Kennel of the century

Well, as I have said, I am in the process of moving. Have sold the house(man, I sure did love the place, gas was killing us as we had a 45mile drive to work/church,etc., had to move closer) and bought the new one. I had asked for input on a kennel, and all here suggested fence the yard and chain setups, which is what I have now. However, me and my hard headed self, I wanted them on a slab instead of fencing the yard in. Fencing the yard would have been cheaper, but my setup will be allot easier to clean/feed/keep parasites down, etc.

I am welding the panels together, and when finished I'll post some photo's. It is amazing how much fencing has gone up. 50' of #9guage chain link is now $225(about 4.25 a foot). Security panels are 5' tall,16' long, and are 6 guage,they are 60 bucks ea.(4.00 a foot).

I was gona set my posts in the slab, but when I saw the price of steel, I decided to build the frames to where I could take them with me if I decided to move again. So..

I have the Panels framed in 1 7/8" galvanized pipe with the security panels welded to. The pattern is 2"X4", and once they are put together with the roof, I believe that I could put a wildcat in and it would hold.

The whole kennel will have a gate in the middle, and a 4' path down the middle. all the gates to the 4 pens and 10 runners open in the middle. Have a 2" gap under the pens for cleaning, and the slab is poured with a keyway at the end so I can add to when needed. I dont have near as many dogs as I did before the hip replacement, so this will accomodate me for the time. The runns are 4'X14', and the pens are 14'X14'. There still may be 2 of them that I will have to put on a chain setup, as their noses may slip through the fencing, they are little 30lb dogs.

Anyhow, I will be keeping an eye on the set up for a while, and I have one in particular who is an escape artist, so if there is a weakness, she'll find it. The worst thing is the time factor. I am not halfway finished welding the pens, and I am moving most everything Saturday. With this hip thing, all that bending over is killing me. I pushed myself setting the forms and welding for 3 days, and was in the bed for the next day and a half. I tell you, if you have your health, cherish it. You do not know what a blessing you have till you get hurt. About 6 years ago I had a 25' pipe fall and hit me in the lower back while I was bent over putting a saftey harness on, and it messed me up!! (sorry bout the rant).

Anyhow, when you see these pens, you'll trip, as I have never seen anything like this, except for the Zoo. LOL.
Later

 

Sounds heavenly!!Cant wait to see the pics as I am putting in a kennel this summer.I feel your pain,they put me out to pasture with a busted back.Any tricks on walking them hard pulling dogs.

 

I would use plane pipe, the coating is going to burn of the areas you are welding and rust eventually, so plane pipe with Rustoleom would work.

 

I am putting cold gal on the welds, but I got the pipe at a very good price for what it is costing these days, and believe me, I checked everyway possible. The pipe I got right now costs $35 a joint(24' joints), and I got it for 15, no tax. Shoot, angle iron where I am costs 23 bucks a joint for 2"!! Steel has just gotton outrageous, and is steadily going up.

 

Well at least you got a deal, I hate welding galvanized metal and wont anymore. You get 1000X your daily Zinc intake from inhaling the fumes, lol.
Were I am there is a scrap metal place that you can get full lengths of steel for scrap price which isn't cheap, lol.

 

Yea, I hear you on the fumes. Have several exhaust fumes running in the shop. Got a bit too much the other day, milk helped.
Yea man, it's crazy how much steel is now. right now is a good time to take all them junk cars and scrap them!!!

 

I was just wondering how the kennel turned out.

 

Yes. Have your kids do it.

 

d

They are working great, as far as kennels go. It has been easier w/ dealing with fleas and ticks. This is the first time I have ever had dogs on a slab, and it is more work keeping clean. Seems like the dogs like having it dirty. I spray it clean, and by the time I cut the water off, they done crapped it again. Yesterday one of the dogs crapped three times in a row, each time after I cleaned it's area. If you decide to put one on a slab, for one thing I would have made the slab slick. I put a broom finish on it, to keep me from slipping, and it makes the crap stick easier to the concrete. slick it down so the crap will just slide off. For another thing, I made the kennel with a run in the middle where the doors open, if I did it over, I would have had just one row of kennels, with a run on the outside. But the kennels I have are bullet proof.

 

when are you going to post some pics of those bullet proof kennels?

 

sounds like a great plan, can't wait for pics.

 

Okay, Okay, I'll go and take some for you. Just have to remember how to post them. Do I have to put them on a photo type bucket, or can I upload them directly to this site?

 

Unless they are small, photobucket I guess.

 

Can't wait for those pics!

 

Here are some. I havent put the lid on it I want yet, so I have the screen over part of the pens for shade, and the other part there is fencing wired to the top to keep them from jumpin/climbing out. What ya thinik?

OOPs, trying to get it in there.

 

Dang, I can't see it

 

The pics not showing up for me.

 

What about now?

 

They worked that time. The kennels look real nice. If you dont mind me askin how much did the total setup set you back?

 

There we go. Excellent looking kennels. If I may ask, what was the total material cost and set up time?