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Epic Barn Project Ranch

Mid August Epic Barn Update

After all of Ashton’s Family left, we spent some time catching up on work. We had just gotten 10 poles in the ground, so we spent a week or so filling in the holes, and tamping it down hard. You’d be surprised at how long just these small tasks take.

Epic Barn Project:

The deconstruction destroyed 3 of the long poles, so I had to purchase some pressure-treated square ones (under the tarp above).

On the 19th of August, Clayton came out to help get the remaining 6 poles up. It was a long day, but we managed to get them plumed and started filling in all the holes.

Epic Barn Project:

Epic Barn Project:

Not too bad for a hobby, eh?

Epic Barn Project:

Now that we have all the poles in the ground, I borrowed yet another gadget from Buzz. This thing on the left is a laser level on a tripod. Once I got the tripod level and straightened out, I can rotate the laser level around to create a “level mark” on every pole. I just finished doing that today, so now every pole has a pencil mark that is exactly level to the other pencil marks on every other pole.

The mark on the “uphill pole” is 2.5 feet off the ground, and it’s about 4 feet off the ground on the most downhill pole. So the slant of the ground is about 1.5 feet from one end of the barn to the other.

My shortest short pole is 7 feet 2.5 inches above the “level mark.” (My second shortest short pole is 7’6″.)

My shortest long poleĀ  is 10 feet above the “level mark.”. (My second shortest long pole is 10′ 4″, and then 10′ 9″).

I’ll have to cut down all of the poles to be the same length as the shortest pole of their type (to have a level roof).

Here’s the Epic Barn Project as it is today:

Epic Barn Project:

Epic Barn Project:

I feel like I’ve done the hardest parts, but there is still a lot left to do…
Ashton Anna

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Epic Barn Project Ranch

Epic Barn Project: Breaking Ground

After all of that Construction Preparation, we have finally broken ground!

On the night of the 29th (just after the last post), Donald came out with his skidster and worked long into the night digging out a level spot of ground for the epic barn project and creating a drainage bermĀ on the hill behind where the barn will be. Thank you Donald!

Epic Barn Project: level foundation

As you can see from those pictures, we have piles of wood EVERYWHERE! We have finished cleaning up the mess at Buzz’s, and moved all of the materials to around the construction site. Here’s some shots of the endless amounts of wood:

Epic Barn Project: level foundation

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Epic Barn Project Ranch

Epic Barn Project: Destruction Completed!

By the time I got up to Buzz’s, he and his wife, Connie, had already started taking down the poles!
Epic Barn

I jumped right in, and gave Connie the camera to be our official videographer and narrator. She did a wonderful job:

Epic Barn

At the end of the day, all that remained was a large mess:
Epic Barn

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Epic Barn Project Ranch

Epic Barn Project – First Wall

Today was a pretty fun day. Buzz and Ashton got to use the sledgehammer, saws-all, grinder and claw foot quite a bit. (Anna was finishing up a different project which she should post about soon.)

I only was able to work on it for just under 4 hours today. We did manage to get one whole length of wall down though. Here’s a quick picture blog of the progress we made today:

Epic Barn Project Before
Epic Barn Project Before

Here’s Buzz pushing down the last wall:

Epic Barn Project Before

My original idea was to take down these different wall sections, load them on a trailer and then just nail them back up at our house. Although convenient in theory, it may end up being harder than taking the entire walls apart. Buzz claims to have a very easy way of taking the boards apart, which is the most daunting aspect of taking the walls completely apart.

More to come,
Ashton Anna

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Epic Barn Project Ranch Summer

The Epic Barn Project Begins

We love our Montana neighbors. I (Ashton) have always longed for great neighbors, as growing up in a good part of the city led us to having lots of friends within a few blocks. Most recently, after I graduated in LA, and the first few years in Montana, the neighborly friends decreased in numbers at an alarming rate as friends went off to college and other adventures in LA and not knowing any people in Montana who had anything better to do than “hang out at the bar”…

When we moved out to our ranch where we really could only see four neighbors from our property, we were very fortunate that they were great neighbors.

With that said, one of our coolest neighbors, Buzz, has a 38’x32′ horse barn that came with their house that they don’t really use. Anna and her mother now have more than 10 horses so to make a long story short, we are going to be buying his barn and moving it to our property! Since I already have a post about helping out on Buzz’s Latest Barn, I’m going to call this the “Epic Barn Project.”

Epic Barn Project Begins!

Here are some pictures of the Epic Barn as it looked this morning. You can consider these “Before” pictures.

Epic Barn Project Before

Epic Barn Project Before

Epic Barn Project: Remove Roof