Took the first step towards building my shop

[metric_taper]

Frank, I assume the project is on hold with the snow and weather that I think the weather maps had over your location.

[Frank S]

Frank, I assume the project is on hold with the snow and weather that I think the weather maps had over your location.

I don't know what would you say





It was 4°f here at 4 Am

[Frank S]

Had jut a tad bit more welding to do near the very top that I missed yesterday then did this.
I swear I think I could lift the limit of the hoist with the gin pole laying flat out.
That gin pole crane, mounted on my backhoe has proved to be one of my most valuable builds in a long time

[metric_taper]

I see, your doing a snow load test on the new building!

[Frank S]

I see, your doing a snow load test on the new building!

better to do it now with the building in a vulnerable state and know it can take it than to have it happen after everything is in place and have to worry if I should have done it differently LOL
Seriously it is not something that concerns me in the least from anchorage stabilization to column slenderness ratio to the load capacity of the truss spans purlin spans and spacing. We have already had 45 MPH wind gusts hit the building with a half completed roof and minimal bracing.
Something that at this time I do not plan on doing is when I was fabricating the trusses by doubling the 2nd hand trusses I did so because at one time these 68 ft long trusses had beams hanging from them running the length of the old 120 ft long building and 2 bridge cranes trolleyed under them with 3 ton hoists on them The company had hung the beams 20 ft apart and a pair or 25 ft long beams on trolleys under those as the bridges for their overhead cranes. Placing all of that additional loading just 10 feet to either side of the center of the building hanging from those slender trusses.
The up side may have been the rail beams added strength and stability to the trusses when the company sold the building to my friend they removed the cranes and rails, then he experienced a 12" snow followed by 1/2" ice causing the roof to collapse.
When I did the examination and calculations of the roof structure the numbers just didn't jive with the damage that had been done, until I was able to do an up close inspection that was when I found out there had been cranes in the building which had been removed. Eventually I found where during the removal the bottom of several of the trusses had been cut through by a torch the structure had no chance for survival under that amount of snow.
If at a latter date I decide that I want an overhead crane I will add columns and have the rails on them not hanging from the trusses alone

[metric_taper]

That was an incredible amount of snow you had. I expect you had some melt today. But now your in a mud mess for a bit.

[Frank S]

The column is welded in place and back filled halfway. once I get a few more layers of fill compacted I have a few more braces to be welded in place then I can fill and cover
OK what to put in the hole for a base under the back pipes .
How about a completely useless RV Bumper

ep Just a fit packed into the floor for an hour then welded to the pipes and the column

first layer covering

inside mounting boss for jib crane

outside mounting boss for jib crane

[Frank S]

hard to believe I haven't posted to this page in a month.
But can't say that I have done a whole lot to the building I spent some time getting my old Cab over Freightliner running then removed the pair of 150 gal. fuel tanks and mounted a small 70 gallon square tank on the frame behind the cab. Since the old truck is only ever going to be used as a yard donkey there is no need for the massive tanks plus with them hanging off the sides of the frame they were a little too close to the ground for my liking That and I didn't want to get them damaged since they are in good shape.
After completing the roof I wanted to get my machine shop van moved into position before adding the lean to roof extension This meant that I needed to mine a lot of select clay fill to pad up a hard area for the trailer to rest on. and to prevent getting stuck trying to move it meaning the gin pole and the fork carriage had to come off and the bucket be installed so I could transport materials from the pit I am mining them from about 100 yards down hill from the shop. Before it is all said and done I will need to move between 400 and 600 cubic yards of material this will take a while as the old backhoe is really in need of some majorly expensive work if I wanted to have full power available. But one step at a time either spend tons of cash on it that is needed on the building or nurse it along at reduced power and get the job done
I can carry about a yard and a half full bucket but can only climb the hill in low range at a creep or a yard at a time still in low range but twice as fast So far on my click counter I have climbed that hill 95 times 50 times before I could locate the trailer
Hooked up ready to roll

First attempt proved not enough pad build up

After another 10 loads

The trailer is in place within about 6 inches from where I wanted it ,close enough

After another several trips up the hill I still don't have the pad completely ready for the parts trailer because after I get it in place I am planning on removing the axles and dropping it close to the ground
the parts trailer is behind the freightliner

Digging the trench for the electrical conduit

By the time I have all of the fill in the shop the conduit will be almost 3 feet below the surface of the eventual slab

Conduit connected to the homemade 6x8x4 J box

[metric_taper]

By the time I have all of the fill in the shop the conduit will be almost 3 feet below the surface of the eventual slab

Conduit connected to the homemade 6x8x4 J box

What is the plastic pipe you used for the buried conduit? Looks like 3". I assume you have the wires installed already, unless you have some Greenlee power puller, and a helper to feed the wires.
Looks like your doing all the details toward the next big task of building walls.

[Frank S]

What is the plastic pipe you used for the buried conduit? Looks like 3". I assume you have the wires installed already, unless you have some Greenlee power puller, and a helper to feed the wires.
Looks like your doing all the details toward the next big task of building walls.

Its the gray 2" sch 80 electrical conduit plus 2" sch 80 propylene fast line tubing under the floor so no connecting couplings except at the preformed long radius elbows to the riser tubes expensive stuff to buy but for some reason a 100 ft length of it had been left on the property, probably from a previous oilfield test drilling operation. on a neighboring property. yeah I truly am blessed like that.
Pulling the 3ga wire through the line wasn't all that bad I ran my Greenly fish tape through one direction then pulled a 1/2" braided rope back through attached the 3 conductor wires then pulled tension on the rope walked to the other side fed the wire as far as they would go then tighten up the rope again, it went pretty well would have been easier to have had someone pulling the rope or a capstan tugger but its done now and I have power in my machine-shop van once again.