Mobile loafing shed

[wroughtn_harv]

His horses don't seem to quarrel much. It isn't a stall. So initially I don't expect him to wood the interior.

If at a later date he decides to make this into a pair of stalls he can do that himself. The design accomodates using common connectors like Simpson to put in a two by dividing wall and inside panels.

If he does put in a wood interior then we'll have to fabricate a wheel system to have portability. The way that works is one end is lifted up and axle stubs are attached with tires. Then the other end is lifted up and the shed is moved. A hay fork on a three point does this fine.

 

[gsganzer]

I built a 12' x 12' that can be moved. All I did was weld some 2" pipe around the bottom. I just hook it to the pickup and drag it (the rounded edges of the pipe keep it from grabbing). I also put plywood on the bottom 4'. My horses would have a hole kicked in the metal in about a week otherwise. If you plan to drag it, you'll need to put some small gussets on the corners to stiffen the frame.

 

[ges]

Harv,......dumb question but,,..what is the best way (your way) to cut the steel sideing? TIA George

 

[wroughtn_harv]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( what is the best way (your way) to cut the steel sideing? TIA George)</font>

This time I used the torch because where I was cutting is going to be covered by trim. My preferred method is plasma.

I once went in and replaced the bottom eight feet on a twenty foot wall about a hundred yards long. It was in Dallas and evidently they'd recruited their fork lift operators on the Central Expressway. They'd bent up and busted out all along the bottom.

I made a jig that fit the panel and then used my small plasma with nitrogen tanks to supply air for the plasma. The burn mark was less than a sixteenth. But it takes more nitrogen than it does compressed air when cutting with a plasma.

Using a circular saw and whatever kind of blade, steel cutting, reversed plywood, or just straight wood cutting, is too nerve wracking and loud for me. Sabre, jig, and sawsall are too slow. I have both a Bosch nibbler and a Milwaukee electric shear. They have their places where they shine.

But all in all there's nothing like a plasma and a jig for cutting siding slick and fast.

 

[wroughtn_harv]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( My horses would have a hole kicked in the metal in about a week otherwise. If you plan to drag it, you'll need to put some small gussets on the corners to stiffen the frame.)</font>

Twelve by twelve is a little small for more than one horse at a time. /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif They do have a tendancy to get snippy if they feel crowded.

I don't believe gussets will be needed. If you look close you should be able to see the joints are coped and three sixty welded.

 

[F350Lawman]

His horses don't seem to quarrel much. It isn't a stall. So initially I don't expect him to wood the interior.

Problem is when they kick at anything (could even be a nasty horsefly) and their hoof goes trough the metal, they can remove all the skin on the leg when struggling to pull it back out. I think they call it "degloving", I have seen photos and it is NOT pretty.

Might not be a bad idea to lay in a few sheets of plywood just to be safe, it may also avoid some dents. You'd only need a few sheets to cover the bottom 4".

 

[gsganzer]

There's nothing I dread more then cutting metal siding. Nerve wracking is an understatement, It's more like an endurance test for your entire nervous system. I made a jig that leaves a slot sized for an r-panel to slide through. This way it's supported on the top and bottom and reduces chatter when I cut it with a circular saw. I bet a plasma works slick.

Anyone ever try one of the panel shears that Mueller sells? The only drawback I see is that you have to match the shear blade to the panel type, but must projects are r-panels anyways. I think if I built metal buildings for a living I'd use the plasma, like wroughtn_harv or a shear.

 

[wroughtn_harv]

I watched some professional building builders out of Oklahoma cutting in a bunch of windows with a circular saw and a nibbler. As far as I'm concerned it was about as smart as getting your wisdom teeth pulled with anesthetic to save a couple of dollars.

I've seen the sheers but they'd have to be handy and necessary for a grand. Most cuts are on an angle I have no idea how that would work with a shear.

There are plasmas with self contained compressors that will work off of a welder-generator and cut the fourteen gauge purlins and twenty six gauge skin all day long. Neater, cleaner, slicker, faster, has to be worth something.

But heck, this comes from a guy who builds an attachment for his tractor for every aspect of a project. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Last night I got a call that the mobile shed had blown over. We'd put the roof on quick like the other evening and hadn't got around to putting it in place or even ordering the trim for the rake and corners. Bud is up there in Wisconsin visiting family and getting his head straight about why he lives in Texas. /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

This is what I found this morning.

 

[wroughtn_harv]

another view

 

[wroughtn_harv]

Lucy sees mud and wants to just sit there and wallow. I've never had anything in my whole life that enjoys just sitting in mud and spinning tires.

We had a front go through this morning and some showers. If I'd tried taking Lucy back there we'd rutted up something fierce and there's always that chance of getting stuck. I hate that.

So I took my wife's Bravada with Smartrak. That's fulltime four wheel drive that's always there. You never even notice it unless you hit the pedal hard and it doesn't spin a tire, just launches. It went in and out of the pasture without spinning a tire.