Barns and shop layouts

[hwp]

I formed the trench and poured it as part of the apron. I had a local welding shop make the grates. They are just steel catwalk grating with angle irons welded to the sides. Mine are in 6 foot sections so they are easy to lift out when needed. The trench drains into a catch basin which has a drain pipe that gets rid of the water.

 

[Pks]

HWP,

Thank you for posting the photo. That grate drain is exactly what I had thought of for the centerline of my barn. I have been thinking about using this for the whole length, about 48 feet.

How did you form the concrete in the trench so that the grates were flush with the surface of the apron and yet supported by the concrete?

Peter

 

[hwp]

The trench was formed using 2x10s initially supported on steel posts along the inside edge of the 2x10s. I used a slope of about 0.5 inch per 10 feet of run on the bottom of the trough. My drain is about 45 feet long so the bottom of the blind end of the trough is about 2.25" higher than the bottom at the outlet end. One edge of the 2x10s was cut to the taper. Once the concrete was poured and under the 2x10s, the steel posts were removed and the concrete was trowled to fill the holes where the posts had been. We used a fairly stiff mix of concrete so that it wouldn't sag and come up into the trough.

The grates are supported by 1.5 x 1.5 x 3/16 steel angles on each side that sit on top of the apron so the grate is not exactly flush with the apron. If you really wanted to get fancy I suppose you could form a recessed lip along the edge of the trough to accomodate the thickness of the supporting angles.

It is currently trying to snow here so I don't know what the conditions will be like tomorrow but as soon as feasible I will take a close-up photo and then post it to show the details.

Our city transit maintenance building has a centre drain like this running the full length of the shop with bays on both sides. I was sitting on the transit commission at the time this facility was built and I asked the manager about the concept. He told me that he brought it with him from the winery where he had previously worked. It should work well in a barn.

 

[looch]

Dick, I finally stopped at that dealer (I waited until the place was closed - didn't want 5 salesmen after me). The snowblowers that they are selling are made by a company called Couture. I have been trying to find a web site or phone number or something on the web but I'm coming up empty. They make both reverse and standard mounted blowers (don't know if they make a front mount). They are not as unique-looking as your unit, however. They just look like a regular blower with the 3ph mounted on the other side. They do make smaller untis than Normand - the one I was looking at seemed to be about 7'.

This company makes a lot of other stuff too. Wasn't someone talking about one of <A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.marchandag.com/list/view_image.cfm?image=1729885&dealerid=499>these</A> awhile ago?

If you want more info, let me know and I'll stop by during business hours.

 

[s1120]

I have to say the snow blower looks like a good concept for a tractor with a rear PTO. A lot less neck strain.

 

[hwp]

Pks

Attached is a close-up photo or my grate system. Note that the stringers run crosswise to distribute the load to the side angles. I have the angles sitting on the concrete and I haven't had any problems with the concrete chipping or anything else but if I was going to do it again I would probably set 2x2 angles along each edge of the trench and set them down so that the top of the angles was about 0.25" below the level of the apron. This would make the top of the grates flush with the apron. If I did this I would weld 6" pieces of 1/2" rebar to the inside of the lip angles at about 2 foot intervals and angled at 45 degrees. This would secure the lip angles to the concrete.

 

[rbargeron]

Thanks Paul - I was not aware of the Couture brand.

I posted a question in "attachments" in case anyone recognizes the one I have. Maybe we can continue this discussion over there.

 

[kevinro]

I have a question about where to put my compressor. In an ideal world, I would put it outside the shop so I don't have to listen to it. However, the engineer in me is concerned that my compressed air is sitting outside at high pressure. That means if it is cold, say 30 degrees, then when the air is used inside, and decompressed, it is going to get extremely cold. Thermo-dynamics isn't one of my strong suits, but it seems like it would be sub-zero going from a compressed 175 pounds to atmospheric pressure. Does anyone have experience with an outdoor compressor in cold weather?

Thanks
Kevin

 

[DocHeb]

One difficulty with a cold location is that the water that condenses in the tank will freeze, and will not be able to be drained out.

 

[Pks]

Your engineering hunch is correct. Without going back to my Thermo books, I can tell you from experience that when letting the air out of a tire (with 30 PSI), if the surrounding air is in the lower 40's F range, frost will appear on the outside of the air valve. Your air tools won't like it much either (much less your hands).

How about leaving the compressor inside, and putting a large foam box around it?

Peter S