My Homemade Canadian Coop

[electrycmonk]

Noted!

Crap....I don't know how I'm gonna access that tho

I have a simple (low tech) solution before you get any further into the build….

 

[MACCanadianCoop]

Learned the hard way…. Discovered the diagonal use of space is a serious waste of time & space for the nesting boxes for us and several other folks who have their coop builds visible here too. Best of luck and hopefully you will have the “boxes” sitting on the shelf and not screwed into the frame of the coop.

That's precisely the plan. That will be a shelf when finished

 

[MACCanadianCoop]

I have a simple (low tech) solution before you get any further into the build….

Do tell!!

 

[electrycmonk]

Noted!

Crap....I don't know how I'm gonna access that tho

1st is remove the “dumbdumb small panels” that cover up the actual pallet and the holes that forklifts slide thru…
2nd have 2 long pieces of wood or metal that are thick - AKA strong; for prying/lifting the base up and starting to tilt the whole frame ever so slightly.
3rd have at the ready several small pieces of thin to thick scraps of wood, stone, brick, blocks etc.
4th this is a 2 person safe and easy task. 1 Pry’s up the floor by putting their weight & arm strength onto the long board or metal bar to gently lift the base of the coop up just a bit.

The next few steps are going to be like legos meets cartoon comedy repeating stunt. Person 1 Pry’s down on frame - which lifts it ever so little; #2 slides small scrap under base of frame and then #1 lowers onto the scrap. Repositions and Pry’s down again for #2 to slide more under or swap out a thicker piece if it was be faster. Kinda like tetrising!

Once one corner is up, say…. 4-6” perched on scraps then go to other Corner and repeat to at least 6-12” tall and then bring the 1st corner up to an equal of the 2nd corner so it’s mostly level for you to slide stuff under into good spots for supporting the middle areas.

Now…. That’s the slow method. Fast method?
Do this next to the middle of a walls side. Not exact middle. Raise it up enough to pull out 3 pieces of the bricks in the exact middle of the walls support zone. Using a shovel. Dig shallow! A flat area for a car hydraulic jack to be slid into place temporarily so it can life and lower the frame several times while you get those stones in the center positioned just right.

Once you are done lifting and lowering (with the jack) the frame for the few bricks in the central area then you can stage it with the scraps of wood to be lowered onto and removal of the jack can now happen.

Fill in the dirt where the jack was. *Do NOT pound it flat. Yes you can tamp it down some before you put the bricks back on the frame spots but, lowering the frame back onto those row of all them will help to slowly smooth out and likely improve the leveling of that side in the coming days.

 

[MACCanadianCoop]

1st is remove the “dumbdumb small panels” that cover up the actual pallet and the holes that forklifts slide thru…
2nd have 2 long pieces of wood or metal that are thick - AKA strong; for prying/lifting the base up and starting to tilt the whole frame ever so slightly.
3rd have at the ready several small pieces of thin to thick scraps of wood, stone, brick, blocks etc.
4th this is a 2 person safe and easy task. 1 Pry’s up the floor by putting their weight & arm strength onto the long board or metal bar to gently lift the base of the coop up just a bit.

The next few steps are going to be like legos meets cartoon comedy repeating stunt. Person 1 Pry’s down on frame - which lifts it ever so little; #2 slides small scrap under base of frame and then #1 lowers onto the scrap. Repositions and Pry’s down again for #2 to slide more under or swap out a thicker piece if it was be faster. Kinda like tetrising!

Once one corner is up, say…. 4-6” perched on scraps then go to other Corner and repeat to at least 6-12” tall and then bring the 1st corner up to an equal of the 2nd corner so it’s mostly level for you to slide stuff under into good spots for supporting the middle areas.

Now…. That’s the slow method. Fast method?
Do this next to the middle of a walls side. Not exact middle. Raise it up enough to pull out 3 pieces of the bricks in the exact middle of the walls support zone. Using a shovel. Dig shallow! A flat area for a car hydraulic jack to be slid into place temporarily so it can life and lower the frame several times while you get those stones in the center positioned just right.

Once you are done lifting and lowering (with the jack) the frame for the few bricks in the central area then you can stage it with the scraps of wood to be lowered onto and removal of the jack can now happen.

Fill in the dirt where the jack was. *Do NOT pound it flat. Yes you can tamp it down some before you put the bricks back on the frame spots but, lowering the frame back onto those row of all them will help to slowly smooth out and likely improve the leveling of that side in the coming days.

Oh boy...OK thank you for this!

 

[electrycmonk]

I can check back later tonight…. If y’all need to banter audio style like with your helper and maybe Dad as well …. I’d gladly offer my cell# via PM and we can banter - no sweat.

 

[electrycmonk]

Oh boy...OK thank you for this!

It’s a lot of typing but, can be Elevated in as little as 2-5 minutes if you and helper are on same page and can see the whole shebang…

Two words to explain this idea: fulcrum point.

 

[MACCanadianCoop]

I can check back later tonight…. If y’all need to banter audio style like with your helper and maybe Dad as well …. I’d gladly offer my cell# via PM and we can banter - no sweat.

Oh, I understand what you are saying. It's the actual doing that seems daunting. But I'm pretty sure I can get my hands on a car jack

 

[electrycmonk]

Oh, I understand what you are saying. It's the actual doing that seems daunting. But I'm pretty sure I can get my hands on a car jack

Visual reference:

This style is ideal. The thinner the less you have to “dig down flat” to slide under the pallets edge for lifting. The other “scissor style” is not wise for multiple reasons.

In fact if you get to barrow a “cool low profile” like the upper left or lower right pics, you might not need to use the shovel for the jack!

I will recommend a flat shove vs. the curved pointed shovel for digging …. Ummm, scalloping the soil/grass down just enough to get level ground for the bricks/cement you are sliding into place in the middle.

If your lucky and get one of these low profiles a the whole event may be finished in like 30-45 minutes with the center floor ever so slightly elevated- maybe 1/2” from the surrounding frame. This will give it time to properly be compressed to become “level” with the exterior frame in due time…. Maybe a few weeks to get there.

 

[sdm111]

Looking good