Rick and Ellen's Shop at the Ranch

[Redoverfarm]

Great part of history when you can put something together like that of yours.  I keep reminding myself to make a notation of events surround my build.  It will be a interesting conversation piece for my son later.

[rick91351]

Last winter just after the first snows, my camera went on the fritz.  It had to be replaced or go to the shop with some major metering problems.  So I really was unable to post anything.  Having become really in tune to a picture is worth a thousand words, I sort of dropped this project.  That and the fact the snows came early.  And there was a lot of it right from the start.  Boy was there ever!

The builder I had working on it, I told him to not mess with it.  It was not worth it, taking a chance getting injured and the hundred mile round trip drives he was doing.  Then to get there and shovel snow, finish that in time to leave to go home.  This part of Idaho in the winter it gets dark real early anyway.  That and it was not like this was the number one thing on my list of things that had to happen. 

So I paid him off the total.  I know this is not the smart thing to do regardless.  But hey; I know him and his dad.  I know their work ethic.  I am in touch with him all the time anyway.  In short they are friends, and the last thing they would do is stiff another local from up there.  Not that I think they would stiff anyone..   

A couple weeks ago my wife drove up to the ranch.  She needed to get some dormant spraying done in the orchard.  I had to work.    She came back saying there was about a foot snow in the orchard at the most.  So a couple days ago I needed to get out and get away.  (Cabin fever)  I took a vacation day.  Me and Tig my red healer dog loaded up my quad and drove to the top of one of the summits.  I unloaded there and rode the road up to there.  I put on a little over sixty miles round trip.  In Idaho we can ride them on dirt roads except federal highways as long as insured and the quad is licensed. 



Things seemed to have wintered very well and nothing seemed to have been molested over the winter. 



The overflow on one of my economy stock watering tanks was plugged with a couple sticks, pine needles and algee.  I unplugged it and it all leveled out back to normal.



The orchard looks very good.  Wintered very well.  This year is the last year of planting new trees.  We have another twenty five coming from Adams County Nursery  http://www.acnursery.com/  We have found them very good to work with.  They helped us a lot choosing what will work and what will not.  Very good input as to root stocks and verities. 



It is so hard to believe that Tig the little pup that is my logo is now almost four.  She is very protective of the grandkids and me.  Ellen my wife has her own dog another healer.  Tig seems to cover me and the grandkids and has the energy to get'er all done.  They are certainly not for everyone but for us and our life style they are the best fit having had a wide verity.   



Next thing on the agenda the cattle will have to come up and turn out the last week of this month.  Someone else will do that for us this year with my work schedule or I might just take time off.  Then we will have to take the old fifthwheel back up and set it up.  I /we hope this is the last year for it.  Although that has been a great thing for us and we are only out about $2500 on a very small cabin.  Yet even some days John's Builders Cottage is looking better to us all the time.

We sure would like to build the house we have talked about.  The plans and engineering are all done but..... more on that latter.  Right now it is count our many blessings and be glad we are out of debt.  Well except for a couple years on the mortgage on the house and acreage in the valley.  Certainly not bragging as we have lived there for about fifteen years and is so low that we could get that retired in very short order if we chose to.

The middle part of next month, we have trees and fifty blue berry bushes to go in.  We want to fence and plant a garden spot up there this year as well.  Then there is a couple fences about a quarter mile long that need moved and .... and I am wore out thinking about it....  Good thing I am about to retire. 

           

[glenn kangiser]

Sounds like fun, Rick.

Our current dogs are part healer and we have had a couple of others that were full Queenslands.  Good dogs.

I like those tanks.

[rick91351]

I like those tanks.

There are several benefits using this type of set up.  They can freeze solid in the winter time and will not hurt a thing.  They utilizes free to very low cost resources.  They are bull and cow proof.  A big 2000 pound bull can rub in them all day and not hurt a thing.  When they are filled as they are here, small mammals and birds use them and can get out safely.  Sadly with metal tanks this is not true without providing an escape ramp.  They will never rust out as will a metal tank.  These they have been in now maybe four years and have a fair amount of cattle usage May through November.  As you can see there is very little erosion around them.    Last year in the evenings in the summer, we are noticing more and more deer using these.  Especially when the other watering holes were not producing very well.

I had a deal at the time with one of the local Les Schwab tire stores.  We got all their big monster tires for free.  I have a few more 'stock piled'.  I cut the sidewall out of them with a sawzall.  The whole trick to that seems to be keeping water on the sidewall to help lubricate the blade.  I have seen them cut them out with a hand saw as well right out in the field.

The spring where this water comes from is about 250 feet way and up hill from there.  We opened it up with an excavator.  After making sure we had a good flow, we then laid down a bed of gravel.  We used what was available locally, it was more like very course decomposed granite sand to two inch gravel.  On top of that we laid down perforated pvc drain pipe with a homemade end cap with a poly fitting fitted into it.  We coupled 1.50 inch black poly pipe to it and ran it down the trench to where the tanks are now.  On top the drain pipe we laid down more gravel and then a couple layers of heavy plastic sheeting. This prevents the soil from entering the drain field and fouling it again  We then back filled over the top.

At the tanks, the black poly comes up from the bottom.  That can be held at any level short top of the tank but lower than the spring of course.  Place another length of black poly looping it out under the first tank to the second and then the third or as we did waste it to a creek for the time being.  The tires we held up off the ground eight or ten inches and level.  We used some rocks as stands for this.  We then mixed concrete and cemented the supply and the over flow poly pipes and the center bead of the tire.  We worked the cement under the tires completely around under the tires.  We then poured those pads around the exterior.  This gives a very good water tight seal and stops the erosion that occurs around stock watering tanks.

You set the level of the water in the tank to the height of the over flow.  We wasted the water at the time into a creek bed.  Now we use it in the summer time to water fruit trees, piping it in to a large poly tank.  If I can get it fixed right with a proper over flow this year.  After it fills the orchard tank, I will waste it again into a cistern we put in about 25 years ago.  The cistern is  maybe another 300 feet away.  We never really were able use it as we wanted to.  That would utilize that cistern as we then would pump out of it for our garden spot we are planing up there.  More and more we come to realize water is our most important natural resource.

[glenn kangiser]

Thanks for the details, Rick. That will help anyone wanting to do the same thing.  Makes good use of the worn out tires too.

I was just thinking about ways to use our rainwater better and get it stored in the ground but it will require equipment work to do that.  Our spring is at the bottom of the mountain so pumping will be required to get it up here.

[rick91351]

We finely got the final on the shop.  It went a lot longer than we intended and did not work out as planed.  The build inspector and the tax assessor all were stating to wonder???   

I roughed in some wiring in the shear brace wall.  Do not have the electrical permit yet because electrical will be done next year I hope!  I hope they do not require me to show them that wall because in order to get final on the building permit it had to be sheeted both sides and insulated.  So I took lots of pictures and they will see my other work.



I did split the insolation and worked the wiring inside the bats.  I used spring wire to hold the bats in place rather than staples.  I still do not know if I like that better.  I think I do, however some wires did not hold the best.



Wall sheeted with OSB one side was screwed on because I might have to remove it to let the electrical inspector have a look.  Boy will I ever be @#$#$ if that happens!  Other side is nailed with 2" ring shanks.     



Soffet and batts on the back side



North side all but the big doors trimmed out. 



Glenn you asked one time what we were going to do for doors.  I thought I wanted slider or rollers because of the snow issue. We decided on regular old hinged doors for a couple reason mainly was cost.  Two was with the direction of the building and the winter wind direction.  That and that cement pad there we should not occur a lot of drifting there.  Three if we are living up there year round as planed I will have a tractor and blower or a frontend loader to take care of the snow.  Four the locals all said I would be happier with them in the long run because I could seal them up better.  And hey if they do not work then we can do something else.



Bats



Bats



Yep you got it more bats



Very sad day for the guy in the basket on the man lift.  This is the day after the tragedy at the Reno Air Races.  He always goes to the air races in Reno.  His dad and brother were there.  Their very good friend was the pilot who's Mustang crashed and killed and injured so many.  This year because he had work up there for another contractor he did not go.  He came over and worked for us that Saturday.



I think that man lift was the neatest thing I ever rented.   


 

[glenn kangiser]

Manlifts are great for getting the job done when it is high work.  I use them an just about every job.  I don't think there have ever been two manlifts made that have the same controls. 

[Sassy]

Looks really great!  That was sad for your friend & the pilot... 

[rick91351]

Manlifts are great for getting the job done when it is high work.  I use them an just about every job.  I don't think there have ever been two manlifts made that have the same controls. 

Having to go three high with scaffold even though I have it did not make a lot of sense.  The front of the shop is 53 ft. long with the total roof line and I am thinking like thirty thee feet high sticks in my mind.  So having to move it multiple times.  We did the two ends off scaffold two high.    Available vacation time starting to run out.  (Right in the middle of this marathon I almost lost my father.  So I had to trow my tools in the pick up and come out.  Then spend a week in the hospital with him.  And move him to another facility when he was discharged!)  We just had to press on hard to get it all done.  So the man lift was the only way to go.   

I finished trimming out the last drive door at noon the last day of my vacation.



By the time I was done picking up board ends and stuff and the tools and loading all that into the trailer for firewood.  Plus loading my new used cheap table saw and strapping it down and discovering the trailer had no tail lights and trying to fix that.  It was way past dark thirty and the trailer was still up there when I got home!   

Compared the danger of scaffold versus man lift.   The chance of some one falling is always there but greatly reduced.  Plus I am not as agile I once was.  And the fact that heights are beginning to scare the #$&%W out of me.   

[rick91351]

Looks really great!  That was sad for your friend & the pilot...  

That young man is quite a guy.  His fee for working for others is strictly via donation.  You have to pry it out of him what he sort of wold like to receive.  Then some times he does sort of bartering, sort of trading.  He works up there where ever he can.  He is a very skilled builder, handyman, ranch hand and horseman.  He flies not near as much as he wants to anymore.  He is sort of assistant pastor at the Prairie Bible Fellowship.  He certainly has a huge respect of people up there.  Even those who are anti church and anti Christian will admit Joesph is not a bad guy.    

He handles the Sunday morning service while the Pastor preaches in the morning over at Pine another very back woods community.  The evening services are the main service at Prairie Bible Fellowship when the Pastor preaches there.  Works out great for him because he lives there and has a short drive after services rather having to return all the way from Pine.    

[Squirl]

That is huge.  Great job.

[rick91351]

That is huge.  Great job.

Thanks it measures out at 26 by 50.  I wanted to do 30 by 50 but that made the shed roof way too tall.  Another four feet on a 5 : 12 and it was going to have to go way too high.  As it was it escaped engineering because it is a non commercial ag building.  It was the only way I knew to keep the snow from sliding down in front of the doors.

We used a product out of Canada that is become extremely popular up there called LifeTime Wood Treatment.  We sprayed it on with a garden sprayer.  Some people up there build a trough and dip their boards.  

Here Ellen is top coating where we were a little thin.





This week we were up there to tend to the orchard.  Shop looked sort of lonely sitting there with a back drop of gold.



Next year at this time prayerfully and hopefully we will be dried in at the house.  And we will be working on the inside.  But that is whole 'nother thread.  


   

[Sassy]

Nice work!  Also like the color from the fall leaves in the background 

[OlJarhead]

I so love the board and batten look!  Very nice!