We have built many pieces of
equipment and buildings on this farm. Some, such as the seed
storage and conditioning facility took a lot of work and time and
some are weekend projects. Take a tour.
This mower was built from
salvaged parts from an old discarded machine. A new Briggs
and Stratton Vanguard engine and a John Deere deck were purchased.
Hydraulics, wheels, drive parts and controls were all from junked
machines. Some sheet metal and frame pieces were formed from
new stock. The 60 inch mower performs quite well.
The 4 foot speedmover was
built almost entirely from the junk pile. The only purchased
parts were the hydraulics and new tires. It is just right
for the 4100 John Deere tractor. It does a nice job of
grading the driveways and moving dirt or sand where needed.
The photo at the left shows a stage of
construction of our seed storage facility. The winch boom on the
right foreground was one of my first projects, built about 40 years ago from
scrap. Not visible is the hydraulic driven winch and tractor
that operates the cable and hook.
Below are photos of a
project for which we supplied the steel and did the fabrication.
In the restoration of the local movie theater it was discovered
that snow load on the roof had damaged some of the wooden trusses.
The design engineer for the insurance company determined that the
building could be saved and the trusses were lifted back up to the
original position with beams and threaded rods. The primary
contractor for the work was TEHE Enterprises, Goodland Kansas.
Left, Jeep restored by Carl
for his mother in law
Right, trailer
built by Carl for a neighbor
Wheelchair
ramp and steps for a church entry built in shop in sections and
bolted together on site. Paintwork and concrete done by
other church members.
We built our house in 1972.
We bought the structural components through our local lumber yard
from a company in South Dakota that did the architectural drawings
and precut floor system, assembled the outside walls in sections
with insulation and outside covering. Windows had to be
installed after the walls were up. Roof trusses came
pre-built. The entire house came on one truck. We had
a local contractor put up the basement and shell. We bought
the rest of the materials locally and did the shingles, brickwork,
interior, heating system, plumbing, and electrical ourselves.
We did have a bricklayer work on the fireplace and that was
how I
learned to lay brick.
This
glass breaker on the right was built for the community recycling
center in 1993 and is still going strong after breaking dozens of
barrels of glass. A set of blades lasts about two years.
The bulldozer was built
in December, 2004. The blade was cut from an old junked
propane tank and the lift arms from old machinery parts.
