I live at the end of a half mile dirt road in east central Alberta, Canada

[James6102]

As I said,I live at the end of a 1/2 mile dirt road in East Central Alberta, Canada. The closest town is almost an hour away when the roads are good. This means that if I want something, I usually have to Make it Myself. Around here there is a lot of Gas and Oil Drilling, And with the kind permission of a supervisor at a local "oil Battery" I can root through their Dumpster for raw metal.
I apologize for not posting my projects. I shall rectify that soon.
Three projects that I have made using metal I have scrounged, are
A: a center pivoting mast to mount a wind Generator on. (I used the same concept to build a 60 foot high antenna mast that I have the antenna for my radio internet connection, this allowed a line of sight to my internet provider's transmitting tower.
B: A greenhouse constructed from 30 foot lengths of "Drill Stem" the Drill stem is bent into a half Hoop and welded into that shape. Using 4 foot centers, I welded the half hoops together and used three of the half hoops to construct a rounded nose section to help the structure withstand heave winds,(It has worked so far, as over the last two years it has stood up to winds as high as 60 miles per hour, and 2 hail storms that shattered vinyl siding and dented the metal on vehicles, rv's, and roofing. this may be partly to do with wrapping the metal structure with "Snow fence" before covering it inside and outside with 6 Mil Clear Poly. Aside from the red ribs of "Tuk tape" to seal the poly sheets together it has worked out rather well.
C: is a mount for an electric winch I made for my Dad. Using a 2X2 Schedule 80 square tub, 6 feet long I welded a plate to the center of the tube, to bolt the winch onto. I constructed slip in holders that fit into the holes at the front top of my dad;s truck box. the 2x2 tubing then slides into each of the holders which have a friction bolt to keep the tubing in place. A second set of holders are made to fit a 1 1/2 inch Schedule 80 pipe (Which has an outside diameter of 1.9 inches. So instead of square holders the ones for the back of the truck have 2" inside diameter pipe. this allows the winch line to go over the tubing and pull whatever he wants up a set of ramps. the tubing can be easily removed so the winch can pull to the front of the truck box. Additionally I have a short piece of 2 inch I.D. tubing with half links from heavy chain welded to it. this allows a pulley block to be attached to the underside of the back tubing with an easily removable roller to allow the winch line to be run through it to (In the case of hunting) be connected to a strap around an elk or moose and be pulled up the ramp and once high enough on the ramp, the winch line can be disconnected from the pulley block and the animal can then be winched under the back tube into the truck box.
I will get pictures of these projects and post them when I can.

I really enjoy this website, the ideas and projects show that with a little hard work, ingenuity and creativity can overcome almost any problem.

James
Metiskow, Alberta (If you can find it on a map,)

[Jon]

Hi James - welcome to HomemadeTools.net

I'm in the 1/2 mile dirt road club too, although we have a small town not too far away.

Looking forward to your project pics, especially that greenhouse build.