Righting the shelter

Jane&Ziggy

Jane&Ziggy

Jane&Sid these days!
Apr 30, 2010
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Surrey Hills
My neighbour Tom came today with his tractor and my YO to pull my shelter upright.

It only took about 20 minutes from start to finish, I was amazed. Steve crawled under it beforehand to saw through a couple of fence posts which had punctured the roof and would probably have pulled the roof off if it had dragged free.

Stage 1:


Stage 2: this was the scary bit. I hid so that I couldn't see in case it fell to bits.


The structure is fine except for the centre of the overhang, where a beam has split. it looks repairable. It's amazing given that the whole building has moved about 1m to the right - it was actually thrown right up in the air! It rained hard again last night so inside is a mess, and one half of the roof is badly damaged, but altogether it could have been much, much worse. Steve says he thinks he can repair the roof but my personal jury is out - I think we may need a professional.

This afternoon we'll go back and clear the rest of the wreckage and try rehanging the gates, both of which ended up 20ft up nearby trees. That was some wind!
 
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Thats why its always good to know a farmer with a tractor.

Im sure the roof is repairable, but you might be best depending on how its constructed to take it all off and start again. Patching holes isnt always possible and given the force and movement it underwent you might find you have leaks where the roof nails are.
 
Personally I’d take the roof off and replace the beam then reroof. Could you stake it down with time fencing posts and put bolts through so it’s still technically not a permanent structure but will give it more stability??
 
We had ours chained to a post that we had concreted in at the old house. Ours were on skids so very prone to moving (NW England so very windy at times). Firs time they moved they shifted right across the two acre field at the front of the house. Nobody inside thankfully.
I hope you don't get any more freaky winds.
 
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@Jane&Ziggy even though I knew the outcome because I read what you typed first, the videos were still tough to watch from the standpoint of knowing that is your horse’s shelter.

I would want to be sure it hasn’t been structurally compromised to the point that a good stiff breeze might splinter it. The weather is changing so this one rare incident may be the beginning of more rare incidents.

Our great Mississippi River has almost gone dry for the first time in recorded history. Barges that ship farmers crops are stuck in mud. It is a ”rare and unheard of event” that is critically affecting the transport of goods via a method we have always taken for granted.

Anyway, I would want to be sure the shelter is still strong enough to survive another such incident, even if that never does happen🤠🤠
 
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YO and the farmer who righted it are confident that its structural integrity is not compromised. It's on a metal frame, which is what has saved it. Tom the Tractor said he had righted a dozen shelters over the last year and this one has held up best.

But it does need work, as the roof is rickety now and could blow off.

The horses are so shy of it now I don't think they will go anywhere near it in any kind of wind! TBH they never have, it's a shade and frost shelter for them rather than heavy weather.
 
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Lollykay said:
Our great Mississippi River has almost gone dry for the first time in recorded history. Barges that ship farmers crops are stuck in mud. It is a ”rare and unheard of event” that is critically affecting the transport of goods via a method we have always taken for granted.
Click to expand...
I am sorry to say that in all our driving across the States we never saw the Mississipi. The South was next on our list and maybe still. We reached Savannah.
 
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Jane&Ziggy said:
I saw it when I went to St Louis many many years ago. It was immense. I can't believe it has dried up entirely - @Lollykay , how far down does this drought extend? That's truly scary.
Click to expand...

@Jane&Ziggy your tractor neighbor is a blessing! Hooefully the horses wont shy away for too long😇😇

The Mississippi River is over 2,300 miles long. I THINK the dry up covers about 270 miles in the south. The People link I posted talks about some of the things that have have been found in the dried up area.

www.theatlantic.com

Photos: Drought Conditions Drop the Mississippi River to Historic Lows

The shallow water has slowed barge traffic, while opening up typically-submerged areas to explorers.
www.theatlantic.com www.theatlantic.com


people.com

Civil War-Era Relics Found in Drought-Hit Mississippi River: 'Almost Gave Me a Heart Attack,' Collector Says

Civil War-Era bullets in 'exceptional condition' found in drought-hit Mississippi River.
people.com people.com


The Mississippi River has quite a history, some of which is that part of it is on the New Madrid Fault Line; a fault line bigger than San Andreas in Southern California.

The New Madrid fault line erupted in 1812 in a big way — so big it caused the Mississippi to flow backward for a few days and was responsible for the formation of Reelfoot Lake. The experts say it isn’t IF the New Madrid will erupt again, it’s WHEN - I hope the portion that has dried up isn’t a precursor 🤯🤯
 
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Wonder how deep it was in the part thats dried up, that would give more perspective. Its hard to imagine in some respects.
Theyve just drained our local reservoir here but thats so they can do maintenance apparently some valves were stuck open so theyve drained it to work on and replace parts. Its not completely empty because they have a team monitoring all the fish that was in it., but the word was they were going to rely on rainfall to refill it.
 
chunky monkey said:
Wonder how deep it was in the part thats dried up, that would give more perspective. Its hard to imagine in some respects.
Theyve just drained our local reservoir here but thats so they can do maintenance apparently some valves were stuck open so theyve drained it to work on and replace parts. Its not completely empty because they have a team monitoring all the fish that was in it., but the word was they were going to rely on rainfall to refill it.
Click to expand...

All I know is that it was deep enough for the barges to move through and now the barges are sitting in mud. This is why farmers grain crops are sitting. Bad for the farmers and bad for the end users of those crops🤕🤕
 
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