xtremek
Well-known member
I debated whether to post or not, because I don't want to seem proud, but I really enjoy certain threads and thought that some one might feel the same about what the wife and I are going through. She is the mother of 4 girls (all still at home), was divorced about 10 years, and worked the equivalent of 2 full time jobs for most of it(professors have weird schedules).
So the place that was already rough (lazy ex who started everything but stopped when the project was torn down
) went to the dogs. The driveway was worthy of the Baja 1000, with several holes roughly 14"-16" deep and longer than my F-150 Supercrew. The barn (30'x40') had so much junk that you couldn't park a motorcycle in it, or get a bicycle out of it. The garden shed still has a 1' hole in the roof and is missing both doors on one end. The house needs a new roof, and the deck has never been treated, there were sevearl holes inthe decking, the railing is falling off the one end, and the steps WERE about to collapse. Piles of rotting fire wood were strewn around the yard and the mounds of clay that had been pulled out when the foundation of the barn ahd been built (15-20years earlier).
And this is where our story begins. The first order of business was to get the barn usuable. 2 days of dragging junk out into a pile and the biggest bonfire I've ever seen
. Yes, firetrucks were involved
, but no one and nothing were ever in danger, just an over anxious nosey neighbor was worried that his house 2 miles away would burn down.
So the place that was already rough (lazy ex who started everything but stopped when the project was torn down
) went to the dogs. The driveway was worthy of the Baja 1000, with several holes roughly 14"-16" deep and longer than my F-150 Supercrew. The barn (30'x40') had so much junk that you couldn't park a motorcycle in it, or get a bicycle out of it. The garden shed still has a 1' hole in the roof and is missing both doors on one end. The house needs a new roof, and the deck has never been treated, there were sevearl holes inthe decking, the railing is falling off the one end, and the steps WERE about to collapse. Piles of rotting fire wood were strewn around the yard and the mounds of clay that had been pulled out when the foundation of the barn ahd been built (15-20years earlier).And this is where our story begins. The first order of business was to get the barn usuable. 2 days of dragging junk out into a pile and the biggest bonfire I've ever seen
. Yes, firetrucks were involved, but no one and nothing were ever in danger, just an over anxious nosey neighbor was worried that his house 2 miles away would burn down.Attachments
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It had been sitting outside for the last 20+ years and was buried in the dirt and seized up tight.
I also learned how to break down tractor tires (put in 3 new tubes) using a few large chisels, some prybars, and one tire iron. She’s up and running, although it seems the generator is dying. Added some lights and a removable triangle and put “the Old Mule” to work. And she has been worked very hard.
It was built for the IGVC competition. Here's a video that one of the guys editted in MatLab. 
The edges of the T-111 were butted up to each other and never caulked.
Next paycheck should finish it off.
MActually my daughter loves busting concrete so much, we got her a sledgehammer of her own. The pic of where tractor is sitting used to be one of two mounds that were about 30-yards of clay my neighbor helped move down to the mosquito farm I have down the driveway.
It sat up there for about 2 weeks before I got going on it. I had it within about 3" from where I wanted it, when the cribbing collapsed. 
