Tonka Garage ( picture heavy)

[TonkaJoe]

TonkaJoe,
Very nice utilization of space man. I dig it.
I'm envious though of your career choice, as that's what I always wanted to be; a dozer and shovel operator in a pit. I've been around the big tonka toys since i was just a young tyke, but never could get my foot in the door being an EO, so I went with my second passion of railroading, and got in doing that.

Thanks The Judge!, it's not as elaborate as some of the shops I've seen on there, but she definitely had some aches and pains of her own along the way haha.
I've always loved heavy equipment.. I was very fortunate to have grown up around it which got me interested, and when I finished high school I went to college to do an apprenticeship for it. As soon as I graduated I
was very lucky to walk into a job with a very large company doing just that!.

From there it's simply spiralled into many different construction and mining jobs. mining being my favorite of the two!, the bigger the equipment and the more challenging the work the more I enjoy it. Here's some pics!

#1 CAT D8T Climbing 100' to the peak coal pile being off loaded by a CSL self unloading vessel.

#2 Looking down from the cab of the same pile once on top.. there's roughly 135000MT of coal to knock down, can be done in a 12hr shift. Below are a CAT 40MT rock truck being loaded with coal by a CAT 988H wheel loader

#3 Deere 450D excavator stripping and benching overburden into end dumps

#4 CAT 657G Coal bowl scraper, largest scraper CAT makes, 60MT load capacity per pass

#5 Never trust locates... I found live electrical and waste water on a site that day

#6 Our new CAT 14M grader

#7 Loading a CSL boat with 128000MT of product with CAT 980G wheel loaders, 9yard buckets x 6 loaders = load time of 23hours

 

[TonkaJoe]

Here's a little something I recently did in the garage!. I had some free time last weekend, so I went to use my bbq to fix some lunch only to see that the wind storm from the night before had knocked it over and heavily damaged it!. After jumping on Kijiji to look for parts to hopefully cobble it back together I came across this beauty!! Its a Stainless steel Charbroil infrared x4 burner+ side burner/ flat top. So upon going to pick her up locally, the guy explained that it had fallen off his trailer on the way home from the store on the 403 hwy denting it slightly ( it was VERY minimal) for taking a 80kmh slide on its back into a ditch on the off ramp! And that it'd likely need some new grills and a major cleaning job.. it also came with x2 new tanks, 1 full and another half full... Now here's the kicker... I got this all for $50!!! Steal of a deal yes?!.

So once I got her home I stripped it down, sanded the rusty stuff, Repainted with high heat black Rustoleum. Installed X4 new infrared grills, cleaned and fixed the electronic ignition, straightened out the dented areas ( left hand wing) as best as I could, and did one hell of a big buff job on the stainless( 4hrs total) to remove all the build up of grease and grime and surface rust. For those of you curious as to what metal polish I use.. I HIGHLY recommend the product ( Blue magic) to clean any steel from stainless to alloys in your home or on your vehicle...its absolutely amazing for tarnish, hard water spots, surface rust etc. As you can see it turned out absolutely amazing! And yes... it grills one hell of a good steak and burger!

Sent from my SGH-I747M using Tapatalk

 

[TonkaJoe]

It's been awhile since I've posted here!, I've had a very busy summer with work due to the drought like conditions we've been experiencing in Southern Ontario since the spring. But I wanted to post an update on a little side project I've been itching to get at.

So as you can see in my build thread I have a really nice and new Dutch style storage shed in my yard which needed to be dressed up a little.. SO I recently just finished up the landscape work around it!. It's nothing too fancy, but it really made a night and day difference in my opinion, and I have a lot more to do in the back yard as I over haul it piece by piece. Anyways enjoy the pics!

Here we are on the drawing board, this is what I'm aiming for. Symmetrical arched beds on each side of the doors, a wooden ramp, and trimmed stone drip edge around the entire building.

I purchased these small Precast faux armour stone on clearance, along with the two Rose of Sharon which will grow to fill most of the beds. The stones all have a 3/4" crusher run base at 3" in depth.

Ever heard of "Lasagna gardening"? yes its actually a thing!. No need to dig out all of that sod!, simply chop the grass down to stubble then heavily layer with newspaper followed by dirt, water, paper, dirt and so on until you have a few layers. Hence the name "Lasagna", it will suffocate the grass and weeds and in return naturally compost itself in time.

Also added a drip edge with some 3/4" -1 1/2" River rock as I don't have gutters on this building.

Still missing a good ramp!, so I built one of those as well. This is obviously completely pressure treated wood, cost about 50$ to build all said and done. 62"W x 52" L x 4"H

Underside, adding some extra bracing.

And into place she goes!, perfect fit. Once again, underneath the ramp is a 4" in depth base of 3/4" crusher run stone and brick footings. I chose not to drill and tap this ramp into the concrete foundation for various reasons, however it sits so tight and flush in its space that I don't even need to. I'll be able to easily slide it out and re level any areas that heave from frost over the winter..

 

[TonkaJoe]

Here's a side view of the ramp out front ( of course I made sure everything was level)

This is the same stone wrapped up the sides and around the back of the shed roughly 9" out from the wall and 2 1/2" or so deep. The black edging is the 5" version and worked well for this project. I used a heat gun to straighten out the coiled plastic.

This shows the finished sides a little better...Now for a little bit of black mulch to finish it up!.

And there you have it, my newly landscaped shed!. ( Now to wait for some cooler temps and rain so I can add some sod to the approach of that ramp)

 

[JohnnieMo]

That looks awesome. Very well done. I will remember that lasagna gardening!

 

[TonkaJoe]

That looks awesome. Very well done. I will remember that lasagna gardening!

Thanks JohnnieMo!, yes that layering saves a ton of time, I actually read about that online one day and I've used it a number of times now with success.. the key is having enough layers and keeping the paper wet so that it will suffocate the growth underneath.

Sent from my SGH-I747M using Tapatalk

 

[Dirtydan69]

First thing I needed to do was replace the old wooden door, window and garage door with a new North Star window and door and insulated garage door. Secondly I had to make all of this stuff disappear for awhile while I worked on the projects!. I shopped around for garage cabinetry and came across NewAge products while browsing the garages on this site and was quite impressed by the product. So I decided to pull the trigger on the 12pc set!. As you can see from the pictures they came packed tighter than a.. well you know what... which was nice to see!.

I received them within 2 weeks of ordering and had absolutely no issues with delivery or damage. They're the fully welded version with adjustable leveling feet which in my case was a life saver due to the 3'' slope I had to contend with from the rear of the garage to the front. I had the set put up and level in about 2 hours with the help of my brother. All the mounting hardware is included ( lags, washers, screws etc) all you need are the tools!.

Those are great cabinets and their sale prices are awesome? I'll be ordering soon. Thanks. Great garage!

 

[TonkaJoe]

Tonka Garage + Home Landscape and Other Property Projects ( Picture Heavy)

Thanks!, mine aren't the best ones you can buy from there by far.. however the price was definitely right when I got them.
I'm really impressed with the quality so far.. haven't had any issues with them since installation! Noy to mention they hold a hell of a lot of stuff.

Sent from my SGH-I747M using Tapatalk

 

[drivesitfar]

TJ: i love a thread that has lots of pictures and plenty of comments on why something was done so had to post and give you a few KUDOS.

WELL DONE SIR on the shed and looks like almost Art sitting out there in your yard.

i'll get time to read the rest of your thread (or maybe not), but looking forward to seeing what other projects you do in the future. if you might need a few ideas on how to ORGANIZE the shed or want to lend us a few check out the ORGANIZING 201 thread i started to get and give some ideas. here's the link in case it's not still on the front page.

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=335623

thanks for sharing your shed adventure with us

 

[TonkaJoe]

Tonka Garage + Home Landscape and Other Property Projects ( Picture Heavy)

TJ: i love a thread that has lots of pictures and plenty of comments on why something was done so had to post and give you a few KUDOS.

WELL DONE SIR on the shed and looks like almost Art sitting out there in your yard.

i'll get time to read the rest of your thread (or maybe not), but looking forward to seeing what other projects you do in the future. if you might need a few ideas on how to ORGANIZE the shed or want to lend us a few check out the ORGANIZING 201 thread i started to get and give some ideas. here's the link in case it's not still on the front page.

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=335623

thanks for sharing your shed adventure with us

Drivesitfar, thanks for the kind words!, couldn't have done what I did if it wasn't for some good inspiration from other members builds on this site.. lots more to come inside and out!.

I actually started reading your thread yesterday!, lots of great info in there that I'm sure I'll be able to put to use at my place. Just a couple more pages to get through and I'll be all caught up to you guys haha, thanks again!. [emoji1]

Sent from my SGH-I747M using Tapatalk

 

[dare23]

Great job on the cabinets and love the shed. I have to get around to pouring a cement base and get a shed up. Great to see another Ontarian on here.

 

[TonkaJoe]

Great job on the cabinets and love the shed. I have to get around to pouring a cement base and get a shed up. Great to see another Ontarian on here.

Thanks dare23!, those cabinets made organization so much easier for me, well worth the investment.. the shed also helped me out big time. Always good to hear from a fellow Canuck!.

Sent from my SGH-I747M using Tapatalk

 

[TonkaJoe]

Tonka Garage + Home Landscape and Other Property Projects ( Picture Heavy)

So it's been awhile since I've been on here, work is extremely busy right now. But I had to post up this awesome deal I got on Kijiji this afternoon. Here's my new shop vac, a Kubota
12 gallon wet/dry vac/blower. The owner was using it specifically to clean his truck with and I believe him after seeing how clean this machine is. I almost had to question if it was in fact new and not used. It came with a new 10' extension cord, telescopic wand, all the attachments, new HEPA filter, new bag, and a new Workmate carry bag for the parts. This unit retails at Lowes for $215.00 plus tax, figure in the extension cord, and all the extras you're over $300.00. Now heres the kicker to the story... I got all of that for only $70.00!!, talk about a steal of a deal!. [emoji38]

Sent from my SM-G903W using Tapatalk

 

[TonkaJoe]

Tonka Garage + Home Landscape and Other Property Projects ( Picture Heavy)

Another update: My old table and chair set out in the garage which is seen in a few of my pictures has also been on my to do list..
I recently finished the major process of refinishing them.. completely sanding, stripping, staining and clear coating them..

It took me a lot longer than most would on a project like this but I took my time on all the decorative spindles etc, and they turned out amazing, I'm beyond happy with the results!. So here are a few before and after pics!.

Sent from my SM-G903W using Tapatalk

 

[drivesitfar]

TJ: great job on the table. i can't tell you how many of those are discarded cause they lost their shine or needed a few repairs. GREAT WORK on yours and it would be nice to see others spend a little time to save some of that great old woodwork.

if you might want to post up more pictures with the methods you used to make that old table and chairs shine feel free to post it up on the Woodworking 101 thread cause others need to know that this can be done if you have a minute. here's the link.

https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=344153

thanks in advance and nice deal on your shop vac too

 

[TonkaJoe]

Tonka Garage + Home Landscape and Other Property Projects ( Picture Heavy)

Thanks Drives! Appreciate the kind words, you're absolutely right about refinishing discarded items. I actually found this set on the side of the road out in the countryside one day on my way home from work and thought it'd fit nicely in my space, goes to show what some patience and a little elbow grease can do!. It actually has the original manufacturer's tag from Montreal Canada on the underside along with the price. Which back in 1992 when it was built, was $290.00 new.

Thanks also for the link, I imagine I'll find some great ideas on that thread. Cheers! [emoji482]

Sent from my SM-G903W using Tapatalk

 

[drivesitfar]

TJ: i'm sure you'll find something new on the Woodworking 101 thread that probably isn't much if any beginner stuff and lots of experts there in case you have any questions.

just sanding and staining can really change an old piece into something you or others would buy and think of the craftsmanship you saved. I like SAVING items a lot more than just buying them if possible and i'm always looking in the FREE sections to find stuff about ready to be thrown out that i can make use of.

nice work on the table and chairs and you have a great eye when you pick up an item like that that needs some love.

Hope you have a great day.

 

[Bessy]

Been a while since I've checked up on this thread. The shed/landscaping came out phenomenal! Hope you took some time to enjoy the fantastic summer we have had through September and October lol!

 

[TonkaJoe]

Tonka Garage + Home Landscape and Other Property Projects ( Picture Heavy)

Been a while since I've checked up on this thread. The shed/landscaping came out phenomenal! Hope you took some time to enjoy the fantastic summer we have had through September and October lol!

Thanks Bessy!, I'm still finishing up a couple of small projects before the weather turns cold... and stays cold. Now that its the fall time I take my holidays to enjoy the hunting season and what not. I did however manage to get away from work to enjoy some of that amazing weather we had though. I'll have some more pictures and updates to put up here soon. Cheers ![emoji482]

Sent from my SM-G903W using Tapatalk

 

[drivesitfar]

Tonka: any updates or cool stuff going on you'd like to post pictures or talk about?

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

 

[ponjohn]

Is the wainscotting and the ceiling material the same?

 

[TonkaJoe]

Is the wainscotting and the ceiling material the same?

Hey ponjohn, yes they are both the same material... I ordered the corrugated steel pre cut to size from the factory which is local to me. No cutting required except for where I added the wall outlets. Saved me a ton of time!.

Sent from my SM-G960W using Tapatalk