Re: What to use to melt ice

On Mar 5, 9:47 am, Stephen King <sk...@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
letter...@xxxxxxxxxxx wrote innews:jtvss3t5oplfc8b2l1mmdhupduhtj11r26@xxxxxxx:





I could not get in one part of my barn yesterday, where I keep
chickens and other small animals.  I can not remove the windows
without destroying them, since they are attached from the inside, and
I can not remove the metal barn siding because I dug the sheets about
10 inches into the ground to keep coons from digging under the shed to
kill chickens.

I installed the door with slopeing soil in front and made the door 5
inches above ground level and put a chunk of railroad tie into the
ground and nailed a 4x6 on top by the door (also so coons can not get
in).  Anyhow, the door is normally 5 inches above ground level, and
with the tapered ground in front, it opens to nearly 10 inches above
the ground.  There is also a 30 inch overhang above the door.  I built
it last summer and intentionally made it this way so I would not get a
snow buildup blocking the door.

However, we have had the most severe winter in years.  Even after
shoveling and plowing snow away from doors and walkways, there is
literally a two foot (or more) snowpack everywhere.  I now hit my head
on that overhang all the time because I forget about it.  We keep
going from snow storms to partial melts and back below zero.

What has happened is that I would shovel by those doors, but we have
been having occasional melting then freezing.  All the water has run
into the shoveled out section on front of that door because there is
no place for it to go.  Well, now it's above the door and I can not
get inside.  I was able to take off a small piece of metal siding
above one of the windows yesterday, so I could toss a bucket of feed
in there and lower a pail of water with a rope.  However, I will need
to get in there somehow, and soon.  

I thought about taking the door off at the hinges, but it's still
frozen into the ice and even if I get it off, then I will have coons
getting the chickens.  This is solid ice, not just frozen snow.

What can I pour on that ice to melt it, but not eat away the metal
siding of the building?  I know rock salt will ruin the metal.  I know
there are other chemicals made for ice, but which would be safe on the
metal?  OR  Is there something electrical or propane powered that will
work but not set the shed on fire?  I know a regular propane torch
would melt the ice and I could keep it away from the wood, but that
would likely take hours.  I have a torpedo heater but how would I
direct the flame and heat at the ground?  Normally I find a way to
deal with this sort of thing, but this one has me at a loss.  

Yes, I could take an ax and chop at it for hours, but that will keep
happening every day, unless I can chop it to bare ground for about 30
feet from the door so the water runs toward a ditch.  Maybe they make
some tool that I don't know about.....

Anyone have any ideas?

Thanks

Stop sending fake messages here.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Ah, a man with a mind like mine! I have been wondering when someone
would call 'troll'. There is enough clues in the OP to make it obious
that such a biuld up of ice could not happen.

Harry K
.

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