My 15.75 x 30 Jemez Cabin

Started by MountainDon, December 20, 2006, 02:03:09 AM

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glenn-k

I had the same brake problem on a 76 Chevy PU once.  I don't recall ever finding a problem either.  Top of New Idria Mine.

peg_688

Close one Mtn. D maybe it was meant for Benoveolence , or how ever he miss speels it!  ;D

Those lighting rods may be a good idea , now that you've seen what it can do , do you recall any other trees close by that have had strikes .


MountainDon

QuoteClose one Mtn. D maybe it was meant for Benoveolence....  ;D

Those lighting rods may be a good idea , now that you've seen what it can do , do you recall any other trees close by that have had strikes .
;D ;D ;D

As for evidence and other nearby trees... None close by that I have seen. However, over my years spent in the mountains I have seen a fair number of lone trees with charring, some standing, some toppled. I've always thought they were likely lightning victims. It was raining enough when that one was struck there wasn't a chance for any fire.

Lightning:  The rule of thumb for distance to lightning strikes is to count the seconds from the visible bolt to the thunderclap. (Speed of light =186000 mph, speed of sound 760 mph... varies with altitude humidity, etc. but close enough for government work). A count of five equals a one mile distance. I have an automatic reflex to count whenever I see lightning. I've been around many flashes where I never quite got to one. But never one where later investigation found the spot where I thought I saw a strike.

A count of one would be 1056 feet. one-half would be 528 feet. The 150 feet would have meant a time between seeing and hearing of 0.028 seconds. No time to count let alone take a breath. (Yes, Glenn, I used the Windows calculator   :)  )

I've been doing some research re lightning (tonight!) and contrary to my former beliefs, being surrounded by tall trees does not offer protection. Trees are really not very good conductors, they're simply the most common thing in a forest, Being tall helps too. But a bolt may easily jump sideways through the air or along the ground to you or your cabin. Being in a hard shell car (on rubber tires is good) I think I'll put wheels on the cabin; maybe sit it on rubber donuts.   ;D  The metal plane of a building roof will be very good at offering an electrical path, so any metal topped building should also have an excellent grounding system. Two ground cables and grounding rods at opposite ends are a good plan.

Taking shelter under a tree is definitely a bad idea as the photo would indicate.

Today we took a short hike a few miles from the cabin before starting home. We found a dead heifer under some trees. Fairly fresh dead; not yet found by coyotes or other scavengers. Probably lightning from the same storm. We ran into a rancher nearby at our lunch stop. He was checking on his cows... we asked if across the road were his... no, his neighbors though. So we told him of the dead one. He said he'd pass the info along. It's tough when they loose a full grown cow. So why am I boring you with the details.... he was driving one of those Bush Hogs like Glenn got...  Said he loved it!  

http://www.countryplans.com/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1171346103/180

And second reason; he was a cousin of my neighbor with the skid steer. I've met other cousins, uncles, etc. of his around these mountains over this past year. Seems like northern NM is a southwestern KY.  :-?  No offense meant.

glenn-k

Quotemaybe sit it on rubber donuts

I dunno about that, Don.  You'll have every cop in the country dropping by your place. :-?


I took the Bush Hog down to the creek with a neighbor, checking out a place I may get to help dredge next time we get some rain.  Like I want to work hard in the rocks - yeah -- but the learning experience will be worth it. :)

MountainDon

#129
A short time ago I casually mentioned that I had an unconventional feature I was adding to my gazebo. Well this weekend we completed the feature.

The Chiminea has been moved inside the gazebo! Saturday night photo.



The floor has concrete patio stones. Those lower walls are heat protected with 26 gauge steel roofing material. The top edge material is drip edge. This is the flat metal before its run through the machine that forms it into the ribbed panels. It is air spaced out from the wall studs with 1 inch spacers. The drip edge is also air spaced from the horizontal 2x4 framing to allow free upward air movement. This is a standard NFPA wood stove to combustible wall, clearance reduction method.

There is an airspace at the bottom of the panel to allow air to flow freely behind the panel. Convection air flow keeps the temperature behind the panel down.

Here's a detail of the mounting system used... The lower edge of the panels rest on galvanized lag screws about 1 1/8 inches above the patio stone floor level. The wall air spacing is achieved using coupling nuts. There are ceramic spacers made special for this at special prices.  :o



A shot of the floor and walls before moving the Chiminea into place.



The chimney mount is framed in with 2x4's. The chimney I used is a Class A insulated type HT made by Selkirk. The metal support is contained within a 12 3/8 x 12 3/8 inch square box as per mfg. specs. The wall ends of the support 2x4's (joists?)rest on the 2x6 top plates. The inside corner is hung from one of the half rafters. Two 3/8 inch bolts each joint; one may have sufficed.  :-/



Here you can see the completed support structure with the chimney pipe in place. Still have to trim the 2x4 ends.



I made a slight (1 1/2 inch) miscalculation in the positioning of the support box and needed to move the assembly 1 1/2 inches in the west direction (left in the photo) to have the chimney adequately clear the hip rafter. Bummer.  :-[  Rather than cut new longer "joists" (from material I did not have on hand = spending two hours driving) I elected to add a 2x4 block for extra support. Maybe I didn't need to do this, the 2x4's still had 1 1/2 inches sitting on the 2x6 top plate.

Exterior view with the Chiminea and chimney in place. Oh yeah, the screening is aluminum not fiberglass, for obvious reasons.



Old chrome dome hisself.   ;D  ...actually it's stainless steel.



The bear from a couple weeks ago paid another visit. After helping himself to some apples and scaring the bejeebers out of my neighbor's 11 week old pup (didn't come out from under the utility shed for a good half hour) it wandered up the wooded slope to our place. I was on the gazebo roof and my gun was in the RV. Another bummer! Hence the hip holstered .45 in this photo.  :-/

It was fortuitous that the top of the Chiminea smoke outlet was a perfect fit for a length of standard 8 inch stove pipe. Made it a lot easier to fit it all together. From there I adapted the piping down to the 6 inch insulated pipe. It draws very well, much better draft than the normal Chiminea.

I've never seen anybody else do this.

[edit]added a photo I missed first time around[/edit]


peg_688

#130
Quote

 
 


                 I've never seen anybody else do this.



   

Humm,  I wonder why ;D But I'm pretty sure it's been done at a kegger , maybe not with a chimney cap............

Seriously that looks very cleanly done, good use of materials made for something else to save cost, very nice outside the box thinking Mtn. D 8-)

 

MountainDon

#131
 :-? I meant the chimney on the Chiminea!!  

;D ;D ;D

Thanks.  :)  The idea came to me one night from out of the blue.  :-/ The chimney. The chrome dome was actually my wife's idea. Have a photo of her too.  ::)

added a construction photo I missed.  :-[

glenn-k

Kinda looks like a catalytic converter burning off gas fumes. :-/

Nice job Don and thanks for taking the time to detail it out for us.


MountainDon

QuoteKinda looks like a catalytic converter burning off gas fumes. :-/
My secrets out, dang!  ::) :o


hobbiest

My mom had the same kind of brake problem in a landcruiser, ended up finding out as she was going around a bend, and rolled it down a hill.  Broke her C3, hobbled her way out of the rig, and up the hill to the road.  Ended up ok, thank God.  I was 3 years old.  That girl is a cowboy!  Lightning hit the power circuit not too far from our house last month, fried the computer.  Word to the wise, when lightning is coming, unplug the computer, no matter how expensive your surge protector is!

MountainDon

#135
We went up to the mountains late Friday afternoon. Found a "calling card" beside the road in. Ya' get three guesses; answer at end of post. 14 inches across.



I finished the chimney roof flashing and shingled the last section of roof.



Due to the proximity of the chimney flashing to the hip ridge (like a 1/4 inch) I used a section of left over metal roof ridge right next to the chimney flashing. Cut a curve to match the flashing and secured it over the ridge and chimney flashing; caulked it good as well. I painted the galvanized metal with flat black; I think it looks better without the shiny metal. I have a little over spray on the stainless steel pipe. Removing that next when I return with some steel wool.



The roofing paper covering the peak is where the final touch, a Cuploa, will go. Still waiting on Lowe's to get in the correct final surprise. They're on their third attempt at getting the correct size, colors, etc. They blame it on the mrg/supplier. Might be, but I like I told the manager on duty last week; I don't care whose fault it is, I just want the order to come in and be correct. Should know this week  :-/

I was curious about just how well the air spaced steel behind the chiminea cut down the temperature behind the steel. (Forgot to take a photo). I drilled a 5/32" hole thru the siding from the exterior and inserted a dial thermometer to measure the temp between the metal and the wood. There is a gap of just over an inch between the steel panel and the floor. As well there is a 5/8 inch air space between the wood 2x4 sill and the L-shaped metal trim strip to allow air flow out. We stoked up a good fire and after a bit the metal panel at the point the chiminea is closest to was too hot to keep your hand on it for more than a second. The exterior air temp was 65 F. The temp between the metal and wood siding never went over 90 degrees F. I am quite pleased. I guess those NFPA folks now their stuff.  :)(National Fire Prevention Association)

The dump is bear scat (poop to the uninitiated). One of the larger dumps I have seen. Heard one ahead of us on the trail we were hiking Saturday; off in the bushes making noises like it was annoyed or nervous. Probably got a whiff of us or heard us coming... we talk a lot commenting on this or that. We had come across another dump of bear scat on the trail... FYI, it's better to talk and make "people noise" if you think bears are around. There's less of a chance you'll surprise a bear if you're noisy instead of silent. We beat a slow retreat with one eye behind us and one hand on the revolver. Karen now wants her own.

glenn-k

Cool poop, Don.  I got the type ID right but couldn't figure out what the big guy had been eating.  Did you do a taste test or other method of content ID?

MountainDon

#137
Vegetarian diet. No smell. No seeds, etc. Must have been eating simple greens.  :-/

My neighbor has dumped a bushel of apples out at the narrow end of the little valley. Bear might have been feasting on them too. ?? He's got bow permits on deer, elk, bear. Lots of elk bugling last night as well.  Right close by, but too dark to see them. I dunno how they navigate in the dark?

glenn-k

Re-read that - 14" across -- that's a nice one.  Missing any small children?

Coyotes used to take a dump right near our house just after they had eaten one of our cats.   :-/

Could be apple peels or something.  They climb and break trees to get fruit around here.


MountainDon

#139
Comparing notes, we think there's at least 2 bears hanging 'round close by. We've each had a couple sightings and one is browner than the other. Could be more?? No sightings of cubs.

No lost children  :)  ;D   but one of James' cats is acting very strange, hanging close to home, wanting to be touched/held. Unusual for it.

I wish I had a game camera set up

peg_688

#140
You leave nothing to chance there Mtn D with the temp checking 8-)

On that thru hip thats why folks should stay away from the ridge of there  roof , looks like you got a good seal , remember a bit of silcone around that storm collar as well.

Those bears will be pretty hunger fattin up for winter , keep your food stash in check eh. Sounds like lots of critters up there. Elk are amazing so big yet so graceful. Wel generally I'd guess there a "few" putz Elk in the forest as well.

Do they allow hound hunting for bear down there? They outlawed it up here , no hound Couger hunting either , I'd guess you have those slinking around your place as well?

Anyway since they cut off hound hunting theres lots of bears and couger sightings in yards , around schools etc . Folks get all freaked out , do "lock downs" at the schools , friggin Washington liberals  ::) and thier rules / laws.

Sets up a few extra state jobs for game wardens / govt. hunters eh  ;D More drains upon the people of the state of Wa. (govt. employees that is )  

 Place looks real nice Don 8-) Thanks for the photos .

glenn-k

The bear hunters here are real men.  They strap a GPS transmitter unit to their hounds - send them after the bear.  Hounds tree the bear -- they follow the GPS to the hound - there's the bear -- no problem.  Get out the beer and celebrate. :) :)

MountainDon

#142
QuoteYou leave nothing to chance there Mtn D with the temp checking 8-)

On that thru hip thats why folks should stay away from the ridge of there  roof , looks like you got a good seal , remember a bit of silicone around that storm collar as well.
I was curious about the temp because the metal was so hot   ::)

I placed a good bead around the flashing to chimney pipe joint, then slid the collar down into it and added more on the topside of the joint.  :)  
Originally there wasn't going to be a fire inside the gazebo. But then when the roof was 3/4 done the idea occurred to us. The first plan was to place the chiminea in the center of that wall and bring the chimney out through the flat space between the half rafters. Then we saw we could make better use of the floor space with it off to the side a bit. That's when the chimney installation got more interesting.  ::)

Yeah, Elk are so cool. The way they can move through the trees so fast and jumping barbed wire fences like they weren't even there. Good eyesight too I suppose, to be able to see the wires.

QuoteWell generally I'd guess there a "few" putz Elk in the forest as well.
The putz's end up on the dinner table   ;D  

Dogs may be used for bear and mountain lion/cougar in NM. Except during the Sept. 1-22 bow season, dog use is not allowed. There are other if, ands, and buts, than one can keep track of. Dogs, if leashed, can be used to help locate downed game. Plenty of bear sightings this year.

143 bear taken so far this year (as of 9/16); 391 total is allowed for the year)  :o  That's a lot of bear!

It's interesting to note that in Elk hunting last year the public lands success rate was better for the special "youth only" hunts (40%) than it was for the "normal firearm hunts, all ages, (30%). NM Fish & Game have all kinds of stats available on their web site.  :) "Mobility Impaired" had a success rate of (42%); usually crossbow.

I've only once sighted cougars, or mountain lions as they're commonly called here. At a distance, there were a pair. But I've seen a number of footprints, especially a few weeks back after a rain. My neighbor was stalked by a mountain lion while elk hunting once. He was using a cow call trying to get a bull closer. One of the other hunters with him noticed the mountain lion slinking thru the grass and trees from behind him. Plenty of bear sightings this year.


MountainDon

QuoteThe bear hunters here are real men.  They strap a GPS transmitter unit to their hounds
Good lord! That should be illegal, but I don't want more laws.

glenn-k

Even most of the rednecks don't have much use for these guys.  Most come from the valley I heard.

Hound doesn't perform or gets lost too often, it becomes the next target.


MountainDon

#145
Back to the topic.





What is it?

Answers and more info will be forthcoming.  :)


glenn-k

Ummm--- hmmmmm -- dog house? :-?

MountainDon

Mmmmm...  No

Tho' one day I do want to get another dog.  :)  "hound dog of some kind.

glenn-k

With GPS???? :-?


Hmmmm --- Uhhh --- Cupola?

MountainDon

No GPS on the dog, Glenn.  Maybe one on me.  :-/