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Oh poo poo the sky is on fire!!!!!  apatite fucked around with this message at 13:49 on Aug 21, 2015 |
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Dec 4, 2012 17:55
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Just stopping by to say this is all completely awesome and I'm very jealous. Keep up the fan-loving-tastic work.
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Dec 4, 2012 18:00
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Rotten Cookies posted:Just stopping by to say this is all completely awesome and I'm very jealous. Keep up the fan-loving-tastic work. Thanks!!! Don't be jealous, use it as motivation  Most of my time at work for the past year has been spent reading forums like countryplans.com, small-cabin.com, etc. Many of the years before that were spent doing research as well though I suppose...The thread is all current now so it will slow down a bit unless you folks have questions or comments or whatever, so fire at will  Here is the 12v on demand water pump I was talking about : http://www.ebay.com/itm/Shurflo-Par...49984%26ps%3D54 It's meant for an RV apparently. Hooked directly to my 12v battery bank that is charged by the PV panels, and has an internal pressure switch so that it comes on when the faucet is turned. Works like a drat charm. Probably going to combine this with an on-demand propane water heater to provide hot water to the shower and sinks. And here is another recent acquisition: http://www.amazon.com/Morningstar-TriStar-MPPT-Charge-Controller/dp/B0057RQU64 A Morningstar TriStar45 45amp charge controller for the PV panels. The plan is to hook this up to the current panels, but upgrade the batteries and buy a charger to hook to my briggs&stratton generator. This spring we will then upgrade the panels. We should be able to upgrade the batteries and panels again after that, without having to buy a new charge controller.
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Dec 4, 2012 18:20
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Great thread! I'm looking at doing something similar to this maybe eight years down the road. Are you far out enough that you don't have to worry about building permits and such or is that a hassle?
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Dec 4, 2012 18:37
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Its probably too late now, but are your porch supports resting directly on dirt? Those will rot away pretty quick if they are, my porch is all spongy because the guy who built it put the wood right into the dirt and it got full of bugs.
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Dec 4, 2012 19:19
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apatite posted:Thanks!!! Don't be jealous, use it as motivation I've always dreamed of building my own place. And between you and Slung Blade, I don't even feel like it's that far fetched at all. You know, just have to finish college and have more than a hilariously tiny amount of money to my name.
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Dec 4, 2012 19:21
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apatite fucked around with this message at 13:50 on Aug 21, 2015 |
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Dec 4, 2012 19:52
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You must have been one hell of a fort builder growing up. You should build a bunke...oh wait, the rocks. Build a tree house too!! and a watermill! and um..a dirtbike track!
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Dec 5, 2012 05:21
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Things are really coming together for you, a lot of progress from beginning of the thread to the end. We had the same problem with Black Locust trees as you have with American Beech, my uncle told me the only way to kill them was to drive in a copper nail which would slowly poison them or cut a ring around them and they basically slowly bleed to death. Not having a copper nail, I opted for ringing and it worked well - no baby locust trees popping up.
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Dec 5, 2012 19:47
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What sort of elevation changes are there on your property? Have you given thought to microhydro power? You can get serious amounts of juice out of surprisingly small streams if you have enough of a drop. Looks like it'd be an issue in winter though.
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Dec 5, 2012 22:12
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wormil posted:Things are really coming together for you, a lot of progress from beginning of the thread to the end. We had the same problem with Black Locust trees as you have with American Beech, my uncle told me the only way to kill them was to drive in a copper nail which would slowly poison them or cut a ring around them and they basically slowly bleed to death. Not having a copper nail, I opted for ringing and it worked well - no baby locust trees popping up. Thanks! ringing is an acceptable practice for American Beech as well apatite fucked around with this message at 13:51 on Aug 21, 2015 |
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Dec 6, 2012 16:49
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What your doing is awesome, but I've been wondering why you've built the trailer into it when you've put a roof over the top of it as well. Is it to save having to put in more walls, because I'd have thought that an extra wall would cost less than a trailer? or is there something else that it adds?
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Dec 7, 2012 00:01
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Gotta admit, I'm jealous. I'd love to do something like this, and probably will as soon as I get to a point where I can afford land.
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Dec 7, 2012 02:47
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How's the area for wildlife? Are you a hunter? With an orchard going in I'd imagine you'd have some opportunities. Can't have a homestead without bear fat you know.
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Dec 7, 2012 04:06
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Solly posted:What your doing is awesome, but I've been wondering why you've built the trailer into it when you've put a roof over the top of it as well. Is it to save having to put in more walls, because I'd have thought that an extra wall would cost less than a trailer? or is there something else that it adds? I think the way it went was He had the trailer for months(?) before hand and was camping in/near it. Someone offered him a free deck so he took it and is enclosing. Makes sense to put the roof right the way over all of it as he can then insulate above the trailer and keep it warmer and not worry about water and snow pooling on top.
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Dec 7, 2012 11:19
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This seems like the best place to ask this, but a while back I stumbled upon a forum of people doing similar type projects, I don't think it was homesteading so much as it was small house / cabin type projects. Googling around I couldn't find anything that looked familiar, anyone have any ideas? Re: Roof over trailer. I'm also guessing that eventually if the trailer becomes ill suited to continue to hold up he can fairly easily pull it out of there and then build on the "rest" under the roof. Trailer out, stick built in. There was a family in a nearby community that lived in a trailer for a long time and built their dreamhome around it, I'm talking like very nice home w/ indoor pool and stuff. Personally I think more people should consider this, if you can get over the "ewwwwwww trailer" stigma you can buy one cash, and save your pennies and build as you go and have a paid for house in a number of years. I mean trailers are pretty poorly constructed but they're liveable, you know? e: Ok I'm loving stupid I think the site was http://www.small-cabin.com/forum/ dreesemonkey fucked around with this message at 17:58 on Dec 7, 2012 |
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Dec 7, 2012 17:55
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Rotten Cookies posted:I've always dreamed of building my own place. And between you and Slung Blade, I don't even feel like it's that far fetched at all. Man, I'm just a dude who had a house built in the country, apatite puts me to shame. And yeah, I would totally start building a mill pond. So many uses for a good torque shaft.
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Dec 10, 2012 07:45
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I did some pickaxe-ing this weekend to see how it would go. Were you guys just loving with me or what?  Whoever said before in this thread that rocks shatter has some pussy rocks, is what I'm saying here. apatite fucked around with this message at 13:52 on Aug 21, 2015 |
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Dec 10, 2012 18:48
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apatite fucked around with this message at 13:53 on Aug 21, 2015 |
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Dec 10, 2012 19:28
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apatite fucked around with this message at 13:53 on Aug 21, 2015 |
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Dec 17, 2012 17:35
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That shitter is going to be fun once there's some snow on the ground...
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Dec 17, 2012 20:58
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yaffle posted:That shitter is going to be fun once there's some snow on the ground... I'll have to keep it shoveled out (no stranger to this), or maybe will be able to just make a close pass with the plow... We'll see  Really though it will probably see very little use in the winter time, as one of our more immediate plans is to get a composting toilet setup. making GBS threads in the cold is terrible. Besides that, I consider myself a free man and piss wherever I drat well please, like a free man should be able to!
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Dec 17, 2012 22:47
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This is my favorite thread. How close is the nearest grocery store?
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Dec 18, 2012 20:32
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splendadietcoke posted:This is my favorite thread. How close is the nearest grocery store? apatite fucked around with this message at 18:39 on Feb 16, 2016 |
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Dec 18, 2012 22:27
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apatite fucked around with this message at 13:54 on Aug 21, 2015 |
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Dec 20, 2012 15:50
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I'm from Florida, so feel free to laugh if these questions are stupid. How do you keep the PV panels clear of snow, do you brush them off in the mornings or does the snow melt just by the sunlight hitting the darker panel? Do you keep a large food store if you get snowed in for a long period of time?
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Dec 21, 2012 02:14
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TooLShack posted:Do you keep a large food store if you get snowed in for a long period of time? That's what deer and traveling salesmen are for 
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Dec 21, 2012 07:41
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apatite fucked around with this message at 13:55 on Aug 21, 2015 |
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Dec 21, 2012 15:37
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Hey apatite, if you don't mind saying, where (roughly) are you building this? I've helped my parents turn an old farm into a nice house (and now a burgeoning compound) in the middle of nowhere about halfway between Cortland and Norwich, and it sounds like you might be neighbor-ish.
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Dec 21, 2012 16:16
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Oh god this is all completely  and at the same time. Amazing.
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Dec 21, 2012 17:53
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This is amazing. You're a very lucky and talented man, good luck on this project!
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Dec 23, 2012 21:27
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<pv stuff goes back here>
apatite fucked around with this message at 13:59 on Aug 21, 2015 |
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Dec 26, 2012 17:44
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apatite fucked around with this message at 14:01 on Aug 21, 2015 |
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Dec 26, 2012 20:34
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apatite fucked around with this message at 14:01 on Aug 21, 2015 |
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Dec 26, 2012 21:01
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Man, that is a *lot* of loving snow. You looking into some kind of garage / building for all your vehicles? There is nothing worse than having to brush/scrape off your car every drat morning.
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Dec 28, 2012 17:19
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Holy poo poo that's a lot of snow! I grew up on the beaches of Southern California...why would anyone want to be stuck in all that snow? It makes my feet and hands hurt just thinking about how cold it is. Great job on the progress so far!
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Dec 28, 2012 17:43
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Amazing thread. Thank you for the updates. Quick question about the solar and the batteries. Do you keep the batteries heated at all normally when you aren't there, or do the get warmed up when the stove is running? Are you worried about loss of battery efficiency with cold temps?
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Dec 28, 2012 19:25
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apatite fucked around with this message at 14:01 on Aug 21, 2015 |
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Dec 29, 2012 17:45
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What you're doing is seriously awesome, and I look forward to more updates. I'd like to do something similar in the future, but nowhere near as remote (I like line power, cell phone reception, and maybe garbage pick-up). But please buy your wife something nice for having to put up with an outhouse, and your father for all the rescuing he seems to be doing.
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Dec 30, 2012 05:19
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apatite fucked around with this message at 14:02 on Aug 21, 2015 |
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Jan 2, 2013 17:03
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