BROKEN CAMP

[3RRL]

Hi guys,
Many of you have read the threads about my food plot and life at my camp in general. Here's a link to a couple threads. I've been living out of camp for over 3 years now, waiting for my log home to be built.

Driving to Your Property

Food Plot

Anyway, over the years I've had to do all kinds of repairs to camp to keep in shape. I've also made some improvements too. But when we pulled in last Friday evening in the pitch dark, we noticed a lot of damage to the South side as we pulled up. Water had collected on the new tarp instead of draining off and it broke several 4x4's and crushed all the side skeleton wood framing I had done several weeks ago for the new tarp. I should have reinforced it all better, but had no idea 300 gallons would collect and crush it.

Here's what it looked like when we pulled in and then the next morning.



Needless to say I was very broken hearted about it. Not just that South Camp was partially destroyed, but more that I couldn't work at all on my QA Gauge Wheel project. I only have Saturday and half of Sunday to work as it is, and with the rain predicted, I would be lucky to get any of this repaired in time.

 

[3RRL]

Here's more photos showing the damage. Two of the metal frame canopies under the tarps were crushed and I threw one away. I'm gonna have to hustle to get it all repaired before the rain comes this evening. I'll have to reinforce the side framing too, to reduce the chance of this happening again. Just a LOT of work I wasn't planning on. I'm so lucky to have Loretta and Wes to help. If it wasn't for them, I'd never get anything done up there or maybe just give up.



With the limited time I have up there, all my tractor related projects are going to be set way back. It's a 4 hour drive up and 4 hours home and that doesn't leave much for the weekend. Here's what I've got on the plate to do.
-Take photos of the Log Home project every visit up and inspect their work.
-Finish the QA Gauge Wheels
-Install the mounts onto the rotary cutter and boxblade then paint them.
-Hook up the hydraulics for both.
-Repair the broken rear axle and brakes on my ATV.
-Make bracket mounts for my new hydraulic winch and mount to tractor.
-Hook up the hydraulics, pressure reducers, gauges and QA system for it.
-Test all these new mods out and document so I can share with you guys.

That's a lot to do for in a short time every other weekend.
Loretta and I were pretty distraught over it.

 

[meadowlarkponds]

Rob,

Just remember its all part of the journey. For almost 30 years I was a "weekend farmer" driving 120 miles each way from/to Houston. I always tried to improve on something at the property just about every weekend. Had my ups and downs(hurricanes/tornadoes/thefts/etc.), also, but it was all worth every penny and drop of sweat and tears.

It is truely a labor of love and the rewards are greater than just about anything in life. Enjoy the journey.

 

[tony123]

Sorry to hear about this Rob.

When we put the boat up for the winter, I've never been able to get the tarp tight enough to not sag at some point.

Man...that sucks. Keep on smiling though....it will all make for good story telling when you're sitting in front of the fire in your new home.

 

[3RRL]

Thanks guys,
This was a brand new triple strength industrial tarp I just put on a couple weeks ago. The wood framing was a lot weaker than the tarp. Bummer is that I was planning to add reinforcement to it, but never got around to it. I should have and I kick myself in the butt for it. I was actually more worried about the wind maybe tearing it down and never thought about the rain water accumulating. I thought it would drain off but there were some pockets that I knew might cause problems. But I never dreamed this would happen.
Thanks for the condolences and encouragement.... and I am trying to make a good story of it for sure.

 

[3RRL]

The next morning we started early with cleaning up before actually starting the repairs. Everybody pitched in knowing we had to beat the impending rain. It was overcast in the morning and drizzling already, so we had to work fast.

Loretta worked her butt off doing most of the clear up and clearing. You can imagine all the little cabinets we had on that side full of flashlights and lanterns, field glasses, ammo, rifle and pistol cleaning kits and whatever else, but everything was OK and not broken luckily. We keep the rifles and pistols suspended and off the decks when we are gone. Coco's dog house was OK too. Everything was knocked over.

Wes's tent canopy was bent but we could fix that one. It's not perfect, but we got it back to working again. I can't believe how much crap we have up there now. Loretta moved everything from the crushed side over to the good side while we started fixing things. They all kept my spirits up while I was figuring the best way to patch it all up before the rain came. Wes did his best to help Dad and also keep himself entertained. It was great to see.

 

[3RRL]

There was obviously more to repair than what I've shown in these photos, but we started at it, one place at a time until we got most of it patched up. I cut out most of the broken pieces and splice in new one. I spliced the other 4x4's all around and reset the deck. It was starting to happen. It took all day just to get it back to this point.



Loretta went to the homesite to pick up remnants of wood for most of the repairs. We also had a stack of 2x4's at camp which we used all of them up first. There was still more to do to add the extra reinforcement so this wouldn't happen again.

 

[3RRL]

We kept working at the repairs and got everything pretty much to where it was. Then it was time to make a run to home depot to buy some 20' long 2x4's for the addition ribbing to the center spine. They sag a bit but so what. They tied the whole thing together and it is ten times more sturdy than before. Getting those ribs up on the roof was exhausting, but necessary.

After we got the destroyed side done, we also reinforced the good side, adding the long boards. It was pouring by now and we could see where the water was billowing up, so we place the wood boards in those places. We also added more in the areas that needed it. If there are small pools that fill now, they will overflow and spill off before they get too big to cause damage. That is what I was hoping for.

Here you can see the extra supports and ribbing to the center. You can also see it was pouring. And oh yeah, I got the window on the Blazer repaired early that morning too. They came up to the property to do it.



I can't believe we got all that done this weekend before we got washed away. Although I got nothing else done ... what I really wanted to do, it was pretty gratifying to see what we did in such a short period. Just goes to show you what can happen when a family pulls together in the wilderness to survive the elements It was a great experience for all of us.

 

[GuglioLS]

Rob,

So sorry to see all the devastation there at your pride and joy camp. Man what a mess to drive up to in the dark, especially after your long trip looking forward to a good night's rest. Then having to put all your tractor projects on hold to repair everything is just the pits. There must have been a tremendous load built up prior to all those 4X4's snapping like that. You figure ~ 300 gallons? 2400 pounds of water trapped in that tarp came crashing down all at once. Be glad that none of you were nestled in sleeping when that happened. I'm sure your counting your blessings in that regard.

Rob - you have the most positive attitudes of anyone I have ever had the honor of meeting. I knew you would overcome this and your camp is now restored to a condition better than before. You have your priorities straight to suck it up and get to work rebuilding. Your tractor projects will wait patiently for you to work your magic, as will we.

How do you like the Gorilla Tape to hold the tarps together?

...Just goes to show you what can happen when a family pulls together in the wilderness to survive the elements It was a great experience for all of us.

Now that's the spirit true pioneers are made of. You and your family pulling together to get this done is an inspiration.

Now start chipping away at the to do list, but always make sure new items get added to the bottom. Every once in a while something somehow makes it to the top of that list, but hopefully not too many more surprises from now on


Larry

 

[3RRL]

Larry,
I'm speechless, what you said is too kind. Thanks for all the support and encouragement (over many years now) good friend.

Oh, the Gorilla tape I talked about in my Log Home thread. Man, you can't believe how good it is. You know I had cut the canopy around the tree trunks in the atrium part of the decks. Then I used that Gorilla tape to patch it back together instead of sowing like last year. Well, the new canopy tore a little over there too. But instead of the Gorilla tape giving way and coming loose, the tear went right through the canopy and tape! In other words, the tape held the seam but tore through both!
Great stuff.
Rob-