Infinite Ideas, Minimal Dreaming, More mix-ups

After the excitement of yesterday, finally getting a tangible start on the structure my mind was racing with ideas.  Unfortunately, I was still checking what time it was that I STILL was not sleeping.....4am!  So I'm putting together this little post as an accomplishment marker and going home without doing any grinding, cutting, or welding.

First, the new Ideas:

-Recessing the central 8' x 8' of the greenhouse floor for the hot tub / woodstove combo to set in.  More often than not the lid will be on the hot tub and will provide extra floor and seating space.  The rest of the recess will also form a bench for seating.  The shape and orientation still have some kinks to be worked out, but I think it will make the space not only feel bigger, but will be nice to have dimensional changes.

-Potentially a futon couch/bed on a 2:1 or 3:1 pulley system that can be raised into the open part of the loft by it's occupants for lofted sleeping or making extra space on the main level.  Somehow it could detach and fold up into a couch to be pushed against the desk or back wall.

-The utility room off the back of the structure will serve as a mudroom and may be the only entrance.  Previously I thought there would be an entrance through the greenhouse, but it may be nice to have the extra space that a door requires.

I couldn't stop poring over these ideas and am not sure if I really got any sleep.  I'm sure this will happen many times again.

Excitingly, we met with our current landlord today to see if there was anything we needed to do to make sure we got our deposit back.  He thought everything looked great.  We'll also be getting back almost all of the $800 of fuel we put into the kerosene tank 2 years ago.  He's going to let me fell a tree overhanging an outbuilding for half of my final rent payment of $600 (because Matt is moving out a month before me).

The best thing though was that he was very into letting me fell a B-E-A-U-T-I-F-U-L Red Oak, about 28" DBH and AT LEAST 30' of super straight trunk, probably 2000 board feet with the bandsaw mill, on top of the hill that got struck by lighting in the early summer.  Without the lightning strike this tree would probably sell to a sawmill for $500.  I actually heard the tree get struck and then connected that when taking a walk a few weeks later and seeing the huge stripe missing(Photos coming soon).

The deal is that I'll fell it, he'll arrange a tractor to get the logs lined up, I'll get the portable bandsaw miller back and do all the running around the mill and we'll split the cost of milling and the lumber down the middle!  When I saw this tree back in the summer I was hoping to saw it up and use it for the inner finish on the greenhouse/bathhouse and have a lot extra for future projects.  Put it out to the universe and be patient and good things may come.

Anyways,  The axles showed up today as well as the proper jack and hanger kit.

They didn't have springs like they were suppose to.

I want to point out the upward bow in the axles that is intentional.  I think it's because an arch is stronger than a straight beam, but also because when the axles are loaded to full capacity it will end up being flat.  This allows an engineer to design more accurately.  Also, this is a 4" drop axle, which means 4" more headroom!  They only cost about $30 extra each.

One of the spindle caps popped off and got crushed in transport.

The springs mainly really hold up progress on the trailer frame as the first step in the assembly is placing the spring hangers with the girders upside down so you can flip everything over while it's "lightweight" and then start building up, but close to the ground so it's easy to put on the wheels and lower it off the jackstands with a jack.

I could notch out and cut the girders to form the tongue, but that's about it.  I figured I'd just save it for later and try to make up on sleep til the weekend.  Oh, I also realized I had marked the "rim joist" improperly and my joists were actually spaced at 39", 41", 41", 39" between their faces.  I remarked the two that were wrong and will grind it when I get back to grinding later this week.

On other disappointments,  one of the equalizer links (they connect the front eye of the rear spring to the rear eye of the front spring to make the axles and springs work together) has a serious casting flaw that I think could easily lead to a fracture and failure.  It's the one on the right, and the flaw is coming in to the central eye.

On the upside I talked to a welder friend, Don, for a while about the assembly process and just verified how I was planning to go through it.  I had originally intended to just square everything up and get it tacked together myself then have him run all the beads.  He said he'd be happy to come over and see what my welding skills looked like and whether or not I was getting good penetration and to jump in if he thought it was necessary.  The welder I have is certainly capable of  fusing this material.  Without having to arrange and transport for the final welding I could have things wrapped up with the structure sometime early next week!

Also, my friend Gib has a trailer with a set of four wheels and tires with the proper bolt pattern and weight capacity that he's willing to let me borrow the few times I'll need them.  I'll be replacing one tire that's getting pretty bald.  My budget just freed up $600!!! Woohoo!

I'm sure Trailer Parts 4 U will make up for the mistakes as they have done with the jack and hanger kit.  Looking forward to working on things on Friday and receiving the final shipment of steel that will form the bents and roof perimeter.  All in all, another darn good day!

Jambed Finger Count: 2

*Unloading the axles*