Took the axles out first. Was simply a by the numbers operation. Bolts out, axles on the ground, hook strap to end of axle and other end to tractor and drag out till it hits the frame then dig and move and shift till it comes out. pant and blow a while and do it again. Eat lunch after the second one is almost out. Back out afterwards and dig a while then pull the second one out. same on the third. Jacked the trailer up a bit more and got the sideboards that came on Bertha. Got the grinder and some grease. Ground all the welds and bumps and such that could possibly impede the forward motion of the trailer. After i finished that got the grease gun and coated the top of both pieces. slid them in on top of the log and under the trailer frame. Lowered the trailer onto them so it was resting on those 2 points in the back and the tongue on a sheet of plywood in the front. Hooked the chain up to the frame and to the dozer. Started forward and the trailer moved like it had wheels. Pulled it the entire 7 feet in just a few seconds.
Alignment wasn't what I had thought so I moved the dozer to the hitch end and pushed it over a bit and then a bit more and then some more. got it close there and was over a couple of feet too much at the back now. the other way of course. so to the south side and hooked the chain to the frame close to the wheels and pulled it over a bit. looking good so moved to the front and got up on the bank with the dozer and hooked the chain to the hitch and pulled it forward a couple of inches and then it stuck. got the shovel and bill and I dug and flattened the ground uphill of where it needed to slide. got back on the dozer and after a few jarring lunge and snatch it a inch or so at a time got it moved the required 3 feet. That gives us an entry between the qhut and the trailer.
the alignment is close. not exact by a long shot but close enough for my kind of building.
or not in place on wednesday. just noted that the time was midnight exactly and don't know what date this entry was made on.
Tried another transport dolly on the north side but wouldn't do more than bend the log. trailer is heavy! so have moved both dollies out of the way and am taking the rest of the bolts out of the axles and springs to get them out of the way.
have got blocks under the west or greenhouse end and it is up off the log at the present time. depending on settling of the clay base.
have had 2x6s break under the jack twice today as they sunk into the clay.
got a piece of a elm that was out of a tree 2 feet in diameter and about 6 inches thick. thought it was solid but apparently it was not. jacked the trailer up and bill is trying to get another board between the frame and the top board and I am jacking up when the slab splintered. didn't fall just split into several pieces and shifted down some.
got to find some oak and split a slab about 6 inches thick to use as a jack platform in this muck.
gonna try the sideboards off bertha. they are 4 inch channel steel. hard stuff from what i cut the other day for the dozer repair. planing on laying them on top of the log and lowering the trailer onto them and using them as a track to slid on. got about 6 and a half feet to go north with the west end. the east end needs to move about 2 feet south and the entire thing needs to go about 2 to 3 feet east to allow for a door along side the south end of the quonset hut between it and the trailer.
figure a mud hall for entry to both buildings and from north and south too. gonna have to rethink that. the airflow to the trailer has got to be maximized. I want to try to tap into the air return on the furnace and see if it will allow us to pull air from the greenhouse into the trailer and out the vents. Will have to look further. may have to add a duct the length of the trailer underneath as I don't think this trailer has return in the floor. walls have vent in them in the front room.
hope to get it moved tomorrow. if not, will go to plan f or is it g by now… I just love interesting projects. and this one has turned into an interesting sequence of projects. but that is just life as I know it. one project after another with spasms of total panic intermixed with urgent needed yesterday won't take a minute breaks from routine. or it could just be gas…
tis late and so am i…
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