The Great Wall of Greenback!

Richard · May 21, 2001

We are finally nearing the completion of The Great Wall of Greenback. China better watch out!

Marion & I are sitting there as you will obviously notice, which happens to serve nicely as a size reference.

Every one of these rocks was picked up one way or another off the farm. Some of the larger squared ones were part of the foundation of some old house or barn that Marion's father says was roughly 150 years old when he bought the land and THAT was maybe 40 years ago +/-.

What I find interesting is some of the larger rocks that were part of the foundation show their drill holes where they drilled somehow a 3/4 or 1-inch hole and I presume used the feather/wedge thingy that someone posted here recently. I can't imaging how much effort it took for them to carry these rocks from the "quarry" to their final destination 150 years ago. The quarry is still there and that is in fact where we got a some of these rocks, it is maybe 1/4 mile down the road. I hope they had a BUNCH of oxen back then.

Marion & I collected virtually ALL of these rocks and put them in place. Ok, so I lied /w3tcompact/icons/blush.gif Brutus was obviously a BIG help! /w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif Actually, for those of you with an L-35 or similar loader capacity, a couple of the large ones were picked up with a rental unit (L-35) one day and the Big Orange handled them very well indeed.

As of the time of the photo, we had JUST got done placing the last stone of the day and she couldn't wait to start washing them down, we still have another rather large one to place along the top as a "focal point".

Where we are sitting, behind us is an area that bulges towards us and she is using that as a planter area for flowers. In fact, we have about 3 planter areas with this one being the largest of the three. She will put flowers, ivy (not poison I hope /w3tcompact/icons/crazy.gif ) mint, blah blah blah throughout the entire wall.

This past weekend we finished most of the lighting and irrigation that we are installing for the patio & rock garden areas.

Goal is to finalize all and make it pretty for August wedding plans (ceremony held at house) I will endeavor to post an “after” picture with the flowers and all in bloom and with all the mud washed off the wall.

Richard

Richard · May 21, 2001

Oops, seemed to have techinical difficulty...

jinman · May 26, 2001

If this is the kind of project you do when you are dating, what can we expect after the marriage?/w3tcompact/icons/shocked.gif

It looks like you are going to have a really nice area to show off. I'm looking forward to seeing it finished./w3tcompact/icons/tongue.gif

...and congrat's on your wedding plans./w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

JimI

MarkV · May 27, 2001

Dang Richard, when you two build a wall you don't mess around. I'll bet Brutus about paid for himself with that project. You make sure to show us the end results.

MarkV

Richard · May 29, 2001

JimI

>what can we expect after the marriage?<

....D.I.V.O.R.C.E.???????????????

/w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif

jinman · May 30, 2001

/w3tcompact/icons/shocked.gif/w3tcompact/icons/shocked.gif/w3tcompact/icons/shocked.gif/w3tcompact/icons/shocked.gif/w3tcompact/icons/shocked.gif/w3tcompact/icons/shocked.gif/w3tcompact/icons/shocked.gif/w3tcompact/icons/shocked.gif/w3tcompact/icons/shocked.gif/w3tcompact/icons/shocked.gif
No man! Not divorce. You gotta build a castle with all those raw materials.
...I hope./w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif

JimI

Richard · May 31, 2001

You know JimI, we are right now discussing the merrits of the following:

She wants to add in a screened in porch. Fine by me. She wants to pour concrete and lay tile. Fine by me also. Alas though, we have a bunch of cedar trees lying around that the lumber dudes "wanted" but have yet to take. I have thought, wouldn't it be interesting to take them to saw mill and have them made into flooring? We can make the entire room out of cedar! In fact, there is enough cedar either lying around or even standing that we could make the floor, walls, ceiling EVERYTHING out of cedar!

Interestingly enough to me, she has paused and is considering this!

NOW, I have to get educated on how to get these cedar logs to WHO??? and see how much $$ and all. (one complication...I drive a Miata../w3tcompact/icons/crazy.gif I could of course put the top down and place one log at a time in passenger seat /w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif )

Don't know if we will do it, but I DO find it kind of neat to be able to say that all that wood came off the farm, even if it costs a bit more to do it that way rather than just buy it.

Richard

mdbarb · May 31, 2001

how soon would you use this wood? You'll need to tow it, cut and store it until it is dry

Richard · May 31, 2001

Hi mdbarb,

We could start this summer/fall (after wedding or after The Wall is complete) anyway, we could also wait and do it next year. We have plenty of space to store the amount that I THINK we would need, if not, by jove, we could just go knock down a couple more trees!

Brother in law to be, has transportation covered I think. So my biggest questions are with where would I take it how much would it cost and would they dry it, or would it be just as well to store it for say, one year (letting it air dry) and make our room next year?

Richard

jinman · Jun 2, 2001

I rented a Miata once. Great little car, but my suitcase was too big for it./w3tcompact/icons/frown.gif I guess those of us who are lucky enough to have trailers and big diesel pickups often forget what it was like when we didn't have them. Also, in my Navy days, I owned a Datsun 240Z, so I am well aware of the issues here.

I think using your own cedar would be a great idea. I have a small sawmill not far from me and the guy saws up old telephone poles for fence lumber and barn lumber. Now that's what I call "aged lumber." Anyhow, if I were you, I'd first find the sawmill, then ask the operator the drying/aging question. He should be able to give you the best advice.

On my property, I have a lot of limestone rocks on the sides of erosion gullies. I've been making trails through the gullies so I can start pulling some of those rocks out and making a stockpile. While doing this, I cam across a shelf of rock on average of 4" to 5" thick which is flat on both sides and is in pieces that vary from 6" x 10" to 1' square or slightly larger. It's as if nature decided to lay down a patio. I want to clean off the tops of the rocks, number them, map them, move them, and re-lay them. I know my work is cut out for me, but this is too good a discovery to pass up.

So now you know. When I look at your wall, I am very envious of all your raw material and what you have accomplished. Keep up the good work and keep us posted./w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

JimI

StoneHeartFarm · Jun 2, 2001

Richard,

With all the portable sawmills out there, you might be able to find someone to come to YOU and mill the logs. They usually charge by the board foot for this and prices will vary based on the sawyer. Then sticker and stack them and let them dry. (Or at least have a lighter load for hauling somewhere with a kiln.) I think "Backwoods Home" magazine had a write up a few months ago about building a portable mill from scratch from old car parts.

SHF

scruffy · Jun 3, 2001

Several years ago, my father-in-law had a fellow come in and mill up a bunch of redwood logs, deal was a 50/50 split of the finished lumber. No other charges of any type.

Richard · Jun 4, 2001

Marion & I came home from vacation once. Had several suitcases which BARELY fit into car. As we were at airport with multiple suitcases sitting beside us and I was preparing to get the car, I looked at her and said:

"Honey, why don't I FIRST take the luggage home, then come back and pick up the BAGGAGE (her)"

We both howled with laughter such that all around us started watching wondering what was so funny.

/w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif

Richard · Jun 4, 2001

SHF & Scruffy

What do you mean by "sticker" them?

I have indeed found someone with a portable sawmill that says his fees are $45 to show up and $150/1000 board feet.

The idea of splitting the wood with him hasn't been brought up (yet)

Another question,

If we ultimately process this wood, it is intended to be used for flooring and maybe two walls in a screened in porch. I have been told that I SHOULD lay it with tongue & groove and I have been told that I should NOT lay it with T&G, that I should lay it like a regular porch with small gap between boards for swelling & water management. Any thoughts?

Richard

StoneHeartFarm · Jun 4, 2001

Richard,

Stickers are narrow strips of wood, like lath or 1x2. Depending on how long your lumber is, you lay of number of these on the floor (slab, etc). Then lay down your first layer of boards that you want to dry. The stickers go crosswise (90 deg angle) to the boards. When you have your boards laid with an air gap between each, you put more stickers on top and then another layer of boards. Stickers are spacers so that the air can flow around and between the boards. If I'm not mistaken you should also rotate the pile periodically to reduce warpage and place some weight on top.

The lumber you get from these logs will likely all be flat sawn and not quarter sawn. Flat sawn does tend to warp and expand/contract a little bit more than quarter sawn, and if this is for a porch, I think I would leave a little space between boards. There are some new connectors at Home Depot designed for building decks that might help. I'm planning to use them when I build my deck. They have one nail hole and get nailed to the joist. Then, there are two ears that drive into the side of your board. This is supposed to stop warping and eliminate nail pops.

SHF

StoneHeartFarm · Jun 5, 2001

Richard,

Just another thought. When you stack your lumber, you might want to seal the ends of the boards with shellac, varnish or one of the commerical "End Seal Treatments". Just the ends, not the sides. I've used beeswax on mine. The idea is that a tree has veins just like a stalk of celery. Water moves from the bottom to the top of the tree through these veins. Sealing the ends of the lumber keeps the water from running out and the board from drying too quick. Helps reduce warpage. I've worked with a lot of green wood (twig furniture), and even thrown a couple of blocks of firewood on my lathe and spun them. (low speed, and I mean LOW). I almost always seal my ends. Green firewood on the lathe, seal the ends and no cracks when it dries.

SHF