The picture of course was staging for the shot, in our sand it took some good taps but no huge swinging, they were mostly in from the dug postholes so they were located using a top and bottom string and tapped in a few inches to the correct height.
Sidewall poles are pretty straightforward, much like building a chain link fence. It is important that the poles are laid out careful so your building will be square and that they are spaced properly so the Bows will set up on them. The height needs to be consistent also so that all the Bows line up with each other, I put this on about 2 tenths of an inch slope per foot East to West so there is just over a foot of slope over the length of each building so runoff water will not pool around them.
Each pole got a good whack from a 10lb sledge hammer on each side, those dents will keep the pole from being able to slip in the concrete. These poles are 13 gauge steel and very heavy duty, it took quite a swing to make that little dent in them.
Billy and Elaine made it out during one of the pole setting days, it made the job easier to have an extra pair of hands that’s for sure. In the end building these only required more than one person on the day the Bows went up and the morning Sherry and I pulled the film over the top. That day has its own story I will save for its own post.
The pole pounder that Zimmerman’s provided is an excellent tool and did its job in protecting the ends of the poles so they slid easily into the Bows but that doesn’t come for another day or two so the concrete has time to set up. The picture of the pole pounder that Zimmerman’s supplied shows where I ground off some of the part that went into the sidewall poles so you aren’t beating on the pole itself, it was a bit sticky and wouldn’t go into some of the poles where the weld bead is on the inside was the problem. Grinding a bit off with the 4 1/2″ angle grinder just took a minute or two and it worked perfectly afterwards.
Lots and lots of poles though (44 to be exact), at this point the scale of the job is beginning to really sink in. With 144 feet end to end on the two buildings and 30 feet wide the hugeness is apparent.
