Ranchin' is not about the destination as much as it's about the journey. Wanting to take the next step on the barn project, we set out to set our steps. Good day.
After setting the septic tank last summer, we wanted to get the stairs and door into the barn loft before winter hits. The plan: parallel the gable end with the stairs, land on a platform, and eventually punch a door into the barn through the loft hatch.
Before we started drilling, it was crucial to plan for the right height and distance from the center of the hatch before placing the platform.
Last fall we scored this oilfield tank catwalk and stairway. Great material to work with.
Earlier this summer we tore the railing off the catwalk, cut the floor in half, and bolted it together. Making a 9'x4.5' platform. Good stuff.
Today we hauled it down and got to work. We drilled and bolted the inside to the loft floor joists. After leveling it off a bit, we placed some temporary 2"x8"s to hold up the outside edge until we can drill in some pipe uprights.
Safety first, around this ranch.
Then we grabbed the stairway and doctored it up.
Thanks be to God, everything lined up real nice.
This material is so universal. Holes everywhere to give you options of how to bolt things up.
Money. Dad spent years climbing these stairways and gaging tanks. Kinda cool to see it come back around.
Back in the day, when a truck came and hauled off a load of oil they left a run ticket in the jar bolted to the stairs. We'll keep it on hand for special requests.
Giddy up.
Good start. So fun to walk up here. No more climbing the wall into the trap door from the inside. Next, we can more permenatly secure the platform with some pipe pillars, and then frame in a door. After that, let the snow fly. Ranchin.
No comments:
Post a Comment