[RHClarke]

The boys were out to the barn on Saturday and it looks like they spent the day assembling and welding the wheel ramps. Sunday started off fairly cool. It was -13 oC at 8AM but the sun was shining. The drive out to the barn was great with the sun dancing off the ice in the trees.

After sparking up Lucifer, I headed outside to clear the snow off the shelters. The warm weather on Saturday created a nice crust on the snow that made clearing snow fairly easy. The heavy layer of snow on the barn roof was fun to remove - it took a gentle nudge and instant avalanche! Bob and Joyce showed up later on to check on the local turkey population. There is a rafter of turkeys that have been moving around the local area.

After the turkey trek, Bob fired up the tractor and cleared the snow from the yard. Grant showed up at little later on and helped Bob work on the ramps. I did a little weld job on my tire rack and watched Bob and Grant do some more welding on the ramps. I am sure that they will be able to hold up a tank. The rest of the morning was spent adding a door handle to the rear door of the HUP. I am using a locking handle that required some modification to the door so that the security lugs fit in the opening.

After a quick lunch in Rockland, we got back to CMP related work. Bob and Grant cleaned up a set of shelves, and sorted out some nuts and bolts. I started assembling the lower portion of the HUP divider wall. With Grants aid, we managed to put it together in short order.

In the meantime, Lucifer was belting out the heat and we hit 70 oF inside the barn. The many layers of winter clothing started to come off as we worked up a sweat in the front of the barn. In the back of the barn, near Lucifer, Bob sorted out the steel supply and made use of the rack system he and Grant constructed. Smaller pieces of metal were stacked on the racks located near Lucifer and this opened up a lot of space.

The afternoon passed quickly, and all too soon, I had to head back home. The boys stayed behind for more clean up.

Photos:

1 - Mega ramps - awaiting more cross and lateral bracing
2 - Avalanche country - that stuff comes down quickly and with force!
3 - HUP rear door's new handle
4 - A great rack!
5 - HUP lower divider wall with wood panels installed