Today was yet another lesson for me about booking machinery that has capacity in excess of what I want to achieve. If someone tells me a 3.5T excavator will do the job, I'm ordering a 5T. If I tell someone I need them to bring a rock auger and they say they know the land around here and can do it with a normal auger, I should insist on the rock auger and pay a bit more the first time.
I had that exact conversation today with a guy who has all sorts of machinery, but who advised me that one of his machines will do the job.
Turns out that it could do the job for drilling eight of the ten holes, but when he hit hard rock, he was done. To his credit, he charged me the cheaper rate for the smaller machine and is sending one of his guys out tomorrow with what I should have insisted on first. The larger machine with the rock auger will finish off the two solid rock holes and I'll just be charged for actual drilling time. He seemed surprised that I'd want to go far into solid rock, but the whole steel frame is already fabricated and is ready to be delivered on the weekend and anyway, I want the foundation to be solid so this thing outlasts civilisation. Who knows how long that will be...
I came home to see holes cut as I'd expected:
...and two holes that weren't really holes. More like a centre punch for the real auger tomorrow:
The overall scene looks like a lunar landing.
The frame is being built with 310 (12") beams. Here are the 5 metre (above ground) vertical columns, cut to suit the 19 degree pitch.
Plates welded in place.
Maybe I should increase my shed expectations to something like this size workshop instead...!
Top hats
Next steps are to get the two rock holes completed tomorrow.
Concrete is to be put into holes to provide a laser levelled platform for the steel to mount to.
Frame delivered on Saturday along with a friend's scissor lift and a hired forklift. The top of the roof will be a bit over 6.5 metres. The forklift goes up to Seventeen. Maybe I should hire it out for everyone to see above the tree tops.
Assembly of the frame is happening on Sunday!