Friday, September 24, 2010

Barn Interior, Tool Revelation

I've spent this week working away at finishing out the interior of the new barn down in Lynnville. I took the picture below about an hour ago, There is a fifth stall to the right of the picture that isn't visible but it's at the same stage as the rest of them.

Early next week I hope to get concrete poured in the storage area, the wash rack and the (large) feed room so I can frame in the walls and get them insulated well before cool weather arrives. I hope the electric co-op will be ready to string poles etc. so we can have some lights, plugs, and maybe an internet connection so that Melissa isn't solely responsible for communicating with clients each and every day.

I've built, fixed and renovated a lot of stuff in my life including multiple large buildings and multiple thousands of feet of board fence. Until last week, I drove each and every nail in every building project I've ever done with a hammer and an awful lot of muscle power. About a week ago, my father-in-law (bless him) went to Home Depot and when he came home he presented me with a Paslode nail gun and a couple of thousand nails. My infatuation was instant, deep and prolonged. I'd sleep with the thing if I could figure out how. Yes, seriously. I will never be without one again.

Off the top of my head, other shop tools I very much like include:

BIG air compressors that have the capacity to handle any air tool
Every air tool ever made, but especially air sockets and wrenches. Seriously.
Plasma welders
Stihl chain saws. I have a collection. Love 'em, every one.
Chop saws and grinders - They beat hacksaws and files all day long
Really good miter saw, table saw and Skil-saw.
Pipe wrenches - in a pinch, I can undo nearly anything with a pipe wrench
A really good, sharp little hand saw
Floor jacks with high tonnage capacity. I own three right now and I use them constantly

I'm missing a lot of stuff, but this is a pretty good start.

What tools do you consider absolutely essential in your life ?


If I can select some Melissa approved hinges tomorrow morning, we'll have five fully functional stalls at the new farm (one is out of the picture). Considering the barn interior was a bare dirt floor on Monday morning, and considering that I am the carpenter, I'd say this is progress.

5 comments:

Sylvia said...

It looks awesome, Jason!!! I'm jealous of your tools ;)

Jack said...

Jason
Did you get one of everything from Canadian Tire? You can explain to your USA friends what Canadian Tire is!

Jason said...

Sylvia; Thanks ! I'm blushing, I think ! :)

Jack;

Absolutely on both counts !

USA Friends - Canadian Tire is to tools (and, strangely, camping equipment) what Jerusalem is to Christians, except far more accessible and much safer ! Every town worthy of the name in Ontario has a LARGE Canadian Tire somewhere on the outskirts.

Gunner said...

We are watching your awesome new farm progress from the blackland prairie in Texas where the mud can be deep, gooey, endless, and sticky when it finally does rain. Please provide more info on the gravel concept, any problems with hoof abscess? Size of gravel? How long does the gravel remain before you need to reapply? Do the horses try to lie down on it, or move over the the shed or grass?

Jason said...

Believe it or not our incidence of hoof abcess went down once we applied gravel at our home place two years ago. We're using crusher run which packs quite nicely. In this part of the world, crusher run is everything from 3/4 stone to dust. We apply it about 4 inches deep to make a good base and then I run over it with a tractor/cultipacker combination to pack it down well. I expect we'll be adding an inch or two every few years to maintain the base.

In answer to your question, when the weather is wet, yes they do sometimes lay down on it and/or roll, but I'd call it uncommon if not unusual