Cleaning out an old dairy

I have been working on cleaning out an old Dairy that has been shut down for many years. This week I got the OK to remove all the equipment in the the basement. There is a huge York ammonia refrigeration compressor pump that stands 4 ft. tall with a 49" dia. by 7" pulley. The ammonia system was drained and shut down when the dairy closed. Also will be removing all the boiler piping, unit heaters and radiators throughout the building. I removed the boiler over winter which was 9' long and around 3000#. The biggest challenge will be breaking this stuff down small enough to carry it up the steps. Sure wish the elevator was in working order but it is stuck and was disabled on the 2nd floor when the plant closed, three phase power is no longer available in the building to operate it along with other obvious safety and maintenance issues. Most of the equipment dates back to the 1950's.

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You might want to contact Patriot76 as he has a lot of experience tackling large projects. He might have some tips for you. Sometimes 2 heads are better than one.

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Originally Posted by pappawheelie

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Those radiators will have more than scrap value. The ornate radiators are in more of a demand. if they aren't clogged they will be reused.

Eric

I live in the Chino Valley in Southern California, this once was the most highly concentrated "Milk Shed" in the nation. The dairy industry peaked here in the early 90's. With 400,000 cows on 350 dairies all on 17,000 acres (wall to wall dairy land). When I bought into the landscape and construction business (also in the early 90's), I inherited some of the owners of the larger dairy operations (in this state and nation). These guys lived no where near their dairies (about 15 miles away), their homes were "mini mansions" in the foothills. They were no longer just dairymen, but bankers and land developers. My company "specialized" in the needs of large residential estates (large homes with even bigger lawns and lots of flowers). My growth plan for our company was to diversify into commercial property maintenance and management (that's 100% of business now).

Those dairymen became one of my companies best assets! In 1997 we converted one of our first dairies to a shopping center. It was the demolition of dairies that really got my attention, that there is a lot of money to be made in scrap metal. Those dairies were more like milk factories, with lots of metal. All the good stuff too, stainless, copper, brass, aluminum and tons of steel. We sub-contracted the demo out back then, what I know now, that is one of my missed opportunities, but a lesson learned. Those dairies were all built in the early 60's, upgraded with total automation and "show case" facilities. I'm sure you will do well with your dairy demolition and I hope it works out with huge dividends for you.

The dairies here are almost gone, down to about 20 dairies with less than 15,000 cows. That 17,000 acres will eventually be built out, into more Southern California urbanization. The master plan calls for more than 50,000 new homes, millions of square feet of both retail and industrial property. With less than 500 acres of open space designated, this area will now be wall to wall pavement.

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Originally Posted by etack

Those radiators will have more than scrap value. The ornate radiators are in more of a demand. if they aren't clogged they will be reused.

Eric

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Yes Eric everything with value will be sold. Only the absolute junk gets scrapped. Even the "plain" radiators are worth way more than scrap if useable.
The building was rented out over the years to a Home Improvement Co. and a computer recycler and I hauled out several large loads of windows and old vintage computers which will all be going up for sale when sorted. I got roughly a hundred old Apple computers with the deal.

Has the refrigeration equipment decommissioned properly. My concern is for whatever refrigerant was used if allowed out could fill the basement displacing the air. I recall some older refrigerant being ammonia. Take the time to do it correctly for your safety and of course to comply with the regulations on refrigerant.

Looks like a great project. Mike

Sounds like a great project... +1 on what MikeD stated above, even the tiniest amounts of ammonia can overcome a persons respiratory system.

I have had similar Rads and have tried selling on several occasions without success...hopefully your market is better. Scrap prices were much, much better at that time and guesstimating some of the weights of completed sales on Ebay and then calculating what they sold for by the pound, it was comparable to scrap price at that time. Then figuring the PITA factor for storage and shipping I eventually scrapped them after several months. YMMV

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Originally Posted by etack

Those radiators will have more than scrap value. The ornate radiators are in more of a demand. if they aren't clogged they will be reused.

Eric

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thats the first time I've seen something so fancy like that, they sure are pretty!

Pwheelie
It sure sounds like a lot of back breaking work to carry that stuff up stairs. If you can get some ¾” plywood for free or cheap you could build a ramp on the stairs and use a winch or come-a-long to bring it up.

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Originally Posted by Abuilder

Pwheelie
It sure sounds like a lot of back breaking work to carry that stuff up stairs. If you can get some ¾” plywood for free or cheap you could build a ramp on the stairs and use a winch or come-a-long to bring it up.

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Yes Abuilder, it's been a real workout so far. I don't think the stairs are even wide enough or strong enough to handle the "large" items. I am used to letting my machines (forklifts / Bobcat) do all the heavy lifting. I could possibly winch this stuff up through the elevator shaft. But I am going to take a serious look at getting the elevator working again. I can power the elevator with a Rotary Phase Converter to get the three phase power I need. Then I can get the stuff down from the 2nd floor as well. Upstairs there are 5 cast iron radiators, an industrial radial arm saw, a large double door safe and a vault door in a frame! I would prefer NOT to leave anything behind.

Upstairs items in these pics. I can get the saw and vault door down the steps if I disassemble them. There is no way I'm going to attempt that with the safe, it's probably over 3000#, closer to 4000. Although launching it down the steps sounds like a fun, crashing through the front wall of the building into traffic is not an option.Attachment 2322Attachment 2323Attachment 2324Attachment 2325

Cooling coils removed from 1st floor ceiling this week. 4 sets, each 1000# x 10 feet long. Separated each section into 4 layers to get them down to a more manageable 250#. Built out of 1-1/4" sch. 80 pipe. All lifting done by hand......Uhg, and cutting of pipes done by Portaband; bolts by 6" cut-off wheel. 2 guys start to finish, 5 hours, 4000# total, Caaaaching!Attachment 2326Attachment 2327Attachment 2328Attachment 2329Attachment 2330Attachment 2331

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Originally Posted by miked

Has the refrigeration equipment decommissioned properly. My concern is for whatever refrigerant was used if allowed out could fill the basement displacing the air. I recall some older refrigerant being ammonia. Take the time to do it correctly for your safety and of course to comply with the regulations on refrigerant.

Looks like a great project. Mike

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Yes Miked the equipment WAS decommissioned when the plant was closed, which was verified by a commercial refrigeration technician I had inspect the building. It is an Ammonia system, which is common for a large commercial operation. Just learned this past week: Ammonia is LIGHTER than air and will fill a room from top to bottom. Safety is always a high priority in all my work.

Papawheelie - Your thought about the elevator is right on target. In the old power plant we used the old cables and a single phase chain hoist to move oxygen and propane cylinders up 10 floors. We also made our own cart because the original elevator was to heavy. Good luck. It sounds like a fun project.

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Originally Posted by Patriot76

Papawheelie - Your thought about the elevator is right on target. In the old power plant we used the old cables and a single phase chain hoist to move oxygen and propane cylinders up 10 floors. We also made our own cart because the original elevator was to heavy. Good luck. It sounds like a fun project.

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Hello Patriot, I followed your project, it looked amazing! I have a Rotary Phase Converter which is large enough to power the 3 phase elevator. The elevator motor and winch system are up on the roof in their own little dry shed and seem to be in very good condition. I have an Industrial Electrician buddy coming to check it out to see if it would be safe to put power to it. I enjoy a good challenge and this project is most certainly delivering.

Progress this week:
Box of live ammo found under a locker. 6) 20mm x 115 yellow and red tip, 1) 20mm x 138 and 1) 30mm x 168 cannon rounds.
Some kind of Screw Press, bottom rotten from basement flooding. Says: "OIL SCREW OF LIFE" at top, Used for ????
Load of unprepared hauled in; pipes, tanks, coils and boiler, only 8700#. Current price @ $150nt.

I like looking at casings of old ordinance but that stuff gives me the hibbie-jibbies. I would maybe call someone who can take it (gently) somewhere and blow it up...

The cooling system pipes steel or copper??

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The cooling system pipes steel or copper??

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I think you'll find it's iron pipe.

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Cooling coils removed from 1st floor ceiling this week. 4 sets, each 1000# x 10 feet long. Separated each section into 4 layers to get them down to a more manageable 250#. Built out of 1-1/4" sch. 80 pipe.

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Looking forward to updates. Thanks for sharing.

Thanks for the pictures. The press is a cheese press used to press out the whey from the curd to form a block of cheese for aging. I would think the screw and top mechanism would have some value to a woodworker or a winemaker.