Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Primitive Skills => Topic started by: Jah-army-glows-bright on December 01, 2015, 09:34:51 am
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I'm not sure if this is the right place for my question, if not I will remove it.
I 20 acres of woods in washington parish louisiana. Mostly pine, oak, and sweetgum but with some blackcherry, chinaberry, hickory, sumac, and random shrubs I haven't been able to identify thrown in for fun. I need to cut most of them down and I can't see letting it go to waste, so I'm wondering about "primative" techniques for building a small shed/workshop for drying/seasoning and my various woodworking hobbies. I have very limited tools, a chainsaw, a hatchet, a circular saw, a hand saw, a hammer, and a knife. I also have absolutely no money to put into this project, and limited time before what I think will be a very wet winter here in louisiana. Any advice?
I also need to build a coop for 100 chickens so any ideas for that would be appreciated as well.
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Do you have something to use as a foundation?
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Just log pilings. Most likely red oak.
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I've built many small log sheds of various types...try google-ing up "post and beam construction" you may be also interested in "piece-en-piece" a French Voyager method of building that does not require a lot of heavy lifting and no siding.
Hope that helps you some
rich
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My suggestion would be to wait until next year and save up a couple of hundred and do it properly. Get some concrete for a foundation, something like a Beam Machine Chainsaw Attachment to cut your wood, and plenty of help.
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I'm with Treavor,
You must keep those woods out of the earth.
The carpenter ants and termites will eat your
work up in no time.
If you had red cedar or locust for post in the
ground you might be ok for a while.
You can split logs for roof and siding.
In other words you can do alot of work before
you build. Borrow a few bucks if you can.
Get a cant hook so you can move the logs yourself.
Zuma
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I've seen some lovely structure built from stacked and firewood that is mudded over or mortared in with concrete. ...but even for such as that, you likely want some sort of foundation, ESPECIALLY in super wet climes like Louisiana! You could quickly wind up with just a bunch of rotten wood if you don't spend the effort and money to do it right.
OneBow
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Again the foundation will be a problem but something a little less primitive but very cost effective is pallet sheds. You can pick up wood pallets for next to nothing and if you look online it shows how they have constructed them.
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You could build the foundation on cedar or cypress post if you have nothing else.
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I've seen some lovely structure built from stacked and firewood that is mudded over or mortared in with concrete. spend the effort and money to do it right.
OneBow
Cool, what about glass bottles. They will let the light in.
Zuma
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Like Mullet said, cypress will last a long time as long as it is wet. In fact if it is kept wet, it will never rot. If your ground is wet, then Cypress would be ideal, as posts, and pilings, for a floor support off the ground. Just a simple lean to, would work for a wood pile. You could put in the cypress posts, and pilings, and then use the pallets for siding, and roofing. A couple pieces of tin, or aluminum, roofing material, and wallah, done. Or you could split your own cedar shakes, or just use a couple of strips of tar paper, on the top, and sides, to keep the rain out. You will have to spend something, no matter what, how much depends on how much you can do yourself. For materials, check around for a "Resale" store. The Alaskan saw mill works pretty good. My neighbor has one. Pretty simple. But you need a chainsaw. How big of a log you can cut depends on how long your chainsaw bar is. You can whittle down a big log, with a shorter bar, by cutting one side, and turn it an 8th turn, and cutting that, till you have a log beam, that you bar will reach across. Anyway, there are a multitude of options, to choose from, and like they said, if you can, wait till you have the money, to do it right. You can dig down about 8-10 inches or so, to form a rectangle, the width, and length, you want, and put in corner stakes, and then nail, or screw 2X4's to those, for a form, and put a layer of gravel, and then a couple of small but larger stones, spaced about the gravel, and lay a piece of hog wire, or fencing, on them, and pour cement over that, till it fills the hole, and take a 2X4 and saw it back and forth, across the 2X4's and the cement, all the length of the rectangle, and that will get the cement down to the gravel in between it. You can go back and forth from one end to the other. Then you can get some help, to slide the wet 2X4 on it's flat side, to smooth out the cement. Just before it sets fully, you can use a stiff push broom to texture the cement surface, or depending how wide the slab is, you can just use a regular house broom, if don't want a smooth, or slick top. Anyway, take your time, and save some money, and like they said. do it right. As for primitive, primitive is what they had way back when, if they had the materials we have now, they would jump all over it. Good luck, and as usual, we want pictures. ;)
Wayne
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Use old tyres (tires ::) ) to rest the base on?
Prob' ok fior a light structure if winds aren't too strong
Del
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Like said above if you want to do this all on your own with the tools you describe it will take a while.Spending some money for help will get it done quicker or have a friend who you can return the favor to. Nothing wrong with getting started and getting done what you can this year and finish up next year.I'm sure you've estimated about how much wood you want to store.Go from there to know how big you want your shed.
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Like Zuma said, you could build a concrete structure, with glass bottles. There is an old house, in Arizona, or somewhere, out west where a guy built his house out of cement, and glass bottles, with the bases, on the outside. They were multiple colors, so it was sort of like a Christmas tree. He just made his foundation, and built up the walls, and stuck bottles in each layer, as he went.
Wayne
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I understand all of your points about money and time, but I simply can't wait and I've already borrowed enough money from my family. There are several external factors pushing my need for this. I don't mind putting a lot of time and work into a project even if it will only last a year or two. I have lots of paints and sealants lying around that would help my pilings last a bit longer and I can probably get my hands on some cypress or cedar in my home parish for free. What do you all think about a gravel and clay foundation? Dig the hole, lay the gravel, throw a thick layer (let's say 6-8 inches) of clay, polish and seal with some old linseed oil I may have laying around. I saw that technique used as flooring in an article a while back and it seemed really durable. Thank you all for taking the time to respond. I've already finished my chicken coop and I'll post pictures of that later.
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You might want to try this.
Get enough patio blocks or 4" solid concrete blocks.
One for each vertical post. They will work well enough
as long as you sort of - tent stake the building down.
Frost heave should be of no consequence.
You could use Re Rod and nylon rope.
The foundation can then be added later if needed.
Zuma
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You can make a simple shed with PVC pipes, some rebar and a tarp. Set 2 rows of 4' long rebar 2' deep at 4' apart along the side wall and across from each other. Set the PVC pipe over one rebar and bend it across to another making a hoop. After you get the length shelter you want drape the tarp over making a Quonset type shelter. I did this for a cold frame when I had a native plant nursery.
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What are your plans for the wood??
Firewood, Lumber, Furniture???
In your location most White Woods will start to Rot quite fast.
Bugs and Rot in White Woods will be hard to controll unless they are Debarked and cut into at least Half.
If you do make a foundation out of Red Oak Piles put them in the ground "Upside Down"
Don't put then in Stump side down. Put them in Stump side up. They will last somewhat longer.
David
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Great ideas fellas. You sure can learn a lot here :)
Zuma