[AT] OT...Need some advice on old metal building

[John Hoffmann]

There is one tool that I haven't seen mentioned and that is a horseshoe nail cutter. They are listed under farrier equipment and should be available at most TSC or farm and ranch supply stores. http://www.tractorsupply.com/diamond-reg-nail-cutting-nipper-10-in-l-5017052 

We have welded pipes to the handles so you can walk the roof standing up and nip the screw heads off. They work real slick because the chisel bevel is flat to the outside of the jaws.

Hope this helps step up production.

John Hoffmann


> Date: Fri, 14 Sep 2012 13:50:27 -0400
> From: mogrits at gmail.com
> To: at at lists.antique-tractor.com
> Subject: Re: [AT] OT...Need some advice on old metal building
> 
> Thanks for all the suggestions. We've tried variations of all of them.
> There are limitations to each method. The reality is its an occupied
> building and many of the exterior walls have been built against. Not to
> mention the roof. The purlins and girts are spaced 4' o.c. and the screws
> are 9"oc along them and the bldg is 50x120x20 so you can see there are
> literally thousands of screws w inaccessible nuts. We tried just peeling
> off the sheeting w a wrecking bar but the sheets are 22 ga!
> 
> My Super just called and said he may have found a way. He borrowed a
> powerful air chisel and a dull bit and knocked off 10 screw heads in 3
> mins. That's the production we need at a minimum .
> On Sep 14, 2012 1:32 PM, "Larry Goss" <rlgoss at insightbb.com> wrote:
> 
> > How about a nut cracker? Those normally do not operate fast, but they do
> > remove square or hex nuts from just one side of an installation.  You may
> > be able to rig up a power drill to do the heavy work for you.  I think I
> > bought a set of them at Harbor Freight.  They come in two sizes, and I used
> > mine about a month ago to split a rusted square nut on an antique
> > cultivator that I'm restoring.  the across flats distance was one inch.
> >  That was the absolute limit of the nut cracker, but it did it without any
> > broken tools or busted knuckles.
> >
> > Larry
> >
> >
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: "Ken Knierim" <ken.knierim at gmail.com>
> > To: "Antique tractor email discussion group" <at at lists.antique-tractor.com
> > >
> > Sent: Friday, September 14, 2012 11:52:32 AM
> > Subject: Re: [AT] OT...Need some advice on old metal building
> >
> > On Fri, Sep 14, 2012 at 8:22 AM, Mogrits <mogrits at gmail.com> wrote:
> >
> > > I'm adding onto what's likely the oldest pre-engineered metal building
> > > I've ever seen, much less worked on for a customer. We are going to
> > > re-skin the existing building and add insulation while we're at it.
> > >
> > > However, the darned thing is sheeted with dome headed slotted screws
> > > and inside each has a square nut. Removing them is giving my erection
> > > crew a fit. Anyone have a suggestion on how to remove these things or
> > > a quick way to knock the heads off. It being a working building, it's
> > > really going to be an issue trying to get to the nuts when we get to
> > > the roof. We've tried grinding them off and chiseling them off but
> > > haven't found the right way to make some time.
> > >
> > > Thanks
> > > Warren
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> >
> >
> > Have you tried tightening them instead? That will probably snap them off.
> > Not sure if that's what you're looking for but...
> >
> > We put a hopper bin together with a dome shaped slotted screw with square
> > nuts and we could break those silly things with hand tools. Where the head
> > attached to the screwed part was soft, weak or whatever and would just pop
> > off if you reefed on it with a large screwdriver, let alone an open end
> > wrench. Made air tools useless since we couldn't set the torque low enough.
> > A butterfly wrench might work now but Dad didn't have one back in the day.
> >
> > Ken in AZ.
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