2013 at the Hammond Barn

[RHClarke]

Welcome to the New Year! We are looking forward to relating new stories and posting pictures throughout the coming year about the adventures at the now "World Famous" Hammond Barn. There is a lot of work to be done and we will be posting the results of our labours (both good and bad) as has become our tradition here on MLU, the acknowledged centre of the CMP universe.

Photo: A wildling roaming the barnyard.

[Bob Carriere]

Nice picture of Jess in the snow.

Bob

[RHClarke]

The morning of the first day of the New Year came early. After a quick breakfast and some champagne and orange juice with my beloved wife, I hit the road for the barn - not to worry, it was only about an ounce of the bubbly mixed with a generous helping of OJ.

The sun was up and shining in all of its glory this morning. However, the mercury was hovering at about -13oC, so when I arrived at the barn, I decided to fire up Lucifer. After enjoying Lucifer's warmth, I headed outside to dig out the snow that accumulated around my 45 HUP shelter. The wind chill factor pushed the temps down to around -22oC. Later this year we will shrug off those temperatures, but right now it felt damned cold outside.

It was very quiet at the the barn until about 10:30 when Grant drove in. We both got down to business with door repairs. My focus was on the driver's side door for the Pilot Model. It was in better shape than the other door but requires some repair - see Pilot Model Thread.

Bob made his appearance just after lunch time. Apparently, he and Joyce decided to have their New Year's party this morning, and since he was not feeling any pain, he decided not to operate heavy equipment or use dangerous tools today. So he headed home to put in some wood for his furnace.

I left Grant working away on his cab 13 door and headed home for some hot turkey soup and tea biscuits. It is amazing how the cold works up an appitite.


Photo: The ongoing battle with snow continues. The shelters are getting squeezed by the snow that we rake off. The snow needs to be removed from the side walls to prevent cave ins and material damage.

[maple_leaf_eh]

Just to add to the comments about snow and driveway shelters, I went to the famous Princess Auto the other day. A 21' telescoping aluminum handled plastic bladed roof rake (yes, that is the name) is coming up on sale. The need was greater to clear snow than risk missing out altogether.

We have had easily 18" of fresh snow in the past two weeks. Here are some snaps of the process of clearing snow. Notice the deflection on the roof supports inside.

[maple_leaf_eh]

One thing I noticed after clearing the snow, was how my resistance braced roof cross pieces, had almost all shifted position. The roof is the original poly-whatever fabric, second-skinned with sections of modular tentage, reinforced with leftover election signs and 1x4 lumber. I need to get some j-clamps in the electrical conduit section of my second favourite hardware store, and put things back in place.

BTW, this shelter is a full Rotter and MLU effort. Guy Vapeur sewed the end panel with doors, and the tentage was purchased from Greg Wright who is a neighbour of Mike Calnan. And Rob Love has visited and inspected the M38A1.

[Ryan]

Amazing pictures guys. Just totally foreign to me. 3 weeks now without a drop of rain, paddocks dry and becoming barren. Dust, grass seeds in your clothing and cloudless skies.
All the best for 2013 from down under.

[maple_leaf_eh]

Originally Posted by maple_leaf_eh

Just to add to the comments about snow and driveway shelters, I went to the famous Princess Auto the other day. A 21' telescoping aluminum handled plastic bladed roof rake (yes, that is the name) is coming up on sale. The need was greater to clear snow than risk missing out altogether.

We have had easily 18" of fresh snow in the past two weeks. Here are some snaps of the process of clearing snow. Notice the deflection on the roof supports inside.

The weekend is forecasted to be single digits (below freezing). This would be an excellent chance to go work outdoors raking snow off the roof. I was outdoors after the last storm and again today. The Jeeps thanked me!

[Bob Carriere]

The past few days of bitter cold has complicated things.

I had to use an electric blow gun to warm up the pressure regulator on the compressor system.....but only after I had used the heat in the blower gun to soften up the coiled electrical cord.

Used the gun again to warm up the chuck on the drill press as it was very stiff to turn. The O ring on the air line spool kept hissing and leaking..... warm air did not last long as the cold compressed air cooled it again.

Had "Lucifer" fired up but even after 4 hours the electrical cords on the floor couldn't be coiled neatly and winding up the rubber hose air line back on the spool was like twisting spring steel. The Butane torch used to light the furnace would not ignite but the propane torch burned weakly.

Got the sheet metal job done for the furnace but it was not enjoyable.

Outside temp was -19 with a stiff breeze .... I swear the inside of the barn had stored some of the cold air from the past few days.

The slow leak on the tractor front tire had deflated the tire flat.......

The forecast on TV says that the real cold January weather has yet to arrive.

Bob C