Undead Forums of ZS

I figure this is where I'll continue my old post. I think I'll link it in my bio and update this first part with the important info.

The wife and I live on a 5 acre plot 20ish miles south east of Seattle. We are inheriting the land from my grandparents who currently also lives on it. They are both 89yo grandma still active and mobile grandpa is able to walk short distances. They built the garage and house by themselves on the weekend over a few years while the both of them worked at Boeing. Grandpa being a the way he is built everything to withstand nuclear blasts. It has central wood heat that when power is on is forced air, but when power is down it still is able to eat by rising through the vents. The house is a very open floor plan so that the heat can move around without getting blocked by walls or anything else.

Our plans for the future are to start removing a few of the large Doug Fir trees around the garden so we can start gardening. Currently we get about 4 hours of direct sunlight. We build an open end hoophouse last year when the pandemic hit. We have taken it down and are starting to rebuild the garden in a way we think will work better. We have currently removed the small raised mounds and made one large huglekulture mound where we have transplanted our herbs. We plan on building at least 2 more hopefully 3 inside the hoop house once we get a frame build for it.

Other projects are to get some wind turbines up into some trees and play with converting lighting in the house to 12v LED and to power a 12v pump for our rain water catchment. Eventually weld like to get one of the 10x10 connex containers and put in our generator, and a batter bank and try to be as power self reliant as possible.

I think that is it for now. I'll update more later and make some posts. It's weird starting this thread all over.

It may be weird, but I'm glad to see you still at it.

...even if the environment's different, I can avoid your mistakes with my own later efforts.  8)

Quote from: boskone on June 06, 2021, 11:49:53 PM
It may be weird, but I'm glad to see you still at it.

...even if the environment's different, I can avoid your mistakes with my own later efforts.  8)

To be honest I gave up social media I got banned on facebook for the 12th time in 18 months. The last one was for a post on our fireplace in the trailer. Just a few picture and talking about my plans. Boom, "against community standards" appeal and under 2 minutes later, denied. So I'm done. This is where I'll be updating my stuff just as kind of a keepsake, like my social media was.

The next post once I get the pictures uploaded will be what got me banned. Our wood stove setup. Yep a wood stove in a trailer. Some (most) called me crazy!

Good to see this thread continuing, I'm mildly jealous of your setup! My sister's got a 10 acre smallholding but for economic reasons - living where my job is - I'm on 1/8th of an acre ...

Quote from: Halfapint on June 06, 2021, 11:25:24 PM
Other projects are to get some wind turbines up into some trees and play with converting lighting in the house to 12v LED and to power a 12v pump for our rain water catchment. Eventually weld like to get one of the 10x10 connex containers and put in our generator, and a batter bank and try to be as power self reliant as possible.

The economics might be different for you - you might have reliable strong winds - but here in the UK. even though we've got some of Europe's biggest and most productive large-scale wind farms, small-scale wind isn't generally viable. There was a lot of interest in it ~10 years ago and you could buy 5kW wind turbines from B&Q (our Home Depot) but the actual output of those turbines once installed was pitifully low.

Solar PV and even solar hot water, despite the UK's cool and cloudy climate, are both much more effective and continue to be installed on residential premises.

Quote from: sheddi on June 07, 2021, 04:45:48 AM
Good to see this thread continuing, I'm mildly jealous of your setup! My sister's got a 10 acre smallholding but for economic reasons - living where my job is - I'm on 1/8th of an acre ...

Quote from: Halfapint on June 06, 2021, 11:25:24 PM
Other projects are to get some wind turbines up into some trees and play with converting lighting in the house to 12v LED and to power a 12v pump for our rain water catchment. Eventually weld like to get one of the 10x10 connex containers and put in our generator, and a batter bank and try to be as power self reliant as possible.

The economics might be different for you - you might have reliable strong winds - but here in the UK. even though we've got some of Europe's biggest and most productive large-scale wind farms, small-scale wind isn't generally viable. There was a lot of interest in it ~10 years ago and you could buy 5kW wind turbines from B&Q (our Home Depot) but the actual output of those turbines once installed was pitifully low.

Solar PV and even solar hot water, despite the UK's cool and cloudy climate, are both much more effective and continue to be installed on residential premises.

Thanks for the kind words.

We are on the west side of a downward hill. The good news is we always have winds. Most days it's a consistent 6-10, while most turbines start to produce power at around 8mph (I should say most commercially available), so 6 being the very low end we could have powe most of the day. I actually made for a friend using a very low RPM motor off a jetway (the thing you use to board an aircraft. It was only rated for about 200rpm. I built the turbine using 20' 1" steel tubing that was 1/4" thick walled. While it does bit move fast it produces a lot of power. It was also a vertical axis turbine which I think on a small scale much more efficient of a design.

Bit of a tangent but during the pandemic I actually started climbing trees to help an arborist friend. I've got 150' ish tall trees all around us. My throughly is to delimb one, go up about 120' and drop the top off it, and mound the turbine at to top of the tree, then run the power able down through conduit. Being DC I would either have to have very thick wire or try and get the turbine to price 48V or more so it can run the length I need down the tree to the power shed.

I would MUCH prefer solar. It's kind of a setup and forget thing. But like I said we are west side of a hill with 150' tall trees. We don't get sun to the majority of the property until 1145-1200 around the summer solstice, later the rest of the year. And even then we only get about 4 hours of direct sunlight a day. So sadly, for now, solar is just a dream. As is wind, but it's a goal to work toward!

I mentioned before that one of the first thing we did after living in the RV for a bit was order a woodstove. We moved in just after xmas 2019, so pretty much when it starts to get cold around here. We first were like lets heat this thing up and keep it toasty in here (wife is a reptile). Well after blowing through 3ish gallons of propane in a day, we backed off on the heat. We set the temp to 65, but even at that temp, and the electric "fireplace" going 24/7 we still were burning 2-2 1/2 gallons of propane a day.

I found a company in Canada that made woodstoves for RV's, boats, and tiny homes. I did some research and found overall positive reviews of the stove. It's the Cubic Mini Grizzly, and overall I'm happy with it. I'll explain down below the issues we have with it. We ordered it early January and it was delivered early February. The biggest issue is we didn't/don't want to cut holes in the RV roof to put the flue through. this thing is wired with so many lights and stuff we dont want to mess it up. Plus it's heavily insulated so we didn't want to mess that up. The second problem is this only has 2 windows that slide up, the rest open at the bottom and push out. So we removed the dinette, and set about making a cover for the window. Mind you this was middle of the cold rainy part of the winter and didnt have a lot of time to mess around. It wasnt pretty but it worked (pics below). Well June came and we finally got enough warm weather to take it out, so I set about working on a new area to put it. Came up with the ingenious idea of putting it in the emergency escape window at the back (totally safe I know!!!!). Well this is where it's at currently for our second winter in the RV. ad for our third winter, I've come up with something even more crazy, but you'll have to wait and see for it.
The first year we simply put concrete blocks in the RV and set the stove on those. The second year I had a plate of 3/4" steel cut and I welded legs on to it. Then drilled holes and put bolts through the plate and the legs to make sure it doesn't move.

Now to the issues we've had. This isn't a problem with the stove itself more, the way we use it. See this thing is small, the largest pieces of wood we can put in this is about 8" long and that has to go in diagonally. the optimal size for this is about 5-6" facing door to back of stove. The biggest problem with a small stove is the absolute lack of draft, it doesnt have enough combustion area inside to really draw air. Because of that, the manufacturer say's DO NOT put any bends in the flue. Well the only way to vent out a window is? Yep, put in bends. The only other issue is the amount of creasote the stove makes. It could be our fault because of the bends in the flue, but we have to clean this thing once or twice a week. If you dont, well you're living in a smokehouse then.

again, the stove has run flawless, and the only issues we've had are most likely self made. Though this coming winter. I hope to have rectified the problem, so standby.

You can see the fantastic job I did. Oh yes, peak safety here. Is that flue meant for multi fuel fires? Ha ha.... no. Yes, kitty was in time out.
(https://i.imgur.com/txOiCRD.jpg?1)

For size comparison, the stove is about the size of my cats head. Joking around, those are standard cinderblocks.
(https://i.imgur.com/oXtnWmR.jpg?1)

Next we have the build of the stove stand. Do you notice a trend? Correct, safety 3rd or 12th in some cases!
(https://i.imgur.com/OwsXafv.jpg?1)
(https://i.imgur.com/luY95LN.jpg?1)

here is where I realized I forgot to cut one of the legs at the correct angle so it's sticking straight down. It was corrected after picture was taken
(https://i.imgur.com/ExfPonH.jpg?1)

And here is the much more professional installation of the flue pass through.
(https://i.imgur.com/BjRWEYR.jpg?1)

And our little festive corner during the holidays! Awwwww so cute!
(https://i.imgur.com/Vr7jImD.jpg?1)

Well, I suppose that's one advantage I'll have here: it rarely gets cold enough here for me to even turn on the heater.

I mean, excepting this March.  :P

Quote from: boskone on June 07, 2021, 07:43:00 PM
Well, I suppose that's one advantage I'll have here: it rarely gets cold enough here for me to even turn on the heater.

I mean, excepting this March.  :P

It's usually high 30's low/mid 40's in winter. Rarely do we get colder than 20's. But it's cool enough that for long long periods of time. We started burning wood this year I believe in late September, and I've got an intermittent fire going this week because it's been in the 50's. So we burn wood 8-9 months of the year it seems in the trailer.

Sounds like your early summer temps are similar to our deep-winter temps.  ;)

Quote from: boskone on June 07, 2021, 09:08:33 PM
Sounds like your early summer temps are similar to our deep-winter temps.  ;)

In that case you would be very interested in the dual AC units. Lemme tell you about them! I rarely use them. That's all I got :smiley_crocodile:

Quote from: Halfapint on June 07, 2021, 09:48:08 PM

Quote from: boskone on June 07, 2021, 09:08:33 PM
Sounds like your early summer temps are similar to our deep-winter temps.  ;)

In that case you would be very interested in the dual AC units. Lemme tell you about them! I rarely use them. That's all I got :smiley_crocodile:

Oh, hell yea.  One thing I picked up on was that, around here, anything over about 25' you want dual units, 15k if possible.

With my probable model, it'll be a single 15k unit.

I'm interested in how your hugelkultur mounds work out. I've been wanting to make some as a lot of this area has thin soil and junk trees, plus the main thing is I'm just sick of bending over all day in the garden.

Growing up we had a small wind turbine that was not nearly enough to power the place, but was pretty convenient as it would keep out batteries topped off if we couldn't get back to the house for a while for some reason.

Quote from: Optimist on June 08, 2021, 04:15:35 PM
I'm interested in how your hugelkultur mounds work out. I've been wanting to make some as a lot of this area has thin soil and junk trees, plus the main thing is I'm just sick of bending over all day in the garden.

Growing up we had a small wind turbine that was not nearly enough to power the place, but was pretty convenient as it would keep out batteries topped off if we couldn't get back to the house for a while for some reason.

So far so good. Our soil is only about 6" deep where that gardens are because under them is hard pan. So these mounds should really help give us some depth. They have kinda shrunk down, so even rough I've got herbs in them I'll probably be building them up a bit more. I'll make a post either today or tomorrow. We haven't had any real hot days, one or 2 in the 80's but when I went down there under about the first 1/2 of soil it was really moist. So that gives me hope that we won't have to water as much.

Wind can go either way, you really have to scale up. My cousin actually build is own, 3d printed the motor housing wound the copper, build the housing and blades. It's not great but it's a proof of concept. He's a hell of a lot smarter than I am and will probably bring him down here to help me build mine. I usually use large slow spinning (2-300 rpm) motors. That way you rely on the load and the slow nature of the motor to make sure it doesn't go crazy and spin too fast.

A buddy of mine is running his house off a turbine I built him. He averaged about 1.3Kwh and has a MASSIVE battery bank. He actually is using 6 or 8 of those huge forklift motors.

Have you built VAWTs or HAWTs?

Glad to see this thread being continued! Reading these sort of posts let me live vicariously through you, given that my current location is in the Detroit suburbs! Someday I'm hoping to be able to move to a nicer (larger) location, but for now I'll just follow along to get ideas for the future!

Quote from: boskone on June 09, 2021, 02:48:48 PM
Have you built VAWTs or HAWTs?

VAWT, with the motor I used it was simple just a direct attachment of the pole. I put some bearings on the pole and guylies attached to the bearings for stability. Sadly I lost the pictures when my old phone was destroyed.

Quote from: EBuff75 on June 10, 2021, 12:02:24 PM
Glad to see this thread being continued! Reading these sort of posts let me live vicariously through you, given that my current location is in the Detroit suburbs! Someday I'm hoping to be able to move to a nicer (larger) location, but for now I'll just follow along to get ideas for the future!

Thanks! I'm glad you like it! Yeah for years I was living in downtown Seattle then the burbs. Now thst im out here it's so nice and relaxing. I'm busy as hell, but it's a busy I like.

Quote from: Halfapint on June 07, 2021, 12:31:30 AM
[
To be honest I gave up social media I got banned on facebook for the 12th time in 18 months. The last one was for a post on our fireplace in the trailer. Just a few picture and talking about my plans. Boom, "against community standards" appeal and under 2 minutes later, denied. So I'm done. This is where I'll be updating my stuff just as kind of a keepsake, like my social media was.

W.T.F.!?
Was this a specific group you were in that you were banned from? Or was this a normal post on your own wall and you were banned from Facebook as a whole?

I'm glad to see this saga continue here. I'm comfortable working at heights. If I don't have too much going on when you put up the turbine, I'd love to come down and help.

Quote from: RoneKiln on June 10, 2021, 11:15:11 PM

Quote from: Halfapint on June 07, 2021, 12:31:30 AM
[
To be honest I gave up social media I got banned on facebook for the 12th time in 18 months. The last one was for a post on our fireplace in the trailer. Just a few picture and talking about my plans. Boom, "against community standards" appeal and under 2 minutes later, denied. So I'm done. This is where I'll be updating my stuff just as kind of a keepsake, like my social media was.

W.T.F.!?
Was this a specific group you were in that you were banned from? Or was this a normal post on your own wall and you were banned from Facebook as a whole?

I'm glad to see this saga continue here. I'm comfortable working at heights. If I don't have too much going on when you put up the turbine, I'd love to come down and help.

Fun story, it was on my own wall. They came back after their usual iron fist and said they made a mistake. They said the post would still be be taken down, but I was no longer banned. Well I made a comment on a farmer losing cattle to eagles and said, we should do what we did to wolves and eradicate them. Oops, that's against community standards as well. Well I got reinstated, then got banned again for a post I made 9 years ago.

All that in less than 2 hours. These were on my "wall" except the eagle post, which after review, was found to be against standards, then was overturned because of "context"

I'm not one to ever complain against immigrants, but they (Facebook) admitted that most of their English reviewers were non native speakers. They past a test, and they are considered proficient. Sarcasm isn't on the test. So if you make a smartass comment, expect to get banned. I've been banned so often that even though I can no longer request a review of my material they do anyways. But they always, and I mean ALWAYS will find a way to ban me again. This time for a 9 year old post. Last time it was because I said "hoe much did you pay for that, minus the Uncle Sam tax"

I was first banned because of the hoe, that's hate speech. Then after they realized it was a typo, they banned me again for the "uncle sam" which is racists. So banned for that.

Once a month we are hosting a little BBQ get together for friends and family on the property. We were showing a couple of friends around and we were down by the well. Well (heh) I noticed at the time there was a wet spot on the ground. I thought that's odd maybe its a spring coming up. Then earlier today it dawned on me, there's never been a spring, and the wet spot was about 40' from the well..... SHIT!

So yeah, went down there with the tractor and took the top foot or so off and broke up tree roots, started digging..... Houston we have a problem.

(https://i.imgur.com/PgWiWhc.jpg?1)

Could be worse, could be a huge section that burst, as it is it's actually the coupler that fractured. I'm guessing a tree root or something put enough force on it that it split. I ran down to the hardware store and they of course didnt have any schedule 80 1 1/4 PVC. They had some flexseal tape that I'm going to give a shot just for today and tomorrow so I can find if any of the other stores have some...... Great way to start my vacation.

That doesn't look too deep. We had a freakish bad freeze up here that froze some of the underground pipes until it finally snowed. Did that hit as far south as you?

Quote from: RoneKiln on June 12, 2021, 02:29:20 AM
That doesn't look too deep. We had a freakish bad freeze up here that froze some of the underground pipes until it finally snowed. Did that hit as far south as you?

Nope, we didn't get much cold recently. And it's about 2' down it doesn't look that deep in the pictures. I actually used some flex seal on it and it worked! 🤣 at Lowe's currently to get a coupler

Quote from: Halfapint on June 12, 2021, 12:11:26 PM

Quote from: RoneKiln on June 12, 2021, 02:29:20 AM
That doesn't look too deep. We had a freakish bad freeze up here that froze some of the underground pipes until it finally snowed. Did that hit as far south as you?

Nope, we didn't get much cold recently. And it's about 2' down it doesn't look that deep in the pictures. I actually used some flex seal on it and it worked! 🤣 at Lowe's currently to get a coupler

Flex Seal - like JB Weld - has its uses. Handy stuff to keep around. :smiley_coffee:

Quote from: Tony D Tiger on June 13, 2021, 04:03:02 PM
Flex Seal - like JB Weld - has its uses. Handy stuff to keep around. :smiley_coffee:

JB Weld and I go a LONG ways back. I just found flex seal when it was recommended to me as a good tractor seat repair. And I just found the roll of stuff and holy crap. It legit worked better than I could have expected. It didn't stop the crack but it did cut it down by more than half. When I did the repair my plumber neighbor laughed then saw it and was impressed himself.

Anyways I got the coupler and then realized that I couldn't get the old coupler off, so I went back and got a bone fitting. It's a coupler that allows you to cut the old one out, and slide
This one around the pipes and tighten it down. It has rubber gaskets on either end to seal it off. Works a real treat!

Today (well technically yesterday), wife and I woke up and said, eff it! Road trip! Drive down to Portland OR, there's a woodmizer store down there and we wanted to see what a wood mill would cost and actually play with one. Tested out a model up from what we were looking at, full hydraulics, nothing done by hand on this one. Cool let's talk numbers

$35,000 even the model down from the one we tested was like 26k. We can't justify that price. The real kicker, 47 week waiting period. Possibly longer. Eesh

Driving back and I suggest seeing if we can find a used one. She finds on Craigslist a company selling sawmills. Many of the features of woodmizer, but this one has a remote, you stand back adjust the height and forward and back motion via remote. Best part? All the options we want, comes in at like 12k. So we might be taking a trip to Spokane to check them out.

Once back home I canned up some veggie stock I made on a whim yesterday and pour myself a drink, phone call from grandma. "There's a leak in the bathroom" wall down there ana the bathroom is flooded. It's cleared out into the bedroom, the separate sink area, and I to the hall way. Go down stairs to her shopvac. Down stairs is WORSE! Literal puddles of water on the floor. The water leaked into the HVAC vents and is pouring out of the vents.

The cause? The toilet float valve isn't adjusted properly, it was filing up to the handle and pouring water out of the handle. We sucked up probably 20 gallons of water from the carpets and then our shop vac started acting up. Going to check in AM and try to asses damage. May need to call professionals. Make sure things aren't worse on the inside of the walls. Downstairs carpet I'm not too worried about. It's on concrete. Upstairs though. Oh that could be bad. Oh did I mention WALL TO WALL carpet. Yes, even in the bathrooms.

Off to bed.

Damn Halfapint, that REALLY sucks.

It's probably not much consolation, but luckily we're going into our drought season. I hope that helps everything dry out over the summer and prevents rot and mold issues. This would be 20 times worse rolling into rain season.

I know there are dehydrators for sucking moisture out of buildings, but all I'm finding via google is food dehydrators. Even when I type in "building dehydrator," I get how to build a food dehydrator.

Anyone else know of good...

Duh, dehumidifier. That's the word I was looking for. I see tons of options online. I bet some local equipment rental places have them as well. I hooe you can suck all that moisture out before real damage sets in.

We have a large one in the trailer that we run in the winter. It's down there along with all the fans and windows open. We are suppose to get a bunch of hot weather so hopefully that'll help.

I spent 10 hours down there running the shop vac. It's moist, I'm going to call the insurance company tomorrow, honestly didn't even THINK about that until about 2000. So up tomorrow and making a call.

In the plus side the carpets have FINALLY been cleaned. Grandpa was bragging that they look so good because they don't wasn't hem because that ruins carpets and..... well the BLACK liquid coming out tells a different story.

Oh and before I knew what was causing the leak, I shut off all the water from the pressure tank to the house. Well now that valve is leaking. It's just a slow drip but man, can a guy get a win around here?!?

The leak was caused by the float valve not adjusted properly, but years and years of the iron in our water collecting in it made it heavier. It just got so heavy it started pouring out. Simple things, so I've replaced the float valves, in both toilets to make sure that doesn't happen again.

HP:  This thread is the Grade A+ meat of any forum.  Awesome.  Just f'ing awesome.

You are truly living the dream! :D

Quote from: MPMalloy on June 20, 2021, 07:20:54 PM
HP:  This thread is the Grade A+ meat of any forum.  Awesome.  Just f'ing awesome.

You are truly living the dream! :D

Keep reminding me that it's the dream as I'm vacuuming water out of carpets for 11 hours, then find a valve by the pressure tank started leaking because I turned it off when I didn't know where the bathroom leak was, then find out that my temp fix on our supply line blew while we were having fathers (or grandfathers) day dinner. Luckily I had bought 4 if the temp replacements when I was at Lowe's. So I was able to have it fixed in about 10 minutes!

It's funny it's the our 1st anniversary today but neither is us wanted to do anything. So we cleaned out the carport. The grand parents built this before the house was built so they could store wood. So this has been standing for 45+ years. But being on a hill they had to dig it into the hillside. So 2 of the 3 supports on the right side are completely rotten because the hill had collapsed and buried them. So our job this week is replace the rotting 4x4's. Bonus points because the 4x4's we got for free a couple weeks ago are perfect!

Anywho. I'm wishing all the fathers out there a FANTASTIC day!

Perhaps this time next year there will be a little Halfapint terrorizing the world. But you guys will be along for the ride so buckle up!

Probably going to be long post, so I apologize. After the water line break, and the flood, I replaced the float valves in the toilets. Then grandma mentioned that all the facets are leaking. So off to Lowe's I go, I bought 1 kitchen faucet, 3 bathroom faucets, and 2 complete overhauls for the toilets.

The kitchen was a pain because a plumber has come in and redone some fittings and shut off valves. So it took a few trips down to local hardware store. (Tangent) around here you go to Lowe's or HD for most stuff, but if you need real help, by people who probably have more than a 15 minute course in the department they are working, you go to McClendon's. So 8 trips that day to MC's and I finally got the kitchen faucet replaced.

Now, the bathrooms. The shut off valves in here were original from when they built the house, and I tried as I might not to shut off the water to the house, but finally told them I had to because nothing fit. After an hour of listening to grandpa complain that he might need this or that with water I said, well I'll just leave the one bathroom faucet shut off and the water can remain on. Well apparently having to share a bathroom sink was a no go more than having the water off for an hour or two.

Went down to MC's and we searched every fitting, every thread type they had in plumbing, and after having no less than 6 associates all now wondering what this shut off valve fitting was, we couldn't find it even in the nuts/bolt section. It's a smaller than half inch, but bigger than 7/16th and wasn't metric. So everyone gave up and I bought new shut off valves, adaptors, braided hose. Two hundred and fiddy doll hairs later, I'm back at the house and replacing the sinks. First sink goes great, start working on second and realize the box is missing one of the compression valves that comes with it.

After a few profanities and almost throwing things though a wall, I decided I was done for the day, and would pick it up tomorrow. Just going to exchange the faucet tomorrow and put a new one in.

Fun fact, the plumber who did the shut off valve to faucet connection, made his own adaptor. It was literally just copper tubing, with a braided on thread that had MAYBE 2 threads on it. The other side was some of lock washer, with a molded putty that hardened to form threads. Now this lasted 40 years without a leak? I'll never know. Oh, and lastly, grandma has ALWAYS complained that her sink didn't have the pressure that grandpas did. Well after taking the faucet out, the copper line had 2 full twists on it. Didn't fully close it off, but definitely reduced flow.

That's all for now.

Tried using the attachment to post pictures but. Internet here sucks too badly that it times out me thinks. Nothing wrong with the forum, just my internets.

I've always found doing the actual plumbing work is easy. But getting all the right parts together is a nightmare and sometimes makes it worth just hiring the plumber.

Next month my Dad and I replace all the water lines on my parents place. So if I mysteriously vanish next month... Someone come bust me out of the asylum.

Quote from: RoneKiln on June 25, 2021, 01:31:24 AM
I've always found doing the actual plumbing work is easy. But getting all the right parts together is a nightmare and sometimes makes it worth just hiring the plumber.

Next month my Dad and I replace all the water lines on my parents place. So if I mysteriously vanish next month... Someone come bust me out of the asylum.

100% get it! I was going insane! Ugh. I don't like doing this stupid stuff, I just want to play on the land! 😩

Quote from: RoneKiln on June 25, 2021, 01:31:24 AM
I've always found doing the actual plumbing work is easy. But getting all the right parts together is a nightmare and sometimes makes it worth just hiring the plumber.

Next month my Dad and I replace all the water lines on my parents place. So if I mysteriously vanish next month... Someone come bust me out of the asylum.

I would rather rewire a breaker box than have to do most plumbing jobs - particularly on older houses where nothing is standard/done properly (like mine)...

Quote from: EBuff75 on June 25, 2021, 10:04:48 AM

Quote from: RoneKiln on June 25, 2021, 01:31:24 AM
I've always found doing the actual plumbing work is easy. But getting all the right parts together is a nightmare and sometimes makes it worth just hiring the plumber.

Next month my Dad and I replace all the water lines on my parents place. So if I mysteriously vanish next month... Someone come bust me out of the asylum.

I would rather rewire a breaker box than have to do most plumbing jobs - particularly on older houses where nothing is standard/done properly (like mine)...

I feel that in my bones. I finally got the rest of the faucets done just in time for the weather to decide WA is the new AZ. Installed some window  AC units down at the house so the grandparents didn't die. Checked on all the older neighbors to see how they are doing, everyone is doing good. Only one doesn't have any AC, she's going to call me if she needs to cool off.

Quote from: Halfapint on June 28, 2021, 02:04:55 PM

Quote from: EBuff75 on June 25, 2021, 10:04:48 AM

Quote from: RoneKiln on June 25, 2021, 01:31:24 AMI've always found doing the actual plumbing work is easy. But getting all the right parts together is a nightmare and sometimes makes it worth just hiring the plumber.  Next month my Dad and I replace all the water lines on my parents place. So if I mysteriously vanish next month... Someone come bust me out of the asylum.

I would rather rewire a breaker box than have to do most plumbing jobs - particularly on older houses where nothing is standard/done properly (like mine)...

I feel that in my bones. I finally got the rest of the faucets done just in time for the weather to decide WA is the new AZ. Installed some window  AC units down at the house so the grandparents didn't die. Checked on all the older neighbors to see how they are doing, everyone is doing good. Only one doesn't have any AC, she's going to call me if she needs to cool off.

What are the reasons that "joe/jane on the street" say are behind/causing this?

Quote from: MPMalloy on June 29, 2021, 11:40:33 PM
What are the reasons that "joe/jane on the street" say are behind/causing this?

Sorry MP didn't see this, reasons for causing the heat wave? Honestly not sure. The trade winds went way WAY north. And we just got this pocket of stale are floating above us.

Summer is here and projects are a callin! Sadly we haven't been doing much. I cleaned the garage and made myself a little rolling weld table bought a cheap harbor freight cart. Welded on a Stella plate and now it holds most of my stuff and I can roll it to where the light if better. I wanted to clean it up because it was a mess, and because I've got some car projects to do on the rides car. Why do it on gravel when you have a nice flat floor?!

Other than that it's been slow going. Work changed my schedule and I'm having a hard time waking up earlier than like 10-11am when I'm used to being up at 7 or so.

Think I'm going to try and get more of the Ferguson projects done. I got some of the parts back from my buddy they were going to paint them but they've been so busy they hadn't had time to do it. So I'll rattle can then satin black and get it rolling then replace the clutch. Rather have a working tractor then a pretty one!

This summer has been a bust as it comes to projects around the property. Grandma was in hospital for 2 weeks, she's fine now, in fact she's back to her old self so that's great news. Bur in those two weeks it was me taking care of grandpa and working. No complaints about that that's why we moved up here in the first place was to help them out.

Though yesterday when working o had a lightbulb moment. We've been supplying the RV with water via a hose because the valve that I was going to connect to for water was leaking and in a weird spot. I bought a new valve for it but when we had the well supply line issue I couldn't for the life of me get that old valve out, so I kinda just gave up and moved on. Well yesterday I was looking at
The valve I bought and realized there are no gaskets so if something is leaking, you tighten it. Ran down and tightened the top but and presto. No more leak. Two years. It took me 2 years to figure that out... I r smrt

So now I want to figure out where the hoses run and see if we can get water up to the trailer via the the underground system.

Other than that we may have some exciting news coming up but we are waiting a couple months to make sure.

Quote from: Halfapint on August 07, 2021, 07:54:33 PM
This summer has been a bust as it comes to projects around the property. Grandma was in hospital for 2 weeks, she's fine now, in fact she's back to her old self so that's great news. Bur in those two weeks it was me taking care of grandpa and working. No complaints about that that's why we moved up here in the first place was to help them out.

Though yesterday when working o had a lightbulb moment. We've been supplying the RV with water via a hose because the valve that I was going to connect to for water was leaking and in a weird spot. I bought a new valve for it but when we had the well supply line issue I couldn't for the life of me get that old valve out, so I kinda just gave up and moved on. Well yesterday I was looking at
The valve I bought and realized there are no gaskets so if something is leaking, you tighten it. Ran down and tightened the top but and presto. No more leak. Two years. It took me 2 years to figure that out... I r smrt

So now I want to figure out where the hoses run and see if we can get water up to the trailer via the the underground system.

Other than that we may have some exciting news coming up but we are waiting a couple months to make sure.

sometimes, that's all it takes. Other times... "tink! 'F@ck!!"
Glad it worked out for ya'.  :smiley_coffee:

Hey all! Sorry love had been hectic. The ride and I welcomed our first born in March, I took the 12 weeks paid paterinity leave and was busier in those 12 weeks than I was/am while working.

Just came here to post and update

I've started reclaiming our land, it started in fall last year. I bought a second weed eater and just went to town. Had the metal blade on one the string line on the other and just started beating back nature.

During winter we got ready for baby, got things organized, bought a golf cart, 2002 EZGO so the wife has a better way to transport the crotchgoblin and get laundry up and down from the house to our trailer. We really didn't do much other than just get ourselves ready.

Last fall the mine that surrounds us cut down all the trees to the south we'll one day our neighbor came down and said let's walk to the bottom (it's quite a hike 800 feet but about 120' of elevation difference. We got down there and realized that, holy shit, this is the perfect garden area! So we bought a bulldozer in the spring and have. Been clearing land down there so this next spring we can have a massive garden.

The dozer is a 1960 Case 310D flt it for a song. She's a strong runner but needs some work. I pushed a 500' long road down to the bottom of the property and then started leveling and clearing land. I ripped up 4 builders about half the size of the half cart and have been working on getting things to a manageable level. I'm going to have to terrace the land and out in some huglekulture mounds come this fall.

I've got one last project I'm trying to get done which is a massive 40'x18' woodshed.I'm hoping after Labor Day I can finally get it started.

Hope everyone has been grand, let me know if you want more updates

Congrats on the new spawn!   :awesome:

Quote from: Halfapint on September 01, 2022, 08:15:47 PMHope everyone has been grand, let me know if you want more updates

Dude... First grats on the crotchling.
Second, we want all the updates you feel comfortable with as many of us are living vicariously through you!  :)
 

Congratulations on the quarter pint! :smiley_fireworks:

Yes please on the updates.

Quote from: Halfapint on September 01, 2022, 08:15:47 PMHey all! Sorry love had been hectic. The ride and I welcomed our first born in March, I took the 12 weeks paid paterinity leave and was busier in those 12 weeks than I was/am while working.

Just came here to post and update

I've started reclaiming our land, it started in fall last year. I bought a second weed eater and just went to town. Had the metal blade on one the string line on the other and just started beating back nature.

During winter we got ready for baby, got things organized, bought a golf cart, 2002 EZGO so the wife has a better way to transport the crotchgoblin and get laundry up and down from the house to our trailer. We really didn't do much other than just get ourselves ready.

Last fall the mine that surrounds us cut down all the trees to the south we'll one day our neighbor came down and said let's walk to the bottom (it's quite a hike 800 feet but about 120' of elevation difference. We got down there and realized that, holy shit, this is the perfect garden area! So we bought a bulldozer in the spring and have. Been clearing land down there so this next spring we can have a massive garden.

The dozer is a 1960 Case 310D flt it for a song. She's a strong runner but needs some work. I pushed a 500' long road down to the bottom of the property and then started leveling and clearing land. I ripped up 4 builders about half the size of the half cart and have been working on getting things to a manageable level. I'm going to have to terrace the land and out in some huglekulture mounds come this fall.

I've got one last project I'm trying to get done which is a massive 40'x18' woodshed.I'm hoping after Labor Day I can finally get it started.

Hope everyone has been grand, let me know if you want more updates

Congrats, and welcome back! 

That is a massive woodshed, any chance you can get some of the lumber they cut?  And weren't you considering a wind generator but couldn't get it above the height of the trees?  A dozer and an empty woodshed sounds like a great start to that project too.

Quote from: Crosscut on September 05, 2022, 10:45:54 AMCongrats, and welcome back! 

That is a massive woodshed, any chance you can get some of the lumber they cut?  And weren't you considering a wind generator but couldn't get it above the height of the trees?  A dozer and an empty woodshed sounds like a great start to that project too.

Yes, wind generators are back on the menu! I've cleared a plot of land at the bottom of our property. That's going to be the garden area and where I'm going to try and put up some turbines and see how they produce.

I replaced the batteries in the golf cart because it just wasn't running well, we'll come to found out one of my 6volt batteries was out of whack so I've got some batteries that I can now mess with and try and build a system down at the bottom of our property wirh a charge controller, maybe a small inverter, and see how the turbines do. I'd it's feasible I may look into one or two of those large 5kw turbines and have them at each corner of the property. We in theory have enough wind to power them.

Thanks to everyone for the kind words and the congrats! He's been a blast so far! I didn't believe when people said it would actually be rewarding experience.

I missed the offspring announcement awhile ago...  So, congrats on the diaper demon.  That in itself is a never ending project that'll keep you busy for years to come.

.

Quote from: NapalmMan67 on October 05, 2022, 02:48:50 PMI missed the offspring announcement awhile ago...  So, congrats on the diaper demon.  That in itself is a never ending project that'll keep you busy for years to come.

.

I apparently missed it as well. Congratulations. I've got 4 of them myself eating me out of house and home. Kids are the greatest and most frustrating thing you'll ever deal with in your life. You're in for a hell of a ride...

Again thanks everyone! I'm still trying to get used to this format. I'm going to try abs update it more often as I don't trust social media to document things anymore.

Just a quick update the happenings. I've cleared, leveled, and shoddily gotten ready an area for the garden. It's about 1/10th the size I'd like. Bur it's large enough for now. The biggest thing is to level it further out. I've dug about 6' into the hillside and have been able to level about a 50-70' area? It would have been more but the area od least resistance when bulldozing the path of least resistance lead me to the only natural depression on our property. So digging into the hillside and dumping the dirt to fill in is slow. After this it's take down about 2 dozen trees and push north!

Sadly I was not able to pour the footers for the woodshed I wanted. Bur I was able to use a lot of the corrugated roof sheets to cover the new wood pile before they got much wetter. I bought a new heavy duty tarp to cover the old wood sheds because one is 40+ years old and the other 25+ and they need to be rebuild because all the years of debris falling on them and zero maintenance. A colander would protect better.

So those were covered up and strapped to the ground and solid posts.

Other than that. All is well. The crotchgoblin after 7 months of being the perfect sleeper has become a terrorist and refuses to bend the knee (sleep). So for now it's a battle of attrition.

My updates aren't working so I really plan on trying to check back more often, and for those that messaged me I promise I'll get back to you! 

My auto correct hates me. Od is of and if. I just didn't have time to proof read in between chores and the kiddo I'll fix it all later

Just a quick update we survived the cold that had Ben embracing us. I was talking to the wife and saying I don't remember a time this early where we had been below freezing for 2+ weeks.

The culmination of that cold was something sub 10°F. Well te bottom of the RV has been down to allow the tanks that somehow formed a leak to drain into buckets and tossed into the foliage. One gray tank and the black tank have formed a leak. How? I have no idea. This brand RV boasts they can withstand sub 0 degree for indefinite amount if time. They boast their tanks have heat pads and all the small spaces have ducts that dump hot air from the furnace.

I've looked at them and decided that it's out of my capability. I could PROBABLY do it. But it would be most likely weeks without a crapper. And that just won't do(do). So we brought in a professional.

He doesn't do repairs only replacements with full warranty. He estimated 18-20 hours and cost of materials. We got the call today and we pulled the trigger. 4500$.

Honestly less than I expected. I figured the tanks were gonna be 1000 each turns out it's 500.

No idea if lead time. Bur honestly it'll just be nice to have a proper working home again.

I did ask if they could upgrade the insulation and he said they could easily get some R15 in there, which is better than the R1/2 currently.

In other property news

We are picking up 2 high tunnels tomorrow for the lower garden. They are 15' longx6.5'x6.5'the price is good enough that I couldn't build a 30' high tunnel for this price.

I went to start the bulldozer the other day and it just cranks. I could smell gas from the exhaust so I'm pretty sure it's spark or the carb. I'm leaning toward the coil. I'm gonna check it out tomorrow. I'm also going to rewire everything to the ignition switch. The previous owner was an aircraft mechanic and added more switches that aren't needed. I actually enjoy rewireing because I tend to just build everything off the ignition switch. When other switches have been added because if I'm turning the key, I want it to start. I don't want to push a button to turn on the fuel pump. It should be on when I turn the ignition... right?

The crotchgoblin just hit 9 1/2 months and is in full sleep regression. So this is fun. My insomnia and his waking up every 2-3 hours is definitely a thing.

That's all for now!

Quote from: Halfapint on January 06, 2023, 04:03:46 AMJust a quick update we survived the cold that had Ben embracing us. I was talking to the wife and saying I don't remember a time this early where we had been below freezing for 2+ weeks.
The culmination of that cold was something sub 10°F. Well te bottom of the RV has been down to allow the tanks that somehow formed a leak to drain into buckets and tossed into the foliage. One gray tank and the black tank have formed a leak. How? I have no idea. This brand RV boasts they can withstand sub 0 degree for indefinite amount if time. They boast their tanks have heat pads and all the small spaces have ducts that dump hot air from the furnace.
I've looked at them and decided that it's out of my capability. I could PROBABLY do it. But it would be most likely weeks without a crapper. And that just won't do(do). So we brought in a professional.
He doesn't do repairs only replacements with full warranty. He estimated 18-20 hours and cost of materials. We got the call today and we pulled the trigger. 4500$.
Honestly less than I expected. I figured the tanks were gonna be 1000 each turns out it's 500.
No idea if lead time. Bur honestly it'll just be nice to have a proper working home again.
I did ask if they could upgrade the insulation and he said they could easily get some R15 in there, which is better than the R1/2 currently.
In other property news
We are picking up 2 high tunnels tomorrow for the lower garden. They are 15' longx6.5'x6.5'the price is good enough that I couldn't build a 30' high tunnel for this price.
I went to start the bulldozer the other day and it just cranks. I could smell gas from the exhaust so I'm pretty sure it's spark or the carb. I'm leaning toward the coil. I'm gonna check it out tomorrow. I'm also going to rewire everything to the ignition switch. The previous owner was an aircraft mechanic and added more switches that aren't needed. I actually enjoy rewireing because I tend to just build everything off the ignition switch. When other switches have been added because if I'm turning the key, I want it to start. I don't want to push a button to turn on the fuel pump. It should be on when I turn the ignition... right?
The crotchgoblin just hit 9 1/2 months and is in full sleep regression. So this is fun. My insomnia and his waking up every 2-3 hours is definitely a thing.
That's all for now!

https://youtu.be/c1BBX4OxW4U

That's kind of what I built in 2020. And the PVC for the hoops cost more than these. And one is in new in box, the other is used but back in the box. We shall see how it works. Oh and the hoops are metal on this one

Update time!

We had to have 2 of our tanks replaced. We developed a leak in our gray tank probably about a year ago, I dropped the bottom of the trailer and found it quite quickly. Well I called the manufacturer if the RV and asked what kind of material they were made if. I was told BY THE MANUFACTURER the wrong plastic. So my fix failed. As I was selling on it after learning that it was the wrong plastic I noticed my black tank was leaking as well. Long story short $5800 and 2 new tanks. I upgraded the insulation as well so it's R31 under there instead of thin reflective bubble wrap and like 1" of crappy insulation, R value unknown but I would say less than 5 especially since the actual insulation wasn't even touching there were large gaps in it.

We've had some HUGE windstorms in these parts so I've been getting lots of wood for next year and ran out of storage. I quickly built a pallet woodshed using pallets I got from my cousin, some 2x4x16 I got for almost free and some repurposed 17'11" roof panels that I paid lass than 6$ per for. It's 12' long 8' high and 4' wide. So almost 3 cord of wood can be stored in it.

I'm fixing to get my chainsaw mill up and runnin.mg I want to make a permanent large woodshed. That I can haul long logs under buck, split, and stack all in the same area. The length I need is 22' long. And is only going to be flat on once side I think 4 if those with cross braces out between to hold the roof will suffice.

Last thing I finally got self a heavy duty garden tractor. I've had. YS4500 for years and it's done great and will continue. But I found what it height was a GT5000, but is actually the DGT6000 which I think was the highest HP engine they put in a tractor (27hp) and the rear tires are 24x12-12 so these things are monsters in the garden tractor world. It's got the 58" mowing deck I think and the leaver that raises and lowers the deck is attached to a rear implement lifter. So you can attach a bunch if stuff tk and raise and lower it. It's going to take over hauling duties. It's not without issues, the engine is brand new and replaced with a briggs instead of the ordinal kohler. The steering is a bit missed up because some teeth are sheered off. And the seat mount is broken. I'm gonna build up some weld on the teeth and grind them back and build a whole new seat pan so I can sit further back over the wheels. I ordered AG tires front and rear because if our terrain. I'm going to drop the rear axle out of it and weld it together and possibly look at making the top end a bit higher. It's an auto shift gearbox that is way smoother than most and it's not a hydrostatic so it can take heavier loads better.

The garden area is coming along. We have starts going and I hope to get some time while the wife is in ATL for a wedding to clear and level a bit more. Then I'm going to have a neighbor bring me 5 yards of compost and build my hugelkulture mounds inside the greenhouse.

Last thing, does anyone know how to post images? I thought there was a a way directly here on the website? Did that function get taken down while I was on hiatus for a few months? I suppose I'll have to get my Imgur back up.

If you hit "reply" under whatever thread you're posting in (don't use the quick reply box. You can't post pictures using that.), there'll be a thing that says "attachments and options".

Click that and you'll find a spot that says " drag and drop files to upload here, or click the button.".

Either do that or click the button to upload your pic and you'll have the option to resize it if you want. Once you're done adding a pic to your post, hit post and you'll be good to go.

Did that make sense ? My instructions may not be as clear as probably needed.

Quote from: 12_Gauge_Chimp on February 27, 2023, 05:09:22 PMIf you hit "reply" under whatever thread you're posting in (don't use the quick reply box. You can't post pictures using that.), there'll be a thing that says "attachments and options".

Click that and you'll find a spot that says " drag and drop files to upload here, or click the button.".

Either do that or click the button to upload your pic and you'll have the option to resize it if you want. Once you're done adding a pic to your post, hit post and you'll be good to go.

Did that make sense ? My instructions may not be as clear as probably needed.

Makes total sense! Thank you!

Pics of woodshed and garden tractor

Quote from: Halfapint on February 27, 2023, 05:21:01 PM

Quote from: 12_Gauge_Chimp on February 27, 2023, 05:09:22 PMIf you hit "reply" under whatever thread you're posting in (don't use the quick reply box. You can't post pictures using that.), there'll be a thing that says "attachments and options".

Click that and you'll find a spot that says " drag and drop files to upload here, or click the button.".

Either do that or click the button to upload your pic and you'll have the option to resize it if you want. Once you're done adding a pic to your post, hit post and you'll be good to go.

Did that make sense ? My instructions may not be as clear as probably needed.

Makes total sense! Thank you!

You're welcome, Halfapint.

I wasn't sure if my instructions made total sense or if I explained things correctly.

Sad note from the home front. The patriarch of the family passed, while sudden it wasn't unexpected. My grandma and him had a wonderful night on Thursday, they watched some old comedy shows and had a drink together. They went to bed and grandpa just collapsed. She called me and I went down to check him out, originally thinking he had just fallen out if bed and needed help. I get down there and he's laying on the floor I start talking to him and he's non responsive. Eyes open but not communicating. He's breathing and he's got a pulse. We call 911 and EMS arrive. He gets taken to the hospital and doc says he's in respiratory failure without hooking him up and basically breathing for him he won't survive.

He had DNR, but since he wasn't actually not breathing and his heart was still beating, we defaulted tk grandma who said he would not want to be in a hospital hooked up to machines keeping him alive. So we had him transported back home, we made the bed, he was unresponsive the entire time he was at home. We waited for the inevitable to happen. He finally passed Saturday at about 6am.

He had always told us he wanted to die in the house and leave it feet first, which we made sure he was when they transported him out. His last request was to be cremated and his ashes spread around the property. So once we get him back, that's exactly what we'll do.

Hardest part is watching my son when he's down in the house run to where grandpa great sat. The look of confusion on his face when he's he turns the corner, his face used to light up and give that giggle scream laugh that only kids can do... now is just lost looking for where grandpa great is at.

I'll get back to posting other updates soon. We have lots of projects in the beer future to get us more self sufficient and get rain harvesting set up when we get our new roof out on the house.

Sorry for your loss, Halfapint.

Sorry to hear Halfapint

So sorry, halfapint. I lost 8 close people in one 14 month period some years ago. Including my grandfather. Which was the hardest one. He and my grandmother lived in Darrington. And my son had a special relationship to him too. Its always hardest to see how the children react to loss.

Please let me know if there us anything I can do. I lived my entire life in western washington. Up till about 30. My entire family still lives there. I still have alot of contacts and information in your neck of the woods. Let me know if you ever need anything. 

I'm really sorry for your loss. 

Quote from: Moab on April 04, 2023, 07:26:45 PMSo sorry, halfapint. I lost 8 close people in one 14 month period some years ago. Including my grandfather. Which was the hardest one. He and my grandmother lived in Darrington. And my son had a special relationship to him too. Its always hardest to see how the children react to loss.

Please let me know if there us anything I can do. I lived my entire life in western washington. Up till about 30. My entire family still lives there. I still have alot of contacts and information in your neck of the woods. Let me know if you ever need anything.

I'm really sorry for your loss.

Really appreciate it, everything going well so far. Mom has dated a few nights here and we are 100' away if she needs anything.

Personally while sad, I'm happy for grandma she's wanted to move for years but grandpa wouldn't.

Quote from: Halfapint on April 06, 2023, 05:49:56 PM

Quote from: Moab on April 04, 2023, 07:26:45 PMSo sorry, halfapint. I lost 8 close people in one 14 month period some years ago. Including my grandfather. Which was the hardest one. He and my grandmother lived in Darrington. And my son had a special relationship to him too. Its always hardest to see how the children react to loss.

Please let me know if there us anything I can do. I lived my entire life in western washington. Up till about 30. My entire family still lives there. I still have alot of contacts and information in your neck of the woods. Let me know if you ever need anything.

I'm really sorry for your loss.

Really appreciate it, everything going well so far. Mom has dated a few nights here and we are 100' away if she needs anything.

Personally while sad, I'm happy for grandma she's wanted to move for years but grandpa wouldn't.

This might sound a bit cliche, but I've always found remembering the good times with a loved one who has passed on kind eases the pain of their loss a bit.

I never got to meet one set of my grandparents (my mom's parents. They both died in 1979 exactly one month apart.) and the other set moved to Canada when I was an infant so I have very vague memories of them. The last time I saw that set of grandparents was in 1995 when I was 10 years old and they both died not too long after that last visit.

 I have found that  you realize decisions you make  will remind you of the persons you hold dear  who have passed as if they were still there advising you. And one day you will see your parents and grandparents in your children. In their features, personality or a  physical mannerism. 

Wow, how time flies! Over a year since grandpa died and 5 months since grandma died. We now have a 2 year old, and the property is now officially in my name with deed in hand.

We've been renovating the house and the property almost full time. I cleared the parking area and added almost 15 feet of new area in front of the garage. Instead of pulling out and having to make a hard right turn you can back out almost 75'

I've striped the cabinets down to bare wood and we plan to paint them. It's time consuming because the long side of the cabinets have double doors front and back. So you can reach through on the table side and grab dishes to set the table. I think there were 36 or 42 doors that have to be done and almost 22' of cabinets and counter tops.

The wife started in on the kids room to get it mudded, premiered, and textured. Now to pick paint to do his room in. We are starting the master bed and upstairs bath room next. We are renovating the bathroom and taking out the linin closet and coat closet to make the bathroom larger because right now the bath and toilet are so tight in there you have the step in, and angle yourself so you can close the door. We'll over double the sq/ft of the bathroom and add a door so you don't have to basically enter the master bedroom to get Tito the bathroom.


We bought a mini ex and a Kei truck to speed up moving dirt. The kei truck is a dump truck with diff and axle lock. The mini ex is one if those cheap Chinese excavators that cost like 3k and has a gas engine. It's not big, but it digs faster than my tractor backhoe. And together I can get a lot done.

I'll try to update more often if people want. I've just been busy the last year between the kid, job, estate stuff, deaths, and remodel.


Pic 1: truck when we brought it home 5 years ago.

Pic 2: me standing in the same spot a few weeks ago. If you look on the ground you can see the rough line where gravel ends and dirt begins. It's bare now but soon I'll have things like blueberries, currants, dwarf fruit trees along the edge.

My sincere condolences. I lost my grandparents too. And was given the chance to buy their house. But didn't. Was not in advantageous land.

Giod job on the improvements! Welcome back! :)

Are you still living in the trailer?

Quote from: flybynight on April 13, 2024, 03:12:11 PMAre you still living in the trailer?

We are, much to the wife's dismay! But we figure while not completely convenient, it's better than trying to remodel AND live in the house.

Goals are get the two bedrooms done. Get the kid used to having his own room in the house. And do our day to day living between both the trailer and house while we remodel.

Quote from: Moab on April 13, 2024, 03:01:29 PMMy sincere condolences. I lost my grandparents too. And was given the chance to buy their house. But didn't. Was not in advantageous land.

Giod job on the improvements! Welcome back! :)

I'm sorry for your loss, and thank you. I'll try and be on more often. It's still the first tab on my phone and computer

A bit of an update. When doing renovations to the house a buddy of mine was over and noticed the outside siding bushing in spots. After looking there are about a half dozen spots where it bulges out. The problem I believe is that the deck supports are rotting. They are 50 year old cedar "peeler cores" back when they veneer shavers left about 6" diameter core. They were cheap to buy apparently and being cedar were naturally rot resistant. Well 50 years later sitting on flat concrete that gets water on it, they tend to rot regardless.

My theory is they are rotting at the bottom, and as they rot the weight if the deck pushes the rot out or in and they slowly lower themselves because you can see under the deck the cross supports are uneven. The deck spanners are built into the house as far as I can tell. So the rotting and sagging deck is pushing the 2x6's up and bulging the siding. I'm afraid the 2x6's may be compremised because we've had carpenter ants that we spray for every year. Well this year I hired a company and they did a treatment and about 2000 ants called out and died all over the floor. Now I'm wondering if we are remodeling a house that needs a demo. So until we get better weather (this next week) and can take the siding off and check the studs and how the deck is attached we aren't doing any remodeling.

In other news we moved the sister in law into a trailer on our property now, she was in an abusive relationship and couldn't stay where she was staying.

I've been playing around in the herb garden trying to make an off grid drip watering system using a 15 gallon barrel. Have a lithium lawn mower batter hooked to a solar panel, connected to a 12v pump that is currently connected to an on off switch but eventually I plan on putting a float switch in the barrel so when the water drops below a spot it turns off.

Been mining hundreds if yards of dirt down to the bottom of the property to build out down there, I'm running out of dirt in our current area so I may bring in some fill dirt to continue since we aren't remodeling.

I broke the backhoe if the tractor working at the wife's grandparents place. I was using the backhoe to bring up full to level and area for them and I went to use the left/right function and the backhoe just stayed. Looked at the cylinder and the weld completely failed. That was 100% manufacture fault but it's got 650+ hours on it so no warranty.

That's all for now!

That sucks about the warranty. 

What's the brand of the backhoe ?

Might not be too hard to find a replacement cylinder to repair it. Won't be cheap, though.

Quote from: 12_Gauge_Chimp on July 01, 2024, 05:29:20 PMWhat's the brand of the backhoe ?

Might not be too hard to find a replacement cylinder to repair it. Won't be cheap, though.

It's in the repair shop, told the guy that if a farmer comes in he takes priority and I won't complain. So the over phone quote was 6-800, it dropped to 300 cash. So I'm happy.

Quote from: Halfapint on July 01, 2024, 11:49:23 PM

Quote from: 12_Gauge_Chimp on July 01, 2024, 05:29:20 PMWhat's the brand of the backhoe ?

Might not be too hard to find a replacement cylinder to repair it. Won't be cheap, though.

It's in the repair shop, told the guy that if a farmer comes in he takes priority and I won't complain. So the over phone quote was 6-800, it dropped to 300 cash. So I'm happy.

That's a pretty good discount.

I've never had to get any heavy equipment fixed myself, but I do know that it can get pricey really damn quickly.

My oldest nephew owns his own septic business and he's had to have some of his equipment repaired and it's not cheap. He had to get the bucket on his mini-excavator repaired awhile back and it was like a couple grand to get it done. :eek1:

Quote from: 12_Gauge_Chimp on July 01, 2024, 11:58:02 PMThat's a pretty good discount.

I've never had to get any heavy equipment fixed myself, but I do know that it can get pricey really damn quickly.

My oldest nephew owns his own septic business and he's had to have some of his equipment repaired and it's not cheap. He had to get the bucket on his mini-excavator repaired awhile back and it was like a couple grand to get it done. :eek1:

Yeah I run a stump grinding company and I had to replace a motor in one of my machines and I upgraded to a best wheels on the market. Engine was 9k, and it was used the cutting wheels were 2200-5k with the teeth being 100$ for the large and 50 for the normal. So yeah when you start getting into machinery it's crazy.

Quote from: Halfapint on July 02, 2024, 02:45:41 PM

Quote from: 12_Gauge_Chimp on July 01, 2024, 11:58:02 PMThat's a pretty good discount.

I've never had to get any heavy equipment fixed myself, but I do know that it can get pricey really damn quickly.

My oldest nephew owns his own septic business and he's had to have some of his equipment repaired and it's not cheap. He had to get the bucket on his mini-excavator repaired awhile back and it was like a couple grand to get it done. :eek1:

Yeah I run a stump grinding company and I had to replace a motor in one of my machines and I upgraded to a best wheels on the market. Engine was 9k, and it was used the cutting wheels were 2200-5k with the teeth being 100$ for the large and 50 for the normal. So yeah when you start getting into machinery it's crazy.

How long have you had the stump business? Does that do well?

Quote from: Moab on July 02, 2024, 03:34:20 PMHow long have you had the stump business? Does that do well?

Well previously i owned/ran a tree company for about 5 years. We were doing great business, we were looking to bring on more partners and bring more employees. But then insurance went from 5-6k a year to 25-30k something about being dangerous 🙄🙄

The business partner got lazy and it was me and the climber along with a ground guy doing all the work and he was getting 1/4 of the pay to do nothing so I tapped out and the climber stole some equipment and bounced. So since 2021 we've had the grinding business started with a used machine (Carlton 4015) did gigs until it was paid off and then this last year we bought 2 more used machines (Vermeer sc30tx and Carlton 7015).

It pays the bills and we bought everything with cash. The 4015 is what I use most if the time because I've had it the longest and I replaced the Kohler Command 27hp engine with a pretty much brand new but used Wisconsin v465d which is a 65hp engine and just makes the machine an absolute beast 27hp to 65hp. I can run it at idle and it's got 180ft/lb of torque so it spins and doesn't stop. Plus with the Wisconsin on it it's quieter because I don't need to get the RPMs up to 4000. It stays at 1800-2000.

Sorry I guess you didn't need to know the whole story lol.

Quote from: Halfapint on July 02, 2024, 04:51:44 PM

Quote from: Moab on July 02, 2024, 03:34:20 PMHow long have you had the stump business? Does that do well?

Well previously i owned/ran a tree company for about 5 years. We were doing great business, we were looking to bring on more partners and bring more employees. But then insurance went from 5-6k a year to 25-30k something about being dangerous 🙄🙄

The business partner got lazy and it was me and the climber along with a ground guy doing all the work and he was getting 1/4 of the pay to do nothing so I tapped out and the climber stole some equipment and bounced. So since 2021 we've had the grinding business started with a used machine (Carlton 4015) did gigs until it was paid off and then this last year we bought 2 more used machines (Vermeer sc30tx and Carlton 7015).

It pays the bills and we bought everything with cash. The 4015 is what I use most if the time because I've had it the longest and I replaced the Kohler Command 27hp engine with a pretty much brand new but used Wisconsin v465d which is a 65hp engine and just makes the machine an absolute beast 27hp to 65hp. I can run it at idle and it's got 180ft/lb of torque so it spins and doesn't stop. Plus with the Wisconsin on it it's quieter because I don't need to get the RPMs up to 4000. It stays at 1800-2000.

Sorry I guess you didn't need to know the whole story lol.

No. I wanted to here it. We are about to move to another state. And I want to invest in some additional small business'. And that seems like a nice business with a minimum number of machines. Relatively simple. Meaning not complicated like electrical work or something that has to many variables. I know it's not simple. Just less complicated. Which is something I don't want to get involved in. Very interesting. Thank you.

Quote from: Moab on July 02, 2024, 05:56:35 PMNo. I wanted to here it. We are about to move to another state. And I want to invest in some additional small business'. And that seems like a nice business with a minimum number of machines. Relatively simple. Meaning not complicated like electrical work or something that has to many variables. I know it's not simple. Just less complicated. Which is something I don't want to get involved in. Very interesting. Thank you.

Look into where you're moving and look up stump companies. I cut ties with the last job so I kinda lost some of the contacts I had made. Mostly because I wanted to disconnect from tree work. A lot if tree services don't like grinding because it's like 200$ and a single stump. I have a 240$ minimum call out. With senior, vet, and first responder/nurse discounts. I drop it to $200 for them that's my gas, grind, machine maintenance and clean up.

If you're looking to do it, rake, broom, backpack blower, and grinder is really all you need. The last today needed help planting and stuff so I ground about 12 small stumps and planted 18 small bushes for 450+ tax like 497 in total

Quote from: Halfapint on July 02, 2024, 07:30:43 PM

Quote from: Moab on July 02, 2024, 05:56:35 PMNo. I wanted to here it. We are about to move to another state. And I want to invest in some additional small business'. And that seems like a nice business with a minimum number of machines. Relatively simple. Meaning not complicated like electrical work or something that has to many variables. I know it's not simple. Just less complicated. Which is something I don't want to get involved in. Very interesting. Thank you.

Look into where you're moving and look up stump companies. I cut ties with the last job so I kinda lost some of the contacts I had made. Mostly because I wanted to disconnect from tree work. A lot if tree services don't like grinding because it's like 200$ and a single stump. I have a 240$ minimum call out. With senior, vet, and first responder/nurse discounts. I drop it to $200 for them that's my gas, grind, machine maintenance and clean up.

If you're looking to do it, rake, broom, backpack blower, and grinder is really all you need. The last today needed help planting and stuff so I ground about 12 small stumps and planted 18 small bushes for 450+ tax like 497 in total

Very cool.

Quote from: Moab on July 02, 2024, 08:38:07 PMVery cool.

If you are really interested in doing it, check mustangrebuilder on YouTube. He has great information.

Quote from: Halfapint on July 02, 2024, 09:02:10 PM

Quote from: Moab on July 02, 2024, 08:38:07 PMVery cool.

If you are really interested in doing it, check mustangrebuilder on YouTube. He has great information.

Thank you. I will. 

Really getting close to finishing the upper floor remodel. The cabinets are painted and cured. The cabinet doors (42 or more if them) were painted by the wife and her mom, but they weren't careful and put damp paint on plastic and the carpet which means 90% of them have to be sanded and repainted. The cabinets had old style hinges so I bought some soft close hidden hinges. So each cabinet is going to have to have 2 pockets drilled and screw holes drilled out.

The entire upstairs has been washed, mudded, and sanded. Waiting on our friend to come in and texture. I went a little anal and made sure everything was perfect. Used a light to shine across the surface to see any bumps or anything.

I reinforced the normal doors. Adding more wood and bracing and some hollow steel parts inside the lock holes in the frame for more protection.


Haven't done much outside because been busy in the remodel. I did clear out one of the "mounds" in the front yard to reclaim the are behind the garage and but in front of the house. It had 2 large mounds with trees/shrubs. The mound I removed had a bunch of junk trees so I just cut them down and dug everything out. The other one has a large rhoadie, and a BEAUTIFUL Japanese maple I want to save but it's going to be difficult the maples is massive. Hoping I can get it out and transplant it up the hill so it can continue to grow down.

Hoping to have everything textured in the next week, then we can rip out the carpet and start working on the floors. The living room, dining room, kitchen, and breakfast nook will be first to get flooring. Then the bedrooms. But we have some tile that's going
To be hard to get out first.

Sorry for infrequent updates live has life. We moved into the house in February, almost 5 1/2 years in the 5the wheel. The kid turned 3 in the house and has been LOOOVING the extra space. We have some finishing touches like literally all the trim needs to be made and the cabinet doors need to be finished.

So naturally we are going full steam ahead with everything BUT those projects. I'm clearing more land to make a patio area. I'm expanding the upper garden area to build 2 more huge HugelKultur mounds. I've planted over 100 asparagus crowns, hundreds of sun chokes, and other plants like funding, ginger, and other things that are kind of plant and forget.

The biggest win so far for us is I found a good deal on a sawmill so I picked it up. It looks to be a Riwa 31g sawmill which despite the name can for 34" logs? I got it set up in the drive way currently to mill some logs into the base of what will eventually build the new rails. Being that this is a Chinese sawmill and flat packing is the name is the game you have to really eff around to her everything lines up. And along with that I have no instructions and am figuring entering out as I go. Called a local steel supplier and asked about 2 4x4x20' angle iron. That's basically what the track is but they cut it down to 2" on the top and left it 4" wide. It's under $250 for the 2 pieces. So I think I'm gonna go up to 30' then I can effectively cut 25' long beams. I have massive trees so making a few long beams for shelters and stuff can be be beneficial. The thing so far cuts like a damn dream.

The positive wasn't first real test it was a 30" log cut down to 18"x13"x6' those are going to be the new base so I don't have crappy 2x4's holding the railing up. I uploaded a vid to YouTube, I only do shorts, because it's easier.

http://youtube.com/shorts/41PhukyAQ9E?si=H6IW5GEc7kQ_783b

Update:

My mom passed away last Monday, so I'll be coming into some money. First the majority is going to get invested. We have almost no debt, just the 5th wheel we purchased that we still owe. That's getting paid off.

We are then buying a mini ex so we can start clearing land a bit more efficiently. I think after that we are going to insulate the house walls, take out all the old attic insulation, look to see if we can close the soffit vents and do some attic work. We are in fire country and one of the quickest ways to catch your house on fire is embers getting sucked into your attic through soffit vents and burning down your house.

The big investment is going to be solar and wind on the property. Out power bill for January was nearly 700$ part of that is due to inefficient insulation, well pump constantly goin, and water heater due to 3 people on this house who want baths everyday and fill the tub up completely with hot water(wife, mother in law, and kiddo). I'm looking at dropping 20-40k on panels, inverters, and batteries. I want to make the batteries modular so as I add more wind turbines I can scale up the batteries. I plan on selling my mom's car, 2 boats and possibly her truck then buying an EV and being able to charge that with our setup would be ideal.

We currently have 400amp service to the house. I'm looking at running possibly 200-250amp from multiple inverters to be able to completely power the house. Also looking at generator back up that can kick on to keep the system charged. I plan on using a 20' connex box as the power shed. Have the generator switched over to propane and go from there.

Lots to think about. Just gotta get through probate first

Sorry to hear about your mother, Halfapint.

My condolences to you and your family.

Quote from: 12_Gauge_Chimp on March 12, 2026, 01:38:13 PMSorry to hear about your mother, Halfapint.

My condolences to you and your family.

Thanks, been a lot of death the last 2 1/2 years

Quote from: Halfapint on March 12, 2026, 07:29:58 PM

Quote from: 12_Gauge_Chimp on March 12, 2026, 01:38:13 PMSorry to hear about your mother, Halfapint.

My condolences to you and your family.

Thanks, been a lot of death the last 2 1/2 years

I had a similar experience back around 1995 to about 1998 or so. I think I lost like six or seven relatives in that time frame.

I lost 8 people in 14 months about 15 years ago or so. My grandparents that largely raised me. My wife at the time and I lost twin boys. My two very best friends of 20+ years. My uncle died. And my cousin - suicide by cop. 

It will change you. 

I'm sorry for your loss. Sincerely. 

It's good you have probate to get through. Take your time. I know your very organized and very well researched. You think a lot about your needs and priorities. And put the important stuff first. And that you will identify all your choices and make the best ones. 

This is also an excellent time to invest. You could not have picked a better lifetime period to do so. Most professional investors are talking about this time period being a once in a lifetime event. None can tell you exactly when or what to invest in. But you couldn't be in a better time period in general to come into a windfall and be able to invest it. 

It's great to watch you build your homestead, family and life. You've made some great choices. It's inspiring to see. 

You're doing alright man. You're building the dream. I'm very happy for you. 

Quote from: 12_Gauge_Chimp on March 12, 2026, 09:08:37 PMI had a similar experience back around 1995 to about 1998 or so. I think I lost like six or seven relatives in that time frame.

Ouch. Yeah I think we've lost 12 people in the close family in the last 2 1/2 years. Aunts, uncles, husbands wife's, cousins, my grandparents, and mom.

It's never easy, but I'm alright. Gotta be there for everyone else because no one else can handle it.

Quote from: Moab on March 12, 2026, 09:46:41 PMI lost 8 people in 14 months about 15 years ago or so. My grandparents that largely raised me. My wife at the time and I lost twin boys. My two very best friends of 20+ years. My uncle died. And my cousin - suicide by cop.

It will change you.

I'm sorry for your loss. Sincerely.

It's good you have probate to get through. Take your time. I know your very organized and very well researched. You think a lot about your needs and priorities. And put the important stuff first. And that you will identify all your choices and make the best ones.

This is also an excellent time to invest. You could not have picked a better lifetime period to do so. Most professional investors are talking about this time period being a once in a lifetime event. None can tell you exactly when or what to invest in. But you couldn't be in a better time period in general to come into a windfall and be able to invest it.

It's great to watch you build your homestead, family and life. You've made some great choices. It's inspiring to see.

You're doing alright man. You're building the dream. I'm very happy for you.

Thank you, that's really nice to hear. I'm sorry about all your loss. It really isn't easy, ever.

I found some extra money from my grandparents and working to get that so that will be the "play money" the mom money is invest and insure we and our son is set for life.

Our business is really taking off, we are buying out our partner and reinvesting everything back in to buy the mini ex and buying a massive stump grinder.

Trying to think how to set this property up for long term success so with rising costs of energy. Property tax on the other hand.... Sheesh! Going crazy. We'll have 4 investment properties we don't charge much but it costed the cost and we make money. I just don't feel good charging the kind of money things are going for. That's always made us have amazing renters. The last ones stayed for 16 years. We only raised rent 200$ for the new renters.

We are also converting my mom's house into a flight attendant crash pad. That'll be cash cow. I don't feel bad for that because we are still charging less than others, but man... that'll pay for the property taxes for every property with thousands left over.

Anyways lots of stuff to think about.