3R Home and Barn Project

[zogman]

We actually did go to Kings Canyon and Sequoia, we hit Yosemite as well. We took back roads from Bakersfield up to Kings Canyon and went on the longest-windiest road I've ever been on. I am sure we were very near your place at some point. We did the whole tour, our teenagers loved it believe it or not. This year we are looking at taking a train across the country. Leaving from Charlotte NC, making stops at DC, Chicago, Denver, Salt Lake and San Fran then north to Portland and Vancouver. We hope to see the U.S. like most never will. I want my kids to know why America is great not just hear it from other people. I've traveled all over the world with the military and there are some nice cities in Europe, but nothing compares in my mind to the freedom and open spaces we have here.

On another note, I was hit with the flooding in SC. Nothing life threatening, it just washed out my bridge to the house. I get on the Kama to fix it and my FEL hydraulics decide they want to quit. I bought seal kits to rebuilt the lift cylinders and couldn't get the gland cap off to rebuild them. The design is very poor, I only had an 1/8" to put a wrench on, by the time we were done they were ruined. I couldnt get Koyker to answer the phone so I bought new aftermarket cylinders(magister brand - seem to be well built and they will answer immediately) and had the ends modified to fit my tractor. I installed the new ones, put fresh fluid in it and all worked well for about 10 minutes. The lift cylinders worked beautifully and hold firm but the bucket cylinders failed to hold pressure. I guess 10 years is about all I can expect. I'm so frustrated at this point... I took the bucket cylinders to a machine shop and he is cutting a specialized tool with a water jet to fit around the entire gland nut. It always seems when you absolutely need something to perform it decides to show you who's boss!

If you ever come to SC or want to tour down this way in search of a new homestead don't hesitate to call on me. I live right outside of Columbia in Lexington - 2 hours from the coast or the mountains.

 

[zogman]

We actually did go to Kings Canyon and Sequoia, we hit Yosemite as well. We took back roads from Bakersfield up to Kings Canyon and went on the longest-windiest road I've ever been on. I am sure we were very near your place at some point. We did the whole tour, our teenagers loved it believe it or not. This year we are looking at taking a train across the country. Leaving from Charlotte NC, making stops at DC, Chicago, Denver, Salt Lake and San Fran then north to Portland and Vancouver. We hope to see the U.S. like most never will. I want my kids to know why America is great not just hear it from other people. I've traveled all over the world with the military and there are some nice cities in Europe, but nothing compares in my mind to the freedom and open spaces we have here.

On another note, I was hit with the flooding in SC. Nothing life threatening, it just washed out my bridge to the house. I get on the Kama to fix it and my FEL hydraulics decide they want to quit. I bought seal kits to rebuilt the lift cylinders and couldn't get the gland cap off to rebuild them. The design is very poor, I only had an 1/8" to put a wrench on, by the time we were done they were ruined. I couldnt get Koyker to answer the phone so I bought new aftermarket cylinders(magister brand - seem to be well built and they will answer immediately) and had the ends modified to fit my tractor. I installed the new ones, put fresh fluid in it and all worked well for about 10 minutes. The lift cylinders worked beautifully and hold firm but the bucket cylinders failed to hold pressure. I guess 10 years is about all I can expect. I'm so frustrated at this point... I took the bucket cylinders to a machine shop and he is cutting a specialized tool with a water jet to fit around the entire gland nut. It always seems when you absolutely need something to perform it decides to show you who's boss!

If you ever come to SC or want to tour down this way in search of a new homestead don't hesitate to call on me. I live right outside of Columbia in Lexington - 2 hours from the coast or the mountains.

 

[3RRL]

Thanks for the invitation Rob, in fact our search criteria has revealed several plots of land in NC which we would like to inspect ourselves. Now it's just a matter of getting my home completely refinished ... deck and railing, and the log home, breezeway and garage. Also the wood that covers the crawl space/basement. A really big job!



I'm glad to see you are taking care to educate your children about America. It's refreshing to hear someone (besides me) who still thinks this is the greatest country in the world. Very admirable Rob, my hat is off to you!

 

[zogman]

You are always welcome here, NC and Tennessee are beautiful(so is your place by the way), they seem like a good fit for you. I could visualize you building a hydro-electric plant on a river right now. I'm ready to read about it. Tennessee has no property tax which is nice, lots of mountains and water. NC has the Blue Ridge Parkway, Hendersonville, Asheville(cant see you there-a lot of hippies) and the decent to low end ocean sites. SC is a pretty state as well, a lot flatter compared to NC and TN. We have much better beaches and more historic cities. The downfall is we have winter and summer, fall lasts about 2 weeks. Summer is hot and lasts till October, we are still seeing temps in the mid 70s in late November. For the price you will get for your place you could probably buy a hundred acres of beautiful big hardwoods in uptate SC with water/ river access and still build a mansion.

 

[EddieWalker]

Now that you have built and lived in a log house, will you do it again?

 

[3RRL]

LOL Rob,
I don't know how much building I can do anymore, but I sure have learned a lot over the last ten years. Hope to see you when we visit over there.

You are always welcome here, NC and Tennessee are beautiful(so is your place by the way), they seem like a good fit for you. I could visualize you building a hydro-electric plant on a river right now. I'm ready to read about it. Tennessee has no property tax which is nice, lots of mountains and water. NC has the Blue Ridge Parkway, Hendersonville, Asheville(cant see you there-a lot of hippies) and the decent to low end ocean sites. SC is a pretty state as well, a lot flatter compared to NC and TN. We have much better beaches and more historic cities. The downfall is we have winter and summer, fall lasts about 2 weeks. Summer is hot and lasts till October, we are still seeing temps in the mid 70s in late November. For the price you will get for your place you could probably buy a hundred acres of beautiful big hardwoods in uptate SC with water/ river access and still build a mansion.

 

[3RRL]

Yes Eddie, I wood (pun) LOL.
Now that I know what to look for, concerning the refinish, it should be no more maintenance than a regular city home would need on it's most weather beaten surfaces. The key is as soon as an exterior surface loses it's sheen, it's time to wash and spray a coat of Cascade sealer on. Had I known that, it would eliminate sanding those huge walls, making up keep considerably easier.

Now that you have built and lived in a log house, will you do it again?

 

[PAGUY]

Rob- How's the wife doing now a days?

As I recall she was a hard worker around your place. Liked the posts about her having her own Jinma tractor.

 

[PAGUY]

Rob- How's the wife doing now a days?

As I recall she was a hard worker around your place. Liked the posts about her having her own Jinma tractor.

 

[EddieWalker]

Rob, that's good to hear. I've always loved log homes and really enjoyed seeing yours in person. I've worked on several here in East Texas that suffer from rot. they seem to have issues at the very bottom log that is exposed to the splashing from rain, and then on the logs that stick out at the outside corners where water will remain. A full, wrap around porch is the best solution.

Most of all the log homes here are from Satterwhite. They are the local log home company. They use the D style logs that come from standing dead trees in Colorado.

Did you have any settling issues? Did you have to adjust or raise your walls over time?