Tom & Shelly's build

[Tom&Shelly]

One problem with living on the side of a mountain is that the driveway always needs work. Someone suggested we rent a bobcat.



Great idea! Now there is practically no chance I'll bump into rabbits while pushing the wheel barrow!

Tom

[tony.latham]

Someone suggested we rent a bobcat.

I ordered a shed from the local Amish folks here. I told the guy that he might want to look at the delivery site since the road going in was a one-way two-track.

"We have a mule for that."

When an Amish gentlemen wearing home-spun clothes mentions a mule, who doesn't think of a mule?

When they showed up with the shed, they had a two-wheel motorized gizmo that they called a mule. They attached wheels on the shed and pushed it in with the "mule".

I always thought they were kinda Luddite-like.

Tony

[Tom&Shelly]

When an Amish gentlemen wearing home-spun clothes mentions a mule, who doesn't think of a mule?

When they showed up with the shed, they had a two-wheel motorized gizmo that they called a mule. They attached wheels on the shed and pushed it in with the "mule".

I always thought they were kinda Luddite-like.

Tony

Tom

[Florida Native]

Someone suggested we rent a bobcat.

I ordered a shed from the local Amish folks here. I told the guy that he might want to look at the delivery site since the road going in was a one-way two-track.

"We have a mule for that."

When an Amish gentlemen wearing home-spun clothes mentions a mule, who doesn't think of a mule?

When they showed up with the shed, they had a two-wheel motorized gizmo that they called a mule. They attached wheels on the shed and pushed it in with the "mule".

I always thought they were kinda Luddite-like.

Tony

Must've been Mennonite, not Amish.

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[Tom&Shelly]

Just to be clear, I didn't ask the bobcat about his (or her) religion. All I know about that is he (or she) isn't a vegetarian!

Tom

[tony.latham]

Someone suggested we rent a bobcat.

I ordered a shed from the local Amish folks here. I told the guy that he might want to look at the delivery site since the road going in was a one-way two-track.

"We have a mule for that."

When an Amish gentlemen wearing home-spun clothes mentions a mule, who doesn't think of a mule?

When they showed up with the shed, they had a two-wheel motorized gizmo that they called a mule. They attached wheels on the shed and pushed it in with the "mule".

I always thought they were kinda Luddite-like.

Tony

Must've been Mennonite, not Amish.

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No Mennonite here. But we do have a robust Amish population.

Tony


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[Tom&Shelly]

Finished the lower drawers this morning



In the end, we decided to use cam locks to lock the drawers



The catches they sold for these looked like some sort of extruded metal (L shape) but turned out to be flimsy bent steel, with only a 1/8 inch lip. So I took some angle aluminum and made our own. For the two drawers on the right it was easy



For the two over the battery lid, I wanted them to lock to the lid, rather than the galley floor. So I used a Forstner bit to create a gap in the bottom of the lid and screwed the aluminum in



(BTW, that's the same rectangular rubber seal that we used for the hatch, around the recess for the battery compartment.)

I overdid the Forstner gap just a little, and had to file notches for the cam locks to pass



Works well now



To remove/replace the battery lid, simply lock the cams and pull on the handles, after removing the screws holding the battery lid to the galley floor. When the lid is screwed down, they lock the drawers as usual.

The cam locks have holes in the cams and came with three thicknesses (1/16", 1/8", and 3/16") of little plastic buttons that snap in. A nice little feature, though an ad man took it too far in the brochure, claiming that offered 12 different possibilities. Well, you can't combine the buttons, and if you could the answer isn't 12. Oh well! But we needed smaller cams than the 1 5/8 INch long ones that came with the hardware, and when we got them, found they were without holes



I was skeptical about drilling though hardened steel, but with some cutting oil it was no problem. And I told Shelly a new, sharp, 3/16 inch drill bit would make a fine anniversary gift! (Isn't 6 hardened steel?)

Tom

[Tom&Shelly]

Finished the cutlery drawer this afternoon



Looks like it'll carry everything we normally have for camping (I suppose--been too long since we've been camping to remember for sure!) We will want to add some plastic bins or partitions of some sort.

The drawer is oak with dowel joints. I cut notches with the router to hold the bottom, which is a scrap of 1/8 inch cut from the front of the teardrop, complete with fiberglass and epoxy. I glued another 1/8 inch sheet under it to make it 1/4 inch thick. Varnished for protection from UV and anything else.

The drawer slides came from a thrift shop. Happened to be the right length. I think they are Euro-drawers or something. No automatic latch when closed, so we'll use the cam lock against a stop in the bottom of the counter.

I like the front piece, complete with big knot. Adds to the appearance. But it wasn't my first choice. Made a rookie mistake cutting the notch on the router table



The notches are 1/4 inch deep, and I tried to do it in one swell fwoop. Didn't tighten the spiral up-cut bit enough, and it came free and chewed up through the wood. I know enough to only cut 1/8 inch at a time, but the Bosch mount is so bad, it binds as I try to adjust height. Bosch got good reviews, and I don't have experience with any other router, but I may have to give one a try. But, this was my mistake!

Anyway, that was the last piece of oak that size in our scrap pile, so I'm glad I limited the mistakes to one! I hear lumber has gone up a lot this past few months.

Tom

[Tom&Shelly]

Finally got the new teardrop hanger!



Only took 14 months! (But most of that time was dealing with the county, and some with COVID-19. The factory is in Gallup, which was shut down tight for a few months.)

We're a quarter mile from our electrickery, so we'll have to look into solar panels for the roof, to keep the teardrop battery topped off. We're also that far from our water, but if we collect some rain water from the roof we'll have all the comforts of home (our home, anyway).

Think I will need to do some rock work to keep the dirt from washing away.

Tom

[pchast]

Very nice garage. I'd love that workshop space.
Good Luck with it.

[rjgimp]

Excellent garage space! Have you come up with any plans to use the overhead area in the middle stall? Sure is a lot of potential there.

[tony.latham]

We're a quarter mile from our electrickery...

Quite the addition.

Is it a quarter-mile from your house?

Tony

[Tom&Shelly]

We're a quarter mile from our electrickery...

Quite the addition.

Is it a quarter-mile from your house?

Tony

I flubbed the line a little (long afternoon yesterday). It's an eighth mile from our house and the electricity (quarter mile round trip, as if calculating wire sizes). By our way of thinking, that's a non-starter. If we wanted to add 120 VAC electricity (or water), we'd need more permits from the county.

With Solar systems these days, they make much more sense to us. I'll need to do more research, but sort of thinking of a switch between an old battery in the garage, and a line to the teardrop. Then we can have LED lighting even when we have the teardrop out. Perhaps a little inverter for small power tools.

We were going to keep the Taco in the center stall, with a pulley system to lift the Snugtop up off the bed when necessary. But now, Shelly realizes her truck will be an eighth mile from the house... The pulley rig was designed to lift Jeep tops anyway, so guess I'll keep my ride there. So, Rob, that's what we plan to use that extra tall space in the center stall for.

Tom

[tony.latham]

With Solar systems these days, they make much more sense to us.

I agree.

We're about to embark on a near net-zero grid-tie system for our place. 'Gotta get the concrete poured for it soon...

Tony

[MickinOz]

With Solar systems these days, they make much more sense to us.

I agree.

We're about to embark on a near net-zero grid-tie system for our place. 'Gotta get the concrete poured for it soon...

Tony

Ground level?
They almost always go on the roof here.