[AT] 1935 JD B Testing progress.

[Cecil Bearden]

To all of you who have roofs built like this Morton bldg I had. This is 
before the failure caused by a little tornado that did not show up on 
the weather radar, but it flipped a Trailer house a mile SW over on its 
roof in nearly the same place it was sitting, blew another shed over 
between me and the trailer, and pulled the roof off of my building and 
laid it out.

If you look at the pic I attached, note the hangars for the roof purlins 
only go 3-1/2 inches down on a 11-1/2 inch truss chord. Every one of 
those trusses split just below the hangar.  My other Morton building 
that is 8ft.  deeper uses a 2x5 for the top chord but it is braced much 
more.   I didn't get any warranty on this as it was moved from a 
location about 1/2 mile away.  My insurance also was not worth filing a 
claim as I would pay for the claim in increased rates in 3 years.  I 
raised this building 1f. by Nailing 3x12 Oak boards below the outside 
tin, then set the posts ( which were cut off about 2 ft below ground 
level when moved ) into holes and then drove a 6 ft T post in the ground 
5 ft on each side of the post, and fastened  the post to the T post with 
1-1/2 9 gauge galvanized straps.   All 8 posts were done this way.  It 
was a 14 x 36 bldg with 3  12ft bays.  I had nailed 2x8 lumber cross 
braced and crossed between the front and rear posts to brace the 
building and also to hold it on a trailer.  I left the cross bracing 
just to have additional strength and to conserve energy (mine).  The 
straps pulled the knobs of the T post into the wooden  post.   The wind 
pulled the laminated posts apart as those laminated posts are not 
continuous.  They are made up of 2x6 or 2x8 treated lumber 12 ft long.

My anchors worked, but according to the Morton rep, warranty was no good 
as the building had been moved, and the original posts had been cut off, 
and were not concreted.  As a forensic engineer, the failures of the 
posts showed me that my anchoring system worked. They said I could file 
a claim with their warranty group.  I decided the deck was stacked in 
their favor.  I figured out how to build some steel trusses and fasten 
them to the roof section that was upside down.  I had the material for 
it and started building the trusses.  We had a 70mph wind gusting to 90 
from the North when a cold front came through a few months later and 
blew the entire building across the 20 acre wheat field.

Never again will I buy or build a wooden building in Oklahoma...

I know this is long, but this is what the weather does to us in 
Oklahoma.   I always tell people who complain about the wind and stupid 
crazy weather here that this is the Reason the Indians were so pissed at 
the white man.  Can you believe trying to live in a Tipi in a 70 mph 
wind, or when it gets covered with an inch of ice.   Our trees are 
mostly gone from the last ice storm in October.  This weather is crazier 
here since there are so few airplanes stirring up the upper air.   It 
has to have some effect..

Cecil

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