2012 at the Hammond Barn

[RHClarke]

The weather this morning was wonky at best, and dangerous at its worse. We had a light dusting of snow last night that was followed by a bout of freezing rain. It took quite a lot of effort to clear the driveway this morning. I got to the barn late only to find Bob sitting by Lucifer reading porn (a CMP manual). Not much happened before lunch, and after lunch Grant joined us.

Again, Bob and Grant were fixated on racks – not the kind young fellows think about, but equipment racks. They fabbed up a rack that eventually got bolted to the rear wall. After that fun Grant kept busy dashing about – in fact he disassembled four dashes this afternoon. As with all things CMP, differences soon appeared – Grant can fill in blanks on this one.

My afternoon was spent clearing snow and ice from the shelters, doing some sandblasting and fixing a window throw out arm off of the 42 Pilot Model. One of the four arms was broken. Another had been repaired with a very nice weld job, so I called in my expert to fix the break in the arm. Bob did a great job aligning the metal and flattening out ends so that they matched. A few zaps later and a quick session with the grinder, the arm looked ready for use.

Like all things we enjoy, time at the barn went by in a flash, and I headed back to Ottawa for my domestic duties.


Photos:

1 - Bob playing with a nice rack
2 - Mr Dash
3 - Pilot Model window throw out arm - before
4 - Arm - during
5 - Arm - after

[Phil Waterman]

Hi Guys

Been off line for a couple of days rebuilding computer so it was good to see somebodies weekend was productive.

Looking at the first picture wondered about the rack material, is the local super market missing a bunch of carts? Whats the English term for them? Trollies?

Good work on repairing the windscreen arms. I'll have to dig out the pictures for creating them from scratch with a plasma cutter. Mine on the Pattern 12 were so far gone had to create new ones.

Keep up the good work

Cheers Phil

[Bob Carriere]

When Joyce was a manager at Staples they would ...every now and then....throw out racking for more modern ones...... I scavenged a bunch of them.

We needed to take some scrap cut off steel off the floors in corners for room to work and easy access to the odd pieces and bits for future jobs. Wire shelves were nice but needed some bracing with angle iron for holding the weight that we will put on them.

Nice project for the Winter.

Also building a good sturdy box for storing and possibly securely transporting my recently acquired 19 set...... the whole set up moounted on the travel board will fit inside and be a two men carry.

Once that is completed will tackle sheet metal worjon the nose sheet metal fo tha cab 11 which has some nice large rust holes...... will try patches and or repro..... butt welding patches and spot welding will be the process of choice.

Still have to tackle the twisted frame but that will wait until we get milder weather.

Nice to fire up "Lucifer" and be able to work in a 50 to 55 F degrees setting.

Bob

[RHClarke]

The mercury dipped to -23 oC this clear and very sunny morning. With the wind, it felt like -32 – cold on any temperature scale! It was so cold that I was the only one at the barn this morning. Bob and Grant (I’m guessing) were out on Saturday. All of the vehicle shelters had the snow removed, so the boys were busy yesterday. Bob did a great job of clearing the snow from the front driveway, the road to the barn and the area in front of the barn. I’ll bet that was great fun, as no matter where the machine blows the snow, some is bound to blow back over you.

When I got to the barn I didn’t fire up Lucifer as I could only stay for a few hours. Upon entry I noticed that a new bin system was assembled and placed against one of the walls. Bob and Grant continue their fascination with racks and the like. So far most of the bins are empty, but that will change. Hopefully, the boys will chime in to speak of their exploits.

My morning was spent removing about 10 inches of snow from most of the roof of the old shed. The snow was in three layers – a soft top layer, a sheet of ice with compacted snow underneath. It was a bitch to breakup and clear off as the snow rake is somewhat flimsy and it catches the nails on the tin sheet roof. We will need to extend the reach of the snow rake so that I can get the remainder of the snow without having to get up on the roof. The old shed has developed a noticeable westward lean, and there was no sense in tempting fate.

After that fun, I fixed a broken shovel. The shovel blade had split where the dent for the handle meets the flat part of the shovel. After getting the power level right, the weld worked nicely. Some finishing touches with the grinder, and the shovel should last another five years. Yes, I am cheap. After locking up, I drove home for lunch very much enjoying the sun highlighting the ice in the trees. Winter in Canada can be a bit of a bitch, but it also can be downright beautiful.

Photos:
1 - Ice in the trees
2 - Camouflaged Dodges
3 - Unladen Bins

[Bob Carriere]

Colder than a mother-in-law's heart she was........

The wife convinced me that it would be toooo cold to work in the barn so we went photographing Snowy Owl....... it was minus 29C when we left the house at 7:45........ took me 30 minutes to get dressed...... felt like a two year old....warm but could not move. 4 hour Batteries lasted only about an hour in the camera before going dead........ did see 3 Snowy but they would not even respond to baiting with live lab mice......

Spent most of Saturday doing the snow/blow job while Grant did the roofs of the Winter canvass garages. Thanks for doing the shed/containers Rob.

More snow coming this week and Grant is toasting his buns in San Diago for the week.

Blowing snow is fine with modern conveniences.....sucks when the wind shifts and you wind up sucking most of it......
it was minus -15C when they were taken.

Bob

[maple_leaf_eh]

Good reminder to clear the accumulations off the soft-skin shelter. The accumulations in the front of the driveway have been relentless but not impossible to clear. Better to turn 180 degrees and start raking. Monday the weather is expected to break, and get into single digits below zero.

[RHClarke]

It got busy this week at work. Deadlines tend to focus one's thoughts and actions. Now that I have had some time to catch my breath, here is what happened last Sunday. It was cold, but not stupid cold (which I think is easier to survive that stupid hot...). Nonetheless, all three of us made it to the barn for what turned out to be a short day. The first to cross the barn's threshold has the joy of feeding Lucifer and confusing the local mosquito population - they actually do show up when Lucifer is at full glow!

Once Lucifer was sated, I got on to painting some of the items taken off of the Pilot Model HUP. The throw out arms from the windshields, sunshine hatch stopper plates, a few spring clamps and the two upper support pillars got their first coat of black paint.

Whilst slapping the paint on the pre-heated parts, Bob arrived. I think he was amused at how fast the paint dried on the parts. It might have something to do with having spent a few minutes resting on top of Lucifer's fire box. Shorthly thereafter, Grant arrived sporting his California tan. We spent the rest of the morning yakking about cleaning up the barn and other tasks - Bob proudly showed off his "air dryer". The boys put a fresh tarp over one of Grant's shelter to keep the ice and snow at bay. Then we drove to the thriving metropolis of Rockland for a nice sit down full breakfast. It was good to see Bob was behaving himself and was eating wisely.

Back at the barn we fiddled around with various bits and pieces and decided to call it a day. Sometimes you need a small break in the action - or maybe we were just plain lazy. We will make up for it in the future.

Photos

1 - Yep. It is still cold - Bob thawing out the air regulator with the "air dryer"
2 - Pilot Model parts awaiting a new coat of paint
3 - The same with their new coat airing themselves near Lucifer- notice Bob's new rack in the background