Pyramid any time soon. Here's the deal... The pyramid deal all hinged on (pun intended) my being able to use my friend Juan's winch truck to hoist the pyramid frame in to position, but he doesn't actually own the truck and has lost the use of it. So... No way to hoist the pyramid frame in to position.
I learned about the loss of the use of the truck from Nick when I saw him at the hardware store this morning. Also took a gander at a rattler he killed last night and threw in the back of his PU. He asked about working with the skin and that was an easy one. You skin the snake and place the skin in Antifreeze for about a week and it is cured and ready for use.
Here is how I had intended for the pyramid deal to work.
Current conditions now is 95 degrees and windy as hell! That was after a chilly mid 50s for this morning.
Used antifreeze too, til we learned about glycerin. My son made a belt for his 6 year old niece, and she didn't want to wear it, i told her gosh, u gotta, u'll be the only one with a rattlesnake belt! And, she was. lololol. The stripes were on the end that went thru the buckle.
ReplyDeleteUrgggg, sorry about the truck thing not working out. I hate it when that happens...And after you put all that time into figuring out the plans.
ReplyDeleteTnT, I didn't know you could use glycerin, but it would probably be impossible to find down here. Antifreeze is sold in most of the small stores.
ReplyDeleteTerry, just part of living in Terlingua I guess. I'll figure something else out eventually.
If you have the steel, just make yourself a temporary crain.
ReplyDeleteGlad you're not ditching the pyramid idea - I reckon it'd be cool :) Can't wait to see what you figure out to overcome4 your problem...
ReplyDeleteLove the Pyra lift sketch, especially the little truck LOL
lou, between ideas I have and what others are coming up with it will probably get done sooner or later.
ReplyDeleteDani, now you know I'm an artist being able to draw such a good picture of a truck. ;)
Bigfoot sent me his idea which I'd already thought about, but I'm not sure it would work and could be dangerous. That would be using a pipe standing up in the center with a winch on top and have it where that would pull the frame up. Problem with that would be that the size of pipe that could be used would be fairly small and it would have to support and lift about 800 lbs. I'm afraid it would flex and bend causing a collapse.
Another one of my ideas is to put one side of the pyramid together and have hinges on the bottom of all corners. I could use the tank and a winch to stand that one side up. Then secure that side in to place with temporary braces or cables and then use it to pull the other side up. Unfortunately the connector to bolt them together would have to be different than the hinge I designed.
I'm still thinking on it though.
I hope you eventually get the use of the proper equipment to get this thing built. It will be so interesting when you do. Keep your thinking cap on, consult with a few more people, and something will happen. Best of luck to you.
ReplyDeleteAllen, I'm fairly sure this will come together sooner or later and hopefully it will be sooner.
ReplyDeleteBTW I've been seeing trailer loads of port a potties headed south. Have any idea where they are going? ;) Must be the cook off moon coming up pretty soon.
I have a (I think) pretty good idea of how to get it done, but it would take too much explanation over the internet. remind me the next time you come up, otherwise, i may forget to mention it to you.
ReplyDeleteCRS has started quite young in my case. :)
ReplyDeletemy best explanation of this idea would be to put together 2 opposite sides of the pyramid (with sheathing if desired). Lay them on top of each other, hinged at the peak of the pyramid. on the triangle laying on the ground, attach guy wires to the upper half of the triangle, which, in turn would be attached to the trailer hitch of a vehicle. the bottom corners of the lower triangle would be attached to concrete pillars in the ground, whereas to allow movement like a hinge. the triangle on top of it would have similar guy wires attached to a vehicle facing in the opposite direction. jack up the resulting structure at the peak to provide leverage. as the vehicle for the upper half moves forward, it would raise both halves. the guy wires connected to the first vehicle would prevent the structure from toppling forward to the second. As the two halves get close to the vertical position, the bottom of upper triangle could be slowly moved out to meet the other 2 concrete pillars, by moving the second vehicle forward, or by hand with a few volunteers, kind of like a step-ladder. Once those two sides are secured to the ground, the middle beam (top of the cabin) could be welded into place on the other 2 sides, and it would not be difficult to sheath those two remaining walls from there. Been turning this around in my mind for a while... good luck
ReplyDeleteoh, by pillars, i meant footings, word retrieval loss
ReplyDeleteby attaching all guy wires to vehicles, with help, you can ensure that the wind will not effect it during raising, and, with help, it should be easier.
ReplyDeletePretty fair idea there and sheathing it before putting it up would solve some problems later. I'll keep that in mind as I do more thinking and other ideas come in.
ReplyDelete