Dr Dean Posted December 9, 2009 Share Posted December 9, 2009 Over the last few weeks I have been working on a way of getting all of my blacksmith equipment out of the garage. Since my garage is downstairs from the kitchen and living room fire and noise is a real concern, I'm also getting real tired of hearing "don't burn your house down". My quest started out looking for a shed that could be moved or torn down and rebuilt. After looking around and deciding that I don't have time for taking on that project I suddenly realized that a wire corn crib would be perfect. On another one of our farms there was a 1200 bushel crib. It is 16 feet in diameter and started out 15 feet tall at the sidewall. I cut out one side and backed a hayrack into the crib. The next step was to hook the bin jacks that I built onto the crib and then cut off the bottom 4 feet. We then started letting the cribdown to the ground. About 2 feet off the ground one of my bin jacks gave out and it tipped over agianst the next bin. I then tied off to the top side and pulled it back upright, no damage was done other than to our nerves. now it was sitting back on the ground and upright! We took 4 2X6's and put through the sides and tied it down to the hay rack. I then took my torch and cut some more off the bottom so it would clear the ground. By this time it was dark so I hooked onto the hay rack and pulled it off of the bin foundation, we decided to wait til daylight to move it home so we could see the power lines. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr Dean Posted December 9, 2009 Author Share Posted December 9, 2009 Ok Sunday morning came and my youngest daughter and I went to go get the corn crib. We hooked onto the hay rack with the pickup and headed home. The first power line was a 220 volt triplex low and behold it was too low to go under, we hadn't even gotten out of the field. Ok plan B we went across the field to another field gate, that particular farm is 3/4 section so I had choices on where to get out. At this point we had 3 power lines to worry about instead of 2 and all 3 are high tension lines 17,000 volt. We made it to the other field gate after having to deal with going around terraces and some steep areas. When we got to the first line I had my daughter go across the road and watch, she said all was clear so we headed out for the final mile. 30 minutes later we were home, lots of room under all the power lines. I haven't taken many pictures but here are 2 that show how it is tied down to the hayrack. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
divermike Posted December 9, 2009 Share Posted December 9, 2009 well thats a corny smithy!! ok I couldn't resist, seems plausible to me, maybe a couple sheets of tin on the windy side and bingo, you're up and running!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pkrankow Posted December 9, 2009 Share Posted December 9, 2009 That must have been a trip driving that down the road! Glad you had a safe experience. Phil Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr Dean Posted December 9, 2009 Author Share Posted December 9, 2009 After dinner (that's noon meal) I cleaned off the concrete pad that the crib is now sitting on and backed the hayrack into position. I then rounded up all the blocks I could find and 6 steel fence posts. I drove the posts into the dirt around the concrete to act as guides and wired the crib to the posts. The next problem was that the crib had to go up 18 inches before I could get the hayrack out. I used a handyman jack and went up 2 inches at a time untill the hayrack would clear and I got the hayrack out of the way. I next started down 3 feet 2 inches at a time. It was after dark by the time I had it on the ground. I had orignally planned on wrapping the outside with used barn tin but since it's cold and I really don't have time now I decided to go with tarps. I had an old lumber tarp and I bought a couple cheap plastic tarps. The lumber tarp held up well to the blizzard last night but I need to do something better for the plastic tarps. Here's a view from the kitchen window Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beornls Posted December 9, 2009 Share Posted December 9, 2009 That'll work!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Francis Trez Cole Posted December 9, 2009 Share Posted December 9, 2009 you just need a door and some gslv. sheet metal and a chimeny and you will have a nice shop. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted December 9, 2009 Share Posted December 9, 2009 Nice shop---all that wire mesh to hang tools and stuff from! I do not approve of it's location though as they can keep an eye on what you are doing from that kitchen window! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ferrous Beuler Posted December 9, 2009 Share Posted December 9, 2009 Very nice smithy Doc! I think I remember once seeing one of these made into a screened in porch very much like this. A little ingenuity goes a long way. Now of course you're going to have to get some feeder pigs in the spring 'cause you have that bottom you cut off, perfect pigpen!:D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob Browne Posted December 9, 2009 Share Posted December 9, 2009 Forging in a yurt! It would have been an interesting experience if you had touched one of the powerlines on the way home with that setup :o Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr Dean Posted December 9, 2009 Author Share Posted December 9, 2009 Spent the entire afternoon pushing snow on my brothers Case 90XT skidsteer, after running that monster I wonder how we got anything done with the little 1818. 90 horse versus 18 horse powered scoop shovel. I've been saving unloading auger tubes from combines and with what I brought home Monday I should have plenty of material. Would 14" tube be too big? My plan is when I build a better shop the corn crib will be moved and turned into a gazebo. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ironstein Posted December 10, 2009 Share Posted December 10, 2009 I think 14 would work very well, just make sure it clears the peak of the roof by at least four feet. Nice looking set up you have there. i would love to have all that open space. It would be nice not to have to worry about neighbors. I would be out in the shop banging metal at 3 o'clock in the morning! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
divermike Posted December 10, 2009 Share Posted December 10, 2009 actually it's perfect, you can run your wood burning stove into it along with your forge flue, plenty of capacity there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AKFrosty57 Posted December 10, 2009 Share Posted December 10, 2009 That'll make a fine smithy Doc, there's a lot to be said for a round shop, mainly it really aids in production flow. I'm really glad you didn't get too close to those power lines, especially the transmission lines. Frosty Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr Dean Posted December 12, 2009 Author Share Posted December 12, 2009 I'm hoping to brave the cold this weekend and get the chimney built so I can get a fire going out there. The tubes have a bolt flange on one end so I'm planning on having a flange just above the fill cap height and modifying the existing cap to run the tube through, The additional height will be bolted to the top and I'm planning on using a hog pan on a rod that runs down through the roof so I can cap the chimney when not in use without climbing the roof. I'll add a wye for the wood stove that will be built at a later date. Now as long as no one tells me to pee in a corner I'll be alright!:D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NRunals Posted December 12, 2009 Share Posted December 12, 2009 that's really cool Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AKFrosty57 Posted December 13, 2009 Share Posted December 13, 2009 Say doc, I used a SS salad bowl for the rain cap on my shop stove pipe and before that I built a new one for the house and used a steel gold pan. The old one on the house had a spark screen that just collected creosote causing problems. The house stack is tall enough and services a high quality Jotul stove so sparks are not a problem. On the last part, you COULD build a corner. Frosty Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mick Posted December 13, 2009 Share Posted December 13, 2009 I can see one major flaw with this design for a smithy. MAN YOU HAVEN'T GOT A CORNER bury your unfinished / failed projects in and you can no longer tell people you'll start a job when you get a round to it, you've already got one. Oh and Glenn would be so pleased that you thought outside the square. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr Dean Posted December 13, 2009 Author Share Posted December 13, 2009 You guys crack me up. I didn't get a darn thing done this weekend, SWMBO had her plans for me and the kids are intent on going to the movies tonight. So I will have to get the snow shoveled and chimney built during the next week. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CurlyGeorge Posted December 14, 2009 Share Posted December 14, 2009 Doc, just don't get a burst bladder!! Had to add my 2 cents. Nice shop. Should serve you well. Good luck. Looking forward to updates with pix. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted December 16, 2009 Share Posted December 16, 2009 Don't worry George, nothing any of us said is funny or insulting enough to burst a blader over. Frosty Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr Dean Posted December 30, 2009 Author Share Posted December 30, 2009 Well I finally got the chimney built and carried down to the smithy. After that we got 14 inches of that confounded white stuff (snow and I cleaned up how I really feel). Between running the skidloader and keeping our snow moving equipment running not much else has happened. Yesterday morning on the way to the pavement (1.5 miles) we got stuck in a drift so I walked back 1/2 mile got the skidloader and dug myself out and proceded to clean the road the rest of the way to the highway. Kind of sucks took 1.5 hours to go 1.5 miles. My wife mentioned over the weekend that I should get prices on a shop building so if things work out I may be making my smithy into a gazebo much sooner than I thought! More updates to come! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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