Tractor Shed Built Out Of Tire "Bricks"

Tractor Shed Built Out Of Tire Bricks TIRES/WHEELS Miscellaneous “I had a lot of old tires laying around which would’ve been a hassle to dispose of Instead I used the tires to build a shed to house my three utility tractors ” says Shane Myrick Pleasanton Kan     “It’s not the fanciest shed in the world but it’s built sturdy and keeps my tractors out of the weather And it only cost about $1 000 ”     The one-of-a-kind building measures 20 ft square and is open in front with a gravel floor The metal roof is supported by a steel frame and slopes from 15 ft high in front to 10 ft at the back The walls are made from tires filled with crushed rock and measure 7 ft high with an opening between the walls and roof      The car and truck tires overlap and interlock with the row below just like bricks The tires in the first 2 rows line up with each other with the next 2 rows overlapping them     The roof is supported by a series of steel trusses welded to 4 steel posts one at each corner of the building The roof is screwed onto 2 by 6 and 2 by 8 rafters on 16-in centers     To build the walls Myrick first laid a row of tires on the ground Then he used 4 short 1 by 4 sticks old hardwood flooring to prop each tire open jamming the pieces between the tire beads to prop the sides of the tire open That way when crushed rock was dumped out of a loader bucket it wouldn’t flatten the tire out Once the crushed rock was dumped he removed the sticks and then used longer sticks to finish working crushed rock into the tires     To contain crushed rock where the tires overlap he cut circles out of tractor inner tubes and laid them in the bottom of each tire     “I built it in my spare time It took a year but it was worth it ” says Myrick “I have a small welding shop and do some tire repair work and over the years I accumulated a lot of old tires It would’ve cost $3 apiece take car tires to the dump $5 for truck tires and $12 for big tractor tires     “The weight of the crushed rock-filled tires keeps the walls so solid they’re bullet proof I used 39 tons of crushed rock all together at a cost of $375 ”     “Packing the tires was the most labor-intensive part of construction It took at least 20 minutes to pack each tire I never counted how many tires I used It would probably be better to overlap each row of tires but I didn’t have enough inner tubes ” he says     He stood in a loader bucket and used a sledge hammer to drive the steel posts into the ground without using any concrete as anchors To help keep the roof from sagging in some places he welded horizontal steel plates onto the posts “The plates are wedged in between the tires so the posts won’t sink into the ground ” notes Myrick     Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Shane Myrick 17758 Vail Rd Pleasanton Kan 66075 ph 913 757-3309

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