I was not certain that this weekend would be the completion of the gazebo. On Monday I was not able to reserve the needed equipment. It was still out. On Wednesday I missed work due to illness and slept most of the day. So on Thursday I went and rented the equipment, I had to get a boom that had uneven forks but they agreed to deliver it on Friday but their delivery driver was out sick so Friday was up in the air. This morning the two pieces showed up. I had to move the scissor lift into the yard first then set up the boom truck as it was going to block access to the yard.
I noticed that when I was driving the 4×4 scissor lift into the yard that it only had two wheel drive. It tried to get stuck in the driveway on the gravel. I got it into the yard without too much difficulty but I had noted that when one wheel spun all other wheels ceased turning under power. The boom was another experience. You can choose three different types of wheel turning. This ended up with me going into the corral crooked. I got trapped up against the gate and had to crawl out the window. I was convinced I was going to have to remove the gate on the corral to get into it. Once I walked around I realized that I was trying to go into the corral on a diagonal. I got back out of the gateway, straightened it out and tried again. I was able to jog it back and forth between the two open gates to get it lined up on the center of the gazebo. My one minute instruction did not handle the myriad different ways to move the boom. I was shown how to change the angle on the entire vehicle to straighten out the forks if needed. There is a large hook on the boom and I am just going to use it instead of the forks. I was able to reach out and center the hook where I thought it needed to go. I then went and found a chain and crawled up my central platform. The wooden shims had all fallen out and the entire ring was cockeyed. I had the chain on it and ready to lift when I realized that the hook was fixed and could not swivel and my chain was at a 90 degree angle to the chain which would cause the center part to try and spin when I lifted it up into the air. So I got brave and moved a whole bunch of loose wood and moved the chain 90 degrees. I then went and lifted the chain with the boom, it worked! I had the roof suspended in the air from above. I then proceeded to tear down my original platform. This was slightly disturbing. I only had one screw on one side holding the platform level. When I got it all down on the ground the pallet I had built it on broke into two pieces immediately and if I had kicked it, it would have fallen into three pieces. Needless to say the platform was not my greatest idea and went from unsafe to death defying in fairly short order.
The 4×4 scissor lift would not move on the grass, it kept spinning. I called and they agreed to send out the mechanic. I worked on the baler while I waited as the new parts came yesterday. I had one gear that I attempted to put on backwards and am now putting it on correctly but it’s only on about half way when the repairman arrived. Come to find out this exact machine has had several documented issues that the mechanic did not know about but the sales staff did, he was not happy. It has to do with hydraulic drive central pressure and no articulating wheelbase. He was able to get the machine closer to the fence for a nice straight shot. I ended up using the Kubota to push it into the gazebo. I had to lower the rails as the lift is 96” high and the opening is only 92” high. Once we had it inside the mechanic was kind enough to help me get the rails back up. Safety first! It then took me another 30 minutes to get all the tools together.
I was able to get three new panels installed and four more attached to the gazebo at the top and bottom. I was also able to get about 70% of the bolts in the middle of the panels installed. I then got about 100 bolts and nuts set up and ready for tomorrow. The only thing I could not find was a 1/2” open end wrench. I had two and now I cannot find a single one in either the machine shed or old house. Mr Rainman is coming in the morning and I am hopeful we can get the entire roof installed tomorrow. The nice thing is once the lift is in position I just turn it off to conserve my run time hours.
The horse is loving this project as she has to be in with the sheep because she cannot get to her water. So it’s an all you can eat buffet for her.
Stewart Creek Somethings 