Dixie Chicks

[Cold Canadian]

@Cold Canadian Timber sauna sounds cool, I'd love to hear more about it. I was just talking to the neighbor about different saunas last week, he told me about his friend who built a sauna with sort of an open floor, just 2*4:s standing on their side, with about 1" spacing. He said it was the best sauna he's ever been in. Super easy to keep clean, no worrying about water or dirt, and you get a wonderful steam as the air is so oxygenated.

I watched a show on sauna's in different parts of the world and saw what you describe , but because our climate gets so cold I would have a insulated floor for the winter months , gives reason to go and roll in the snow ...lol.... But it will be five inch square timbers stacked , a octagon shape is what I am striving for , a chalet style of sorts , most likely a metal roof , although I would prefer a cedar shack shingle , but that becomes costly . I want three bench's to stretch out on , maybe to built in recliner style chairs ? and I have a 60's cast iron barrel , about fifteen gallon which will be converted into the stove with the wire wrap around it for the stones , the top would be grated as well as it would hold the water in what ever container I decide to use .Will have a vent on the roof along with two skylites ....got them on a garage sale .....to sit back and watch the snow fall .....depending on if I do a dry sauna heat that day or a steam ? . The whole interior will be cedar lined to make it rot proof as well as give that cedar aroma ....aromatic cedar is a must . Just add a dim light , a bit of music and a cool drink and let the stress fall off .

 

[Alaskan]

Beer can

 

[Cold Canadian]

Do you mind if I ask how much you paid for yours @Cold Canadian ? Hubby and I are shopping, probably won't buy for another year, but we are starting our research... How big of a tree will it cut? The property we are trying to purchase has some BIG cedars on it.. we'll get a professional to cut them down, but we'd love to mill them

I looked at some of the hydraulic mills, but honestly, they are just out of price range...

I believe I paid around $5000 ? but again the prices have changed .......look up Norwood saw mills , they send out free DVD`s as well as pamphlets , saw a ad for another brand on Alberta`s Kijiji ......Mine is called a 24 because that's as round as a tree u can cut with it , once you cant it the dimensions but the measurements go down as it is now squared , but a 24 inch tree is a large tree , depending on what dimensions you are looking for in lumber of course . They have a larger version plus all the handling tool required etc . My nephews uncle just bought a used hydraulic mill that had been in BC , used for building cabin`s etc and he got it for under $6000 ............but it pays to shop around , any good supplier will have DVD`s etc to help you decide

 

[hennible]

Roll out nest boxes? NICE!!!! Do you have them set up so that you can toss a heat tape into where they roll?


What are the shelves for?

Yeah roll away I bet I could put heat tape in them! Great idea.
I've always liked shelves for the chickens. I think the muscovy hens might like them too, the brown one likes to perch on stuff. And it kinda creates entertainment for them... I had this fat hen who needed help getting up to the best box so I put some selves up for her in the other coops.

I need chickens, I miss the food football. Great analogy beer can.

 

[vehve]

I watched a show on sauna's in different parts of the world and saw what you describe , but because our climate gets so cold I would have a insulated floor for the winter months , gives reason to go and roll in the snow ...lol.... But it will be five inch square timbers stacked , a octagon shape is what I am striving for , a chalet style of sorts , most likely a metal roof , although I would prefer a cedar shack shingle , but that becomes costly . I want three bench's to stretch out on , maybe to built in recliner style chairs ? and I have a 60's cast iron barrel , about fifteen gallon which will be converted into the stove with the wire wrap around it for the stones , the top would be grated as well as it would hold the water in what ever container I decide to use .Will have a vent on the roof along with two skylites ....got them on a garage sale .....to sit back and watch the snow fall .....depending on if I do a dry sauna heat that day or a steam ? . The whole interior will be cedar lined to make it rot proof as well as give that cedar aroma ....aromatic cedar is a must . Just add a dim light , a bit of music and a cool drink and let the stress fall off .

So it's going to be kinda like a native american sweat lodge thing, shapewise I mean. The inside paneling is usually aspen or alder around here, in modern saunas at least. Older ones are built from pine, mostly. Never even thought about a cedar sauna, mainly as cedar doesn't grow here, but that might be interesting. Could become a bit overwhelming when you heat it to 80C though.

I think the open floor would work just as well in your climate though. They've used similar constructions up north for ages, and there -30 or -40 isn't uncommon, with normal winter temps at around -20.

But the most important thing in a sauna is getting enough oxygen in there. One of the best saunas I've been in was just a log frame with two layers of heavy tarp wrapped around it (temporary tent sauna). We built that in the scouts when I was 15-16.

Sammy, looks good. Is that a brooder in the middle? I dig the floral fabric too. If you're adding heat tape to the nests, make the floor at an angle so that the eggs collect in one spot, that way you don't have to add so much of the heat tape.

 

[Outpost JWB]

My daughter decided to make coop rules and write them on the coop door.
Don't mind her spelling! She's only 9. Here's what it says:

Coop rules
1. all girls lay eggs.
2. no roosters allowed
3. no wasp allowed
4. no fancy clouse (Clothes)
5. all wase where boots

@hennible , The coop looks like a Better Home and Garden coop! It's beautiful! I agree with Alaskan. Too bad it's going to get pooped all over.

@Alaskan , So sorry you are getting snow already

. We are not ready for that here.

Gotta get to work. It's dark when I go to work and dark when I get home. Ugh. You all have a good day.

 

[Beer can]

Cute @Outpost JWB love kids spelling.

 

[hennible]

Cute coop rules outpost.
Nah the coop needs poop, or or it's just a weird cabin lol.

 

[perchie.girl]

Cute coop rules outpost.
Nah the coop needs poop, or or it's just a weird cabin lol.

 

[BriardChickens]

I believe I paid around $5000 ? but again the prices have changed .......look up Norwood saw mills , they send out free DVD`s as well as pamphlets , saw a ad for another brand on Alberta`s Kijiji ......Mine is called a 24 because that's as round as a tree u can cut with it , once you cant it the dimensions but the measurements go down as it is now squared , but a 24 inch tree is a large tree , depending on what dimensions you are looking for in lumber of course . They have a larger version plus all the handling tool required etc . My nephews uncle just bought a used hydraulic mill that had been in BC , used for building cabin`s etc and he got it for under $6000 ............but it pays to shop around , any good supplier will have DVD`s etc to help you decide

Thanks for the advice! We normally shop around for a while before we buy, especially for something that expensive... after a while they'll pay for themselves looking at all the projects we'll have

Yeah roll away I bet I could put heat tape in them! Great idea.
I've always liked shelves for the chickens. I think the muscovy hens might like them too, the brown one likes to perch on stuff. And it kinda creates entertainment for them... I had this fat hen who needed help getting up to the best box so I put some selves up for her in the other coops.

I need chickens, I miss the food football. Great analogy beer can.

We used to have heat tape on some of our pipes going into the house (don't ask, previous owner made it all a mess) and we found they used a ton of electricity (the type bought at Canadian Tire). However, the one we had made from the electric store is actually not bad, it's industrial type. It keeps our septic line that runs 2 feet under the driveway thawed through the entire winter (we do not walk or drive or clear snow there all winter)