Above 1200 Sq/FT Bailey's Barn Build

[BuickFarmer]

Been wondering where you have been. What kind of grass did you plant? I planted some turf type fescue, Rebel, two years ago and it is very slow to cover. Nice job on the chairs, looks like you're making good use of and enjoying the barn and tools. How is the moat working?
Don't be a stranger

 

[xtremek]

Those chairs look real nice. What was wrong with the distributor?

 

[mwbailey]

Thanks, guys. Been missing the Journal, but seems other priorities were pulling me away.

BuickFarmer, I planted winter rye to hold things a little while -- figuring I had some more prep work to do. I'll reseed the yard around the house with fescue (Winning Colors or Carolina Green was recommended, but the same guy also said it was hard to beat Kentucky 31) in the next week or two and also throw some out around the workshop. I'm really just marking time with the garage until I decide what to do -- other than the MOAT, of course. It's working pretty well, all things considered!

By the way, any Buick fan needs to watch Nebraska (movie). My wife and I caught it on Netflix last night -- it's a bit melancholy, but has a few good lines. One scene of several elderly brothers in Hawthorne (Plainview), NE, is a case in point. Apparently, Nebraska males don't talk much. "Hey, you still got that Chevy?" "What?" "That Chevy." "It was a Buick." "Right." "79?" "No, 78." "They don't make 'em like that anymore. How many miles?" "109 thousand." "They'll run forever." "What happened to yours?" "It quit running."

I wasn't getting spark with the 8N, xtremek. I had left the key on and I've seen somewhere that you can burn your points doing that. So, I decided to change the points, condenser, etc. First set of points from TSC wouldn't allow me to adjust the gap, at all! They stayed closed all the way around the distributor cam. Tried another set from NAPA. Only got a max of about 6 thou. Needed to scrape the drive before The Wife started hollering too much about ruts. So, I broke down and bought the rebuilt distrubutor. Reminded me of working on my 1956 Ford back in the late 60's. I bought a carburetor kit. My dad said it would be better to buy a rebuilt carburetor. Within a couple of weeks of installing the carb kit, I was back at NAPA for a rebuilt carb. Still haven't learned my lesson. . . .

 

[xtremek]

Glad to hear you got the old beast running.

 

[mwbailey]

In the words of the immortal heroine, Mia Hamm, "Take your victories, whatever they may be. . . ." So, in hopes of reducing a pile of boxes, books, papers, and junk to a work area, I put up a small shelf in what might be an otherwise unusable spot. I'm convinced that all building plans revolve around the bathrooms and stairways. In the case of "Bailey's Barn", the stairway to the loft had to be positioned in such a way as to leave a roughly two-foot "alley" between the stairs and a side wall. Maybe it can be useful for storage -- so a scrap piece of shiplap (that tapered from about 7 inches to 5 inches but was long enough to get the required 100 inches) was pressed into use:


In "no time at all", 2 1/2 boxes of books and magazines got stacked on the shelf. BUT, there's still a lot left. Looks like I'll need a couple of days dedicated to opening, organizing, categorizing, stacking, and discarding to get this pile in order:


I mean, do I really need a book on "Steam" wth pages and pages of steam tables and information? Maybe I can use the floor along this "alley" to stack boxes!?!?! But I just got metal pegboards from Sears for half price and need that bay emptied so I can put them up. I need that small victory, Mia. . . .

 

[BSAschields]

I got a little distracted from workshop organizing when The Wife asked if the scoop I wanted for the tractor would help move the pile of mulch/chips we had dropped off last Friday. OF COURSE it would help! What kind of question was that? So, I spent much of today running down a 3 point scoop. A guy just up the road a few miles had one on Craigslist. Problem was, it wasn't set up to be reversed for push or pull. But the price was so good I decided I'd go get it anyway. When I asked if he had a lift deck or carry all, he suggested we look around his yard. Instead, we found a reversible scoop. So, we unloaded the first one, loaded the second one, and I had to cough up a little more cash. Don't tell The Wife, but the load of chips we got is so full of sticks and twigs that the whole pile is essentially tied together and there's no way the scoop can really scoop up any chips. We tried. . . . The "arborist" said he was getting new blades for his chipper this week; he's scheduled to try to bring a load tomorrow if it's not raining.

Does that work on your Ford Tractor? What does it do? How does it work I mean?.... I might need one

Place is looking great. So Jealous

 

[mwbailey]

Hello, BASschields! Yep, the dirt scoop works. I'm not ready to give it the highest marks, yet -- may be my problem is with the operator! I haven't used it much to move dirt, but I have reversed it (scoop facing to the rear) and moved a good bit of wood chips. The scoop is not terribly large, so the loads of chips were rather small (hence, as you may have noticed, I fabbed up a carryall box). Except for the piles of chips containing branches and twigs that tended to hold the whole pile of chips together, the scoop did OK. With the branches and twigs, the scoop would push the whole pile instead of "grabbing" a scoop load. . . .

Scoops are available to fit a typical three point hitch. You can adjust the "attack/angle" of the blade on the scoop by adjusting the top connecting rod. Of course, the hydraulics allow you to lift dirt, wood chips, stones, etc., enough to move them easily.

If you get one, I would strongly recommended one that you can reverse.

You might Google "dirt scoop on Ford 8N" or something like that to get some ideas. Here are a couple of sites:

I've seen somewhere that a guy dug a pond with his dirt scoop!!

Good luck and thanks for the comments.

 

[BuickFarmer]

That may have been me that built the pond with the scoop. At least started building it. Got most of the core of the dam built but hit rock at about 3 feet deep and had to call for reinforcements in way of a Cat 953 loader and small dozer. The secret with the scoop is to first plow the ground with a chisel plow or spring tooth harrow and adjust the tilt for digging, Be careful and not tilt it to much as you will bend the front of it into an arch especially if you grab hold of a large root or rock. I have a roll bar on my tractor and run a sling rope up over it and back down to the scoop which makes it easier to trip. I built the farm (driveways, ditches, terraces and garden areas, rock walls) with my Ford 2000, the scoop and an adjustable blade. Both of them will leave you with a crick in the neck from looking backwards and a tired shoulder from tripping the scoop release by the end of the day though.

 

[xtremek]

I could use one myself. The shelf looks like a good use of that space.

.......Both of them will leave you with a crick in the neck from looking backwards and a tired shoulder from tripping the scoop release by the end of the day though.

Preach it Buick Farmer. My neck is already tensing up at thte thought of the work headed my way this summer.

 

[mwbailey]

I guess the victory is not mine, yet, xtremek, but I'm making progress. Sounds like you have a pretty good "to do" list; mine is getting longer, but now that the weather has warmed up, it's decided to threaten rain the next few days. I'll not complain too much since it could have been 100 inches of snow like Boston. Besides, the list includes opportunity to use the 8N!

 

[mwbailey]

Redneck or Good Ole Boy? In the South, as in many locations, we have a plethora of Rednecks. But some guys that resemble Rednecks might just be Good Ole Boys. I was told many years ago that you could tell one from the other by what they did with their empty beer cans and bottles. For Rednecks, the bottles and cans went out the pick-up window with no cares as to where they landed; for Good Ole Boys, the bottles and cans were tossed into the bed of their pick-ups. I guess that works. . . .

Anyway, warm weather had me inspecting the work some guys had done for us last Fall to clear up dead trees and brush up near the "main road". Lo and behold, I've decided the folks that use our road must be Rednecks. In less than 20 minutes, I found a tub full of bottles and cans -- and they were NOT in anybody's pick-up bed.


I was surprised to also find a few daffodils in the woods blooming. Now I wonder if there had been a house up near the road.

 

[mwbailey]

Trying to make some improvements in the gravel drive that goes by the workshop on the way to the house. A couple of days ago, I got out the Ole Ford 8N, put in one ripper on the box scrape, and tilted the box as far as I could to one side. Then I tried to start a small ditch along the north side of the drive. That seemed to work pretty well, but still needed some "hand work" to get the ~1 foot drainage ditch I had in mind.

Today, Jesus helped me shape the drain and I loaded the pick-up with 1/3 yard of #57 (?) at a time -- two trips -- to fill in. Before spreading the gravel, I laid one layer of landscape cloth in the ditch. Cut the 3-foot wide roll in two with a back saw!

We started at the top of the hill and worked downhill toward the house. "Ripped" ditch before hand work, landscape cloth and gravel, roll of landscape cloth, and smoothed over ditch can be see from front to rear of photo.


So The Wife could get an idea of the finished project, I added some chip/mulch on one side, and shoveled some crusher run onto the other side. If she imagines the chip has dried out and the gravel is dried, too, she can get an idea of finished product. She approved!


It's great when everything works out! We finished one side of hill with just a little landscape cloth left, a few rocks still in the truck, and about to run out of light. . . .


Now, the betting pool is whether the rocks will still be in the ditch after a rainstorm!

 

[HOTFR8]

Landscaping always makes a difference to a place. Looking good.

 

[Bassfishing54]

Love the build. Everything looking great! Keep it up!
Glenn

 

[mwbailey]

Yep, HOTFR8, we're making progress, but somewhat slowly! I'll take ANY progress.

Thanks, Bassfishing54. Next time you're fishing for bass on Lake Wylie/Little Allison, give us a wave.

 

[Mike.ASC]

Looks like you've made quite a bit of progress . I can't wait to get relocated to S.C.

 

[mwbailey]

Thanks, Mike, progress is progress even with small steps! Made a few more steps yesterday:

Since the drive to the workshop is not at the top of the hill (poor planning on my part!?), I figured to put in a pipe under the drive to carry water on down the slope. Used the 8N and boxscrape with one ripper to carve a bit of a trench. Jesu and I kept looking at the trench and noticing we needed to dig it deeper at the far end. We may have just finally given up, but now it is level, at worst.


While I was trenching with the tractor, Jesu was manicuring the drainage on the uphill side. Then we added the landscape cloth and gravel as before.


Only have about 1/4 of the drive to finish at a later date -- ran out of daytime.


Still approaching it a piece at a time!

 

[xtremek]

Jesu and I kept looking at the trench and noticing we needed to dig it deeper at the far end. We may have just finally given up, but now it is level, at worst..........While I was trenching with the tractor, Jesu was manicuring the drainage on the uphill side. Then we added the landscape cloth and gravel as before..........Only have about 1/4 of the drive to finish at a later date -- ran out of daytime.

Since you and Jesu are now professionals, you can come up here and help me finish my driveway. Heck, I might even have enough pop bottle returns to pay for your gas to come up here. But just up here, not both ways.

 

[mwbailey]

Right, xtremek, neither Jesu nor I are professionals when it comes to drainage. I'd suggest we wait for the first rain to see how all of this works then maybe we'll consider hiring out. Pop bottles would easily pay for me; Jesu, not so much. I'd like to check out your tractor, but we still have 1/4 of my drive to finish then I think I have some socks that need matching up. When all of that is completed. . . .

Speaking of other things on the list. I had hoped Jesu would get some junipers planted that we had picked up at Home Depot. But, as I said, we ran out of day. The Wife just figured she'd go to her book club get together and since I had nothing else to do, the junipers would get planted. As luck would have it, I think we wanted to put them about where a gravel drive had been many years ago. Three of five holes were through a couple of inches of rock. Hope they survive!

 

[mwbailey]

So, it finally DID rain -- not hard, but steady for a while. Needed to check out the little drainage ditch. . . .

Looking pretty good at the bottom of the hill


Not too bad in the middle and near the top


Hmm, a little water collecting


Gee, I wish we were better at seeing the slope of the drive


Maybe a little more digging will correct this; maybe not!?! I guess Jesu and I are not quite ready to hire out.

 

[mwbailey]

I may have to stop looking at other garages on this forum! Too many are so neat you can SEE the floor. I keep hoping I'll get there, but I'll never reach the goal until I finish unpacking those boxes. So, for a tiny step in that direction, I put up two 42" shelves to put some bicycle literature and parts on. Had to leave space between the two shelves so the light would shine through!

This area is supposed to be taken up with parts washer and sand blast cabinet -- well, at least the cabinet is in place. But, I can't get to the cabinet since it has 442 doors and hood, and Model T running boards and doors piled on the floor. Heck, I don't even plan to USE the running boards. . . .

Other things seem to get in the way of minor progress. Significant rain storm yesterday washed out a few feet of the small drainage ditch beside the drive. Not sure how to prevent that but hope replacing stone and adding another truck load or two of crusher run on the drive itself will establish the proper water flow. . .

 

[xtremek]

.......Significant rain storm yesterday washed out a few feet of the small drainage ditch beside the drive. Not sure how to prevent that but hope replacing stone and adding another truck load or two of crusher run on the drive itself will establish the proper water flow. . .

I have two options for you, put as large a rock (maybe 3"-4") as you can acceptably fit in the ditch and then cover with the crusher stuff. The larger rocks will anchor the smaller stuff. Or do like I did and plant grass in the ditches.

 

[mwbailey]

Yep, xtremek, I did something like you suggested -- bigger rocks spaced here and there along ditch. It's supposed to rain this afternoon; may not be heavy enough shower to test, but I'll be interested to see what happens.

Doing a little "decorating" around the workshop. I just couldn't help myself when I saw this "yard art":


Also added some interior decorations. I helped with a high school robotics team for several years. Each year the students came up with a new "logo" based roughly on a Mad Scientist theme. Then they had T-shirts printed with the team number, the logo, and a list of sponsors. Trying to empty another box, I hung some of the T-shirts on a string.


The Wife thinks it's a bit tacky and is discouraging any more "laundry on the line" decorations -- I have Swim Team T's, bicycling T's, Oldsmobile T's, college T's, etc., left. I just took them out of the box and put in a dresser drawer. What a shame not to have them displayed. . . .


Over the weekend, The Wife drug me around DC to see war memorials and Smithsonian museum displays. We hit the Air and Space "annex" about 30 miles from DC -- it was amazing! Now here's a REAL garage (sorry about the focus; iPhone through glass didn't do too well). Notice wing hanging in mid air:

 

[mwbailey]

Got a little more decorating done this afternoon -- mounted my "Po' Boy" flintlock up in the workshop loft. I had found the elk-head mounts as I emptied boxes. They're a little bit fancy for such a plain rifle, but we'll go with them anyway. [Sorry about the picture. Maybe it's operator error and not the iPhone camera like I thought.]


Lightly sanded a couple of Adirondack chairs for my daughter, followed by ebony stain per her request. The right one is still wet in the photo; hope the streaks go away as it dries. Speaking of drying, I got these made in time for my daughter's birthday, February 14, but had to wait to stain them until the pretreated lumber dried out. The lumber shrunk enough that I needed to tighten a couple of carriage bolts! These are from rieferman's plans; check out his posts for lots of other woodworking ideas!

 

[Tarnished]

Yep, xtremek,
The Wife thinks it's a bit tacky and is discouraging any more "laundry on the line" decorations -- I have Swim Team T's, bicycling T's, Oldsmobile T's, college T's, etc., left. I just took them out of the box and put in a dresser drawer. What a shame not to have them displayed. . . .

I had a friend who's wife used all of his "RACE CAR" T shirts and made a quilt out of them. Pretty neat, and great way to save and use the old T shirts. Might be worth a try, seeing as you like quilts anyway.

 

[mwbailey]

Hey, Tarnished, I like the quilt idea. In fact, The Wife mentioned that approach -- however, she did NOT suggest that she would do the quilting! I'm not sure where that leaves me, but I'm still thinking about another way to "exhibit" the T's. Thanks for the suggestion.

 

[BuickFarmer]

Who's the gentleman with the guitar in the picture?
Re the ditchline, considering the grade seen in that picture, that's going to be a tough one to ever stabilize and keep from washing out. You may end up having to widen it with a flat bottom so the flow isn't so concentrated and line it with small rip-rap/surge stone strategically hand placed. IE football size granite. Be careful of how you place any of the rock or the water will find its way under and or around it and if it heads toward the driveway in a heavy rain event, there goes your driveway stone.

 

[mwbailey]

Hey, BuickFarmer, that's a photo of Doc Watson -- he passed away in the past year or so; from Boone/Deep Gap, NC, area. Great flat-picker and ballad singer! The quilt is also from the Deep Gap area; made for me by my niece and her dad who live near Fleetwood, NC.

I hear you on the ditch. I've lost a bit of gravel from an even steeper slope on the boat ramp. Lots of the gravel ended up in the lake! I'll probably widen the "ditch" a bit and use some bigger stones. And, I'll add another inch or two of crusher run to the drive, itself. That will help a little to keep the water in its channel.

 

[BuickFarmer]

Great that you devoted a special spot on your wall to Doc !! One of the greatest, rest his soul. I've got several of Docs albums and use to sing Froggie Went a Courtin to both my kids when they were little. Let's pay a little tribute to him....

 

[mwbailey]

One of my favorite "albums" is The Three Pickers with Doc, Earl, and Ricky. Skaggs is the only one left now. I suppose I might lean a little more toward Earl, for some reason:
-- at the "barn raisin' get-together, someone tried to do a little pickin' and smilin'!

And, while a lot more "stuff" has been added since the photo, the garage loft has another wall with related display:


Oh, Buickfarmer, and my favorite by Doc is probably Tennessee Stud; he seems to sing effortless, but I also admire his picking.

 

[mwbailey]

Have worked on outside "needs" since the weather has been cooperating. The Wife had a "hand-me-down" shrub she didn't want any more, and the guys doing the house landscape admitted that liriope was not a good choice for ground cover (rabbits were destroying it) so they pulled it up and replaced with junipers. Guess who got the plants!! This adds a little "class" to the garage. Only one end complete, but enough material to do the other end, as well. Hoping the motion detector light will scare off rabbits and deer, but I don't have one at the other end -- another project, I suppose.


Also recently "completed" the drainage for the other end of the drive. Continued the use of 57 (I think it's called) stone. But, we added a drain that runs across the drive. Only problem was, I found the phone cable while using the box scrape ripper to start the drain pipe trench! It was less than 10 inches underground. . . . Fortunately, no charge for repair.


Here's why I left the 57 in the small drainage ditch:

Got two loads of crusher run delivered. The driver did a pretty good job of spreading, but I got to use the tractor and box scrape for an hour or two. There was enough gravel to add a couple of inches to the depth of the drain. Bottom line, I may not even need the 57 in the ditch. . . . Oh well, it seemed like a good idea at the time. Still looks pretty good.

 

[mwbailey]

Another minor project from the garage. Got tired of shoes and stuff sitting around the back door. Found a "rustic mudroom bench" on the Internet and figured I'd give it a shot even though we don't really have a mudroom:


Bench is 18" high, 36" long with legs inset about 3" from ends. Used 2X12 pine lumber plus 1X4 to strengthen legs. Put shelf a little higher than picture from Internet to give more room for shoes -- maybe have "his and hers" storage.


Painted to match interior color of house fairly closely and used orbital sander to give a little "aging".

Countersunk screws to attach 1X4's to legs but pulled out the Kreg jig for seat/top. Only second time to use jig; need to remember to get proper angle when drilling hole -- one screw protruded a little through the edge.


Bench fits the bill and is certainly VERY sturdy. Now need to find hooks for jackets during colder weather. No hurry, have a few months to get it done!

 

[rarebreed]

mwbailey, I am in Rock Hill as well. I would love to check out your shop to see how it was built as I am in the process of getting prices to build one at my house as well.

 

[mwbailey]

rarebreed, check these folks out; they supplied the "kit" that my workshop is built from. This is roughly the building we have except for the cupolas on top!
http://www.sandcreekpostandbeam.com/galleries/barns/great-plains/western-horse-barn-DKE1110

Sorry about timing; been doing other stuff!

 

[mwbailey]

As commented to rarebreed, been doing other stuff. Not all garage related, though most included some effort in and around the workshop.

Build a "farmhouse" table from 2X Southern yellow pine for top and store-bought legs. Will use on screened in porch. Took advantage of Kreg pocket jig to hold most of it together. Pictures later, I suppose.

Have started a bench for the porch and hoped to have "Chippendale-ish" look to it. Got this far and found dimensions didn't match rest of bench too well:

Will do some figuring and hope it will work out.

Had a visit from 14-year-old grandson -- needs money for football cleats so he wanted to do some yard work for pay:


Actually, he was a big help. Got the dock sealed for a second time, only a few spots needed touching up. Put in some stepping stones so you don't get mulch on your shoes walking to the lawn:

Got the other end of the workshop "landscaped" with hand-me-down plants (see Posting 551):
Not the best photo and still in progress.

Also, mowed grass, moved three leftover chunks of concrete from building house that the landfill said weighed in at 900 pounds! Thank goodness the grandson fancies himself as an offensive lineman -- he took getting the chunks to the truck as a challenge.

 

[mwbailey]

Before I spent half of last week working with the grandson, we had some landscape guys put in some plantings on the water side of the house:
Work area.

Plants installed, circular area for patio left.

Started with bricks, sand, and leftover stones from house

Got an almost circular patio. Will add mobile firepit as weather cools off; if useful, might do a permanent pit.

 

[BuickFarmer]

Lookin good Bailey. That patio is going to be nice, especially if you do the fire pit. (don't get too close under the tree though)
Look forward to seeing pics of the table.

 

[mwbailey]

OK, BuickFarmer, here's the table.
It should work well -- we've tried it out a couple of times with friends and family. Legs are a little spindly for a "farm" table, but that's what Home Depot had! We first thought the table was too high. So I measured the height and compared to our dining room table; they were within 1/2" of each other. Must be low chairs. . . .

I got carried away with the pocket screws and the Kreg jig. Give a 5 year old a hammer and everything looks like a nail syndrome, I guess.

Bottom view shows LOTS of pockets!

Still working on Chippendale-ish bench to go with table. Another opportunity for pocket screws.

By the way, I didn't mention that the patio (see a previous post) was a husband and wife project -- seems The Wife was out there in the hot sun for about 7 1/2 minutes. But she's pleased with the completed project. I didn't get a close up photo because there's still a bit of unevenness in it!

 

[mwbailey]

Funny what you end up doing in your shop when you get "volunteered"!! The Wife's good buddy is at "headquarters" for the school district. The Buddy offered me to help with FIRST Lego League at a nearby elementary school. Hard to say, "No," for me. So, first step was putting together a table for the Lego robot game:


Still working on Chippendale-ish bench for screened in porch. Got the two ends complete less armrests. Adjusted the criss-cross for the back by cutting 1" off of each end of both sets of criss-crosses. I think this will work based on lining parts up on the workbench:



Need to finish this up before company comes this Wednesday! Using pocket screws extensively.

 

[BuickFarmer]

LIKE that farm table!! Good job!