Tool Straightens Warped Posts

Tool Straightens Warped Posts FARM SHOP Miscellaneous Joseph Stearns didn’t listen to neighbors who said he needed to replace a bunch of 4 by 4’s he was using to build a garage They’d been set in concrete the year before but had warped because he and his son weren’t able to finish the project right away “I came up with a design for a tool to straighten them out ” says the Champlain Va resident He had a welder make two of the tools which have 4-ft pipe handles A 3 by 9-in piece of 1/2-in steel plate is welded flat across the end Another piece of 1/2-in steel plate is welded perpendicular to the flat piece and is held in place by adjustable 12-in long 1/2-in dia bolts that tighten the 2 plates together against the 4 by 4 “Just tighten it on the post by hand ” Stearns says “With that 4-ft handle you can almost twist a 4 by 4 in half ” He had the stud walls ready to place between the 4 by 4s which are 8 ft apart So as soon as he twisted the 4 by 4s straight the wall could be nailed in place with 16-penny galvanized nails and then bolted “If the 8-ft center was bowed out too far I put a tool on each of the 4 by 4s and used a come-along or ratchet strap to pull them together ” Stearns says He drilled 7/8-in holes in the tops of the tools to hold clevises to hook into The tools worked well and Stearns and his son were able to put up straight walls for the 20 by 32-ft garage Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Joseph Stearns 364 Farmers Hall Rd Champlain Va 22438 ph 804 445-1249

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