i need ideas on how to move a frozen calf shelter

[eco redneck]

So as you can see in the picture in front of that little bin is this white plastic calf huch and in order for me to start smithing in that bin behind it I need to move this thing to get some crap out of it and only thing is is that it's the dead winter in Alberta and this thing is frozen to the ground solid its plastic so I don't want to wreck it and I am I going to do it I have no clue how to do this ran out of ideas already

Any helpwould he appreciated and just don't say wait for spring because spring doesn't come until June allmost

[notownkid]

Liquid Calcium Chloride spread around the outside and let it work.

Offer it to a farmer for Free if he will move it.

Try a LP gas heater on a gas bottle inside turning regularly & let it warm up the inside and walls.

[jmccustomknives]

I would have said a propane weed burner, but you want to move it, not burn it down. :wacko:   I like notown's method.  He's from a colder part of the world <_< .  lol.  2" of snow around here and the world comes to an end. :o

[george m.]

I'd try a BIG pot of boiling water.  I do like the sodium chloride idea too.

[njanvilman]

How about combining the salt and boiling water?  Hot salt water combined with a space heater for a few hours beforehand preheating the inside and ground.

[eco redneck]

Where would one get his hands on liquid sodium chloride?

[BIGGUNDOCTOR]

Clear eveything off of the floor, and put a space heater inside. Cover the front opening with a blanket, and give it a little time to work. It shouldn't take long to get it above 32℉ which is all you need to unfreeze it. If it is really cold there now toss a blanket over the top too to help hold the heat in.

[Charles R. Stevens]

Your local tractor repair, or AG supply. Doesn't have to be liquid. Its usually sold as sidewalk deicer. The space heater is really the best sounding idea to me, not a big fan of dumping chemicals on the ground. What is considered safe to day has a nasty habit of bitting our great grandchildren square in the butt.

[DSW]

Heater and blankets would be my 1st choice as well.

 

Doing concrete/ excavation work in the dead of winter we often use concrete blankets and heaters. The black colored blankets will get warm enough in the sun to start to thaw frozen ground down well into the 20's.  In some cases where it will get even colder, we might build a "tent" with them and put a small electric space heater inside to add heat to the system. All the blankets really are are big sheets of bubble wrap covered in black or grey plastic.

 

 

I've had mixed results with warm water. If the ground is warm enough, yes it will melt. However if the ground is cold enough, it will pull out the heat faster than you can loosen stuff up, and the extra water just adds more "glue" to the system and can make things worse.

 

I've made brine solutions to spray on frozen walkways using a bit of warm water and calcium chloride flakes. The warm water helps the flakes dissolve easier. You don't want to go too nuts with the water as mentioned above. Concentrated Calcium Chloride might not be the best thing for the lawn though.

[notownkid]

chloride was used for years in Tractor tires as weight, got a couple still with it in them. (can usually tell as the rims are all rusted)   Use it to thaw frozen storm drains in the winter as it works in colder temps that straight salt.  A lot of states in this neck of the woods use a similar product that they "treat" the roads ahead of a storm to keep the snow and ice from building up on the surfaces, works great but Rusts the bottom of your cars and trucks esp. the frames in no time. 

 

LP heaters I'm sure will work and leave no trace behind unless you melt the calf hutch. 

[DSW]

Problem I've found with big heaters like LP heaters in cold temps on job site is that heat naturally rises. Making the inside of the hut 150 deg in minutes isn't going to be a big help as chances are you'll loose all that heat well before the ground has a chance to thaw. Too much heat and you'll quickly melt the shelter with a propane heater.  You probably would be better off with a smaller heater running for hours vs a monster heater that you can't leave run for more than a few minutes.

 

 

When I'm trying to use a heater on a job site in cold weather, say trying to get spackle to dry in an unheated house, I'll use not only a heater, but a small fan as well. I've work on jobs where we got the temps at the ceiling so hot it took 2 guys to spackle and tape. One guy to apply the mud and a 2nd right behind him with the tape. We had the mud drying in under 60 seconds it was so warm. However at the same time, the mud at the walls near the floor took hours to set because of the temp difference. A fan helps mix the air and get that heat down where you need it, not up top where it's not doing you any good.

 

I actually keep my small storage room from freezing in the winter with nothing but a few lights and a fan. The insulation in the room keeps in the small amount of heat the 3 lights produce and the fan moves the cold air from the floor up and mixes the air well. Even with the temps in the teens I can keep that room in the high forty's as long as temps don't stay that low for more than a week or so.

[notownkid]

We kept a small 4' x5' pump house from freezing winters with a 150w flood light bulb for over 30 years in Vermont, lots of insulation. Kept the bulb trained on the pump and tank unit. Some nights down to -30 degrees. Hardest parts was trudging out there 75 yds in butt deep snow twice a day to check the bulb.

[Frosty]

Guys, sodium chloride is table salt and will keep anything from growing there for a while it's also going to rust iron or steel till it's leached out of the ground. It will work though.

 

Then there's Calcium chloride, the first suggestion. this is whats often sold as sidewalk deicer because it doesn't eat concrete and doesn't cause rust so quickly. This is also the "calcium" that's put in tractor tires. It won't do as good a job of sterilizing the soil as table salt either.

 

Just dissolve either in hot water for the liquid version.

 

My vote is for cleaning it out and a space heater or "Herman Nelson", a couple tarps and a few hours. Plastic is a good heat conductor so warming the body will melt it loose of the ground.

 

Whatever you do don't get in a hurry, it'll be okay.

 

Frosty The Lucky.

[rthibeau]

ain't no heat like a wood stove heat, a small Franklin type stove or some containment system would have that puppy warmed up in no time.  A tent stove like re-enactors use would be ideal.