Spudmasher1
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# Posted: 6 Aug 2012 06:12am
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This past Thursday after working a 12 hour overnight shift, (I'm an RN in an ICU unit, my wife works med surg in the same hospital) I ventured off about 90 minutes away after replying to an ad for free OSB.
My plan was to use 3/4 inch 4x8 sheets of OSB for floor decking and roof sheeting but the budget (lack of funding) has made me look to other means of acquiring the needed building material. The ad read something like "Hundreds of 40x48 inch 7/16 inch OSB leftovers from production.
After making several calls for more information about these and coming up with a time that would work for both of us, (even though it was not ideal after working a 12 hour overnight shift, and my wife was not happy about that) I took my 14 foot double axle trailer with plans for an easy trip back and forth.
It has been in the 100's most every day here in SW Iowa for some time and this day was already promising to be another hot one. I made it to the plant, they make high end jetted tubs and was told to drive around to the back of the old repurposed plant where the pallets of OSB were. The guy had told me the OSB could be loaded with a forklift but I wasn't banking on that.
Around to the back I went and there it was. 6 foot stacks of new OSB. The first pallet outside the building had fallen over and I could see many irregular sized sheets not just 40x48 inch like I was told.
Inside the building was the jackpot. Hundreds and hundreds of boards stacked on pallets. I was told the OSB was used for the base of the jetted tubs and a 4x8 sheet would only make one base, these were the end cuts. After looking over the stacks I new loading with a forklift was not going to be possible. The stacks were 6 and 7 feet tall.
I did a quick backing around job, dropped the trailer inside the building and moved my Chevy 1500 WT (2 wheel drive work truck series) to the pallet that had fallen over. I loaded the back of the pickup level full with the box, making three stacks. The contractor windows on the sides of my topper paid for themselves in convenience once more.
I had to keep stopping to take breaks, feeling the heat and exhaustion coming on. Before backing up to the trailer, I made a quick trip across the street for more water and a bathroom break. As I returned to the pickup I began to wonder if I had already overloaded my truck bit not wanting to stop I kept going.
I backed up to the trailer, hooked up and moved to position so I could stand on the trailer deck to make loading easier. Keith came back to check on my progress and I again took a break and thank him for all of this. He said he had tried getting two bases from a sheet and that just did not work. After trying to sell it without luck he started to burn it just to get rid of it then decided just to make pallets and set it to the side. He said only one other guy had gotten some and his plan was to use it for inside sheeting for a machine shed. Keith said they had loaded 2 pallets onto his trailer but before he was out of the parking lot the stacks fell and it was a mess. I guess the guy only put a couple of straps on each pallet. He should have known better.
Anyway back to loading my trailer. After positioning next to the stack, I had dropped the tongue jack to support and stabilize the trailer, now having loading the first 6 foot stack into two stacks on the front of the trailer, I needed to move to another stack. Guess what? I couldn't budge the trailer jack, up or down. Quick thinking would have told me the stacks would be too heavy. I pulled out the tiny pickup jack hoping to lift the trailer just enough to get the block out and then figure out what to do and to my surprise it did the job.
I restacked about half of each front stack to the middle and then added a fourth and fifth stack to the back of the trailer, again with concerns I was overloading both trailer and pickup. I knew from my figures I would need about 250 sheets if all were 40x48 but all sheet were not 40x48. All sheets were 48 inches wide but varied from 24 to 40 inches. This made for the uneven stacks.
Two hours after starting to load my pickup, I sat on the now loaded trailer, red hot and having sweated through everything I was wearing. Yes even my underwear. I had taken a change of clothes not wanting to wear my scrubs for this task and I thought about finding someplace to change back into them just because they were dry, but just didn't care at this point.
I spent another 45 minutes strapping my load not wanting to leave a trail of OSB the next 85 miles. The trailer was loaded more heavy to the front but again I just didn't have the energy to change the load around. The back of the truck was sitting lower to the ground then I would have liked but I was done in and wanted to hit the road.
I wrote Keith a note, not wanting to traipse around an unfamiliar 200 acre plant to find him and set off on my way home with another quick stop for more water and a bathroom break.
When I hit the highway, a rural 4 lane, I was glad for truck passing lanes in the rolling hills of our farm country. Being overloaded and not able to make top speed took me back to my over the road truck driving days. Now I was just hoping to avoid getting stopped, breaking the trailer on the rough road, breaking down or falling asleep.
35 miles down the road, all was well and I made another stop to check straps and tires, get something else to drink and had a hotdog. Another hour and a half found me pulling into the driveway at home, happy to have made it and happy for the "free" OSB.
I'm happy with this OSB, it gets me closer to my goal of a cabin in the timber. Buying new building material just isn't possible for me so scrap and used will have to do, at least for some of it.
Yesterday I finally got the OSB stacked in the garage. It makes quite a site. I think I have enough but I'm contemplating another trip. I wouldn't get as much and would load the trailer different. I'm thinking if I had more I would use it for a woodshed and an outhouse. If I have it I would use it.
I know I will have to modify my building plans, use 2 layers of this versus one sheet of 3/4 inch, but free is a good price! But free is not free! It came with the cost of work, sweat and loss of sleep. I'll recover. My wife still thinks I'm crazy for planning things like this after working a full 12 overnight shift. Maybe she is right...
Spuds
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