Daniel Schmidt

You would figure that I would learn my lesson about posting new topics, but brain damage got me again. My apologies.

The Robot Cantina Channel has a bunch of projects that could be adapted to all sort of projects for vehicles and small scale farm equipment. In their recent videos, they did some tests with an engine running an alternator, which then powered an electric golf cart. They posted an update indicating they made a mistake with the figures and actually got much better fuel mileage than they originally posted. This short video tells the story:



You can go back and see the build videos as well as previous experiments that led this far. It is pretty impressive that it isn't quite as inefficient as one might think to convert to electricity and back. I particularly like that by only tethering the engine by wires instead of a drivetrain, you can put the engine wherever it makes sense for stability and different configurations you don't normally see.

For instance, I'm thinking of a 6x6. Something that can reach those otherwise inaccessible areas or pull a structure on skids. You can tuck a larger engine down low in the center and run 3 larger alternators, with each set up as a separate system for each axle. If uptime is critical then you mostly need to stock a handful of items that could be swapped out in the field.

Or something more lightweight like a reverse trike. There are lots of designs less common in the US that are already well suited to carrying cargo, and there is potential to carry more with a trailer. Adding a standard ebike kit would allow for quieter usage without the engine running. It should be possible to get a trimmer motor, and a small alternator and power an ebike motor, perhaps even be able to use one motor and switch between power sources.

Or maybe you need something more along the lines of an oversized powered wheel barrow, or something that can tow equipment around. I really like the DIY aspect of people grabbing what they already have and seeing what they can make work. It could be used with a biodiesel engine or even powered with wood gas. You could modify the vehicle design so the gasifier isn't fighting for space since the engine can be mounted almost anywhere. The sky is the limit, and I'm sure we will see more updates with the project they currently have going.

It appears that there are 2 valve covers side by side on an inline 6 cylinder engine. The exhaust cam cover would be the one on the passenger side. The intake cover probably needs the gasket replaced as well. Fortunately it seems to be aluminum, so it shouldn't have any issues with warping like plastic parts of similar vintage. A head gasket replacement would involve the timing belt, deck and cylinder head flatness, and a whole bunch of other issues you probably wouldn't or couldn't address with the engine in the car. You should be good without going that far.

I'm a bit late to the party, but I found out that many O'Reilly's parts store have a brake lathe. It's almost always cheaper and no waiting days on shipping. It's so rare for people to shave them down anymore that most of the time you will have plenty of thickness left to shave them smooth. I've brought more than a dozen pairs of rotors there over the past couple of years.

The stuff in the other post and what I linked is not a paver, it's similar in price to the fabric. I don't think the fabric alone is going to stop gravel from migrating sideways. Especially in places where the ground below is already reasonably hard, you may not need the fabric, just the cells to hold the gravel in place. It seems to me like the same money but more effective. I haven't actually used this first hand, but I've seen it used a number of times and appears to work better than a lot of other options. Hopefully someone in the other thread gets back with more info.

There is stuff called Geo Cell that is made specifically to reinforce ground so that when the large weight of a vehicle rolls over it, the material can't squish out sideways. It can be found on Amazon and similar places. Given that the tires of heavier vehicles usually aren't rolling over every square inch, you don't absolutely need to do the entire width of the road, only a bit wider of an area than where the tires make contact and cause potholes. I've also seen people do DIY versions of this with various pipes, cans, or whatever else they had on hand. It would be nice if there was something made from a plant based plastic or something, but I didn't find anything like that.

You can also find or make it in various thicknesses. Given the issues with bedrock being close to the surface, it might be beneficial to go a bit thicker and add more gravel so there is sufficient room for water to go through and not create puddles. It can have issues when installed on slopes, but if your main problem is in the flat areas then this might be the way to go.

EDIT - I guess the other thread that you dug up has more information on this.

I haven't used Windows regularly in 10 years, so I'm not completely up to date with some things, like changes to the names of things and specific directions of how to navigate, so I'm relying on the internet for information.

For the desktop application, the first thing would be to check out the Start Menu > Control Panel > Programs and Features to see if it is showing up as still installed. Not showing up there doesn't mean there aren't files left behind from the original install that could complicate things when trying to install a new version, but if it does show up you could try to uninstall from there. When 'Programs and Features' isn't showing it as installed, try installing the new version. If anything happens that you didn't expect, or things you expect don't happen, or get any errors, you can post them back here for more specific help.

One wrinkle I found to this was a Reddit post saying the program was running in the background but they couldn't find it. I'm guessing here that it is possible for it to run at startup but have the icons/buttons go missing. So it would appear like it had been removed when it is actually running in the background, yet you wouldn't be able to access it or reinstall. You could try doing what they did ("use search spotlight to get to activity monitor, then force quit from there, then you can uninstall"), and hopefully this will allow you to install once the program stops. Here is the link:

https://www.reddit.com/r/Grammarly/comments/q76a8i/help_uninstalling_current_version_of_grammarly/

Can you give more info on the system, specifically the OS and browser? I haven't used it but I know my mother uses it in Firefox on Linux Mint. I'd imagine it can work similarly on Windows. I have no idea about mobile.

I have vines growing up the side of my house and they grow decent tubers at the base. In other areas where they grow along the ground, each node where a leaf comes off the vine is capable of sending roots down. I'd imagine if you let it go wild with putting down roots everywhere you would end up with lots of smaller sweet potatoes.

I have grown most of mine in large makeshift containers that get a lot of shade in the summer and the vines grow out in to the sun. I will often pick them up and move them to the side to cut down the grass and weeds underneath so they don't get as much of a chance to put roots down as the vines spread out. I've gotten some large sweet potatoes this way, but I haven't actually measured the yield to see which way gives more overall weight.

I'm also no expert and only grow for personal use. They grow really easy in my location where I don't have to do much to take care of them.

After watching the latest sixtyfiveford video I figured I would give an update here. Apparently he got a pre-release model of a battery adapter system for power tools. The batteries use high quality Molicel cells, and the adapters are much smaller than others, only requiring about an extra ~1/4" or 6-7mm. He does a full review and it looks really good. The most important part to me is what he says at the end. He says products like these force the tool manufacturers to just make better tools, instead of locking you in to 'their' batteries, charging a premium.

It makes sense to me. People generally don't buy cars or electronics from the makers of batteries. Let the car, electronics, and tool companies make their stuff and let the battery people do their thing. Especially since most things are already standardized, and many factories are coming online to pump out cells whether anyone likes it or not, I like the idea of battery experts doing their thing and reducing waste, eliminating vendor lock-in, and forcing the tool companies to make good tools. Not just 1 or 2 flagship products and then a bunch of poorly made stuff to fill gaps because people are stuck on a proprietary connector.

The product hasn't come out, so I can't personally say if it is good or not, but it seems really decent and I love the idea. Maybe one day we will just have one connector for each voltage, and perhaps keying so low amperage batteries won't slide in to high current tools. Anyway, here is the video: