Best Chain for Fire damaged barn cleanup?

[Finnbear]

My barn burnt down yesterday. I lost a truck, two cars, 3 farm tractors, a big W&S lathe, a big Welsaw bandsaw, a bunch of lawn & garden equipment and untold amounts of tools and other stuff. I didn't lose any saws since they were out in the shed. I'm left with a 50x100 ft pile of half burnt rubble and twisted iron. I have lots of half burnt barn beams with lots of nails in them that need cut to manageable pieces so I can drag them out and burn them in the field out back. What is my best bet for sawchains to use on these beams? Would those Rapco carbide chains work or should I just sacrifice a couple worn chains and plan on throwing them away when I'm done?

 

[livewire]

Man that sucks, Finnbear!! I'm sorry to hear that and I hope everything will be covered in your insurance!

Chains for beams with nails? I'd rather destroy a couple RM's than one of those pricey carbides! From what I understand the tips are brittle so they don't like the abuse. I could be wrong, though.

 

[West Texas]

That's a bummer for sure; sorry to hear of your loss. That's a heart breaker for sure. After a loss like that I'd say screw the chains; just start cutting and hope that you miss most of the nails. Good luck and Godspeed.

 

[Lakeside53]

Buy a metal detector - even one of the Home depot $60 Zircon units used for finding rebar in concrete.. It will tell you if there is a nail in a beam...

Sorry for your loss.

Personally, I'd get a small track hoe in, drag it all out, stack it up and burn..

 

[Four Paws]

Sorry for your loss.

Personally, I'd get a small track hoe in, drag it all out, stack it up and burn..

My thoughts exactly! Then haul off the iron to the scrap yard.

 

[windthrown]

Agree with all here. Sorry for your loss. It would really suck if we lost our barn here. Agreed about the RM chain too. I use them on slash pile cutting where there are burned ends and potential for dirt and sand. Also if you have some RM2 or other type of safety chains that you do not want or use, this is a great place to use them up. Save the good chains for other stuff.

 

[Gologit]

You'ver already got good advice for chains. I just wanted to say I'm sorry for your loss. We run some cows and one of the worst things I can imagine is losing one of the barns.

 

[bookerdog]

Sorry to hear about your barn. I know my own barns don't look great but, are very valuable to me

 

[MikeInParadise]

Very sorry to hear about the loss of your barn.. That just sucks big time!!!

The other thing you might consider is the combo wood/metal 12 inch blades on a reciprocating saw. I have torn down several building using these and they saw through nails and wood very well.

I have no experience with carbide chainsaw chains but I do know that hitting nails with my chainsaw caused me to switch to the reciprocating saw pretty quickly.

 

[XJWoody]

Very sorry to hear about your barn

 

[SRT-Tech]

Sorry to hear about such a loss Finnbear

as for the timbers, i would avoid crawling around in the wreckage......if the beams are twisted up or under tension, you may be placing your safety at risk if you cut a beam and it shifts, or causes another beam to shift onto you. I would highly recomend the use of a backhoe or similar, with some chocker cables to pull everything apart. SAFETY FIRST!

 

[redprospector]

I'm sorry for your loss.
Make sure the lathe, bandsaw, and other machines are really scrap before scrapping them. My dad lost a large industrial wood shop to fire in the early 80's, I was amazed at how many of the machines we were able to put back in service. A lot of cleaning, bearings, motors & wireing, but that's cheaper than replacing the entire machine.

I have ripped down a few old buildings with a chain saw. I use up my old chains & hope for the best with nails.

Andy

 

[Uwharrie]

Finnbear, If you will send me your size chains that you need, I'll send you two new chains free. I would like to have the same treatment if I had a loss. Tony

 

[computeruser]

Sorry about your loss.

If I was closer I'd give you a hand with the clean-up.

 

[sawinredneck]

That is rough!!! Very sorry to hear of this!! I agree with Lakeside, a small trackhoe with a graple or thumb would be the best bet for this mess, trying to get in there and cut and not get hurt is going to be very difficult to say the least! I have done it both ways, trust me, pay for the rental!

 

[Bowtie]

As an excavator (trackhoe) operator, thats a job for one for sure. Looks in the pic like maybe a couple of the timber rafters may still be useable, but pictures can be decieving. That sucks for you to lose the structure, as well as the contents. Good luck Finn.

 

[mattinky]

Man, sorry to hear about your loss, my house was hit by a tornado just about a year ago - I know how it feels. Matt

 

[OLY-JIM]

Bad Stuff!

Buy a metal detector - even one of the Home depot $60 Zircon units used for finding rebar in concrete.. It will tell you if there is a nail in a beam...

Sorry for your loss.

Personally, I'd get a small track hoe in, drag it all out, stack it up and burn..

I'd go with Lake on this one, looks like you have a real mess on your hands. This happened to my dad back in the early 80's...although, he didn't loose any where near the amount of equipment that you did. Stuff like this is bad news!

Best Wishes,
OLY-JIM

 

[beelsr]

My barn burnt down yesterday.

Dude, that sucks, bigtime. Do you have homeowners insurance? If so, does it have outbuilding protection? You should at least call you agent and see if there's anything that he/she can do for you...

As for the demo, go with the sawzall. lenox bi-metal blades (forget their trademarked name for 'em) are the best right now. Cut through damn near anything... usual caveats about demo/storm cleanup being the most dangerous work....

 

[chowdozer]

Sorry to hear of your loss.
I'll 2nd or 3rd the recommendation of a Sawz-All.