This last "blog-cycle" began with truck problems. I had my Dodge serviced at Pep Boys in Fontana, and paid them handsomely to drain all the fluids and replace them with the best synthetics available. The transmission got drained, but unfortunately did not get refilled. I guess it speaks well of the ruggedness of the 5 speed New Venture NV4500 transmission that it did not fail for almost a 1000 miles. It also did not make any noise until it just quit shifting. It did finally give up just outside of Mountainair, NM, which, of course, was my destination.
I flew home the next day and got our other truck (the Ford F150 which is now my wife's favorite transportation) and drove back.
While I was home I made an internet purchase of a rebuilt NV4500 from an outfit in Tempe, AZ. (Transplant Transmissions Plus) Paid for it in advance with Visa (thank God), and made arrangements to pick it up in Tempe on my way back to New Mexico. When I got there there was no transmission for me to pick up (excuses, excuses) so I left empty handed with their hollow promises to ship my transmission, at their cost, in not more than two days. Several days of fruitless phone calls later, with nothing but excuses and out right lies to show for it, I canceled the purchase and had the tranny rebuilt at B&G Truck Salvage in Albuquerque. While the transmission was out I bought a new clutch and had it installed also. So five weeks and $2100 dollars later, my big Dodge was back in service, and good to go for probably as long as I am. ________________________________________
When I got back out here after my birthday break, I decided to add on to the existing shack enough more floor space to allow us to put off building the barn for a few months. Nothing ever goes completely as planned, but at least I have made a good start. Here are some pictures just to show that my heart is in the right place.
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Beginning the foundation for deck and shack expansion for more storage and shop space.
There is still going to be a barn, but that will have to wait until next spring.
This method of building a wooden foundation takes longer but results in a very sturdy structure.
The floor joists are all cut to the same length, 15 feet, 5 inches. Combined with the 7 inch thickness of the foundations that nets out exactly 16 feet, so the plywood floor panels don't need to be cut to length. The joists are supported at the midpoint by a cross beam made of 4x4's sandwiched between two 16 foot 2x8's. The cross beam added excellent rigidity to the floor. Two anti-twist nailers were glued and nailed between each pair of joists, and the joists were individually screwed to the cross beam with 3 1/2 inch square drive deck screws.
The post holes were left unfilled until enough joists had been installed to insure that the platform would be level and square. That was verified when the floor panels were laid down. Runout in 16 feet was less than 1/8 inch, and the panel junctions are all firmly supported by nailers and joists.
Platform level has been proven several times by standing rainwater and heavy morning dew fall which has to be swept off to allow the deck to dry.
The finished 16 foot square floor frame was so satisfying to look at it took me an extra day to start installing the plywood panels.
_________________________________________________________With a good rigid structure to build on, the side deck (42 feet) went much quicker and was easier to level and square. Again the joists were cut to the same length (7 feet, 5 inches) and were used to exactly position the interior Rim Joist. Each joist was glued and fastened with four deck screws at each end. In many places I pilot drilled the screw holes to guide the screws into awkward places and to prevent splitting.
________________________________________________________________I used Redwood stain for water proofing, but the stuff is expensive and I don't think it makes as durable a surface as good ol' deck paint which costs half as much, so I am going to overcoat the whole deck and much of the other structure with Barn Red.
The perimeter foundation beams are made with 2x8 interior and exterior Rim Joists sandwiching 4x6 pressure treated posts and beams. All glued and closely spiked with big galvanized ring-shank nails. Once those things are driven in half their grip length if you bend it, you just have to straighten it out and try to drive it the rest of the way, 'cause you and three other guys with a crow bar ain't gonna pull it out.
____________________________________________________________This porch is on the hot and windy west side, so the eaves are wide (4 feet) and the roof is pitched only three inches in 12 feet. Today's rain proved that the drainage is good. The rafters are 2x8 on 16 inch centers, with box beams and double rafters at stress points, so snow load won't be a problem.
Painting the bottom side of the roof panels with white roof coating before putting them up gives the resulting structure a much more finished look.
_____________________________________________The Barn Red and Chestnut Brown on the front door of the shack will be the base color scheme for this little building.
_____________________________________________When it rains, as it has done quite a bit lately, it really comes down and all work comes to a stop. It frequently likes to pretend it's a tornado, but it's not!
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++Too much water was getting away,
-- so I built a small berm to try to hold some. This is the beginning of our small pond.
Just beyond the berm is the area I have been working on leveling for the truss and pole barn._________________________________________________
My wife and I have also decided that we will use the metal arch building after all, but it will be built on a wooden foundation with a crusher fines floor instead of a $15,000 + concrete slab. It can be bolted and grouted on a properly built wooden foundation just as safely as being set in concrete. I'll put it up myself, arch by arch, using my tractor and a sliding adjustable scaffold, which I can design and build myself.
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Tim Hardin, my distant cousin, and master of the "Extend-a-Hoe" backhoe, broke through two 6 inch thick layers of black alabaster to make the hole for the RV septic tank. He has done so many of them that when I set the tank on sand and leveled it in the bottom of the hole, the inlet of the tank was exactly positioned to meet the code requirements for angle of fall and depth below grade.
----and the new 300 gallon septic tank to support the RV.
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Sharon is eager to learn, and she looks good doing it.
Russell and Sharon are soul-mates. When she's here he is never more than a few feet away. (The tractor wasn't running)
_______________________________________________I said, "Russell, smile for Sharon." and I was honestly astounded by his reaction.
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The revised figure: six months older and forty pounds lighter. Referring to me, not the septic tank.
_________________________________________________A Characiture done by local artist, Klaus Ernst. My friends say he captured my "essence". My wife agrees. ...Oh, well.
_________________________________________________The wonderfully subtle texture of the sky in New Mexico sometimes changes minute by minute. The next two pictures were taken just one minute, and about 45 degrees of azimuth apart (the second one is more westerly).
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That's all I have to show and tell for now. I'll try very hard to not let it be so long before the next one.
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