My timber frame build

[Ljohnsaw]

Update 11/1/2022:

Halloween morning I got the last bent fitted up and standing.  For some reason, the center post does not want to sit all the way down (about 3/4" to go).  But time was short.  I packed up my camp trailer because a little snow was predicted for 11/1 evening.  Took quite a bit of time to pack away tools and some other winterizing.

Evening weather report was saying 6" accumulation now for Tuesday.  Morning shot:


 

You can see the upper 2x8 & 2x10 temporary floor and the little bit of plywood on the first floor that needs to be removed.

 
I headed up this morning.  I removed three of the four bays floor boards before lunch.  I stacked the board next to the beams.  I cut up the wonky 4x6 stock into firewood and was going to retrieve my little trailer to load it up but my tractor didn't like the cold.  I was going to get some ether to start it when it started to snow HARD.  So I went up to finish the last bay.  Had to scrape the snow away to find the screws.  Glad I only put one screw in each crossing!

Once I got that done, I had to get a snow shovel to clear the fast-accumulating snow off the plywood so I could find the drywall screw and remove them.  I put down two layers of plywood but only 6 or 8 screws per sheet.  That took a while and the snow was piling up.  I was questioning if I would make it home in my 2WD truck.

I was wet and cold but got'er dun.  A shot at 4pm before I left:


 

[beenthere]

Awesome Awesome.
Majestic creation. A big accomplishment to get the bents up and standing tall.

Stands there like five fingers to the snow coming.   8)

[firefighter ontheside]

My friend in Truckee posted pics of the snow she received, so I came here to see what you got.  I see you got your share of the snow.  You made great progress this year and worked on it right up til the last opportunity.  Congrats.

[Iwawoodwork]

Great progress and beautiful photos, as always i enjoy your thread and the progress you have made.

[thecfarm]

I don't post on this thread, but I do enjoy reading on it.

[Stephen1]

What a great feat to get that all raised and ready for winter. Nothing like finishing at the last minute. lol
8)

[DWyatt]

I feel like we've been watching a time lapse of the second story bents going up. Wow you've made a lot of progress in the last few weeks! Looks great!

[firefighter ontheside]

I don't post on this thread, but I do enjoy reading on it.

Yes you do.

[Ljohnsaw]

Final update for the season.

I went up yesterday to finish winterizing.  Only it didn't go great.  I had to clear the 4x6 firewood chunks I cut before the snow to be able to put the Ford tractor under cover.  But the Ford didn't want to start.  I noticed the connections on the solenoid were loose and corroded so I spent way too much time cleaning them up (really hard to reach).  Still no go (slow cranking).  I had picked up a Group 29 deep cycle battery for my bath house and used it to jump the Ford.  That worked. I cleared trails of the 8" of snow for getting my other two trailers out and the SkyTrak I parked out of the way down my the bath house.  The SkyTrak does not like ANY snow on the ground.  

Picked up all the 4x6 chunks and filled my little trailer (Ranger bed on home made frame).  Parked it at the top of the hill.  Pulled the flatbed out and parked it in front of the little one.  Hitched it up to my truck.  I had grand plans to put the little trailer and my sawmill head on it.  Got the little trailer on it with the help of the SkyTrak, but the sawmill head wouldn't fit with it, too.  Plus, the SkyTrak was now running very poorly.  I had also cleared the paved access road/driveway (moderate down hill) and parked the Ford in the campground overflow lot.  I went to start it and put it away but no go - the jump battery was done.  Couldn't get it to crank fast enough.  I had already driven my truck down the access road past the Ford and could not back up due to ice/slush on the road.  So, I headed home with that load.

Gave the wood to my neighbor this morning and rolled the little trailer off the flat bed.  Back up the hill this morning after charging my deep cycle overnight.  Still wouldn't jump the Ford. :-\  So I parked my truck next to it, attached the jump cables, put a tool box on my accelerator pedal and let it run for 15 minutes.  In the meantime, picked up the mill head with the SkyTrak that promptly died.  Could keep it running in short spurts to set the mill down. :-\

Fired up the Ford 8) and put the bucket in the basement doorway so I could attach the forks.  Used the Ford to load up the mill head and strapped it down.  The top of the mill frame is 7' up so quite the reach for the Ford to put it on the flatbed.  Put the Ford away for the winter and came home.

Next spring will be working on the SkyTrak - bad head gasket.  Will also pull/rebuild one of the 7' boom lift cylinders that is leaking.  This will be the fourth ram to be rebuilt.  There's only two more...  I'll also buy a new battery for the Ford.  It's a special flat long one.  Only $285 when I checked last year.  Probably $500 now

[Andries]

The timber frame looks great.
The equipment battles sounded awful.
Call it a draw?

[Magicman]

Thank You John for sharing your diligent work ethic and your Amazing Build.  8)

[Stephen1]

Great work getting it all done!
I love hearing others battling with old equipment, especially when the weather is like what I usually have here when I have troubles. One year my old bobcat gave up after I cleared the snow for Maple syrup season. I put the bobcat in the barn to plow the next snowfall that night. I came over in the morning and it would not start, we tried everything, but I had blown a head gasket and the head was warped, as I found out during the rebuild. 
I had to call a local friend who has a quarry and has a shop  to ask how to move the bobcat as it did not freewheel. He sent the big loader from the quarry to drag it out of the barn and across the yard out of the way. We could have parked the bobcat in the bucket of that machine!

[GRANITEstateMP]

John is the Ford's problem a weak Battery or an alt not charging? Our 445D's have all been converted over to GM 1wire alternaters, cheap and easy

[Ljohnsaw]

I haven't put a volt meter on the battery when running so not sure.  It was working great in the summer (when warm), so I suspect the battery.  I was able to restart the engine shortly after turning off.  But let it sit, no go.  The battery is not the right one for the tractor.  It is a bigger "industrial" one but is a bit shorter (in length), narrower but a bit taller.  I think it is the reason the half hood was lost.  You couldn't put the hood in place and not short out the battery.

[Andries]

A battery drawdown tester will tell you pretty quickly whether the battery is up to par, or on its way to the recycler. if it's on its last legs, you can always get the right battery to fit the swing out tray. My Ford545 is a bit cold hearted, and wants the block heater plugged in when it gets to about 0°C.
A question: when you put the machine away for the winter, can you put a solar battery maintainer on it? You'll get a much longer working life from any battery in winter storage if you do.

[Ljohnsaw]

I haven't put a maintainer on the battery yet, nor have I on the SkyTrak for the past 8 years - but a good point to consider.

I had a revelation on Sunday that I forgot to put something away that would be destroyed by the coming storm  The traffic cams showed dry roads in the afternoon so I made the run up and finished up in an hour.  It started raining, the roads were clear but wet so an easy go.  

Not so easy today:


 Snowfall rates from 1" to 3"/hour with accumulations through tomorrow morning of 36"-48".  I don't think this is going to melt to allow some December work this year :-\

[thecfarm]

3 inches per hour!!!! 
That is not good.

[Ljohnsaw]

Back on November 8th, it was reported that there was a couple of inches of snow.  It has been in the mid-40's during the day since then.  Snow is supposed to fall Monday night and again over the weekend with accumulations up to 3 feet.  I figured the snow should be about all gone by now.  So, I decided to head up today to light my burn pile and get a Christmas tree before the storm.




 
I think there was a bit more than a couple inches!  More like 14-16".  There were a few drifts I post-holed down about 3 feet.  Wish I brought my snow shoes!

I had to dig down to start my burn pile.  Took a little diesel to get it going with the damp conditions.

[canopy]

Letting wood go back to nature is better for the environment and easier than burning it. Often people come up with a knee jerk reaction to think of some reason they can't do that to stay in their comfort zone. But there is always a good way if one thinks about it.

[Ljohnsaw]

I have a lot of dead/dying trees that I dropped/need to drop that are/will be rotting.  I have LOTS of side junk (slabs, miss-cuts) from all my milling that I need to get rid of, like 4 or 5 cords per season - so I do burn what others won't take for firewood.

[Ljohnsaw]

Update 2/24/2023:

Well, I haven't been back up the hill since my last visit above.  My neighbor sent me the picture below.  You see my SkyTrak in the foreground.  What looks like a pile of snow on the SkyTrak is actually my log pile down the hill just in front of the dead/dying trees in the center.  The butt end of the boom is about 8' up and the snow looks to be around 7'.  Way down in the background you can see my deck (11' above ground) that the snow is almost up to that level and another 8 or 9 feet of snow on top of the deck.  Snowing hard!  There should be another couple/three feet of accumulation tonight through tomorrow morning.


 

[Ljohnsaw]

Update 2/27/2023:

We've been hit by storm after storm.  Some producing little rain (<.10") to a fair amount (1-3") but almost always dumping a bit of snow up the hill.  Just a couple fun pictures of I80

The storm du jour.  Raining down here pretty good.  Snowing up the hill - not sure why people are driving in this.  Temps in the upper 20's during the day.
Just below my cabin:


 
The only working camera above my cabin:


 
Two or three others are just snow covered, the other five or six are "Temporarily out of order" for the last few months.

This storm is expected to end late today with another one coming tomorrow of equal or greater strength.  Then another on the weekend and then next Monday.  If it stopped snowing today for the rest of the water year, we would be above normal.

This is just west of Donner Summit.  Did someone say there was a party up there?

[Vautour]

When i was younger, i taught the US had  Florida like weather all the time, but  ljohnsaw's  picture have proven me wrong. we get it pretty easy here on the east coast of Canada compared to the rest of Canada and parts of the US.

[Ljohnsaw]

Finally went up to the cabin today. Looks like at least 30 more days before I get back to it!


 

 

 

[canopy]

This thread has reached its 10 years old birthday today with an impressive 700 posts and 100,000 views. I've watched it since the beginning, but can you summarize the last 10 years in your own words? And what can we expect in the next 10 years to come?