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GaRp58 said:
AD, glad to hear you can get going on the garden, my neighbor asked me to run a rented backhoe today to get the holes dug for the concrete pillars he needs for an additional storage roof being built behind his horse barn. Just a roof and no walls to park his tractors and stuff in winter. Glad to help him but even more glad to stay in practice on the backhoe...GP
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Working in the garden sounded like a good idea, but then it decided to snow today.
Two years ago I built a 12x24 foot extension on the side of my barn to park my tractor. It's just a roof now but I plan to close it in to keep the snow from blowing in.
I could use a backhoe up here a lot. It costs $200 just to get one here from town. So I end up digging a lot by hand. I have an auger for my tractor for digging post holes. It works great untill I hit rock, then I have to chisel the rest by hand. Some holes take a couple days for each hole.
 
GaRp58 said:
AD, glad to hear you can get going on the garden, my neighbor asked me to run a rented backhoe today to get the holes dug for the concrete pillars he needs for an additional storage roof being built behind his horse barn. Just a roof and no walls to park his tractors and stuff in winter. Glad to help him but even more glad to stay in practice on the backhoe...GP
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Working in the garden sounded like a good idea, but then it decided to snow today.
Two years ago I built a 12x24 foot extension on the side of my barn to park my tractor. It's just a roof now but I plan to close it in to keep the snow from blowing in.
I could use a backhoe up here a lot. It costs $200 just to get one here from town. So I end up digging a lot by hand. I have an auger for my tractor for digging post holes. It works great untill I hit rock, then I have to chisel the rest by hand. Some holes take a couple days for each hole.
 
I ordered the loud pool entry alarms from amazon today. It’s a 10 pack of peel and stick sensors that are really loud. I want them on every window and door downstairs. With my hearing loss at night in bed I can still heard these. I’m not worried so much right now about security but give this mess with people not having any income and we will see where we’re at then. I’m not expecting the police to be able to respond in a reasonable time here in the country.
 
Brent S said:
I ordered the loud pool entry alarms from amazon today. It’s a 10 pack of peel and stick sensors that are really loud. I want them on every window and door downstairs. With my hearing loss at night in bed I can still heard these. I’m not worried so much right now about security but give this mess with people not having any income and we will see where we’re at then. I’m not expecting the police to be able to respond in a reasonable time here in the country.
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I don't know if it's related to what's going on but it seems that recently there have been quite a few break ins and car thefts in my town.
 
KateMTx: The criminals know that this type of crime is next the bottom of the police response / investigation totem pole. As the police response go on certain crimes, those crimes increase in frequency. There are going to be a lot more of these crimes in the future.
 
Brent S said:
I ordered the loud pool entry alarms from amazon today. It’s a 10 pack of peel and stick sensors that are really loud. I want them on every window and door downstairs. With my hearing loss at night in bed I can still heard these. I’m not worried so much right now about security but give this mess with people not having any income and we will see where we’re at then. I’m not expecting the police to be able to respond in a reasonable time here in the country.
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What do I need to search for on Amazon to find these? What's the approximate cost? I feel like I need something for my big downstairs window.
Urbanprep said:
KateMTx: The criminals know that this type of crime is next the bottom of the police response / investigation totem pole. As the police response go on certain crimes, those crimes increase in frequency. There are going to be a lot more of these crimes in the future.
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Our town is just fine though, I guess maybe people are "bored" due to shelter in place but there isn't a lot of craziness or extra problems right now. It's scary how quickly people turn to crime I guess. I can only imagine what it would be like if it did get bad here.
 
KateMTx said:
What do I need to search for on Amazon to find these? What's the approximate cost? I feel like I need something for my big downstairs window.

Our town is just fine though, I guess maybe people are "bored" due to shelter in place but there isn't a lot of craziness or extra problems right now. It's scary how quickly people turn to crime I guess. I can only imagine what it would be like if it did get bad here.[/
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07ZMG4M85/ref=ppx_od_dt_b_asin_title_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
I think I looked up pool alarms. These were a ten pack for 45.00 with tax included. They are peel and stick, super loud and come with batteries. I feel pretty secure where I am and especially with three dogs and a locked gate but if the economy stays bad for a long time I felt these were a good idea. I am well armed and a good shot but being near deaf without my hearing aides (like when I’m sleeping) puts me at a disadvantage. I’m also hoping the loud alarm going off would help an intruder to decide to leave before I have a chance to confront them anyways.
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That post got put under the quote somehow...
Basically it was a ten pack of peel and stick contact sensor alarms for 45.00. They come with batteries and are loud. Under pool alarm I believe.
 
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I finished extending my septic line today and got the hole filled back in. Yay! Still have piles of dirt to spread to level the hill there and will tackle that tomorrow. Was glad to finish this unpleasant project...
I’m not sure if it was the cold snaps or the new brand of seeds I put out in the gardens but I need to go out and replant tomorrow to fill in the thin spots. Luckily I have years worth of seeds anyways. Sucks to be set back though. We will be in full hot mode before you know it. Would have been nice to have some four or five inch tall plants right now.
 
Brent S said:
I finished extending my septic line today and got the hole filled back in. Yay! Still have piles of dirt to spread to level the hill there and will tackle that tomorrow. Was glad to finish this unpleasant project...
I’m not sure if it was the cold snaps or the new brand of seeds I put out in the gardens but I need to go out and replant tomorrow to fill in the thin spots. Luckily I have years worth of seeds anyways. Sucks to be set back though. We will be in full hot mode before you know it. Would have been nice to have some four or five inch tall plants right now.
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The only thing that I've managed to plant so far were fish in the pond.
We had snow day before yesterday but the garden area has dried out enough, and thawed, that I'm going to start tilling untill dark tonight. Once I get the next 10 corral posts tamped in anyway.
 
Urbanprep said:
When installing these alarms to windows, be sure to install them where invaders are not going to see them. Too easy to break glass and disable the alarm.
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Hopefully the breaking glass would wake me too, but the alarms certainly would. I agree, they will be mounted on the frame and not in easy sight. I’m about to go check the box and see if they arrived yet. Amazon delivers on sundays too.
 
JackDW said:
Brent, check out Unistrut for mounting the solar panels. Can be found at Lowes and other stores. You can also find YouTube videos of others using the Unistrut for mounting solar panels.

Myself, I am using AGM batteries. Not saying they are the best but I feel are a compromise between flooded acid and (very expensive) lithium.

Good luck on your latest project.
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I ended up going with AGM batteries too. I wasn’t thrilled with buying batteries that will last 1/3 of the time as the lithium ones but I just couldn’t justify spending more money during the worst financial crisis I’ve seen in my lifetime. I ordered 6 100amp hour batteries and a decent 4000w charger/inverter that will do both 120v and 240v. I am going to set this up to run a 3000w daily load which isn’t much but it’s a start. I got the split voltage inverter so I can run the well with it in a pinch but don’t plan to on a daily basis. So far I’ve spent 2500 on the panels, ( 20 pcs of 250w) and another 2000. On the batteries and inverter/charger. I still need to do the panel mounting, wiring and such. Luckily being an electrician I have most of the wire but still expect to spend another 500 for racking and misc supplies and connectors easily. So, for $5000.00 I can run a refrigerator and a few lights... it is definitely much cheaper to just buy electricity! One thing I did do was get twice the amount of solar panels I needed. I found a deal on them with buying a whole pallet at once and bought them before doing the math. I can either sell half of them or will consider keeping them and doing a second separate system later on when I get this up and running. As soon as I get all the products here I will start a thread with photos of the project as I begin and progress.
 
Brent S said:
I am going to set this up to run a 3000w daily load which isn’t much but it’s a start
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That's more than a 20 amp home circuit. You might not be able to run ALL your 120 volt kitchen appliances at once, but you can run several. I have to remember not to run the microwave, toaster, coffee maker and rice cooker all at the same time if I don't want to have to run downstairs and reset the breaker, LOL.
 
DrHenley said:
That's more than a 20 amp home circuit. You might not be able to run ALL your 120 volt kitchen appliances at once, but you can run several. I have to remember not to run the microwave, toaster, coffee maker and rice cooker all at the same time if I don't want to have to run downstairs and reset the breaker, LOL.
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True, most calculations are done based on the maximum a circuit can carry. In reality most appliances are ran one at a time anyways. I will probably have several circuits connected full time just to offset the power bill a tiny amount and keep the system working. I mainly want it to ensure I have a backup for the refrigerator and well which are my main priority. A window unit AC for the bedroom would be a good use for the other half of the panels I ordered. It gets pretty warm in Georgia on summer nights.
 
Arcticdude said:
Got most of the trees, stumps and brush burned today for the new corral. The wind came up so I decided to let the fire die down. I'll start the fire again in the morning and begin digging the post holes. And order the lumber for the fence rails. Still need to buy more steel tubing panels and some gates too. I'll get them next week.
The garden is now free of snow and is drying out. I'm going to see how much I can get tilled before dark tonight.
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Everyday you are going 90 to nothing it seems. You are always climbing, building, on a roof etc. I sometimes imagine myself trying to keep up along beside you for a day... I always fail :)
 
I decided to order two more 100amp hour batteries for the solar system today. It will give me a little more of a safety net. One thing to be aware of with AGM and lead acid batteries is after a year you can’t add new batteries to your system. The new and old mixed together will create an imbalance and put a strain on them. With lithium this isn’t an issue. So, due to this I decided to err on the side of having a bit of extra storage. This gives me 800 amp hours of power storage now. I got the first six batteries delivered today, amazon is awesome! The panels are coming on a semi some time today too. I can’t wait to get everything together and figure out where to lay out everything and come up with a plan for it.
 
WOW, lots going on with you solar project. My thoughts when going with AGM is if they last a couple years, by then either lithium will have become cost effective or a better type would have hit the market.

If things work out as I hope, I will greatly increase the size of my system. In addition to the Frig, the other main (must have) is the well pump (240v), which the current system cannot handle. Adding extra batteries is always a good idea for those period where you don't have sun for a few days.

As a electrician, you have should be able to work out the necessary breakers and fuses. That is what most concerns me. I have an idea what is needed but that is the area which makes me nervous.
 
Gutted absolutely bloody sodding gutted, this lockdown has had one very undesired affect on me physically. I used to be able to walk / stroll quite happily for an average of 5 miles with a day pack. Now I've just done two bloody miles and I'm totally knackered. Its amazing how quick you lose muscle tone in your sixties. this has really pissed me off.
 
well, I'm going out on a nice stroll this incoming saturday,just hope the weather will be nice as it's time for the annual minimun 25 km,with 10kg pack, it will be intresting to see how my knee reacts to it as its still hurting,maybe I take some pain meds with me ,just in case...atleast my boots are "walked in",have the right socks etc..
we do this march with the unit every year, last time the only casualty was my big toe nails..
 
If I had to bug out or had to walk home from the local city I would really now struggle to do it in a day, this is a major issue for me to contend with.
 
BillMasen said:
Gutted absolutely bloody sodding gutted, this lockdown has had one very undesired affect on me physically. I used to be able to walk / stroll quite happily for an average of 5 miles with a day pack. Now I've just done two bloody miles and I'm totally knackered. Its amazing how quick you lose muscle tone in your sixties. this has really pissed me off.
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Y'alls lockdown must be much stricter than ours. We're allowed to go out for walks as long as we stay away from others not from our household, which suits me just fine.
 
jontte said:
annual minimun 25 km,with 10kg pack
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C'mon jontte, my 1st EDC is over 2 kg and the 2nd EDC is 12 kg. BOB goes for 24 Kg without water. Get a move on and get into shape again. I've had surgery for a broken backbone and have cracked my breastbone too. It is better to burn out than just slowly fade away!! Have fun on your trip tho and build up a bit of comradery. GP
 
I will,well my edc is usually around 5kg,as I have a H2O bladder init,full of course ans the route is looking good,though it ends with a looooooong uphill walk, yup my place is situated on a hill ;)
this time my starting point is from where I live,I'll quite wait for it,it's alot better to do that than sit over at the bar and drink.
 
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