What to do?

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Backwoods Savage

Minister of Fire
Hearth Supporter
Feb 14, 2007
27,811
Michigan
We want to put up a shed (one of those $999 things lots of places sell)....right where one wood pile is. When I think of moving all the wood, well, especially this time of the year it doesn't seem like such a good idea. But, we'd like to get the shed up before fall.

So, do I go to all the work of moving the pile? See if I can sell it? Give it or at least part of it away? Now I wish I'd talked rdust into taking more last spring.
 
Oh crap thats a pickle, but sounds like a 1/2 price fire sale! lol
 
One of my neighbors has automobile shed that he uses for his wood. It's one of those tin covers for cars that uses small metal poles to hold it all together. They are cheep to buy and put up and could be moved easy. I might try that one of these days. David
 
Backwoods Savage said:
Now I wish I'd talked rdust into taking more last spring.

Ask him to take it. He can sell it at a very fair price and split the proceeds with you. Everyone benefits.

I hope you're not considering one of those POS box store wooden sheds. One look at those and I built my own. Never built a building of any sort in my life, but mine came out 2000% better than anything I've seen for sale and it only cost me $700. It's customized for my needs, strong as all get out, and I bet it'll still be standing when they sprinkle my ashes around. I could have made it 35% bigger for less than $100 more, but I didn't figure that out until it was up. It's really not that hard, and you can build the shed around your wood until you resolve that issue.
 
Battenkiller said:
Backwoods Savage said:
Now I wish I'd talked rdust into taking more last spring.

Ask him to take it. He can sell it at a very fair price and split the proceeds with you. Everyone benefits.

I hope you're not considering one of those POS box store wooden sheds. One look at those and I built my own. Never built a building of any sort in my life, but mine came out 2000% better than anything I've seen for sale and it only cost me $700. It's customized for my needs, strong as all get out, and I bet it'll still be standing when they sprinkle my ashes around. I could have made it 35% bigger for less than $100 more, but I didn't figure that out until it was up. It's really not that hard, and you can build the shed around your wood until you resolve that issue.

Batten in our area the amish build them to sell and not many build better then they do, how big is yours and hows the little one?

zap
 
zapny said:
Batten in our area the amish build them to sell and not many build better then they do, how big is yours and hows the little one?

8' x 12', with a 40" deep extension cantilevered across the front, keeping stuff plenty dry along the back. Posted pics before, but why not...

Little one? Meaning my new grandson? If so, thanks for asking. He's had some problems. Like his older sister, he has infantile seizures and has to be medicated for about a year. And we just found out he has a slight heart murmur. Wait and see, most holes in the heart heal by themselves without surgery according to his nurse mom. We're more freaked out about it than she is. Every bit of joy in life seems to extract a separate toll. There are no free rides.
 

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Battenkiller said:
zapny said:
Batten in our area the amish build them to sell and not many build better then they do, how big is yours and hows the little one?

8' x 12', with a 40" deep extension cantilevered across the front, keeping stuff plenty dry along the back. Posted pics before, but why not...

Little one? Meaning my new grandson? If so, thanks for asking. He's had some problems. Like his older sister, he has infantile seizures and has to be medicated for about a year. And we just found out he has a slight heart murmur. Wait and see, most holes in the heart heal by themselves without surgery according to his nurse mom. We're more freaked out about it than she is. Every bit of joy in life seems to extract a separate toll. There are no free rides.

Speedy recovery one the new grandson............How much on the shed? its a nice one.
 
smokinjay said:
How much on the shed?

Thanks for the kind words regarding our little man, SJ. :)

The shed cost more than it had to. $700 so far, and it still needs a gallon or two of stain and a few rough sawn planks to finish the trim. It's way overbuilt for a pole structure. I found out later that I could go 8' apart on the posts. I could easily have expanded the shed to a 8' x 16' by changing the post spacing and actually removing three of them from the plan. The extended eaves put the roof at 14' long. That required five 36" x 10' sheets of Galvalume, and three 8' long sheets, cut in half to get five useful 4 footers and one scrap piece. The ridge caps come 10' long, so there is a 6' overlap in that shed (didn't feel like cutting one and taking it to the recyclers). The fasteners are expensive and are sold by the bag. I only used a little more than half a bag. So for the cost of one 36" x 10' sheet ($22), I could have had 18' of roofing to cover a 16' wide shed instead of a 12' wide one. The only other cost would have been a couple extra rafters, longer header plates and purlins, two 1' x 10" x 10' rough sawn planks, and maybe and extra pound of nails. As you can see, the thing's almost full already, and I still have to get welding equipment, an air compressor and a small metal cutting band saw in there. An extra 4' would have been the smart way to go. Might have been about $800 for it all told. Live and learn.

I may put barn-style sliding doors on it before winter. Not sure if I can get the hardware used somewhere. Plus, there'd be a problem with the coal forge, which has the ass end sticking into the back of the shed and the front end out where the door would slide over. Right now, I love being able to just walk into it to get what I need, or more importantly, encourage Lady BK to put away her gardening tools in the right place when she's done with them. But even if she just tosses them in there, at least they're out of the rain. I'm hard on my tools, but she's downright abusive with hers.

I curious to see what the Amish might charge to built this shed. I have a friend that would probably charge $1000 over the cost of materials, but another guy said it's worth about $2500 as it sits. No wonder the landlord was so happy I built it.

Interesting thing about building these sheds, at least locally. I went into the HD near my house and they had a whole cart load of 16' 2x4s for $3 apiece. I sighted down them and, sure enough, they had some warp to them, but there were quite a few that were usable for an outbuilding. The lumber manager told me that after the contractors pick through the stuff, they always get stuck with a bunch of 2nd quality lumber that they are only too glad to sell at 1/2 price. He told me to pick out several boards that looked warped, and if he thought they were bad enough, he'd give them to me at half price. Maybe a sister shed is on the horizon? Stay tuned...

Dennis, too bad I don't live out your way. I'd have gladly helped you build a super nice shed for the wood that's sitting where you want to put it.
 
Captain Hornet said:
One of my neighbors has automobile shed that he uses for his wood. It's one of those tin covers for cars that uses small metal poles to hold it all together. They are cheep to buy and put up and could be moved easy. I might try that one of these days. David

That is the kind we are looking at too. You can buy several sizes along with enclosing part or all of it. We might even buy 2; enclose one and use the other for wood.

I received one very kind and generous offer from jlow who stated he would be willing to come help me move the wood...just for a few beers. Now there is a very generous man; thanks jlow. It's just too bad we live so far away.
 
Backwoods Savage said:
I received one very kind and generous offer from jlow who stated he would be willing to come help me move the wood...just for a few beers. Now there is a very generous man; thanks jlow. It's just too bad we live so far away.

You also know how to get a hold of me! We can make an afternoon/day of it! I don't know if my stacking is up to your standards but you can "clean" up behind me. :lol:
 
Push the pile with a tractor or skidloader?
 
Battenkiller said:
zapny said:
Batten in our area the amish build them to sell and not many build better then they do, how big is yours and hows the little one?

8' x 12', with a 40" deep extension cantilevered across the front, keeping stuff plenty dry along the back. Posted pics before, but why not...

Little one? Meaning my new grandson? If so, thanks for asking. He's had some problems. Like his older sister, he has infantile seizures and has to be medicated for about a year. And we just found out he has a slight heart murmur. Wait and see, most holes in the heart heal by themselves without surgery according to his nurse mom. We're more freaked out about it than she is. Every bit of joy in life seems to extract a separate toll. There are no free rides.

Why is there no wood in your woodshed?
 
wendell said:
Why is there no wood in your woodshed?

What do you mean? The whole dang thing's made of wood 'cept the roof and nails.

Actually, it's a tool shed. I don't believe in wood sheds, but that's another matter. :roll: :lol:
 
Battenkiller said:
zapny said:
Batten in our area the amish build them to sell and not many build better then they do, how big is yours and hows the little one?

8' x 12', with a 40" deep extension cantilevered across the front, keeping stuff plenty dry along the back. Posted pics before, but why not...

Little one? Meaning my new grandson? If so, thanks for asking. He's had some problems. Like his older sister, he has infantile seizures and has to be medicated for about a year. And we just found out he has a slight heart murmur. Wait and see, most holes in the heart heal by themselves without surgery according to his nurse mom. We're more freaked out about it than she is. Every bit of joy in life seems to extract a separate toll. There are no free rides.

Batten nice tool shed also I hope the little one will be ok.

zap
 
Looks like a nice anvil and post vise you have there. Is that grey thing in the far right your forge?


Matt
 
coal or charcoal? I use propane now, but I have an old iron sink in the basement I've thought would make a good pot. I was thinking charcoal might be fun to try.

Matt
 
EatenByLimestone said:
coal or charcoal? I use propane now, but I have an old iron sink in the basement I've thought would make a good pot. I was thinking charcoal might be fun to try.


Not to further hijack, but I think Dennis already has solved his dilemma, so...


I use both.

Coal is fine for ornamental iron work, but too dirty for tool making IMO. Coal is way cheaper and doesn't spark, but it's hard to find. A local supplier brought in several pallets a few years ago, it may be gone when I need more. Building and tending a coal fire in a forge is an art in itself, and a coal fire has a finite life. Charcoal OTOH can be added all day long.

Charcoal, of course, you can make yourself, but I buy so much for grilling most years that I keep about 100 pounds in a 32 gal garbage can on the deck. When I get to the bottom and all that's left is small pieces, I take them out and bring them over to use in the forge. Burns very clean and hot without adding impurities that can destroy good tool steel. Great for knife making.

The fire pot in my forge is quite small. All the rest of the forge surface is to hold coal to be raked into the fire. I cast the fire pot in refractory material using a salad bowl as a male mold. A lot of nice forges have been made using truck brake drums as fire pots. A good source is an auto brake repair shop. While you're there, pick up a couple used leaf springs. They are high quality tool steel that you can anneal, cut and re-forge into knives or what ever.

Charcoal is fun, especially all the fireworks, but I have all the stuff together to make a real nice gas forge with a venturi-type burner, so I'll probably go that way and rarely use the charcoal except for "shock and awe" demos.

PM me if you want to talk metal working. You're more then welcome to stop by when you get over this way and play with my setup. It's not very sophisticated, but it gets the job done for me.
 
Dennis,

If you want to sell some wood I will gladly purchase some from you.


Cheers,Hiram
 
I'm building a woodshed this summer myself, and the logical place was right where I already had a pile. I briefly thought about building around it, but the hassle factor was far too great. Just as well, as I cut and split this wood back before I upgraded from open fireplace to the Fireview. So it had a lot of 20-24" logs that were barely split. So I not only had to unstack and toss in a pile, but I had to recut and resplit quite a bit if it. Ugh.
 
Hiram Maxim said:
Dennis,

If you want to sell some wood I will gladly purchase some from you.


Cheers,Hiram


Thanks Hiram but I think we have the problem solved.
 
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