primitive wants to get snow off roof of barn

[franksolich]

note from franksolich: I have no idea why, but immediately as this was posted, it attracted an audience as honey does to starved bees, despite its innocuous and mundane content; as with the usual practice of "stickying" "hot topics" to the top, I'll put this up here for some hours.  Carry on.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=268x4461

Oh my.

hedgehog  (1000+ posts)      Sat Feb-05-11 04:58 PM
Original message
 
Getting the snow off the barn roof - any ideas?  

My husband climbs up to shovel off the roof on our three storey barn a couple of times every winter.

I'm thinking some heat tape on the roof or even the underside might melt the bottom layer of snow enough to allow the whole thing to slide off.

Has anyone ever tried this?

Botany  (1000+ posts)      Sat Feb-05-11 05:05 PM
Response to Original message
 
1. Roof Rake & Roof melt tablets

Rake from a sturdy ladder or platform and then throw roof melt tablets into the remaining snow

you can get 'em on line or have a hardware store order them

or just throw the tablets up on the roof .... cheaper than falling off and busting
your ass

heat tape is great but should be put up in good weather

Oceansaway  (1000+ posts)        Sat Feb-05-11 05:08 PM
Response to Original message
 
2. my old neighbors cut trap door like holes on both sides of their roof...they live in rural Iowa.

they had lift-up cellar type doors...when the snow got deep up there

they drove a dump truck into the barn, parked under the 'trap door'

went atop the roof with shovels and shoveled it into the holes and

into the dumptruck....it was pretty slick...and didn't cost much.

Trajan (1000+ posts)      Sat Feb-05-11 05:09 PM
Response to Original message
 
4. I wonder how much energy would be used ...

To just introduce a space heater or two into the 'attic' portion - to generate heat to conduct from the interior to the exterior roof surface - Just enough to semi-melt the lowest snow layer so it can be 'lubricated' and slide off ...

Even though it might seem wasteful - It is far safer than climbing on the roof, and requires no installation; other than the safe, NON-combustible use of the space heater ...

It might actually be worth the price .... I don't really know ... Just a guess ....

I am not a farmer, and I prefer city living .... Good Luck !

hedgehog  (1000+ posts)      Sat Feb-05-11 06:19 PM
Response to Reply #4
 
7. The problem we have is that the old wood siding lets all the heat out the sides.  

We had a salamander in there one time full bore and it didn't warm the place at all!

One of these years, when i get the money, we install insulation board all the way around!

Ooops.

franksolich hit a speed-bump while reading this.

How does a cold-blooded reptile help warm a place?

Or is franksolich missing something here?

Trajan (1000+ posts)      Sat Feb-05-11 07:23 PM
Response to Reply #7
 
12. well ... I can understand about the siding ...

But it would actually help if the heat source was high in the rafters, and the roof skin 'leaked' .... I was thinking that introducing heat from the interior directly to the roof would loosen up the snow enough to let it slide down naturally .... I am sure this is a temporary measure ... unless you have snow atop your roof more than a couple times a year ...

It would help if the space were essentially sealed from an efficiency standpoint, but you might be able to pull it off .... I assume the problem is the snow loading, and not necessarily the cost of brief energy usage .... I dont know ...

gristy (1000+ posts)      Sat Feb-05-11 05:16 PM
Response to Original message
 
5. Won't help this year, but maybe this summer nail down a steel roof over the existing roof

If your roof is steep enough, the snow will slide right off.

hedgehog  (1000+ posts)      Sat Feb-05-11 06:20 PM
Response to Reply #5
 
8. We have some aluminum sheet roofing on the south face, and boy howdy, does that do the job!

thaddeus_flowe (79 posts)      Sat Feb-05-11 05:21 PM
Response to Original message
 
6. have you ever tried living in california?

Arctic Dave  (1000+ posts)      Sat Feb-05-11 07:02 PM
Response to Original message
 
11. Rub two stick together until the ignite, walk away.

Remmah2 (220 posts)      Mon Feb-07-11 01:02 PM
Response to Original message
 
13. Are you sure your barn was not designed to handle the load?

My uncle in Buffalo, NY has multiple barns ranging from 90 years old to 20 years old. The original barn is a post and beam construction type. The newer barns have pre-fabricated trusses.

We've never had to clear a roof. The old barn has a classic barn type roof while the newer ones have a simple 6/12 pitch.

Design wise the new buildings are designed for 100 pounds per square foot (dead load). He didn't build the original barn but there have been no problems.

Check with the local Cooperative Extension services. They may be able to provide technical advice to determine your barns durability. Roofing on barns is bad enough in good weather, I wouldn't want to climb on to a roof in the snow.

[thundley4]

A salamander is a brand of forced air kerosene heater similar to this.

[franksolich]

A salamander is a brand of forced air kerosene heater similar to this.

Oh.

[JohnnyReb]

salamander: a type of heater...what we used to call a smug-pot.

[Thor]

They come in Propane & Natural Gas Versions, too.

[Ballygrl]

I was like WTF? a salamander.

[BattleHymn]

Getting the snow off the barn roof - any ideas?  

Step one:  Climb onto barn roof.

Step two:  Jump.  

[thundley4]

Step one:  Climb onto barn roof.

Step two:  Jump.  

Letting off a couple of sticks of dynamite in the barn should cause the snow to break free and slide off. 

[BattleHymn]

Letting off a couple of sticks of dynamite in the barn should cause the snow to break free and slide off. 

For best results, you should be hanging on to them when they go off. 

[JohnnyReb]

Solution to snow on barn roof: Set barn on fire and burn roof out from under the snow.

[franksolich]

A salamander is a brand of forced air kerosene heater similar to this.

One of the milder, but ubiquitous, effects of being deaf; one doesn't hear the names of things often enough to "relate" them to something.

This reminds me of a conversation I had with the neighbor the other week, when snow-removing.

franksolich: Well, why don't we use that one thing?
neighbor: Which one thing?
franksolich: That thing we used that one time.
neighbor: The thing we used that one time, or the thing we used that other time?
franksolich: The thing we used that other time that one day.
neighbor: Are you sure it wasn't that thing we used on another day?
franksolich: No, it was the thing we used that other time that one day.
neighbor: Oh.  Didn't we use that thing when those people were here?
franksolich: No, not when those people were here, but when other people were here.
neighbor: Oh, that time.
franksolich: Or maybe we should use that thing we used another time.
neighbor: That thing we used before, or after, we used that thing we used that one time?
franksolich: That thing we used that one time that one day.
neighbor: Oh.

Believe it or not, we both understood perfectly to what I was referring, but didn't know the name.....

[Odin's Hand]

Best method for the primitives to remove snow from a barn roof.

[thundley4]

Best method for the primitives to remove snow from a barn roof.

We had one of those at work for a winter or two, but it disappeared, (probably stolen), but it was about 5 feet long and had a bigger nozzle.  We used to melt the ice and snow away from the doors where the fork trucks go in and out.

[GOBUCKS]

As we have suggested to DUmmies worried about a buildup of ice in and above their gutters, the barn-owning DUmmy needs to get up there with a laddder and liberally soak the snow over the entire roof surface with regular grade gasoline, then carefully light it. The snow will be gone in no time, and will not even accumulate on the roof during subsequent snowstorms. Of course, the apocalyptic global warming we are currently suffering, caused by George W. Bush, will probably prevent any significant snow.

[thundley4]

This thread as so many others have done, prove that we don't hate DUmmies. If we did would we be willing to take the time and offer solutions to their problems?

[franksolich]

This thread as so many others have done, prove that we don't hate DUmmies. If we did would we be willing to take the time and offer solutions to their problems?

That reminds me; when I was over earlier on Skins's island, I came across a campfire lit by the Nadine primitive, who's apparently got a physical therapy problem.  The campfire was at least a week old, but no primitive had shown up to offer any advice and counsel to the Nadine primitive.

Since the primitives were being remiss in solacing one of their own, I thought perhaps I should bring that campfire over here, for decent and civilized people to counsel and advise the Nadine primitive.

But then I thought no; we've had quite a bit of the Nadine primitive lately, and so time for a break.

[DumbAss Tanker]

Pack the loft full of small-bale hay, then set it on fire.  Trust me, DUmmies, works perfectly; try this once and you'll never worry about snow on your barn roof again.

 

[AllosaursRus]

The DUmmie states she has metal roofing on one side. Cripes that is stooooopid! If it slides off one side, the result is loading the barn so it will lean toward the side with no snow! Sure hope they get the snow off before it leans too far and falls over! Roofs need to be loaded equally on both sides or they will collapse!

Only a DUmmie would put metal on one side of a roof! My hay barn only has a 3/12 pitch with a metal roof. The snow slides off after about 4". As there is no heat, the eaves never build up any ice. Wood shingles or asphalt however collect moisture on the eaves during the freeze and thaw process and will eventually build up as much as a 4" ice damn on the edges. After that, the only way to get the snow off is to get your happy ass up there with a shovel!

[Karin]

Oceansaway  (1000+ posts)        Sat Feb-05-11 05:08 PM
Response to Original message
 
2. my old neighbors cut trap door like holes on both sides of their roof...they live in rural Iowa.

they had lift-up cellar type doors...when the snow got deep up there

they drove a dump truck into the barn, parked under the 'trap door'

went atop the roof with shovels and shoveled it into the holes and

into the dumptruck....it was pretty slick...and didn't cost much.

I can't get past this.  Doesn't this seem like a tremendous amount of bother?  How do you lift up the cellar doors under that snow?  Why truck the snow away?  Can't you just push it onto the ground?  One doesn't seem to be gaining alot for all the trouble and expense. 

[DumbAss Tanker]

I can't get past this.  Doesn't this seem like a tremendous amount of bother?  How do you lift up the cellar doors under that snow?  Why truck the snow away?  Can't you just push it onto the ground?  One doesn't seem to be gaining alot for all the trouble and expense. 

Yeah...that really made absolutely no damned sense at all.

[GOBUCKS]

I can't get past this.  Doesn't this seem like a tremendous amount of bother?  How do you lift up the cellar doors under that snow?  Why truck the snow away?  Can't you just push it onto the ground?  One doesn't seem to be gaining alot for all the trouble and expense.

Exactly. If you have to go up there and shovel the snow, you just shovel it onto the ground. And the "cellar doors" would leak rainwater into the barn the rest of the year. Even a democrat farmer wouldn't be that dumb, unless he's trucking all that snow into a silo, to save it for summertime. Then he could sell it to the Slushee people.

[NHSparky]

thaddeus_flowe (79 posts)      Sat Feb-05-11 05:21 PM
Response to Original message
 
6. have you ever tried living in california?

Yeah, there's no such thing as snow in California, right?

http://www.skireport.com/california/

****in retards.

Hey, why the hell are you people so worried about snow on your roofs?  Didn't Al Gore tell you imbiciles that there wouldn't be any more snow because of global warming?

[BlueStateSaint]

Pack the loft full of small-bale hay, then set it on fire.  Trust me, DUmmies, works perfectly; try this once and you'll never worry about snow on your barn roof again.

 

I was thinking the same thing, except I wanted the DUmbass to use an "accelerant," such as gasoline.

[AllosaursRus]

Yeah, there's no such thing as snow in California, right?

http://www.skireport.com/california/

****in retards.

Hey, why the hell are you people so worried about snow on your roofs?  Didn't Al Gore tell you imbiciles that there wouldn't be any more snow because of global warming?

These morons don't get enough snow to educate them! They oughta try livin' at the base of a ski resort!

Just took this lookin' out my back door............

[vesta111]

These morons don't get enough snow to educate them! They oughta try livin' at the base of a ski resort!

Just took this lookin' out my back door............

This is the first year I have ever heard about this crap.

Here in NE we have 200 year old barns and 300 year old homes that never worried about snow or ice build up except to keep the heating vents open, camps that  have gas or oil heaters that may get blocked from the snow.     We also know enough to keep the tail pipe of a car clear if stranded.

 Is all this a problem caused by shoddy construction of today's homes, beams placed too far apart to save on lumber through out the house.?

Across the road and down the street there are older trailer parks with single wides with flat roofs that are 20-30 years old. So far no problem for them, those old work horses still do the job of keeping the interior dry and comfortable. Old time construction is somehow better then today's with all the bells and whistles.

I hear of Ice dams and what not,  is this because we have a huge heat loss going onto our roofs?  Why would that be with insulation properably installed.?

I have 5-6 people ringing my door bell wanting to clean off my roof every couple of days, the roof is pitched and we keep the vents clear with a snow rake, if the roof falls in due to a few inches of snow and ice, there is something seriously wrong with the construction of my home.