So it has started..

Well,  today was the first day of getting the area cleared and ready for the contractors to come in and start land prep.. 

I took down a few trees myself but had a few leaners I was not comfortable with.. My last chainsaw tree felling journey was 20 years ago.. I was pretty good back then.. 

Anyhow with the leaners I didn't feel great about taking them down after a full day of farrier work and being tired so was hoping I could talk someone into it.. 

The house next door sold and they were putting in a new septic, and use a pretty large excavator..     I went over and asked and he said sure..  Turns out he is the son in law to one of my farrier customers..    

No good deed goes un punished so the excavator ended up losing a light and the front window..  I gave him extra because of the damage and it was well worth it.. 

I then spent  about 1.5 hrs limbing with the hatchetax and an ax..   I move faster with the hatchetax than with the chainsaw besides that is a great arms swinging fun time. (AKA practice)..

I was totally amazed at just how easily this excavator pushed the trees over..   It made me feel so puny..  Was pretty amazing.. 

for those that are curious I own a Stihl  045 super..     was my Dad's logging saw.. 

Congratulations! Great for you to get started on your project. Looks like a nice, flat site. Keep us posted with progress and of course, pictures.

Hard to beat a Stihl. I still have an old Stihl Farm Boss my dad bought in 1970. Still runs great. Not as fast as the track hoe though! I look forward to seeing more as it comes together!

Nice

Congrats on the start!    And you thought you were tired before...

Thanks guys..  Yup very excited now..  

Arkie, its deceptive, but from where I was at the log root balls to the ends is nearly 10ft difference.. 

The building is 80ft long..   so when you look at that length and grade changes it = $     When I was a youngster.  Cement was pretty cheap compared to other building costs.. Not so now..   Footing with frost wall,   Road in next.. Now I need to pin down a time frame for the foundation guys.. 

5 hours ago, Lou L said:

And you thought you were tired before...

Ah, don't say that.. LOL.. Any more tired and just mount me to the rim of a car...  

  this should actually let me not be as busy as it will put everything into one spot vs 300ft walk to use the bender and then a 300ft walk back..  

• Guess you'll have more time for more videos

Hi Jennifer, that’s great, nice to see the first steps. Holly, the shop will 5X as long as my humble studio. Indeed concrete is quit expansive here to. Made my shop floor (to walk on) from steel & polypropylene fibres enforced concrete, saved a lot of money for rebar meshes.

Also very curious to see the building rising up.

Good luck and be proud on every progress.

Cheers, Hans

10 hours ago, 1forgeur said:

• Guess you'll have more time for more videos

That is so funny..   LOL..     I'm hit or miss on video time..  Usually this time of the year the videos slack off as i am so busy with work, gardening, Demo's etc, etc.. 

And yes, once the shop is up.. I will be producing videos more in line with what I used to do..  While the information shown in the  "How to's"  is solid that I have shared working in the demo trailer has it's limitations.. 

Hello there Hans.. 

it's been a long journey..   I gave up on it when I walked away from Blacksmithing 14 years ago so to come to this point has been an interesting ride..  

Yup, it is going to be pretty big..  40x60ft with a 20ft shed roof off the front..  this will allow for outside storage of 'Welding gas cylinders and some metal storage..  Maybe a picnic table out of the weather..  

How is the Poly/steel mix to work on?  I had looked at fiberglass reinforced concrete and was warned strongly not to if the floor will not be sealed with an epoxy or covered with that heavy floor paint..   I did talk to a guy who said a heavy stock fencing for cattle works very well and is pretty inexpensive compared to others.  

The floor is actually going to go in next year..   I want a full year with the power hammer running before I put a cement floor in..  Most the inside as well as the foundation area will be fill brought in so want to be sure it will be well packed..  Besides that it will give me another year to save more money towards the floor.. 

Anyhow, it will be interesting..   If I can get everything the way I want it, it will be something to behold..  

Congrats on this new adventure. It looks terribly exciting, which means exciting with a streak of terror in it.

Looking forward to your progress.

Ohio, well said..  Some definite wanting to put the running shoes on..