More shop progress. Been really slow...

[dbhost]

As you may recall, I was burning out stumps to prepare for getting all of that fencing material out of my garage shop, well the stumps are gone, and I am at a point where I feel I am really making progress, however that progress might just be to the therapists office!

So far this is what I have managed to get done since my last entry.

#1. Finish burning out the *&#%! stumps that were right along the fence line.
#2. Level up the ground some, measure and mark for the fence post holes.
#3. Auger the post holes. This took quite some time as the auger kept breaking. Many lessons learned on that one, hope I don't have to do it again...
#4. Set the posts in concrete, made sure they were level, forgot to make sure they were square to each other. Oops...
#5. Leveled up and trimmed the posts, installed 3 rails.
#6. Mostly built the frame for the gate. Busted a couple of critical screw heads off that I need to get after with Vice grips to back those screws out now...

In the time since late may that I last posted my progress, I have been on vacation, training, or dealing with extended family issues, or unworkable weather for 6 of those weeks, so the progress isn't all THAT bad...

With any luck, soon I will be able to get the rest of the insulation done, and run that electrical I have been dreaming about...

[atgcpaul]

Can you describe how you burned out the stumps? I've got one on the property line, too, and close to the street. Were there a lot of flames or did it mostly smolder? Did you have to give your stump time to dry out? How long did it take? If this was 15ft from a public sidewalk and maybe 10ft from another tree, would you do it?

Thanks,
Paul

[dbhost]

Can you describe how you burned out the stumps? I've got one on the property line, too, and close to the street. Were there a lot of flames or did it mostly smolder? Did you have to give your stump time to dry out? How long did it take? If this was 15ft from a public sidewalk and maybe 10ft from another tree, would you do it?

Thanks,
Paul

That's a LOT of questions, let's see if I can address them...

My method was to cut the stump as close to the ground as possible with the chain saw, and I even dug it out a little bit with a shovel to expose the root as much as I could manage.

Next I fabricated a "fire ring" out of galvanized flashing. Not the safest stuff to use, don't breathe the smoke in! If you can get plain steel sheet metal to fashion a ring, do it. Once the ring was set up around the entire stump, I filled it with charcoal, soaked the charcoal in lighter fluid and let that set in for about 5 minutes before lighting it off.

One the lighter fluid was burned off, there was some flame, but nothing more than you would experience with a charcoal BBQ grill. For the most part, the charcoal simply kept the heat on the stump to keep it smoldering. No matter how long I waited, that thing was going to stay fairly wet due to wicking action through the roots... So keeping heat on it was key.

I had used Stump Out, which helped, but was going WAY too slow... My stump had been, well a stump since September 13 2008 (The day hurricane Ike turned the Chinaberry in the bayou into a stump).

Mind you, in my situation, due to confined space and restricted access, I HAD to either dig the stump out manually, or burn it out. Since it sounds like you have street access to yours, I would HIGHLY recommend you hire a stump grinder to get your stump out instead. A LOT less hassle, and probably not much more expensive than constantly having to feed charcoal on a stump, and monitor it 24x7 sucking up my first 2 summer holiday weekends... Meaning get up every hour or so, to check on it and keep it stoked. It is more sleep killing than BBQ cookoffs!

[atgcpaul]

Thanks for the quick reply. I had a tree fall last week and they charged me $600 to grind the stump and that didn't include chip removal. Their overall charge for removing the tree was still less than the other 2 quotes I got. My guess was that it was "storm" pricing.

I'll look into DIYing it but that machine was SCARY! About as big as a large bull but with a huge grinding attachment on front. It's my neighbor's stump but he wants me to help pay for the stump removal since he gave me the trunk so I can turn it into lumber. Should have asked what strings were attached

Sorry to sidetrack your post. Post pics of your shop once it's all buttoned up.

[dbhost]

No worries...

IF you can be vigilant on watching the fire in the ring, considering what your cost of grinding is, I would work with the neighbor to burn that sucker out. HOWEVER, If I were to do it again, I would...

#1. Cut that stump as close to the ground as physically possible.

#2. Drill the neccesarry holes for the Bromide Stump out.

#3. And this is where I messed up. COVER the now Bromide filled stump with mulch, and a tarp. Keep the tarp on there. This will accellerate the rot process.

IF after 45 days of Stump Out treatment it still hasn't broken down, THEN reseort to burning that sucker out. But you will have to be super vigilant that the fire does NOT get out of hand.

I did fail to mention a couple of items, that are of HUGE importance that I have done for the shop since my last posting. They are...

#1. Obtained, and installed a 13.5K BTU portable AC unit. This is the biggest one I could find, and the dual hoses, well they were interesting to find ducts for. I found some through wall louvered vents for 5" on Amazon, and mounted those down low. This isn't my permanent location though. I need to replace bad masonite with good Hardi Panel soon... THEN it will be permanent...

#2. Not sure if I mentioned these additions, but I added a pair of "Wonder Winder" extension cord wind up baskets. They work great. Likewise I replaced the heavy Goodyear 1/2" air hose, with a really nice Hitachi Poly 3/8" hose. I am MUCH happier with it!

On my plate for the next several weeks shop cleanup / prep wise is...

#1. Finish the fence. I am so close I can taste it.
#2. Insulate the second door. I have the material, I just need to do it.
#3. Replace the siding between the garage doors, complete with holes for A/C duct vents. Replace the trim around the garage doors. I have all the material for this except caulk.
#4. Replace carriage light that mounts between garage doors. I have a lovely wrought iron "Texas Star" carriage light that goes with my house theme.
#5. Finish cleaning out plastic shelving, and dispose of the plastic units that are falling apart.

By this point the west wall of the garage should be empty. I will then call in the electrician for a quote on running my sub panel and circuits. I will also begin demolition of the drywall for the electrical / insulation / drywall upgrade (my existing drywall suffers from some serious water damage...)

In that mean time, I am working on remodeling a kitchen a bathroom, building new thresholds for the house, etc...

I think if I had 4 of me, I still wouldn't be able to ever finish up...