headed back to the barn and out to the wagon line for some fun in the snow. I started out in two wheel drive with the intent of getting stuck in the snow, which was about a foot deep. Even with ice under the snow, the HUP chugged along nicely. After a spell I put her into four wheel drive and had some fun "dashing thru the snow".

On the way back, I decided to get into the deep snow at the rear of the barn. The truck had no problem going over the hills of snow Bob left after plowing around the barn. I noted with some amusement that the HUP was sort of like a male Basset Hound - its lower dangly bits left a small path in the deep snow... We had a quick lunch in Rockland at the local Tim Hortons, and as usual, chatted about the issues being discussed on MLU. After Bob finished his tea, we headed back to Hammond.

Back at the barn Bob and Grant made a spectacle of themselves by disassembling a lens grinding machine that Grant had obtained. We figured that there was no use for it as our glass man takes care of all of our glass needs - including beveling etc... My task was to do some welding on the HUP divider wall kick plate. The bottom lip had rotted from rust, so I replaced it.

Later, Bob and Grant designed a set of steel ramps to replace the old wooden ones that have come to the end of their lifecycle. They spent the remainder of the afternoon cutting up steel tube to prepare for the upcoming welding marathon. That will have to wait until next week, as Bob had a date with a Nun, and I headed home to watch the NHL All Star game. Grant was left behind to tend to Lucifer and lock up the barn for another weekend.

Photos:

1- Bob and Grant repairing Lucifer
2- HUP post snow frolic - someday I'll put the nose back on...
3- Grinding machine being worn down
4- New ramp parts being cut
5- Deep snow and "Basset" marks

[RHClarke]

The boys were out to the barn on Saturday and it looks like they spent the day assembling and welding the wheel ramps. Sunday started off fairly cool. It was -13 oC at 8AM but the sun was shining. The drive out to the barn was great with the sun dancing off the ice in the trees.

After sparking up Lucifer, I headed outside to clear the snow off the shelters. The warm weather on Saturday created a nice crust on the snow that made clearing snow fairly easy. The heavy layer of snow on the barn roof was fun to remove - it took a gentle nudge and instant avalanche! Bob and Joyce showed up later on to check on the local turkey population. There is a rafter of turkeys that have been moving around the local area.

After the turkey trek, Bob fired up the tractor and cleared the snow from the yard. Grant showed up at little later on and helped Bob work on the ramps. I did a little weld job on my tire rack and watched Bob and Grant do some more welding on the ramps. I am sure that they will be able to hold up a tank. The rest of the morning was spent adding a door handle to the rear door of the HUP. I am using a locking handle that required some modification to the door so that the security lugs fit in the opening.

After a quick lunch in Rockland, we got back to CMP related work. Bob and Grant cleaned up a set of shelves, and sorted out some nuts and bolts. I started assembling the lower portion of the HUP divider wall. With Grants aid, we managed to put it together in short order.

In the meantime, Lucifer was belting out the heat and we hit 70 oF inside the barn. The many layers of winter clothing started to come off as we worked up a sweat in the front of the barn. In the back of the barn, near Lucifer, Bob sorted out the steel supply and made use of the rack system he and Grant constructed. Smaller pieces of metal were stacked on the racks located near Lucifer and this opened up a lot of space.

The afternoon passed quickly, and all too soon, I had to head back home. The boys stayed behind for more clean up.

Photos:

1 - Mega ramps - awaiting more cross and lateral bracing
2 - Avalanche country - that stuff comes down quickly and with force!
3 - HUP rear door's new handle
4 - A great rack!
5 - HUP lower divider wall with wood panels installed

[Phil Waterman]

Hi Guys

The ramp design looks interesting how about a photo showing the hook over to keep the ramp and the flat stand together, see a little of it in the photo. What are you going to cover them with for tread surface? What size box tubing did you use?

I've been using chunks of 10x10 block but your solution looks much more elegant.

Cheers Phil

[Bob Carriere]

Hi Phil

I had been using a highway guardrail post for 15 years and added up a few 2x8 fro greater height as required...... as they sit outside they eventually rotted and became home to some colony of ants.

So decided that I should finally build some decent safe ramps as I had fallen off the ramps on the last oil change.

I basically copied the eight and lenght of the wooden ramps but made them in two parts for ease of moving them around....also because on my Ford diesel they have installed a fuel filter inside the frame underneath the driver's side..... so when the truck is on the wheel stand the ramp portion is in the way. In this fashion I can remove it do the job. replace and drive the truck down....... watch the day I forget to re-install the ramp Ka boom.....

I used 1/8 square tubing 1 1/2...... very sturdy like everything that we overbuild but should be able to use it for C15 to C60 trucks if need be.

Will take some photos and measurements and publish.

I plan on welding some HD expanded steel on the ramp and on the top wheel stand..... that will make them self cleaning with all our mud and snow and provide good traction...... fall back plan if too expensive will be sheets of 10 gauge spare steel and light gauge expanded steel in narrow strip just for traction.

They should last a life time and a half...... once slightly rusted over for bite will paint them with left over Tremclad paint.

The bottom device to hold the two section together was salvaged from the spare bin..... it is a piece of heavy 1/4 in. U shape channel 1 1/2 by 4 welded to the bottom section of the ramp portion it rides over the front stand and holds beautifully so far..... again back up plan if I find the top as a tendency to open will be to fabricate a U shape device that will fit in the open end of the square tubing as a safety pin......

Do you still have snow around your place...?

Bob C.