As you know - one of the projects I'm working on is a Range Blast Wall. Designed to absorb some of the sound from the big bore airguns, and be a better neighbor in the process.

I decided to errect a serpentine wall - 10' tall - of posts, wire, and pine bark nuggets!

Here are some pics we snapped along the way.



Posts planted. 4 recycled - one new one. All in concrete. I decided to fabricate a bottom rail to staple the wire mesh to, and keep the fill contained at the bottom.



This involved cutting whatever angles were presented by the posts as planted. I had these recycled stained treated two by fours which worked well. Pcs. screwed into place.

As it turned out - the poultry wire we had by the mile (left by previous owner) seemed very whimpy when we started to fit it. Larger holes then we wanted. Light gauge wire - and you could expand it in any direction with a gentle pull - so we figured it wasn't up to the task.



Enter a roll of 1" by 2" section by 60" tall, welded wire by 100' long. Don't price this stuff with a weak heart! Fortunately .....



We had this cow left by the previous owner. It was eating us out of house and home ... so we traded it for the wire! What a deal!!!



We stapled in the wire. Of course - it's double wall. Now - between the two wire wall skins, you have to "tie" the two walls together with wire - so the sided don't expand. Just tie them to maintain the same width as the posts and rails you use. About every 18" square is what I decided. The wire, in tension, keeps the sides from expanding when filled.

Then fill with pine nuggets (our choice). Looks great and is economical. We moved to the pine bark nuggets after deciding any fresh material might sour, mold, smell. We'll see how it works. I sure hope it deadens the sound as anticipated. It's quite heavy, textured, and of a material that doesn't resonate.

Gary



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/01/2012 12:15AM by barnespneumatic.

Nice. I hope it works as intended.

The Mrs have any gardens going yet?

Lon

Hi Lon,

Kelly has been cleaning out the garden terraces that were left by the previous owners. They had tastes that ran to all sorts of herbs in huge quanities. They also had four kids, and large patches of garden were left for their projects. Kelly will have a bit of a different direction. Try to keep it fun. Grow some veggies. Grow some flowers. Thanks for asking.

Gary

Nice work Gary!
So the blast wall is zig-zagged for strength and for maximising sound absorbtion?
Cheers
Neil

Hi Neil,

That's the theory on both counts.

Had a mechanic on the place today. He said he'd shot all his life. He saw the wall and liked it - I said what it was for. He immediately took to the idea. Thought it was perfect, thought I should capitalize on it (I told him it wasn't my invention) and was sure it would knock down much of the sound. I hope so. Seems like it will have to.

I'm not quite ready to blast away yet. Need a backer and some property line markers and posting. I've been organizing the main shop. Takes forever to establish a new place for things and get a workable set-up. Less time to grab it off the shelf and stuff it in a box then to unpack and relate everything found to a purpose and a place - then make the place and put it there - clean up the packing, then repeat, repeat, repeat, repeat ....

Hope you have a great Thanksgiving. Hope your family is well and improving.

Gary

The Great Wall of Gary. Now that is a project well done. I wonder what the aliens will sumise it was/is use might be. I hope you lined it up with some celestial body on the vernal equinox.

That should work wonders. Your closest neighbors will be hard pressed to hear anything.

Kent

Thanks Kent,

Looks neat too. The chips, when fluttered in from above via a hopper I stapled together ... seem to arrange themselves first this way - then that - and end up making a pattern that is crystaline in nature. Looks like a polished metorite in section. hahah. Love it.

I have a bit more pine nuggets to dump in - but the wire work is done. Just have to tie one section and fill. I'd had enough of the step ladder for awhile.

So - you think it will outlast the pyramids? Neat!

Gary

Out last the pyramids? Hmmm...perhaps not.

Outlast the warranty on your new laptop? Oh yeah.

Probably by decades

Gary,

Looks nice. If you find the pine nuggets don't last, you can always switch to recycled tire pieces. Like the kind they use on playgrounds and for landscaping. What are you using for the backstop?


Keith

Those recycled tire "rubber crumbles" are certainly weatherproof, but they do have a couple of drawbacks. They use them on some kids playgrounds, especially in wet climates where mulch or bark chips would decay too quickly. Up north of us in Anchorage they've used both the rubber crumbles and another similar product that lays into a rubbery asphalt-like sheet to cover high-traffic areas on the school playgrounds. Unfortunately, they've also had a couple of those playgrounds destroyed by vandals who lit them on fire. Once the rubber ignites, it's very difficult to stop it and it burns with oily, black smoke, it's like a tire fire that way.

Speaking of which, Gary, I believe that your area is subject to occasional wildfire danger periods. Since the blast fence abuts your building, you might lay in a contingency plan for either pulling down the first section or soaking it with water (or perhaps both) should a fire ever move through the forest there. In fact, it would be a good idea to have a talk with the local fire department, since they probably have a wildfire prevention plan in place and will probably be glad to do a walk-through of your property with fire protection considerations in mind. Sometimes just having a pond or water cistern that they can access can make a big difference if they have to respond, especially if the nearest hydrant is a ways down the road.

You've always wanted an alligator (oops, I meant fishing) pond, haven't you? I seem to remember reading here about some guy who like to push dirt around with a bulldozer, hmmm...who could that be?

Boy Sean - YOU are a bundle of FUN. hahah. Is the winter getting to you already up there? Playgrounds bursting out into raging infernos, Wildfires rampaging across the landscape. Gee - how about leprosy outbreaks?

Hey - if the whole forest around here is on fire, I'm not staying to water down my blast fence! hahha.

As far as calling in the authorities to do a walk around and make official recommendations .... let me get back to you on that. I think there's a heritage committee meeting in town I have to attend that night ...

Just to calm your nerves ... we do have water spigots all over the property. All around the house. All around the shops. All over the gardens. Even in the grove. Also - interesting fact: Where the previous owners had lined the driveway with pine log sections, many of the logs have rotted up nearly to dust, and the pine bark shell is laying there in tact. Even the part in ground contact, can be pryed loose and it's in nearly origonal shape. Odd fact we've discovered. Partly responsible for our choice of pine bark for the wall. We'll see how it holds up. Might have some legs.

If you think of any other horrible plague that might apply to this area, let me know. Get some sun. Some fresh air. Don't stay cooped up retrofitting your house. Been there. Not good. hahah. Pullin' yer chain. Thanks for commenting

Gary

Hi Keith,

Good tip. I'm sure that would deaden sound. Bet it would be HEAVY tough!

I'm coming to terms with the backer. I suspect timber and dirt will play starring roles. I had wanted to use a steel splash plate, but I haven't sourced metal down here yet. Besides - it's so noisy. The strike can be louder then the shot.

I do have two of those "stall mats" that were left here. They are God awful heavy thick rubber mats that are used as fatigue mats for cattle in milking parlors, etc. Heavy, heavy. You get them at TSC and farm stores. People use them for pickup bed liners. But I'd have to see if that converts to being bullet resistant. I set up something long ago for small bore - and the pellets whizzzzed right through. This might be different though, as it's very thick and for larger caliber.

Good to hear from ya.

Gary

Gary,

Have you considered putting up some type of wall, spray it with that bed liner material, and then face it with dirt. That bed liner material is very tough, and should take the impact of any stray rounds as long as there is something hard behind it. I hear its being used to make some federal buildings impact resistant.

Keith

Very interesting Keith,

Never thought of that, but I'll churn it over. Gee - if I were an investing man ... I'd buy some "Rhino". hahah.





Gary

Actually, those rubber crumbles that Keith mentioned have been used as a backstop for indoor shooting ranges. They dump a big pile of them on top of a steel backplate so that they cover the impact zone. They keep the noise down from the lead hitting the steel, and help to control ricochets from the fragments. Build a 3 sided hut in the impact area and you can keep your target backer and your target frames out of the rain. If you get ambitious, it might be nice to add some lights so you can shoot in the evenings and still see the targets. It's not a good idea to shoot tracer bullets into a rubber-crumble backstop for obvious reasons, but I don' think that's going to cramp your style too much.

As a side note, I've hauled a bunch of that rubber crumble stuff before, back when I lived in NM. I helped some friends remodel their backyard; they turned a parched cactus garden into a little kids playground (yeah, I know, the way they spoil kids these days ) . Part of the job was covering the swingset area with those ground up tire bits, they make for a good landing zone. They actually bought them online, and believe it or not the company offered free shipping. Fifty bags of rubber crumbles, 40lbs each, literally a ton of the stuff, showed up in two days via the brown truck. I was amazed (the UPS guy couldn't believe it either), and I'm sure the sellers lost money on the deal. They probably had some fine-tuning to do with their shipping policy after that one.

Who knows, if you can't find it locally, you might be able to get some shipped in.

Hi Sean,
Yeah - some good ideas there.
One of my goals is to collect the lead to remelt/recycle. Nothing like "Green Lead" ya know.
I'm thinking of shooting THRU a sacrifical plywood wall upon which I post the targets. Then, the slug is met with one or two thicknesses of that mongo heavy rubber stall matting. Said matting is hanging and can swing to absorb energy too. Behind this, would be a berm box full of sand.
If all went well, I might just have a system which allowed the spent lead to drop to the ground. That would be great. And, the rubber matting would greatly reduce the noise level.
Gary

I like that idea.

I guess you could always say that you're going into the lead farming business. You already have most of the tools, after all.

Let's see...

Rural homestead...check!

Tractor...check!

Pneumatic seed drill...hmm...I guess you're going to have to make one for yourself.

Got the seed drill ... ;?)

But I'm all green and new age here Sean ... we recycle. I reclaim all that nasty lead from the dirty salvage yards and "Process it" ... yeah ... I process it into reusable pelletized product. We like to call it RPP here on the commune.

Gary

Gary I think you are spot on with your range. i would for go the new pond the alligators will scare all the wildlife away, including the armadillos. FYI, the armadillo is the only natural reservoir for leprosy but they are so cute when little.

Kent

Glad you like the range ideas.

So - ah .... I won't be adding the Armadillo petting zoo I'd thought about ... Gee - no worm farm, no alligator ranch, no armadillo petting zoo ... what do you expect me to do? Make AIRgunz??? hehehe



Gary

HI Gary,

How are you doing on the blast wall project? If you have them available, please post updated pictures .

Thanks,

Julio

I will do that Julio. Thanks.

Putting the bags of chips up over the ten foot walls on a step ladder has been something I've picked at here and there.

Many different projects all at once. It's either multi-tasking - or not being able to tell which should be first. hahah.

I'll get some more pics.

Gary

Here ya go Julio. It was hard to get a pic without this old local guy who wandered into the frame ...



Ran out of pine nuggets. It's on the list.



I decided to put this row of tools on a bias. Gives better acess and operating room. I'd done that in Md., and forgotten until last evening.



And did more work on the erosion control behind the shop.

Gary

Four pics above added 11-30-12

Huge wall Gary! I like it and I hope that it will do its job.

Thanks for showing it to us.

Julio

No huge rocks in the dirt down there? How do you ever complete a landscaping project without the required amount of swearing?

Hi Sean,

Yeah - you have to buy rocks down here.

What they call "good dirt" here, we'd call sand. But stuff grows in it. You do have to contain it for projects. Or - it will sag and wash. Pretty nice for moving it around though. Just scoop and dump and smooth. But - there are roots and vines in that top layer to contend with.

The clay - where it is, gets as hard as concrete. Getting what you want where you need it is the trick, evidently.

Gary

Nice last wall Gary. I'm thinking I need to get me one for the .60 cal........
Regards
Neil