Post by pistonschick on Sept 6, 2012 13:35:42 GMT -8
The club has been wanting to build our own RTI ramp for quite some time now and thanks to Paul Herbig, Darel Crowder, Tommy Morgan, Farel Crowder and Douglas Seal - it is almost complete.
Earlier in the summer the club voted to give these guys the funding to get this project completed and even though their lives have been really busy - they still managed to dig deep into their schedules and get this going...
Paul and Darel started bright and ugly Sunday morning, September 2nd of the holiday weekend to set up tools, get the materials layed out and agree on a plan of action.
Welding and cutting before most of the world has had their first cup of coffee...
Working quickly, they got the initial structure base and angle set in place for a 14 foot long 20 degree ramp. While they mocked up and considered a 30 degree ramp - upon a visual, decided against it for safety reasons.
Right on the money - good job guys!
Mid morning and right on time as scheduled, Tommy arrives to start assisting with the cutting and grinding tasks so Paul and Darel can stay focused on the weld and fab duties.
All the early morning ruckus in the shop rousts Darel's dad, Farel out to the shop to lend a hand.
Cutting, grinding, welding, plotting and planning...
Douglas Seal sneaks in to help after church - just in time to lend some much needed assistance with more cutting and grinding.
Coming along nicely in the early afternoon.
All hands on deck - Tommy, Douglas and Farel aligning one of the main support braces while Paul and Darel observe placement.
Tommy and Douglas ensuring precisely the correct angle cut for easier welding for Paul and Darel.
Paul welding like a boss as the afternoon sun pounds into the shop - door at half mast with help from one of Bruiser's old shoes.
Darel focusing on the welding late into the day.
Paul working on more welding after a quick break for dinner - getting into all of those contortionist positions that Darel's 50 year old body just won't tolerate.
We still have some more work to do - final structure welding, expanded steel cut and weld, lots of grinding and sanding and finally bright red paint with Pistons Wild stickers to boot!
I will try to post up more pics from this coming weekend as Darel and Paul finish up this beast on Sunday, September 9th. We could use one or two more kind souls to help with grinding, sanding and painting in the afternoon if anyone would like to volunteer to give these two guys a much deserved break.
Special thanks to Douglas Seal and The Steel Yard for getting us some great pricing on the steel products for this project - we could not have afforded to do this project without your help...
Thanks to Annell, Judy and Reda for helping me put together a great dinner for these hard working guys. I put some pork butt on the grill to smoke for pulled pork sandwiches and smoked some chicken too. Annell made some wonderful baked beans and potato salad, Judy whipped up a tasty little cole slaw for the pork sandwiches and some yummy carmmel corn and Reda made a homemade chocolate cake - mmmmm...
It was a great day with friends and family - thank you to everyone that came out and helped...
Crystal
Earlier in the summer the club voted to give these guys the funding to get this project completed and even though their lives have been really busy - they still managed to dig deep into their schedules and get this going...
Paul and Darel started bright and ugly Sunday morning, September 2nd of the holiday weekend to set up tools, get the materials layed out and agree on a plan of action.
Welding and cutting before most of the world has had their first cup of coffee...
Working quickly, they got the initial structure base and angle set in place for a 14 foot long 20 degree ramp. While they mocked up and considered a 30 degree ramp - upon a visual, decided against it for safety reasons.
Right on the money - good job guys!
Mid morning and right on time as scheduled, Tommy arrives to start assisting with the cutting and grinding tasks so Paul and Darel can stay focused on the weld and fab duties.
All the early morning ruckus in the shop rousts Darel's dad, Farel out to the shop to lend a hand.
Cutting, grinding, welding, plotting and planning...
Douglas Seal sneaks in to help after church - just in time to lend some much needed assistance with more cutting and grinding.
Coming along nicely in the early afternoon.
All hands on deck - Tommy, Douglas and Farel aligning one of the main support braces while Paul and Darel observe placement.
Tommy and Douglas ensuring precisely the correct angle cut for easier welding for Paul and Darel.
Paul welding like a boss as the afternoon sun pounds into the shop - door at half mast with help from one of Bruiser's old shoes.
Darel focusing on the welding late into the day.
Paul working on more welding after a quick break for dinner - getting into all of those contortionist positions that Darel's 50 year old body just won't tolerate.
We still have some more work to do - final structure welding, expanded steel cut and weld, lots of grinding and sanding and finally bright red paint with Pistons Wild stickers to boot!
I will try to post up more pics from this coming weekend as Darel and Paul finish up this beast on Sunday, September 9th. We could use one or two more kind souls to help with grinding, sanding and painting in the afternoon if anyone would like to volunteer to give these two guys a much deserved break.
Special thanks to Douglas Seal and The Steel Yard for getting us some great pricing on the steel products for this project - we could not have afforded to do this project without your help...
Thanks to Annell, Judy and Reda for helping me put together a great dinner for these hard working guys. I put some pork butt on the grill to smoke for pulled pork sandwiches and smoked some chicken too. Annell made some wonderful baked beans and potato salad, Judy whipped up a tasty little cole slaw for the pork sandwiches and some yummy carmmel corn and Reda made a homemade chocolate cake - mmmmm...
It was a great day with friends and family - thank you to everyone that came out and helped...
Crystal