Once you have managed to reverse these oversized coat hangers over the 60' ridge pole that was a real pain to balance on the 5 20' tall vertical uprights , it is then time too stand on the safety aproved Chep pallet bolted too the top of the 25' tall crane jib and tack weld it all together . The ridge pole was a HOOT , as i lifted it over the uprights it would swing around because of the twist in the wire rope trying to unwind it . The solution was to hold it in place on my own with a 25' piece of pine , then with a 30' piece of rope tied to the down lever on the machine pull the rope as i got it close with the piece of pine . It took about 8 goes at it as it kept trying to fall off , once in place i had to walk along the top of it with the Stihl chainsaw and auger and drill through the ridge pole , down into the uprights and drive in 3/4" steel pins 21/2' feet long .
Pole home on the cheap .
- Thread starter Eagleview
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khamill2000
Bronze Member
That is cool!
alchemysa
Veteran Member
I like it a lot. What does the local council think of it?
Wayne County Hose
Veteran Member
- Joined
- Aug 24, 2007
- Messages
- 2,352
- Location
- Wayne County Pa.
- Tractor
- Massey Ferguson model 85, Allis-Chalmers WD-45
Iron Horse, you da' man!
EddieWalker
Epic Contributor
Interesting. Kind of reminds me of some of the buildings the Maori people built in New Zealand, or on the Polynesian Islands.
What did you do for the floor?
What is the purpost of the building?
Is it yours, or did you do it for a client?
Thanks for posting the pics, it's always fun to see how things are built!!!
Eddie
What did you do for the floor?
What is the purpost of the building?
Is it yours, or did you do it for a client?
Thanks for posting the pics, it's always fun to see how things are built!!!
Eddie
Thanks guys , i'll end up with a big head , good thing i'm not riding a motorbike 
. The building is our house , i built it entirely on my own . After buying the 80 acres in NSW , we were dead broke and living in a caravan and shed that i built . I made a few dollars and bought the new but reject power poles for $495 . I then raked up another $175 to have a guy bore the holes in the ground with a Bobcat . I did'nt intend on starting the project untill all our fees were paid , bushfire contribution , development application , building aplication etc (about $3k). But the wallabies were knocking loose soil down the 10' deep holes , even though i had boards over them . So 1 day i stood all the poles in the holes and back filled them . One thing led to another and all of a sudden i had the ridgepole on and the rafters up . The council then stopped me and wanted an engineers certificate for the work . He came out and said i had to cross brace every pole with 1/2" steel rod and build steel hip braces for all the uprights . I told him to go home as common sense told me 30 poles 10' in the ground , tied together with flooring and roofing was not going anywhere . Another engineer came out and said "this is not the house in question is it ?" i said yes . He then said " when i get back in my car you just carry on , we do'nt build our bridges that strong"
. The building is our house , i built it entirely on my own . After buying the 80 acres in NSW , we were dead broke and living in a caravan and shed that i built . I made a few dollars and bought the new but reject power poles for $495 . I then raked up another $175 to have a guy bore the holes in the ground with a Bobcat . I did'nt intend on starting the project untill all our fees were paid , bushfire contribution , development application , building aplication etc (about $3k). But the wallabies were knocking loose soil down the 10' deep holes , even though i had boards over them . So 1 day i stood all the poles in the holes and back filled them . One thing led to another and all of a sudden i had the ridgepole on and the rafters up . The council then stopped me and wanted an engineers certificate for the work . He came out and said i had to cross brace every pole with 1/2" steel rod and build steel hip braces for all the uprights . I told him to go home as common sense told me 30 poles 10' in the ground , tied together with flooring and roofing was not going anywhere . Another engineer came out and said "this is not the house in question is it ?" i said yes . He then said " when i get back in my car you just carry on , we do'nt build our bridges that strong"The photo of me cutting our kitchen table out of a Red Gum tree that had fallen down is out of sequence , sorry . For two years on and off i tried to burn that rotten tree . One day the wife said "why don't you see if you can make some furniture out of it ?". I put my head sideways and i could see our kitchen table laying there . The tree had two trunks comming out of one stump . Over maybe a hundred years the two trunks formed one where they had been rubbing against one another . This left a big natural hole between them . I cut the tree off each side of the hole and dragged it to the mill . I put it on the Canadian and took a flat off each side . Then i took to it with the chainsaw to remove the 2" thick charcoal from where i had been trying to burn it . Then i got out with the sander and finally by hand . The finished product is amazing (the hole is now horizontal , it used to be vertical in the tree). I just need a big slab to go on top now , you can see it hanging from the roof of the house in one shot . It weighs a ton , i had to put another stump under where it sits . The glass in the end of the house was in the basement of a Sydney high rise that was pulled down ,it was spare glass still in crates . i bought it for $1300 , the glass in the roof is the front doors from Seaworld when it was upgraded . The floor is chipboard on 6x2 joists on 12x2 bearers with 1980 Terracotta tiles on top (my aching knees) there are more poles under the floor , making the total 30 . The house owes me under $30k . I hope i have covered your questions . Thanks again .
dooleysm
Platinum Member
Incredible.
I can't really think of anything else to say. Very nice job all around.
I can't really think of anything else to say. Very nice job all around.
EddieWalker
Epic Contributor
How about some more pictures? I'd love to see some of that table, and anything else of the interior that you would care to share. All that glass must be amazing during a strong thunder storm!!
Eddie
Eddie
czechsonofagun
Elite Member
Looks really good! Did you put in insulation and if yes - for heat or for cold? Not sure what climate you get in those mountains there.
groundcover
Elite Member
WOW !! He is not just the Mad Max of truck building !
AlanB
Elite Member
Very nice stuff.
What kind people you are , thank's . (MAD MAX of truck building , ha ha that's funny)
The only insulation is the Sarking that got torn up in a wind storm , i'm glad really because i found Bush rats just loved it . I have since removed it , the Colorbond roof sheeting got hail damaged so i am going to put battens on top of the original and re-sheet the roof which will give me a Safari Roof (2 layers with an air gap for heat removal and insulation) . Our temp average is about 25 dergrees celcius .
After i made the first truss , i drove pins into the ground around it to make a jig . All the others were then made to fit the jig . I then cut all the angles on thier ends , sealed them with some goop and then used nail plates to stop cracking . They were then lifted with the crane jib and reversed up to the house site . One shot shows the first being skidded along the ridge pole and put in place . I then drilled through both with a 3/4" auger and drove the steel pins in to hold them together .
The most difficult thing with this type of construction is that poles are not straight , they have bends , bumps and are tapered . Trying to use a spirit level is near impossible , so eyeball engineering comes into play a lot .
The only insulation is the Sarking that got torn up in a wind storm , i'm glad really because i found Bush rats just loved it . I have since removed it , the Colorbond roof sheeting got hail damaged so i am going to put battens on top of the original and re-sheet the roof which will give me a Safari Roof (2 layers with an air gap for heat removal and insulation) . Our temp average is about 25 dergrees celcius .
After i made the first truss , i drove pins into the ground around it to make a jig . All the others were then made to fit the jig . I then cut all the angles on thier ends , sealed them with some goop and then used nail plates to stop cracking . They were then lifted with the crane jib and reversed up to the house site . One shot shows the first being skidded along the ridge pole and put in place . I then drilled through both with a 3/4" auger and drove the steel pins in to hold them together .
The most difficult thing with this type of construction is that poles are not straight , they have bends , bumps and are tapered . Trying to use a spirit level is near impossible , so eyeball engineering comes into play a lot .
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In one shot you will see a section of the 14' long Iron Bark glass frames i hand made . The glass is double glazed with Argon gas between the sheets for insulation and noise reduction . They are 1" thick and are very heavy , i carved the first track into the bottom beam and with a boat trailer winch bolted to the floor and the cable going over the rafter i lifted the glass into the beam (now you know why i mention boat trailer winches when people have something to lift). Then i put another beam/frame on top of the glass and repeated the proccess . The tri angle glass was very heavy and awkward , it would have cut me in half if it slipped . The house was designed in 60 seconds , i had no real idea of what i was going to build until i went to the pole yard for some fence posts . The manager and myself were standing on a heap of poles as the grass was long . He was pointing to some posts laying in the grass that were kept for fencing . I looked down and said what's with these big poles ? He said you can have them if you want , they are rejects . That's when i designed it , i picked out all the ones i wanted and then i found one that was 60' long and straight which i thought would look great inside the house running full length . The rest is history .
Tororider
Veteran Member
Wow, truly amazing.
What is that in the left foreground of the last picture??? Another telephone pole project???
What is that in the left foreground of the last picture??? Another telephone pole project???
These are all out of whack , sorry . This is a couple of pics of me lifting our Polyethylene water tank up the rock face . I climbed up and put a pully in a tree and run my boat anchor rope over it and down to my old farm Jeep . When i reversed , the tank was pulled up the rock face . Once i had it level with the flat area i had prepared , it was my wifes turn . I was under the tank with my back against it , she was too drive forward while i pushed back . With an 80' drop in front of me , the car stalled 3 times . Each time she rolled back a couple of feet . And each time the tank got higher , the tree was starting to bend as the tank had reached the pully . With a little of encouragement , she gave it an almighty rev and dropped the clutch and the tank landed on the pad , PHEW . One more and i would not be typing this . Another shot is the day i lifted the ridge pole onto the uprights . This is the almost finished kitchen , the slabs where cut from a log i had and i have since made an island bench with the copper pots hanging over the top , it looks pretty good now . I'll have to get some more pics .
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That is the begining of a foot bridge to the house from the visitor parking area . It goes accross a gulley and meets the big boulder on the other side . I know how deep it is , i found out the hard way . My old bomb tractor had no brakes in reverse . I was back bladeing dirt from under the verandah . I would drive forward in first gear and drop the blade over the dirt and then push in the clutch and let the weight of the tractor pull the dirt back . I would then let out the clutch and go forward again . It was working fine until i grabbed too much dirt and the tractor would'nt roll back . So i selected reverse and give it a hand
. As soon as i did it i thought you idiot . The tractor started rolling , i tried to get first gear to stop it , crash gearbox , no go . It's getting faster , time to dismount , oh oh , foot caught under brake pedal , big pull on foot , jump out backwards and land on boulder as the tractor is getting air . My wife was horrified , i jumped to my feet and said "do you think it needs a little more out of there ?" She said you could have been killed , i looked over my shoulder at the still spinning wheel and thought the same . Pulled it back on it's feet , kicked off what was left of the cab and drove it out , time to go back to work and stop playing around . If any of you hear me preaching safety too anyone else , tell me to pull my head in .Here are some similar links:
