Big Hopper Converted Into Giant "PlayHouse"

Big Hopper Converted Into Giant "PlayHouse" FARM HOME Miscellaneous 32-5-44 It stands 40 ft. tall and offers great views of the surrounding countryside. On a clear day I can stand on top and see mountains 50 miles away," says James Parker, Vernon, Vt., who transformed a huge sawdust hopper into an above-ground "playhouse". The slant-sided hopper was originally used by a local cabinet-making business to store sawdust. The hopper could hold up to 30,000 lbs. and was equipped with hydraulic-operated unloading doors at the bottom where semi trucks could load up. He hauled the big hopper home, where he remodeled and enlarged it into a 3 1/2-floor "home away from home" that's complete with a "basement", main floor, loft, and 4 by 12-ft. lookout deck on top. He replaced the original wood sides with steel siding and added large windows to two sides of the building. There are no stairs in the building - just ladders and a pair of "souped up" fireman's poles, with rungs in the middle. "It's built solid - the I-beams are anchored in 20,000 lbs. of high density concrete so it will probably withstand 100 mph winds," says Parker. "I built it for my kids, and I'd like to think that 15 years from now kids will still be playing in it. There's a Franklin wood stove in the basement for cooking hot dogs. Each floor has 5-in. battery-powered lights attached to the walls, as well as ceiling lights. There's no electricity or water." All the floors are built with steel subframes. There wasn't room to winch an entire subframe up into the structure so he built them in two halves and then winched them up into place and welded them together. "The bottom floor will support 3,500 lbs.," says Parker. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, James Parker, P.O. Box 311, Vernon, Vt. 05354 (ph 802 258-4261; jpark10@entergy.com).

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