Between 705 & 1200 SQ/FT A new lease on life: 30x40 schoolhouse conversion

[jollygreengiant]

OK, seems to be working now. Not sure what that was all about.

Anyways, this is how much snow we had in only 24 hours.



This was the result of a very strong band of lake effect snow setting up over us coming off of lake Huron. The crazy part was, we were just on the edge of it and got this much. The area that was under the heavy part of the streamer got almost double the snow that we did! Unfortunately it was more than enough to lead to issues with buildings collapsing. There was dozens of fabric style hoop barns that came down, plus old bank barns, pig barns, cattle barns, equipment sheds, and even grain bins. And very unfortunately for some farmers those barns collapses where in barns that had livestock in them, which meant that some had to be put down. It seems that houses were spared from roof collapses but hearing of lots that had the eaves ripped off when the snow came off the roof.

Needless to say I was very happy to have the tractor functioning to clear out all this snow. Even with the big blower it still took a long time as I could only take half widths. I couldn't imagine how long it would have taken with my walk behind blower.



There was a couple spots on my house and shop roofs where the snow was getting a bit thick, including this spot above my generator.



I rigged up a bit of a roof rake on my apple picker and was able to get most of it down.

 

[jollygreengiant]

Anneal your copper washers to make them soft and try again.

I never thought of that. Will keep that in mind for future use.

 

[captain14]

Glad to see your got the tractor up and running. Is the fuel bowl a special order or a stocked item?


Hate to see the farmers loose livestock and property in a significant storm like that. Must be very hard for them.

 

[loganb]

Enjoy the white Christmas and Merry Christmas!

 

[dmittz]

Wow that is a lot of snow, good thing you got the tractor operational again!

Merry Christmas!

 

[zanyad]

Lots of snow, glad you were able to kluge the fuel system before you got dumped on!

Also, Merry Christmas to you and yours!

 

[jollygreengiant]

Glad to see your got the tractor up and running. Is the fuel bowl a special order or a stocked item?


Hate to see the farmers loose livestock and property in a significant storm like that. Must be very hard for them.

Some places stock them but not all. I got some replacements online, which was a saga in and of itself. Otherwise the closest store that had one was a 30 minute drive, which I simply didn't have time to do in the last couple weeks.

Enjoy the white Christmas and Merry Christmas!

Wow that is a lot of snow, good thing you got the tractor operational again!

Merry Christmas!

Lots of snow, glad you were able to kluge the fuel system before you got dumped on!

Also, Merry Christmas to you and yours!

Merry Christmas you guys! And a merry Christmas to everyone else that reads these shenanigans of mine!

 

[xtremek]

Holy Cow that's a lot of snow. We got a whopping 2", and it's pretty much all gone now.

 

[Horror Business]

Excellent thread! Just read from the beginning today. Nice family you have, congratulations! Hard work is the way forward. Good for you for embracing that.

 

[jollygreengiant]

Holy Cow that's a lot of snow. We got a whopping 2", and it's pretty much all gone now.

Ours is all gone now too. We went above freezing on Christmas day, with the last couple days being double digit temps. Plus a whole bunch of rain. Now there's water everywhere just in time for it to freeze again.

Excellent thread! Just read from the beginning today. Nice family you have, congratulations! Hard work is the way forward. Good for you for embracing that.

Thanks for the kind words!

 

[jollygreengiant]

I've been really behind on maintenance on the wife's Edge; time to remedy that.

I noticed when I put the winter tires on that the rear pads were getting quite low. The rotors were still good, so a few days ago I did a pad swap on the rear brakes. Everything went pretty well.



Cut it a little close on this one. Old vs new.




Then I had some time after Christmas that I got the rest of it done. Oil change, coolant change, and cabin air filter change.

Some of you may notice the piece of wood holding the hood up. That's because I found out that the hood struts are shot. This car is only six years old. Thanks Ford.




In another "thanks Ford" moment, this was the location for the coolant drain valve. Can't see it? Neither could I for a while. Once I did find it getting pliers on it was a real treat.



Also discovered this not so wonderful surprise. That wet area is the remnants of a mouse house on top of the engine. I spared you guys the nasty before pic, AKA I forgot to take a before pic lol.



I really should start putting tools away after each job. This is the result of not doing so after a half dozen different projects in the shop. I'm still not sure why I'm posting this one as it's a bit embarrassing. Maybe there's a message to be conveyed here? I don't know, I just know that I felt that I should post it.

 

[legenddc]

Seems like your shop helper needs to learn to put things away!

Happy New Year!

 

[hobie18]

I've been really behind on maintenance on the wife's Edge; time to remedy that.

I noticed when I put the winter tires on that the rear pads were getting quite low. The rotors were still good, so a few days ago I did a pad swap on the rear brakes. Everything went pretty well.



Cut it a little close on this one. Old vs new.




Then I had some time after Christmas that I got the rest of it done. Oil change, coolant change, and cabin air filter change.

Some of you may notice the piece of wood holding the hood up. That's because I found out that the hood struts are shot. This car is only six years old. Thanks Ford.




In another "thanks Ford" moment, this was the location for the coolant drain valve. Can't see it? Neither could I for a while. Once I did find it getting pliers on it was a real treat.



Also discovered this not so wonderful surprise. That wet area is the remnants of a mouse house on top of the engine. I spared you guys the nasty before pic, AKA I forgot to take a before pic lol.



I really should start putting tools away after each job. This is the result of not doing so after a half dozen different projects in the shop. I'm still not sure why I'm posting this one as it's a bit embarrassing. Maybe there's a message to be conveyed here? I don't know, I just know that I felt that I should post it.

Definitely means you need a working toolbox. One that facilitates your work.

Now if only you could find the right setup. Hmmm if only you knew a place. Advice too.

 

[xtremek]

I thought that was my bench, but I didn't see any used oil jugs, and my drill is a cordless Milwaukee.

 

[captain14]

We’ve all been there with organized Kaos (sp?) on the workbench.

Where does the Edge live when not In your shop? The “new” garage?

 

[dmittz]

Yes, I've been there a few times too with tools all over. I usually know its time to clean up when I spend more time looking for tools than working, lol.

 

[Ford52PU]

How'd you get that picture of my workbench top?? It happens all the time.

You sure got your moneys worth out of those brake pads! Good job!

 

[jollygreengiant]

Seems like your shop helper needs to learn to put things away!

Happy New Year!

Lol. I actually keep after her to put her stuff away. Nothing like having to navigate around toys left on stairs or a tricycle left in the main traffic area in the shop. Maybe I should be doing that to myself some more.

Definitely means you need a working toolbox. One that facilitates your work.

Now if only you could find the right setup. Hmmm if only you knew a place. Advice too.

Lol. If anything I sometimes need to stay away from this website. There's so many good ideas here but I simply can't implement a lot of them for the time being.

I thought that was my bench, but I didn't see any used oil jugs, and my drill is a cordless Milwaukee.

And there's not a few pounds of decomposed Dodge truck on the floor either.

There's lots of decomposed Chevy, but just don't bump the truck so it doesn't end up on the floor lol.

We’ve all been there with organized Kaos (sp?) on the workbench.

Where does the Edge live when not In your shop? The “new” garage?

It lives in the garage, and it gets driven almost every day. So I was a bit surprised to see that. We haven't seen any indications of mice in the garage either.

Yes, I've been there a few times too with tools all over. I usually know its time to clean up when I spend more time looking for tools than working, lol.

It's funny, whenever I clean it off I always say to myself that this is so much easier to work on and I should do this every time. And yet I consistently find myself right back at square one with a cluttered work bench.

How'd you get that picture of my workbench top?? It happens all the time.

You sure got your moneys worth out of those brake pads! Good job!

It certainly seems to around here.

That pad was actually the worst out of all of them. I think that caliper wasn't sliding very well as the inner pad on that wheel had quite a bit more life left on it. But some brake lube on the slide pins and where the pads carry should help. I really should get back into the routine of cleaning and lubing the brakes once a year. It really helps prolong parts lifespans up here in the land of road salt.

 

[jollygreengiant]

Oh, and a happy New Year everyone!

Side note: how are we already 1/4 of the way through the century?? I still remember New Year's eve and the Y2K hoopla like it wasn't that long ago.

 

[kj_mustang]

I still remember New Year's eve and the Y2K hoopla like it wasn't that long ago.

HA! I said the same thing on a Conference call meeting this morning to a couple 30+ year olds since we all work in IT/Security.

 

[xtremek]

Y2K? Shoot, it seems like the Berlin Wall came down recently, the Nam war was over not too long ago. Yeah, I know that I'm dating myself.

 

[jollygreengiant]

Y2K? Shoot, it seems like the Berlin Wall came down recently, the Nam war was over not too long ago. Yeah, I know that I'm dating myself.

I wasn't even alive for either of those events. But I'm sure they would have been like 9/11 was, an event that you won't forget.

 

[captain14]

Just an idea but YouTuber Watch Wes Work cleans up his work area at the start of the day instead of at the end of the day/project. He finds out it works better for him.

But when the customer takes the vehicle home, will he bring the “missing tool” back?

 

[jollygreengiant]

Well we are firmly in the midst of winter here. We've got more snow currently than the last few years combined. And that big dump we got earlier that I posted about all melted over Christmas too; this is all new snow since the first if January. It's also been really cold so there hasn't been much activity at all in the shop, but there is other stuff going on.

The tractor has definitely been earning It's keep. There was one stretch where I blew snow for 10 out of 14 days. But it did let me down for a couple days. We had a stretch where we got down to -22⁰ C at nights which got the shop down to about -10⁰, and apparently once it gets that cold this tractor won't start. Had a coolant heater, magnetic oil pan heater, and a battery charger on it and it would not go, even with ether. Thankfully I still have the little walk behind blower so I could open the driveway enough to get out.



This is the snowbank at the side of the road just beside our place. That bank is 6' high, it's the highest I've ever seen it since we moved here. It would definitely have been higher if the neighbors hadn't trimmed it back with their snowblower. The DOT had to bring in heavy snowblowers to push the banks back along the roads, some of them where 10-12' tall and in some cases where over the white line on the road.




It's not all doom and gloom though. Got the family out for a walk on a nice sunny day when it was -10⁰ but no wind. It was actually pretty nice.




And I've been doing a lot of work on the house. In progress pic of the tongue and groove ceiling we did in the mudroom.




We weren't planning to do this right now but things forced our hand. Basically without any insulation in the garage, especially the ceiling, the condensation was so bad that it would literally rain inside the garage. We had to put a stop to that, so it was time to insulate it. Luckily I was able to find a guy on marketplace selling insulation for a good price. It was in big rolls which made for a lot of cutting, but I'll take that since I got this stuff for half of what it would have cost to buy it from the box stores.




Most of it's done in this pic, just working on the foam board pieces for the headers.

 

[Michigan Mike]

Next time you take the kiddos for a walk in subzero temps. Take a bottle of bubble stuff and blow bubbles. They freeze almost instantly. You can stick a finger through them and they don't collapse the wind will blow them along the ground and if you are careful you can pick them up and hold them.

 

[tweidman]

Nice pup, Brittany?

 

[jollygreengiant]

Next time you take the kiddos for a walk in subzero temps. Take a bottle of bubble stuff and blow bubbles. They freeze almost instantly. You can stick a finger through them and they don't collapse the wind will blow them along the ground and if you are careful you can pick them up and hold them.

I've never heard of that before, will have to try it out!

Nice pup, Brittany?

Yep, registered Brittany Spaniel. He'll be 8 years old this summer and is slowing down some but still loves to get outside and run.

 

[dmittz]

That's some serious snow you have there! I don't envy all the snow clearing you have had to do.

 

[Lookin4'67Galaxieconv]

Just got caught up in your thread, it's been awhile. Good stuff as always. Congrats on your new son! Our daughter is four now and has the energy of twins.

Having grown up in metro Detroit, I miss a beautiful sunny day in the middle of winter with snow on the ground. Don't miss those temps though. In North Georgia we had our coldest weather so far in January with lows at night in the twenties and highs in the thirties. That's cold enough for me these days.

 

[jollygreengiant]

That's some serious snow you have there! I don't envy all the snow clearing you have had to do.

Me neither lol, as I'm thinking there's going to be a lot of it in my future. There's a lot of snow around the house now and I'm starting to worry about where it will all go if we get a quick melt this spring. So I'll likely clear some of it away from the house before that happens.

Just got caught up in your thread, it's been awhile. Good stuff as always. Congrats on your new son! Our daughter is four now and has the energy of twins.

Having grown up in metro Detroit, I miss a beautiful sunny day in the middle of winter with snow on the ground. Don't miss those temps though. In North Georgia we had our coldest weather so far in January with lows at night in the twenties and highs in the thirties. That's cold enough for me these days.

Thanks! She definitely has lots of energy, I wish I had that much.

I'm about ready for some warmer weather. This constant snow and cold and grey gloom is getting tiring.

 

[dmittz]

Me neither lol, as I'm thinking there's going to be a lot of it in my future. There's a lot of snow around the house now and I'm starting to worry about where it will all go if we get a quick melt this spring. So I'll likely clear some of it away from the house before that happens.

Yes that's likely a good idea.

I actually had that issue here on Christmas eve one year. We got a lot of snow over a few weeks, then the temperature very suddenly rose from -10C to about 10C as a warm front moved in, which of course also brought very heavy rain. The ground under the snow was still mostly frozen and the snow ontop was rapidly melting with the rain and warm temp. And it seemed like if I left it that way we were going to risk water coming into the back door of the basement. There is a drain by that door, but I didn't want to chance it. Anyways having a tractor is pretty great for solving problems, I just cleared all the snow away from the house, so there was about a 30ft buffer of exposed ground. Thich worked great!

 

[jollygreengiant]

Winter just keeps coming.

The little spec in the middle of this pic is the top of my driveway marker. That marker is about 30" tall...



The pathway to the front door is becoming a snow tunnel. The banks on this side are so tall that I can't see over them from my half ton pickup when I'm pulling out of the driveway.



Had to dig out the furnace and dryer vents at least once a day for a while.




This is a common site on the roads.




But as the calendar marched on winter was loosing it's grip and spring was getting closer, but that brought about another problem. I was worried that this massive pile of snow would end up in my basement if we got a fast melt. So I set out to relocate it.



I've never had to tell my dog to get out of the tree before lol. For reference, those bottom branches are more than 5' off the ground.

 

[XJSuperman]

Ah ha, so thats where all our winter moisture went! Don't tell the farmers down here lol. You have fun with that, I prefer less snow anyways. Probably a great year for snowmobiling up there then?

 

[captain14]

What’s you guess when it will be all melted and gone?

Hope fully before planting season.

 

[jollygreengiant]

Ah ha, so thats where all our winter moisture went! Don't tell the farmers down here lol. You have fun with that, I prefer less snow anyways. Probably a great year for snowmobiling up there then?

Oh yeah it was a great winter for snowmobiling, trails here were open for over 2 months. Which is a big change from the last few years, especially last year when the trails were barely open for 2 days. You could even ride all the way down to the north shore of Lake Erie, it's been years since those trails were open. It's almost enough to make me consider getting a snow machine but I think this year is more the exception than the rule.

What’s you guess when it will be all melted and gone?

Hope fully before planting season.

It's actually pretty well all gone now, I'm just a few weeks behind in posting updates lol.

 

[Spareparts]

Well it's supposed to be near 75 here today and predictated to have heavy snow and
high winds tomorrow, land of OZ.

 

[Lookin4'67Galaxieconv]

75 here in Atlanta, Georgia today.

 

[dmittz]

Oh man, rough weather. I'm glad Spring has arrived here on the west coast.

 

[jollygreengiant]

Once the snow started to melt I started finding all the shear bolts that the blower had went through. Seemed a waste to throw them all out so I threaded a few. These were 2.5" bolts originally so they weren't threaded all the way to the head.



But as I alluded to earlier, spring did eventually start to weaken winter's grasp on us. Thankfully we didn't get any big rains while we still had all of our snow. But we did have one warm weekend that, between big snowbanks and frozen ground, made for a lot of water. This one in particular was getting big enough that it was getting close to the house and my septic tank riser, so I decided to relocate it. I ended up pumping it down 5 times in one weekend.



Haircut time for the new fruit trees.




I'm still having issues with the tractor. Once it's running I can restart it fine, but getting it started is a battle. I wanted to start it one day when the shop was -5 C, I plugged the coolant heater in for 2 hours but it still wouldn't start. The next day it was -1 C in the shop, I put the coolant heater on it for 4 hours plus a oil pan heater and this time it did start. Although it still wasn't happy about it. While trying to start it, it sounded like it was firing on one cylinder, then two, but then it would take a bit for the third one to catch. Based on that, and the fact that it started fine once it was warm and running, I was beginning to wonder if I had a compression problem. I took the injectors out to test it, but found something else first. I haven't seen diesel injectors before but these don't look very good to me.






There was fairly fresh anti seize on the last injector I pulled. I'm thinking the guy I bought this tractor from was in here before.



So the injectors are off to a diesel shop to get checked over.

 

[captain14]

You need to post your idea of rethreading your shear bolts in the repurposed thread.

The repurposing thread

I don't believe I've seen a thread like this so I thought I'd start one. Show off your repurposed items. Prefer "useful" things versus scrap turned into "art". I'll start with my plasma cart made from an old pressure washer cart. Welded some shaped round stock around various places to hold the...

www.garagejournal.com

Just a thought, but my neighbor had a fire this week in his garage with significant damage. Do you have any kind of alarm system in the schoolhouse?