WT on the Backhoe

WT on the Backhoe
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There really is not anything to this post, I was digging a stump and William wanted to sit with me.  Genny had to take a video and WT wanted it shared.

So if you want a see a fat man and a little boy sit on a backhoe and move dirt then have at watching.

Really though this is more for the memories as hopefully William and I can look back at these videos when he is grown and can remember all the things we did together.

I have a really good kid, he is sweet and kind and funny – of course is also strong willed and imaginative so I spend a lot of time disciplining him – but I don’t want all of his memories of his childhood to be of me telling him no.  (I thought my name was No Stop That until I went to school and asked why do you keep calling me David)

I hate to get rid of this backhoe, but I want a smaller subcompact that I can safely (a little less dangerously) operate on the hillside so I can terrace it for crops and to reduce the runoff.  But with a big bucket it can more some dirt, much better than the 8 inch on the tractor I want.

Mobile Home Demolition

Mobile Home Demolition
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The Mobile Home Demolition was not as hard as I thought it would be, of course it was messy, tiring, and seemingly never ending.  Once we figured out a system the process went much faster.

First we used the backhoe to smash down the walls, and then used the truck and a chain to pull down the walls the backhoe bucket would not reach.  We also disconnected the marriage wall with a variety of 3/4 and 1/2 bolts at the roof and under the trailer.

Next we climber under the trailer and removed all the 1/2 lag bolts that connected the frame to the 2×6 joists.  There was one at least every foot on both sides of each separate trailer.  I find that a good impact driver makes this process much easier.

1/2 bolts also were found connecting a board to the joists on the outside walls.  Those bolts were difficult because they were under the glued and stapled plywood and set deep into the wood.

Once all the bolts were out we jerked the boards on the outside of the trailer off and began freeing the joists.

A skill saw cut along the floor of the trailer between joists was necessary to free the 2×6 joist.  Then a tug to remove it was needed and the joist was piled for later salvage.

A heating duct and pex water line was connected to the joists with strapping tape every few boards, so that had to be cut free,

Once the frame was exposed, we rolled up the insulation, poking holes in the plastic liner so the nasty water could drain.  Once it fried it was easier to haul off to the dump.

All that is left is to move the frame and stack the bricks.

Building the Low Impact Roundhouse

 

Building a Low Impact Roundhouse
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I really want to build a reciprocal roof pavilion at the land.  I think that it will give me lots of usable space, shade, and a great place to give classes and hang out.

My problem is that information on building a roof like this is hard to find on the internet.

I get that some experts say this is a bad roof for beginners to make because of all the angles, but I also see why it is a good roof for a lay person to build.
Either way, the most information online comes from the author of this book, so I bought it hoping to get a good offline way to share the particulars of what I am trying to do.

Building the Low Impact Roundhouse is a pretty cool book, it is not a how too guide, but rather a story of how they build their home.  You can get how to information from it, and it is enough for a thinker to use as a blueprint.

I didn’t find the story about zoning officials useful, mostly because British law is much different than the American system, but also because I just didn’t care.  The lifestyle potion of the book also did not light my fire, but I loved the pictures and the house.

I want to build just the frame and the roof and leave it open – except maybe close in every other segment of posts using a variety of alternative building methods, say in a 10 segment frame, make one filled with cob, another with earthbag, cordwood, bottles in mud, all are options to try out small walls without getting tied into building an entire roundhouse using an unfamiliar method.

Homes for Jubilee

 

Book Review: Homes for Jubilee
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I got the book Homes for Jubilee because it was recommended by someone I trust.  You may remember the mortar sprayer I got from mortarsprayer.com that I used to build the “Dome of Doom“.  This was also known as the boulder looking dome I mashed up for the Doomsday Preppers episode I was on.  Anyway Nolan from mortarsprayer told me that David B South (the co-inventor of the Monolithic dome) teamed up with Herb Nordmeyer to write a book about building low cost domes in Disaster ravaged Hati.

Basically Mr. Nordmeyer has been traveling to Haiti for the past 4 years helping build disaster resitant communities.  This book shows how he did that using the ecoshell dome system.

The book is divided into sections, the first sections describes the problem, the third is the solution, and the last details how exactly to build a monolithic dome using the ecoshell.

It is a fascinating book, and you all know how much I like domes.  As I said in the video, I am fond of the conduit geodesic domes, as I have not yet purchased a air form yet (but the form used to build these domes costs about 3k new and can be reused)  It is something I am interested in, but it just has not gotten to the top of the list.