Tires




		Last updated Thursday, January 17, 2002

After laying out where the walls should go by placing straight string lines for the straight runs, the curved part of the U's and the cisterns were marked by pounding in 6 ft pieces of 5/8 rebar, tieing a string and a stick to the end. Thus marking the curved line with a string compass.

We went to one of the local tire shops and were welcomed with smiles and open arms. We were assured we could haul away as many tires as we wanted and didn't need to ask. Later another tire shop loaned me a "Tire" trailer so we could haul 300 at a time. We ended up with about 950 tires. The sizes were, ap. 350 16's 350 15's and 250 14's.

Janis and I pounded the first 5 tires around the middle of August. We were building an Earthship!

The next week I hired a helper who is still working with me 6 months later. Robert is pictured below standing next to the 6 ft. rebar and string compass. The west cistern is at the top of the picture.

We are doing the first layer. The ground is very rocky and very hard. I am determined to get the entire first layer done and level within 1/2 inch. That's the variance I have set up to accomplish through the entire tire pounding process. If you click on the image to view the full size picture you can see the transit/level we are using to check the level of the tire course as we move along. We check it every 6 or 8 tires.

Further along we are stepping into the cliff in the master bedroom U. I didn't have ready access to a backhoe at this time so we dug the tire course into the cliff by hand. By this time I am getting an idea as to how much labor is going to be needed to pound 950 tires.

On the second level, I poured my first partial tire! That was a red letter day. I used metal lathe attached to the adjoining tires with anodized 1 1/4 inch sheet rock screws. Stuff little rocks into the corners if the lathe doesn't fit tight to stop the cement from leaking out. You can also use pieces of cardboard screwed to the lath and tires to plug up openings. We used a sand and gravel mix with Portland cement in a 1 to 5 ratio with industrial fibers. Our pile of apx. 950 tires is in the top part of the picture.

We've been working on and off for a month on tires. The first course was really a chore. Leveling off a 3 ft square of earth for each tire in this rocky hard soil was very time consuming. It often required the use of a pick and bar. This summer New Mexico had a 100 year rain. It rained almost every other day sometimes 3 or 4 days in a row. I thought this was the desert! From the pictures you can see how green it is. I cut in our road just two months ago and haven't put any base rock down. After 15 minutes of rain its a slick as snot. So is the ground around the Earthship. Not easy to work in at all.

We are at the third level now. Below is a picture of the east cistern. You can see the rebar/string compass in the middle. It is used to position the tires in a circle.

Another picture of the third row with Janis is looking up at me as I take the picture. I'm standing on the hill side we are building our ship into.

We're up to the 6th row now! Its starting to feel like a building now. At this point I have started going though some of the local labor force. Janis, myself and our original worker are hanging in there but I've seen 5 different workers come and go. I'm certainly feeling like a tire expert by now.

Well, its been another month. I now have 4 reliable workers and the tire wall is growing every day. The front of the U's and the cisterns are over 7 feet high and we are stepping back at a 2 inch per foot run towards the back of the house. This will be the slope of the roof. I plan on using a concrete bond beam to attach the trusses to. The straight part of the U's are getting pretty wiggly when your pounding tires 7 ft high. I'm assuming the wall will stop wiggling when the bond beam is in place. When the walls get this high getting dirt into the tires for pounding becomes a problem. We pounded in teams. Two people to a tire, one to shovel and one to pound. I used stacks of straw bales for the shoveler to step up on so he or she could get the dirt into the tire. I pinned the bales with a couple pieces of rebar nailed all the way into the ground to stabilize them. You can see the cement partial tires at the end of the U and a few where the U's join together.

Here I am looking over the greatly reduced tire pile. After having hundreds of tires to choose from its a surprise to not be able to easily find the tire I need. Were getting near the end and will have used over 900 tires for the main tires walls. We will still have the front face tire wall to do after this.

A good shot of pounding a tire on a 10 ft tire wall. At least on one side its 10 ft. We have been filling in behind as we went up so its only 1 to 2 feet to the ground on the side you cant see. It still looks like a long way down when your swinging a 8 lb. sledge with all you've got to get that stubborn tire to come up another 1/2 an inch.

The last TIRE in the main walls!!! What a day that was! We still have the front face tires to do but this was reaching a major goal!!!

You can see the 2 to 12 slope that the tire wall is stepping up. It turned out we used 16 inch tires for the first 4 to 5 courses, 15 inch tires for the next 4 courses, and 14 inch tires for the final 4 courses.

Miller Time!!!!!

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