Cob: RE: Wood stove in cob wall?- flat tired

[Michael Fitzgerald]

Hi Chuck:

I just thought of you today when I was trash picking for various building
projects we have going. There in the trash was an old iron tire for a wheel
barrow.

A digression:
Now 20 years ago I served a Stationary Engineer apprenticeship that was
almost all coal shoveling and consequently a lot of wheelbarrow work. Most
of the guys liked to use pneumatic tires because they would easily run over
a piece of coal on the floor. The iron tire could be stopped or shifted and
make you lose your load if you didn't have control of it in the first place.
I never liked the pneumatic tires because they always went flat. Once you
learned to hold the load the iron tire would pulverize a piece of coal and
you didn't get that annoying bounce that sends 3 or 4 shovels of material
spilling out. I have since collected iron tires whenever I find them and
have never had a wheelbarrow out of commission.

Which brings me to why I thought of you:
Right next to this iron tire in the trash was a set of plastic sand filled
curling weights. And it struck me that one could probably take the 10 or 20
pounder and use it as a wheel that would never go flat. You might have to do
something fancy to get the axle hole to the correct size.

I have an iron tire for you in Michigan if you ever get up this way.

Good luck, with your building and keep the Bengay nearby.

Michael Fitzgerald
Anthropologist/Woodcarver/Puppetmaker