Barn Demolition

[valleydweller1]

Hi all,

I plan to tear down two rotten outbuildings this summer, and was wondering if anyone has any experience using an excavator with a thumb to do demolition work. I plan to rent a large dumpster and an excavator for a weekend and git-r-done.

Any thoughts?

 

[JimR]

Have you asked your local fire department if they needed to have a real life fire drill? They may do it for you for free.

 

[JimMorrissey]

Greg,

How bad are the barns? You'd be surprised what people will take down for free. If not and if the fire dept (as mentioned) won't burn it for you, you can seperate the wood from the other garbage and burn the wood yourself. The thumb will be good for the separation process. That's save you some big $$ on tipping fees. You can load and haul the rest via dumpster. Fractured wood does not compact or lie well and takes up a lot of space in the dumpster. I'd get a burn permit and spend a weekend burning.

Sure is going to be fun "dismantling" the barns with an excavtor. Make sure to get some pics and post them. If you get the machine to get rid of it....keep in mind that you will be responsible for damage. Big nails and spikes and sharp splinters can damage hydraulic lines at a minimum. Just go easy on the machine. My brother and I recently paid a good bit of $$ for some damage done to the cab of an excavator we rented. A big log slipped out of the thumb and smashed into the side. It cost us something like $900 for a new panel.

 

[Regal]

<font color="blue"> local fire department if they needed to have a real life fire drill? </font>
Nice idea, but I would assume that most states have rules similar to Iowa. Over the years we have burned several houses and barns. Great training for new firefighters. Unfortunately, the state now limits us to only two burns per year. And only then if all the sample materials sent in pass their tests. Most owners don't want to go through the hassle much less the expense of tests. Fines are quite steep for the department if we did a burn with out all the test results in hand.
Is still worth a shot though. Your local laws may differ from ours.

 

[valleydweller1]

I'm pretty familiar with the local laws regarding burning, as I'm a firefighter. There isn't much training value in an old barn, and one of them is on the property line and wouldn't be appropriate for burning anyway.

I've thought about separating and burning the wood, and may still do that. If possible, I'd just as soon pay an extra $100 for a bigger dumpster to save me a day of babysitting a pile.

What size excavator will I need?

 

[JimMorrissey]

How big are the barns (lwh)? Do you have pictures?

 

[valleydweller1]

One barn is about 20x30, with a roof peak about 12 feet high. The other is 18x34, with a roof peak again about 12 feet high. They're both pretty deteriorated; I half expect the 20x30 to fall over before I get around to dismantling it.

I'll try and post pictures when I get home on Tuesday.

 

[Regal]

<font color="blue"> There isn't much training value in an old barn </font>
You're right about that, although a trainee can learn a true appreciation for proper turnout gear when he gets up close and personal to the heat that can be generated from an old barn.
Besides, You'll have a lot more fun with excavator!!!!

 

[JimMorrissey]

I'd say something like a Komatsu PC120 with a thumb would do the trick. They rent around here (VT) for about $1200-$1500 a week plus delivery and weight about 25,000lbs. Certainly a PC150 at 35,000lbs would do it and cost a couple hundred more a week....minimum 20,000lbs to get the job done from afar. My opinion is that you want to have some reach so you don't have to be on top of the scrap pile.....you can be selective in you pickings with the thumb. Certainly there are cheaper ways to do it, but this would be the quickest and safest.

Maybe you pull it down with your tractor and use the money to buy a grapple? It would take a lot longer, but you'd have a grappple /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[valleydweller1]

Here is the 3-sided barn that needs to come down. It's right along the property line.

 

[valleydweller1]

This is the old 4-sided barn that needs to come down. There is some salvagable wood in this (like the siding in the left side of the photo). My employer (Fire District) might want to burn it down, but we're not sure yet.

 

[TwinWillows]

Around here we'd try & save whatever tin was worth the effort, flatten the buildings, pile up the wood & then burn the pile off when conditions were right. Toss in whatever tree limbs & old hay that need to go @ the same time. Then clean up the nails/w a magnet, put the ashes in a low spot & burry them w/dirt. Might not work in OR however.

 

[valleydweller1]

That's definately a possibility too. I'm just considering all my options.

Greg

 

[JimMorrissey]

What size machine do you have?

I've got a small TLB and I wouldn't think twice about pulling them both down and pushing them into a pile......matches are cheap /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif You don't need a 20K lb excavator for those. Pull the main support timber posts out with a heavy duty chain then push it all together somewhat. As it burns you can keep pushing the mass tighter.

I kind of like the three sided one. Maybe it's worth putting some work into it and bringing her back to life.

 

[Dodgeram]

I agree with Jim. I could certainly have some fun with this project.
I'd get two 30' lengths of truckers chain (Grade 70?) from TSC, cut a couple of holes in the corners, wrap the chains around the corners (4x4's?) hook it to the draw bar and let go.
Push it into piles with the loader and have a "barn" fire.
Use the BH to bury whatever remains.
May take me two weeks, but seat time is seat time.

 

[valleydweller1]

Jim,

I too would like to save the 3-side barn, but it's too far gone for the county to let me.

It certainly may come down to just pushing it into a pile and lighting it off.