3R Home and Barn Project

[hunterridgefarm]

Rob,

As usual I enjoyed the story about the water tank. Those Gradall are nice!! I have one at my building site but the guys keep taking the keys . I have two big white pines I could push down with that thing and I made the mistake of telling them that, so I guess thats why they keep taking the keys when they leave .

The logs are looking great! And every time I look at your view I am just amazed at the beauty.

David

[silverdollar6]

It is great to see the pictures of your new home, I also like the campsite. My only queston is where do you keep the bear?

[sandman2234]

I got a 15,000 pound forklift stuck at work, doing a "government job" and knew I would catch the devil for it if I didn't get it out. A pair of 8K forklifts with a ton on the forks for ballast wouldn't budge it, so at midnight everyone except me gave up. A fellow worker had a brother with a JD450 parked nearby but the keys were gone. I tried every key on my ring and my '66 Chevy key worked. I chewed some pretty good ditches with those tracks, but finally got it out. Parked the dozer back where it came from and never said a word. Week or so later I asked my worker if the dozer was ok after my use and he said his brother was hot when he saw the grooves but couldn't figure out how the dozer got moved, so after a full inspection, he just forgot it. I told him to tell him thanks cause it sure got me out of a bind! Years later, I was able to do the dozer owner a favor, and didn't hesitate doing it. He never knew it was me.

David from jax

[3RRL]

Thanks guys,
I sure do appreciate the feedback. Makes it fun to share this project.

Tom, by twisting the straps around the tank, essentially I did make a giant oil filter wrench. It worked.

Silver,
The bear is around all the time. I went down that road I made which leads to the meadow below the house and there were bear tracks all over it.

David, thanks for your constant encouragement.

Larry,
Great suggestion about the Red Hill home. I will consider that for sure. Even thought the market is down, one advantage of having a home on a private golf course is that rich guys who are members at the club are wanting to move and be on the course like I did. The market is slightly more favorable for me in that respect. There are only 144 homes on the golf course, so they go for a premium. That is not to say it will happen for sure though, but nevertheless, it is a special market with a little edge for me.

For example, when I was rich and famous, I would have paid whatever to get a home on the private golf course where I am a member. That reminds me, I will also sell my Red Hill CC membership after 25 years. It should bring in a nice chunk too. Maybe make a package deal for someone like when I was looking? Heck, I have 2 golf carts and a golf cart shed (for two) and a path and gate to the sixth hole. I think I'll throw in the golf cart and charger too. Maybe 10 sets of irons and woods? Some I won the Club Championship with. Surely some executive type with oodles of money will swallow that up hook line and sinker.

No, I will not do the electrical and plumbing myself on the water tank. My well guy will do all that, but I may have to dig all the trenches for the pipes to the house, to the fire hydrant and to the irrigation manifold. There is a "door" on top of the tank and also a vent. My well guy sets these up normally when he drills the well if he has time. With the drought out here, he has been busy drilling, not installing the tanks. Our water supply is pretty good (keep my fingers crossed) at 100+ gals/min flow. Also in the event of an emergency, I could boil the water first. But I plan to use it only for fire and then for irrigation too, so it should be turned over fresh on a regular basis.

The Gorilla tape is awesome and a heavy gauge. It is by far the best "duct tape" I've ever used. It stuck my fingers together when I was putting it on the tarp. We'll see how it holds up in the long run. From previous use, regular duct tape failed after a month and the Harbor Freight duct tape is the worst I've ever used.

[sandman2234]

I haven't ever seen Gorilla tape, had to go find it to know what you guys were talking about. I figured it would be something similar to "trailer tape", or whatever that stuff is called. It isn't the same stuff, or as expensive as trailer tape, but it is used for a different purpose. Trailer tape is kind of like aluminum air conditioning ductwork tape, but with a rubber layer about 1/16 of an inch thick. Sticks pretty good to stuff like trailers and other aluminum sheet metal and it keeps rain out, even at 70 mph in a driving rainstorm. Good stuff, and in conjunction with a bar of soap, I got a leaking fuel tank back from Mass without loosing a drop of diesel.
I will have to get a roll of Gorilla tape and see just how good it is.
David from jax

[EddieWalker]

Rob,

Great post on your tank and what it took to get it there AND in place!!! What I like best is how you overcome yout obsticles and make it happen. Very impressive.

I've seen the Gorilla Tape, but never tried it. I know the glue is about as good as it gets, maybe the best. It's very, very good. I'll also buy a roll of the tape as my last roll of duct tape is gone and I like to keep a roll in my tool box anyway.

Thanks for the tip,
Eddie

[TwinWillows]

Rob,
I liked how you turned the tank w/the giant "oil filter wrench", I'll have to put that little trick into the memory bank.

[3RRL]

Eddie and Twin, thanks for the compliments.
Yes, out there you must make do with what you have, right? Turning the tank was cool like that. I told Wes we were going to do it the way the Egyptians probably would do it. Did you see how I placed the boards all around the pad in case I missed it? Those also gave me leverage to move it.

Man, when I go up to the property and if I forget something, it's at least a 2 hour turn around trip ... into Visalia. There is now a new store in Three Rivers, the "Mercantile". It's a combo hardware/feed store that has some supplies. But it doesn't carry any auto or hydraulic parts and only a few tools...mostly garden tools. But that's where I got the Gorilla tape.

I'll be going back up tomorrow for a couple days, but mostly to entertain my cousin. If there is more progress, I'll surely take pictures and post them this weekend.

[3RRL]

I went back up with Loretta and my cousin Adrian from Holland.
He had never been to the property but follows this thread and updates Loretta sends to the Holland relatives. He was pretty amazed at the size and diversity of the property... to see it in person. They just don't have anything like that in Holland. He just loved the progress on the log home too. We were fortunate to see several bucks as we drove up and later more bear tracks on the roads and trails. It blew his mind when it all settled in.

As we drove up on Buckhorn, the only paved street that leads up to our property, we could see the log home taking shape behind the rock formation. In the past, the rocks just blended in with the background, but now with the log home looming above the rocks, you can really see it coming in.
Here are some more pictures. They now have the entire first floor laid and even put in the base of the second floor. The second photo is making the turn from the drive (on top) which shows the progress.



You have seen that same view as the house is growing.
But for a change, we walked around the rocks and down the hillside a bit to take these photos. There was nothing to see from this view before since it was all hidden by that rock bluff. Now that the log home is rising, you can start to see it from down there. It looks pretty cool from this perspective. I imagine when the second floor gets laid, it will be even more dramatic. And with the roof on, even more so.

[3RRL]

The following photos are from the inside of the log home showing the layout. You can also see the second floor rafters, which are logs and large structural beams. They will lay plywood on top of that and then the wood flooring.



This is getting pretty cool and Loretta is very excited as I am too. The vertical logs will show as the interior is framed. There are 6 x 6 vertical beams also, but they will become part of the interior walls and get covered up. You will only see the vertical logs and not the beams.