getting tractor into shed

[sendero]

Well, with any luck I will take possession of my DK35 Sat morning.

I want to store it in a shed (a 14x24 Morgan "garage"). The shed floor is about 18" above grade. At first I was thinking about building a ramp of wood.

The guy who sold me the tractor said "why not just pile up some dirt in front of the shed".

Why not? Ok, I think it is a good idea, and maybe a good first application of my new toy. But, the front of the shed is "open" below the floor , except for a (probably 2x8) fascia board and the ends of the 2 beams the whole thing is built on.

I'm thinking I need to put something in between the shed and the dirt. I've thought of everything from just another layer of wood, to wonderboard (concrete) or ??? .

I attached a crude pic of the front. I need to build up from grade to the bottom of the door.
Anybody have any good ideas? Or even pretty good???

 

[Anonymous Poster]

Nice diagram. We had the same situation with our shed. We piled rocks in the form of a ramp and they stayed put ......biggest to smallest, in other words, put your biggest rocks at the back to use the floor of the shed as a stop. You can fill in the gaps with dirt.

 

[TBone]

If you have wood in contact with the ground you are providing an expressway for termites. I don't know how it is in Texas but in the deep south the termites would move in overnight and would gobble it up in short order.

I think you'd be better off to build your ramp out of concrete or at least use concrete as a barrier between the shed and the ground.

TBone

 

[Bird]

Sounds like the same Morgan building my brother had to store lawn and garden tools and his Kawasaki Mule. At first he just some expanded metal ramps, but it wasn't long before he poured a concrete ramp. I agree with TBone that concrete would be first choice, but with a 4WD tractor, you can climb over a pile of rocks, dirt, a few logs, or almost anything, but I do believe if I used dirt, I'd put some kind of barrier between the dirt and the shed like you said. Even if you never have a termite problem, you'll soon have some rotten wood on that shed otherwise.

 

[mikim]

concrete blocks topped with gravel - ?

 

[BrettW]

Seal up the ends of the boards with roofing tar and let it dry. Then use anything your want. I've used heavy aluminum flashing to seperate dirt and wood before. bw

 

[sendero]

Thanks for the ideas.

Yeah, I'm pretty sure I want *something* between the dirt and the wood. That roofing tar sounds like a good cheap way to go. And I had considered building a concrete block "wall" in front of the shed. Might do that too....

Bird, I don't know what a Kawasaki Mule is, but the guy I bought this from stored a '58 Buick Roadmaster in it - so it has paid its dues /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[Bird]

Don't know what a Kawasaki Mule is? /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif You need one of them with the power dump bed; you load it with the FEL on the tractor, your wife can run (at up to 25 mph) to wherever you want it dumped. Great ranch vehicles and even better toy. /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif Look at Kawasaki Mule.

 

[r0GuE]

Prefab wooden sheds are designed to allow airflow in the direction of the large timbers that contact the ground. Try to leave some access for a breeze to get through.

I used concrete blocks in a stairs fashion and the tractor runs right up em.
Good luck!

 

[jerrym4]

a good barier between wood and dirt for your shed would be cbu. The concrete board tilers use.