Thursday 30 April 2009

Canoe trailer project.

Myself and a few guys from the Paisley Pikers
Fishing Club have purchased Canadian Canoes
this year. The are many rivers in Scotland
suitable for open canoes and we will be doing
a few expeditions this summer through until
autumn and beyond. To do a river its a good
idea to have a trailer capable of carrying a
load of camping/fishing gear and anything up
to 6 canoes. I got this for the taking away.
Its an old caravan chassis, and formerly was
a towable holiday home for a family of four.

Not much to look at but great potential.


Here I have welded angled mild steel sections
to beef up the frame and give us some storage
space. A good mate gave it the treatment with
a wire brush and grinder.

Typically I give it a couple of coats of paint and
on comes the rain, but it was almost dry anyway
so no harm done.



Here I've made a start to timbering the floor and
sides, and fitted a replacement hitch as the other
one was beyond repair.
With a little help from friends I built the canoe
frame. It will take five sixteen foot canoes and
a whole lot of camping and fishing gear. Room for
another canoe on my roof rails if need be, and
more stowage space in the back of my estate car.
Cheers for now.
Gordon.

Wednesday 15 April 2009

Plans for this growing season.


First proper post for a few months. The last couple of weekends have seen an improvement in the weather so I have made a start to the veggy plot. I now have 20 raised beds.


Shallots do'nt mind if its a wee bit cold.

This garlic was planted last October and should be ready about June. I have lots of veg started in small pots in the greenhouse including tomatoes, zuchini and peppers that will stay in there, and also some cabbage, beans, sweetcorn, fennel etc that will be transplanted into beds once they are established.


Other projects have included rebuilding an old Yamaha TT 600 Enduro motorcycle, converting a old race kart to an offroad buggy for my grandson, and converting a old caravan chassis to a trailer for transporting my logs etc, building a canoe rack to fit the trailer and lets not forget working 6 days and a couple of evenings a week. Sometimes it feels like there are not enough hours in a day.....