2013 at the Hammond Barn

[RHClarke]

Any Game of Thrones fans out there? Not too many here at the barn, but once October hits, we know what is lurking in the near future. Cold, and lots of it. With that in mind, the fine folks at the barn completed a few tasks that should keep Lucifer happy over the coming eight or so months. Bob has spent a lot of time putting in his fire wood for his home and for the barn. Fortunately, he has some time to spare these days!

This weekend past, Grant, Bob and I replenished the wood pile inside the barn by using the left over wood in the wood shed. We then unloaded by hand a well-filled 3/4 ton SMP trailer of cut and split fire wood. By the time we had finished, we had a very well stacked supply on hand for feeding Lucifer.

The next object of attention was to remove Bob's hobby tractor from the front of the barn. The tractor fired up nicely (and loudly - no muffler) and Bob drove it to its winter storage site. If you look closely at the photos below, you will see Bob's improvised tractor seat.

We had a nice lunch in Rockland, where we chatted about things CMP and the passing of Alex Blair. Alex's service last week reminded us of the temporary nature of life, and the need to follow his example and enjoy your family, friends and shared hobbies. Rest in peace, Alex. We will miss you.

Photos: (ignore the time/date stamps)
1 - Lucifer's food
2 - Bob in the wood shed
3 - Grant and the wood trailer
4 - Bob fiddling with Alice
5 - Alice heading for storage

[RHClarke]

Winter prep continued at the barn this past week. Bob and I spent some time cutting logs and filling the trailer. Once that was done, we moved some of the trucks in the wagon lines as they had sunk up to their rims. One 3/4 ton truck could not be moved as it seems that all four brakes had seized up.

Later on, we prepared one of the project trucks for winter by wrapping it up and moving it away from the edge of the barn to prevent avalanche damage from snow and ice falling from the barn roof. The wrapping on the truck will raise some questions from visitors to the barn. We already had comparisons to the Israeli armoured truck in another thread, but it is only a HUP frame with the Pilot Model HUP body stacked on top of it.

Just before quitting time, we dragged a reluctant CMP frame to the barn to salvage a set of split rims. One of the wheels refused to turn, so it left a trail all the way to the barn. Removing the nuts took some time and effort, but we managed to get them off with no damage to the nuts or studs. There was no fear of any of the wheels falling off the truck.

With that task completed, we chatted about the differences in the engine covers for the Chev line of CMPs. We noted that the bulge on the driver side of the doghouse varied in size, and that some doghouses had one round access hole, while others had two. It will be interesting to find out why the designers went from one to two holes (or from two to one hole). That took up the rest of the day, so we headed out while the sun was still shining.


Next step: clean out the front of the barn and organize the shelves (a pipe dream that I keep having every year).

Photos:
1 - Hammond log holder
2 - Mystery machine
3 - Another view
4 - The man at work

[Wpns 421]

Sounds like you guys could use a nice 5 ton wrecker for all this work. I have 2, one for sale Hint Hint
Gilles

[RHClarke]

Originally Posted by Wpns 421

Sounds like you guys could use a nice 5 ton wrecker for all this work. I have 2, one for sale Hint Hint
Gilles

Gilles, That sounds like a great idea - we will be talking to you after we cash in the winning lottery ticket. Until then, if you like, you can store one at the barn...you know, just in case someone near Ottawa wants to look it over...

[charlie fitton]

you can store one at the barn...you know, just in case someone near Ottawa wants to look it over...

smooth - real smooth.

[RHClarke]

Today was one of the best weather days we had in a long time. It was sunny and about 10oC with a slight wind blowing. One could labour away without instantly working up a sweat, and one did not have to worry about the billions of annoying flying insects that usually plague the barn.

We were short one of the crew (Grant was away), but we managed to get some more maintenance done before the snow flies, which by all accounts is due sooner than later this year. Bob headed off to Rockland to pick up some hydraulic fluid for the tractor. He and Grant swapped out a diverter valve on the wood splitter and as usual, needed more fluid than what was at hand.

I cleaned out my sea can and set up a winching system to put the HUP to bed. This is necessary as I will not be able to drive nose first into the box after I put in the divider. So, the plan is to hook up the winch system, back the HUP into the box far enough so that I can open the door, shut down and get out. After retrieving the hand winch and hooking it to the front bumper (design still being considered at this point), the idea is to hand wind the truck into the box until its rear wheels hit a cleat. Then it will be chocked.

Since we had no brilliant ideas about how to attach the hand winch to the front bumper, I decided to take the HUP for a spin. Bob decided to roto-till his garden and the small field behind the wagon lines. I met him at the field and he asked if I would like to take a few circuits of the freshly tilled field. Yessir! I had a blast pushing the HUP in both two and four wheel drive. The truck got really loose in two wheel drive, but tracked wonderfully at speed in four wheel drive.

After that fun, we cleaned up and headed home. Nothing like a CMP ride in the cool fall air to raise ones spirits!


Photos:
1 - Bob's pet project - any ideas?
2 - More of the same
3 - Grant's handiwork
4 - The HUP resting after a hard run

[RHClarke]

We have been busy at the barn, but mostly with the same old thing - preparing for winter and working on CMP things. As part of the winter prep, Bob put up a small snow shelter by Lucifer's outside chimney - see photos one and two above. The shelter is to prevent the build up of snow and ice around the chimney. In the past, ice has formed, melted when the furnace was on, and then, as the chimney cooled, built up more ice. This ice was pushing against the chimney and exposed a gap that allowed the weather in.

On a less-exciting note, the HUP in the Box problem was sorted out. The issue had to do with driver access when the truck is put away in the sea container. Recently, the HUP was driven front first into the box and egress was via the back door. This egress is no longer available with the installation of the full floor to wall divider.

Now, the HUP is backed up to the lip of the container and is hooked up to a winch system. A cable is secured to a cleat inside the container and this cable runs to a pulley block that is attached to the rear frame rail of the HUP. The cable continues to another pulley block on the same floor-mounted cleat and then runs outside the box under the HUP to a hand winch.

The hand winch is set up like a tow hitch, where it plugs into a receiver mounted on a purpose-built frame that attaches to the front bumper of the HUP. After the HUP is hooked in, it is reversed into the box to the point where the driver's door can still be opened. The engine is shut off and the truck is left out of gear with the front wheels chocked. The winching mount assembly is then attached to the front bumper. The hand winch is then fetched from underneath the truck and then placed into the receiver. The hand cranking begins.

The first attempt at this system proved a failure as the bar that was set between the frame rails parted company under the load put on it by the pulley block. Thus, the second attempt had the pulley block attached to the hole in the driver's side rear frame rail. The second attempt worked quite nicely. When the front wheels hit the frame of the sea container, there is some effort required during the winding, but once the wheels clear the threshold, the HUP moves quite effortlessly into position - there is a cleat nailed to the floor to stop the rear wheels at the correct location to allow the closing of the front doors.

I chose to go with the hand winch because I am not only a cheap son of a gun (I didn't want to pay for an electric winch), but I don't like running electrical extension cords in wet environments. The cost of materials was minimal: $25.00 for a 2500 lb rated hand winch, $20.00 for the steel, $30.00 for supplies etc...

Photos:
1 - General set up
2 - More of the same
3 - Shot of the hand winch
4 - Clearance achieved