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Building a house (off-topic!)
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Re: Building a house (off-topic!)
 
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Re: Building a house (off-topic!)
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That humidity, or lack thereof, should help a lot. But please be careful.
Pulling a long hill in 2nd shows it was a heavy load and a big hill as that 300 has plenty of torque. It'll move about anything if you give it long enough. As for the frame-mounted hitch, that's good but there are other factors. For instance, the rental outfit let me know the trailer for the man lift has a 2" ball.  My heaviest 2" ball has a medium-sized shank, and that only fits in a fairly light duty draw bar. On top of that, their safety chains where too short to reach my frame-mounted hitch. So I had to rig up a short piece of chain to have a safety. And still no brakes. It wasn't a comfortable ride thinking of all that could go wrong. 
Gary, AKA "Gary fellow": Profile
Dad's: '81 F150 Ranger XLT 4x4: Down for restomod: Full-roller "stroked 351M" w/Trick Flow heads & intake, EEC-V SEFI/E4OD/3.50 gears w/Kevlar clutches
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Re: Building a house (off-topic!)
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In reply to this post by Ford F834
Three weekends after renting the excavator and I am *almost done with the footing forms 😓. The amount of remaining hand digging was deceptive. It is just too darn hot to dig during the day, so I’ve resorted to working through the night with work lights. The goal is to dig my pier footings after work this week, then place rebar this coming weekend… and schedule my first inspection early next week 🤞.
   Now a truck related question: what is the best way to haul 20’ rebar sticks with a RCLB? I’m contemplating fashioning a wooden headache rack and letting them run long over the cab and hood, with enough extending past the lowered tailgate to keep the weight balance aft. Any better farmer rigging ideas? I know… ideally I should use a trailer but mine is half way across the state at my dad’s place… and I need to hurry up and get this thing poured before monsoons hit. I won’t soon forget what our property looked like last august 😱. I have been lucky so far, but this needs to get done yesterday. Clouds and storms are brewing over the mountains in the afternoons and it won’t be long…
SHORT BED 4-DOOR DIESEL: 1986 F350 4x4 under construction-- 7.3 IDIT ZF5+GVOD
STRAIGHT SIX 4X4: 1981 F150 2wd to 4x4-- 300 I6 close ratio diesel T19, hydroboost brakes, Saginaw steering BIG F: 1995 F-Superduty under construction— converting to 6.9L IDI diesel ZF5+DNE2 |
Re: Building a house (off-topic!)
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Man, that looks like WORK! But, it also looks like you've done well.
 And yes, I'd make a headache rack and maybe something that sits on the front bumper to support that end as I fear the rebar will droop and hit the truck on bumps. So if you put two rebar on, one on the left and one on the right, and lash them to the headache rack, you could prop the support on the front bumper and tie the rebar there as well. That way it can't go anywhere and then you could put the rest of the rebar on and lash them down. Or, put a piece of lumber on each side to tie the headache rack to the front support. Just make sure it is high enough to let you open the doors.
Gary, AKA "Gary fellow": Profile
Dad's: '81 F150 Ranger XLT 4x4: Down for restomod: Full-roller "stroked 351M" w/Trick Flow heads & intake, EEC-V SEFI/E4OD/3.50 gears w/Kevlar clutches
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Re: Building a house (off-topic!)
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Re: Building a house (off-topic!)
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That's a good idea!
 And if there's a way to put the 2x6 on edge it'd be even more rigid.
Gary, AKA "Gary fellow": Profile
Dad's: '81 F150 Ranger XLT 4x4: Down for restomod: Full-roller "stroked 351M" w/Trick Flow heads & intake, EEC-V SEFI/E4OD/3.50 gears w/Kevlar clutches
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Re: Building a house (off-topic!)
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In reply to this post by Ford F834
Use what you got… here is how I brought home the 20’ rebar sticks for the foundation:
 Now to go put it in the forms!
SHORT BED 4-DOOR DIESEL: 1986 F350 4x4 under construction-- 7.3 IDIT ZF5+GVOD
STRAIGHT SIX 4X4: 1981 F150 2wd to 4x4-- 300 I6 close ratio diesel T19, hydroboost brakes, Saginaw steering BIG F: 1995 F-Superduty under construction— converting to 6.9L IDI diesel ZF5+DNE2 |
Re: Building a house (off-topic!)
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This post was updated on .
These trucks are happy when they work!
And taking bars to the work site is a step ahead, progress Jonathan! There’s a well known member here who likes to say «progress is good»! 
Jeff / 1984 F350 Crew Cab 4x4/5.8L w351 4V/ T18/ D50 4.10 front/ 8' bed.
Restored 2019-2022. Nicknamed «Big Brother 1984», due to its soooo-looong shape & nod to George Orwell's 1984 famous novel. |
Re: Building a house (off-topic!)
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Thanks Jeff! This ‘81 is a multi-tool… I am making my large radius bends for the corners by bending the bar around my ball hitch, and the front hitch receiver is 6” deep and makes a perfect vertical anchor bend in seconds 😁
 
SHORT BED 4-DOOR DIESEL: 1986 F350 4x4 under construction-- 7.3 IDIT ZF5+GVOD
STRAIGHT SIX 4X4: 1981 F150 2wd to 4x4-- 300 I6 close ratio diesel T19, hydroboost brakes, Saginaw steering BIG F: 1995 F-Superduty under construction— converting to 6.9L IDI diesel ZF5+DNE2 |
Re: Building a house (off-topic!)
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Well done, Jonathan! That's even better than I'd imagined.
And using the truck for bending is ingenious. You are certainly thinking well.
Gary, AKA "Gary fellow": Profile
Dad's: '81 F150 Ranger XLT 4x4: Down for restomod: Full-roller "stroked 351M" w/Trick Flow heads & intake, EEC-V SEFI/E4OD/3.50 gears w/Kevlar clutches
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Re: Building a house (off-topic!)
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In reply to this post by Ford F834
Ingenious use for those IBC totes!
I'm glad to see your Bullnose is ready to lend a hand.
Jim,
Lil'Red is a '87 F250 HD, 4.10's, 1356 4x4, Zf-5, 3G, PMGR, Saginaw PS, desmogged with a Holley 80508 and Performer intake. Too much other stuff to mention. |
Re: Building a house (off-topic!)
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 I passed the first set of inspections this afternoon… groundwork, setbacks, and footing reinforcements. Hopefully I can schedule a concrete pour this coming week and stop worrying so much about the consequences of a monsoon storm. A poured footing can always be cleared but a cave in at this stage would be horrible. Everything is taking a lot longer than expected (of course) even when expecting it to take longer than I think. Next inspection is actually roof sheathing fastening so I have a lot of building before the county has to come back out. On to the concrete and block…
SHORT BED 4-DOOR DIESEL: 1986 F350 4x4 under construction-- 7.3 IDIT ZF5+GVOD
STRAIGHT SIX 4X4: 1981 F150 2wd to 4x4-- 300 I6 close ratio diesel T19, hydroboost brakes, Saginaw steering BIG F: 1995 F-Superduty under construction— converting to 6.9L IDI diesel ZF5+DNE2 |
Re: Building a house (off-topic!)
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Congratulations!!!
Man, that looks like a lot of WORK! Hope you get the pour this week, for sure!
Gary, AKA "Gary fellow": Profile
Dad's: '81 F150 Ranger XLT 4x4: Down for restomod: Full-roller "stroked 351M" w/Trick Flow heads & intake, EEC-V SEFI/E4OD/3.50 gears w/Kevlar clutches
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Re: Building a house (off-topic!)
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In reply to this post by Ford F834
 The concrete pour happened Friday. The whole event was a feral dumpster fire. The concrete pump did not work, and after a certain point they decided to place what they could with chutes to salvage the load. The poor old guy driving the mixer couldn’t see or hear very well and they ended up getting concrete everywhere, with all hands scrambling around trying to move it where it needed to go. It was not a good situation, and to boot we had two cloudbursts downpour on us so we were soaked and fighting heavy rain. They sent a technician out to get the pump running for the second load, but by then the truck had been sitting a while and the concrete was getting thick. It didn’t pump and handle as it should. I had one other guy who was supposed to help me with screeding and finishing, but he spent most of his time helping with the hose and generally keeping the concrete inside the forms. We filled the perimeter footings with a just a couple shovel’s wort to spare. They offered to send another truck for the 13 pier footings but I had enough circus for one day. I will mix sack-Crete and fill them by hand. Since I had no time and no help for finish work, I went back thinking I could trim and even the concrete while it was leather hard. No such luck. It was setting way faster than I could trim and even up the gob job. Then came more rain and very close lighting strikes so I went inside. Saturday I went and bought a rotary hammer drill and chisel attachment. The concrete was still green enough that I was able to remove the rest of my cross pieces and even up the worst of the unfinished concrete. What a rough job. My hands are still tingly and vibrating from running that hammer drill for ~9 hrs. But the main body of the footing is DONE. It was an exercise in letting go of perfection to say the least. Thankfully the EF block is relatively forgiving. I have about 82 linear feet of CMU to lay, and I gave these parts of the footing a little extra attention. I am glad to be past this part of the build. This is not my favorite and not my area of skill ha ha…  
SHORT BED 4-DOOR DIESEL: 1986 F350 4x4 under construction-- 7.3 IDIT ZF5+GVOD
STRAIGHT SIX 4X4: 1981 F150 2wd to 4x4-- 300 I6 close ratio diesel T19, hydroboost brakes, Saginaw steering BIG F: 1995 F-Superduty under construction— converting to 6.9L IDI diesel ZF5+DNE2 |
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I've been worried about you given the storm coming in. Sure glad to see you got the bulk of it done, albeit rough.
Gary, AKA "Gary fellow": Profile
Dad's: '81 F150 Ranger XLT 4x4: Down for restomod: Full-roller "stroked 351M" w/Trick Flow heads & intake, EEC-V SEFI/E4OD/3.50 gears w/Kevlar clutches
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Re: Building a house (off-topic!)
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Re: Building a house (off-topic!)
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Re: Building a house (off-topic!)
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I certainly didn't mean to disparage the company, boom operator or even the ready-mix driver.
"Stuff" happens. The mark of professionalism is how you've recovered and made the best of the hand you were dealt.  I was just saying pours are pressure enough, and then something -not ideal- occurs..... and then the batch isn't retarded enough or made with chilled water... and then the skies open up, the trenches start filling, the mixer gets stuck in the mud... Whatever (I have stories!!!) I'm reminded of 'The Perfect Storm' and many other words/acronyms not appropriate for this forum. Here's hoping the piers and block go more smoothly.
Jim,
Lil'Red is a '87 F250 HD, 4.10's, 1356 4x4, Zf-5, 3G, PMGR, Saginaw PS, desmogged with a Holley 80508 and Performer intake. Too much other stuff to mention. |
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Progress is slow but not zero. The block was delivered yesterday which is certainly motivating… I rented an all terrain forklift to unload and place my pallets. I used it to swap an engine too while I had use of it 😁
   
SHORT BED 4-DOOR DIESEL: 1986 F350 4x4 under construction-- 7.3 IDIT ZF5+GVOD
STRAIGHT SIX 4X4: 1981 F150 2wd to 4x4-- 300 I6 close ratio diesel T19, hydroboost brakes, Saginaw steering BIG F: 1995 F-Superduty under construction— converting to 6.9L IDI diesel ZF5+DNE2 |
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Progress is Good!
At first I was a bit surprised you didn't get a telehandler, but realized how wide open your foundation is. Not much like that here in the Northeast.
Jim,
Lil'Red is a '87 F250 HD, 4.10's, 1356 4x4, Zf-5, 3G, PMGR, Saginaw PS, desmogged with a Holley 80508 and Performer intake. Too much other stuff to mention. |