The first project of the year is a wood splitter shelter. I’d like to keep some of the weather off of it as much as possible, and this seems to be a good start. And the idea of getting one of our planned projects of 2024 checked off the list sounds like a great start to the year.
Day 1
As with many projects, you have to start by preparing the area. I need to move leaves, rocks and a few trees to make room for the shelter.
Clearing the leaves wasn’t that bad, but in doing so, I found more rocks that needed to be dug up than I expected. So, I had to move those out of the way.
Once the area is cleared, it was time to figure out exactly how I wanted to lay this out. I had a couple of ideas, but looking at the area and the plans we had overall, I had a couple of options.
I had my bride come out, and after looking at it, she had some really good ideas, that I incorporated. One, made sure I could get in with the truck to back it in and pull it out, and so, a plan was born. After getting the splitter in there by hand, I laid out a rough idea with the boards I had on hand to get an idea of what I really wanted.
And dusk beat me out, so that had to be the end of day 1
Day 2
Day 2 started with me making another trip to the hardware store. I didn’t like the idea of splicing together the roof boards to get the 12 foot boards I wanted. I’d rather use actual 12 foot boards. So, 3 hours later, I was back home, ready to get started.
Next up, time to break out the post hole diggers and start on those holes.
Digging holes in such rocky ground isn’t easy. Made me wish I had one of my grandsons here to do it.
Because of the rocks, I changed my mind on how many poles I had intended to dig.
I went and found 4 of the old cedar trees I’ve cut down and found 4 about the same size, and laid out the approximate corners.
Once they were in there, I had to make sure I left them long enough for me to get inside and work while it was under there. I didn’t want to move it every time I used it. I also wanted to make sure I could change the positioning of the splitter from horizontal to vertical, and still be able to use it.
So, 6 foot in the back and 7 foot in the front is what I decided to go with, and then it was time to frame out the roof, and get the metal on it.
I was rushing daylight to finish this up, but I did get it done.
Pretty happy with it. I’ve been keeping an eye on it to see how well it keeps the rain off, and it’s doing a pretty good job.
Don’t forget we’ll be at the Homestead Expo in Talala, OK on April 27. We’d love to see you there.
