Check out what my sister found!
 

My sister is putting together a slide show for my grandparent's 50th wedding anniversary, and she came across this pic in her old photo books!

This is my GMC, the date is 1991, one year before it got parked in 92 :)

Looks identical to how it was when I bought it, smashed front signal light, bumper half torn off by a tractor, and I was right, it hadn't been washed in 10 years, :lol:

http://www.zieglerdigital.ca/public/...es/gmc-005.jpg

That barn it is sitting infront of no longer exists, I helped tear it down almost 5 years ago now. From left to right is my grandfather, my uncle Ken, and my uncle Gary.

Re: Check out what my sister found!
 

Sweet, its always interesting to see old pictures with trucks in them... Especialy when the truck is yours now!

Re: Check out what my sister found!
 

That old barn looked neat. Why did you tear it down? Man, it was big. Bet it took some time to tear down.

Re: Check out what my sister found!
 

Tore it down cause it was getting to be pretty unsafe, and we needed to build a new corral.

Took us about a week to prep it, then it took me about 15 minutes to tear it down with the tractor. Took months to clean up, as we burned the whole thing, but since the grass is very flammable, we had to wait till winter.

In its place is a huge nice corral, hoping to finish it this summer. It has taken us 4 of our 2 month summers so far, but there is still a bit to do.

Re: Check out what my sister found!
 

how cool! :metal:

Re: Check out what my sister found!
 

Man, that wood would have been great on walls. I had a house once with the basement finished with a bathroom and all made with old barn wood. Really looked great. Old barn wood is hard to come by.

Re: Check out what my sister found!
 

We've got tons and tons more where that came from -- At least 3 machine sheds full ;)

You're free to come and pack as much onto your trailer as you can manage :)

Re: Check out what my sister found!
 

looks like wormy chesnut....well, thats what its called around these parts

Re: Check out what my sister found!
 

Yep, lots of history to that old barn before it went down.

My great grandparents bought the farm back in `47. The purchase included the house, all of the buildings on the yard, and one section of feild to the west of the house. At the time, the ranch was a very active, and very busy place. It was one of the nicest ranches in Alberta at the time, aptly named the Royal Ranch. (our cattle brand is RR with an underline under it, and a cross after it)

That barn was only a few years old at that point, and get this -- It was painted Royal Purple, with gold painted trim :) Infact, all of the buildings there were, they all matched. There were two wells with windmills to pump the water, a blacksmithy, three machine shops, a hog barn, chicken coop, and dozens of smaller buildings for storage of various things, along with an absolutely gorgeous house.

I'm not exactly sure about the story behind how my great grandparents were able to buy it, but it was some crazy twist of fate as far as I am aware...

But yeah, my great grandfather was very penny pinching, and rather than maintain the ranch in it's former glory, he let it fall apart. By the mid 70s, he was tearing down and burning almost a building a year. He died, and my Grandfather took over. He never did much for maintenance on the farm either, he was far more concerned with buying more land to do farming on. He managed to round up about 3000 acres worth down there until he quit farming. During that time they also sold the old house, and built a newer one that I know and love :) Also put up a new giant machine shed that replaced all the older ones (which are probally going to come down this summer).

The farm is in my Father and his sister's possession at the moment, but it is only used as a cattle ranch now, rented out to other people. No idea what we'll do with it in the future, probally keep it around though :)

Re: Check out what my sister found!
 

We've got lots of barn lumber. My dad and I make picture frames out of it. I don't know how many barns we've torn down. I like it when there's an old guy telling stories about them. I also like it when they have lots of neat old stuff inside.:cool:

I'm waiting to tear one down and there's an old Chevy truck inside, and the guy tells me I can have it. :lol: