27.04.2025 Timber!

 ~o~

  Sunday 27th 41F/5C. Two days of wall to wall sunshine promised. 14C peak today. With 17C tomorrow. Which seems very unfair after the poor Easter weather. 

 Up at 6.15. I am expecting a visitor today. To take away more of the timber from the demolished observatory.

 10.00 I have washed up and put it all away. Swept and mopped the kitchen floor repeatedly. Moved the car and trailer. Mowed the lawns including the 100m of drive. Not to mention the brambles on the far side of the western lawn. 

 I still need to mow the sides of the drive. However, the Makita batteries are already flat again. Now on charge. Again. At least I get a rest. No, not for that long! I went out with the DeW strimmer and tidied both sides of dandelions. The mower can trim later when the batteries are recharged.

12.50 My English friend has left with a trailer full of the timber he needed for his project.  We enjoyed Danish pastries with tea first. Then sorted through the remains of the observatory. Removing those screws which would come out of the timber he selected. There is still a vast heap to remove to a more sensible location. So the carport site can be cleared of screws, bolts and all the other detritus.

 The greenhouse reached 106F/41C unnoticed. Before I opened the roof windows and the eastern end door. The internal door is also open to share a little of the warmth. 68F/20C in the room is warm enough. I am expecting the English food van with some Bisto.  

 13.30 The driver has just left after we had a nice chat about old cars. He was a Scot and had driven from Copenhagen this morning. He had been here once before. The greenhouse has dropped to 83F/28C.  

 14.00 I have just had another go with the mower at a lower setting. On hopefully drier grass than first thing this morning. It is slightly optimistic to hope that it will even out all the lumps and bumps. The mole hills are soft enough to erase but there are limits. The drive is now done but the neighbours' hedges are leaning inwards. 

 Back to the carport: I weighed the curved roof spars at about 10kg each. Using an old pair of bathroom scales. I then weighed one end of a gutter. The scales indicated 26kg. So 2 x 26 = 52kg each. 

6 spars weigh 60kg. Two gutters weigh 104kg. Total weight of the carport roof is 164kg + the five sheets of polycarbonate roofing. Each of which weighs roughly 6kg. The total weight is now up to 194kg. Plus the nuts, bolts and screws. Which weigh 1700g or 1.7kg. New total = ~196kg.   

 The carport roof is supposed to be fully assembled. Before being tipped up and a pair of legs bolted into place. The roof + 2 legs are supposed to be lifted upright and the second pair of legs attached. Each leg weighs 26kg. So [by coincidence] 104kg total. Bringing the grand total of the carport weight up to 300kg.

Each leg is 2.11m high. Which become the height to the underside of the gutters. Plus any extra height to the tops of the foundation blocks above ground level.

 The question becomes: How many people are needed to raise the roof by 42º? To fit the first pair of legs from roof assembly on the ground. We can assume that half the weight of the roof is supported by the ground as the lift begins. The weight to be lifted reduces as the roof is tilted upwards. Because the centre of gravity moves closer to the lift point. At 90º [vertical] all the weight is on the ground.

 However, the entire roof, plus two legs, now have to be raised to bring the second legs vertical. This is quite a challenge. Even assuming half the weight is on the ground supported by the first two legs. 

 Once upright, the entire weight of the carport [300kg] must be lifted. To accurately place the foot plates onto the foundation fixing bolts. Four people would need to lift 75kg each. Hopefully briefly! 

 It would be quite easy to provide serious and comfortable grip. Using suitably long, lifting strops. As Prusic loops wrapped around the legs. It would be a struggle for most people to get a proper grip on the legs at 9cm diameter.    

Dinner was a "proper" Sunday dinner. With chicken, mushrooms, cauliflower, carrots, boiled potatoes and Bisto gravy. A huge plate full. Which I managed to consume somehow by sheer stamina.

 ~o~