Pete Jones Pit: 6
OK, I'm eaten up with the pit these days. But, the end is near.
Today I added a light metal frame for the outer roof. It's made almost entirely of bed frames -- 3 regular and 2 baby -- plus a tension rod from an old garage door. (I don't know why, but the dump has a large number of bed frames and they are a great source of light-weight angle iron.) The frame gets covered with a metal roof. (There's lots of that at the dump also, but do I dare return so soon?)
The frame is attached to the pit in the rear with a set of home-made hinges.
Then it's just a matter of lifting the roof from the front to access the pit. Although it opens easily, I'll probably add some counterweight to make it even easier and to act as a stop.
This tilting outer roof is a mostly a weather roof to keep rain and snow out and, thus, the pit dry. It replaces the shed found over most commercial pits. I'll add an inner "lid" directly over the top edges of the pit as is more traditional in eastern North Carolina pits. This lid will be removed in sections to access the pig.
And, finally, here's a close-up of the front doors for loading coals. They still need some handles and a latch to keep them closed.
Today I added a light metal frame for the outer roof. It's made almost entirely of bed frames -- 3 regular and 2 baby -- plus a tension rod from an old garage door. (I don't know why, but the dump has a large number of bed frames and they are a great source of light-weight angle iron.) The frame gets covered with a metal roof. (There's lots of that at the dump also, but do I dare return so soon?)
The frame is attached to the pit in the rear with a set of home-made hinges.
Then it's just a matter of lifting the roof from the front to access the pit. Although it opens easily, I'll probably add some counterweight to make it even easier and to act as a stop.
This tilting outer roof is a mostly a weather roof to keep rain and snow out and, thus, the pit dry. It replaces the shed found over most commercial pits. I'll add an inner "lid" directly over the top edges of the pit as is more traditional in eastern North Carolina pits. This lid will be removed in sections to access the pig.
And, finally, here's a close-up of the front doors for loading coals. They still need some handles and a latch to keep them closed.
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