I'm not an expert but I'd look for any metal fatigue inside the firebox, or if there is stone inside the firebox I'd look for cracking or spalling, signs of degredation. I'd examine the outside closely to see if there are any signs of smoke residue where it shouldn't be, especially at the joints, or cracks in the stones or seams. Make sure all handles and flaps for the flue and air supply are working or repairable, door hinges and latches working and tight.
Things like fiberglass gaskets on the doors can easily be replaced, other items might have to be custom built.
It looks like a beautiful stove, I'd look at the cost vs. my bank statement vs. my dwelling size.
I'd also look at the stove they replaced it with, if it looks like it has a higher output I'd be suspicious, maybe it doesn't put out as much heat as they are suggesting or maybe it isn't efficient enough.
I'd look at the calendar before I make a counter offer, Spring favors a buyer for a woodstove.
Then I'd probably look for my 3 biggest friends to help me carry it out of the basement, it looks heavy.
Travis Johnson wrote:I went from felling the tree to having it up in about 6 hours time, my wife helping me hoist them into place when she was 7 months pregnant!
Beautiful work Travis, how can I get your wife to help me? (Just kidding)
Is there any additional support in the foundation for the center support or is it on a slab?
S Tonin wrote:Botulism was so named after the Latin word for sausage; sausages were notorious in the past for being the source of outbreaks. People still ate them, and some died; then we figured out what was causing it and more or less eliminated the threat of botulism from improperly cured meats through the application of a few simple safety measures.
Today I learned.
From Google:
bot·u·lism
ˈbäCHəˌlizəm/
noun
noun: botulism
Food poisoning caused by a bacterium (botulinum) growing on improperly sterilized canned meats and other preserved foods.
Origin
late 19th century: from German Botulismus, originally ‘sausage poisoning,’ from Latin botulus ‘sausage.’
I always knew Botulism was bad, but I never knew it literally meant ‘sausage poisoning’.
Has anyone tried this? I hate to admit it but I giggle each time the rooster goes "squawk" but he seems to be able to do everything else an unencumbered rooster would do.
Robbie Asay wrote:After noticing your link in your signature I see you already have a review up about this chainsaw but it is attached to an affiliate site. Please do not use the information I have provided to pad the review on your site unless Permies is being compensated in some way or you have some kind of agreement with them. As someone who also runs a forum I run into information theft all the time and please correct me if I'm wrong but it appears fishy to have a review up on another site while stating here you are looking at buying one.
The signature links to a personal web page, not directly to an affiliate link. I think that is allowed here. I don't think Paul is opposed to other people making money on the internet.
I think it is better because it takes less wood. Fewer trees to grow and cut. Most fences are psychological anyway, in a healthy system. If your predator load is high you might have to add some strength or electricity, but for keeping goats in you can have some 6" gaps in the rails.
The video posted by Victor, later embedded by Jocelyn. The bottom link here, cut and paste and select the top result.
Victor Johanson wrote:Interesting--reminiscent of traditional Scandinavian roundpole fences, about which I just learned. They're called gärdesgård in Sweden, and are built from spruce poles, peeled or unpeeled. The posts consist of a pair of sharpened poles that are charred to inhibit decay; they're only driven a little way into the ground, the weight of the fence keeping it all in place. One cool thing about them is that the traditional method requires no fasteners--the poles are held up by green fir or juniper boughs that are twisted and wrapped around the post pairs. Apparently they've been used for hundreds of years over there, and they can also be very attractive. Check it out:
I think he may be overestimating the intelligence of cows. If it is green and tasty when the cow gets there it will be eaten, the cow doesn't care what was there a month or two ago. I think if you are giving your pasture enough time to recover you will be fine.
I'm curious, also, of the idea that the tree produces as many pounds of apples whether it has 500 or 50 apples. Does thinning 90% really pay off in the end?
anthony frierson wrote:Will pines do ok and how deep should I bury them?
I think that is the key question, and I don't know the answer.
*edit
If you are going to disc it and run machinery over it I suspect you want all the significant wood to be below any depth your equipment might penetrate.
Ok, I listened to this. Twice. The second time to try to take notes of all the things that didn't ring true to me or sounded like foolish ways to spend extra money. I was gonna add it all up, but I have already spent too much time. Here are my freehand notes from the second listen:
He starts out talking about his 140 acres
"If SHTF happens..."
Buy a Schoolbus (Midwest Transit, Chicago IL. He's owned 3 or 4 at $1500 to $4000 each)
Buy a Biolite cookstove $130
Buy a Cast Iron Cookstove Antique/Junk on Craigslist or shipped by your friends in Ireland. $7,000 new in USA.
Create a Hot water heating system tied to the stove-- (He drops Ben Falk's name and didn't quote a price for that, but it won't be cheap or safe at the same time. He doesn't go into detail.)
Buy an Axe: BaileysOnline.com $18-$250 for an axe.
He talks a lot about his really, really good $3800 bicycle.
He drops some websites:
farmhack.net/tools
http://atomiczombie.com www.instructables.com (but later in the podcast he does admit you have to sift hard to find worthwhile material at instructables.)
He recommends a book, "A Pattern Language" and says don't build a house like your neighbors.
He says to "experiment" with solar PV, but not go whole hog. (Because when the SHTF solar is going to be available?)
Learn how to dry food. Learn how to barter.
Another plug for farmhack.net/tools the "community" built a $3500 vegetable washer for just $400.
He recommends a "tree bar" to plant trees or bushes (looks like a wooden shovel forestrysuppliers.com) for $30-$50 but then says if you borrow, rent or buy ($900-$2500 (but don't worry, it will never lose value??) and resell) a gas powered tractor you can double your production.
Gas powered chainsaw: $500-$800, buy the best it will pay for itself in 2 hours()
$260 for a scythe onesyctherevolution.com
A double spear for your (tractor?) It moves round bales and pallets. $600-$800 new.
French hay rake(PTO) $900-$4000 used, $2500-$5500 new. He says "Google Youtube!!"
Plugs the permaculture course WWW.VERSALAND.COM really hard.
Offers trees for sale, 100 chestnut trees fr $397
Plugs a #maxpermo hashtag. (Is this something I should avoid?)
Q&A after he finishes his presentation early:
He talks about ram pumps for water movement but doesn't sound like he used one, discounts solar powered pumps because he thinks it is prone to failure but name drops Frances Tiki who uses solar PV to move water.
Talks about planting 20,000 trees with a tractor.
Talks about how to get crop failure grants from the USA government TAP program.
Waxes again about his $3800 bicycle. 14 speed!!
Tractors... Deutz, air cooled, robust. He bought a '76 (38 years old) for less than $4000, But, you are better off with a new Kubota, 0% financing!!
He drops another couple of webpages, tractorhouse.com for used tractors, searchtempest.com to search Craigslist.
Rocketstoves are crap unless you want your house to burn down, normal people aren't qualified to build their own stove.
His neighbor has a fancy sawmill, so he doesn't have to buy one.
sawmill-exchange.com for a used sawmill
He uses first cuting of hay for mulch. Local tree services give him "thousands of yards" of woodchips...(seriously?)
He plugged Wikipedia.
All the website plugs were his, not mine. I don't get paid for that.
We had a nest right by the entrance of an office I used to work in. An exterminator was called in and he liberally sprinkled Diatomaceous Earth into both entrances to the nest. I thought he used a ridiculous amount of the DE, probably two cups in and around each entrance, but I never saw another wasp from that nest.
For those of you who have eaten pigs older than the standard 6-8 months. Traditionally pigs have been slaughtered in the fall after fattening up on the summer's abundance. It was also beneficial that the cooler weather helped preserve the meat. We have the ability now to feed our pigs throughout the year and we can preserve the pork regardless of the outside temperature. Is a 400 pound sow better than a 180 pounder?
Ann Torrence wrote:...you wrap a tennis ball in the corner of the plastic before you tie on the rope used to pull the sheet over the rafters. The tennis ball, like putting a rock in a handkerchief, gives something for the rope to grip around. I didn't really believe it would work, but pulling the plastic was one of the more straightforward parts of the job. I also put some flags on the ends of the large plastic sheet at the mid-point so we would know when we had centered the sheet over the ridge line. The wiggle wire tracks are ingenious. I helped a friend pull plastic over her heated greenhouse and they used furring strips, the wiggle wire seems way better for the long-term integrity of the plastic and ease of changing it out when required in the future.
Thanks for this Ann. Especially about the wiggle wire. I had seen it advertised and was uncertain if it was worth the money or just a gimmick.
My gut tells me the leaf compost will be higher in nutrients. However, any edible mushroom mycelium that remains and might take hold on your land can't be a bad thing.
You are already ahead of most Landon. I was recently wondering what would happen if you inoculated freshly cut hay or maybe hay that had been cut a day or two earlier with spawn. Trying to inoculate it after the plants defenses started to die off while it still has significant moisture but before other creatures take over.
Your odds with spores would be much lower. These things haven't been written about.
*edit to add-- The folks who sell spores for magic mushrooms now sell them in a water solution in a syringe, with instructions to inject into a sterilized substrate. This sounds similar to what you are considering.
drake schutt wrote: ... unless you have a Cat 100 clean room.
You are going from one extreme end of the scale to the other extreme end of the scale. Blowing spores into the wind is almost guaranteed to fail. But you don't need a "cat 100 clean room" to give yourself a reasonable chance of success. A glove box isn't hard to make. A pressure cooker, hepa air cleaner and a little knowledge of sterile technique bring this within the abilities of most people without breaking the bank. Pick up a copy of The Mushroom Cultivator by Stamets and Chilton.
Shari Greer wrote:Thank you for the links Satamax! I read most of what's there and will go back and re-read again. The one thing I think that is different in the Crimean Oven approach is that it was imperative (in their minds) that the trench be built on a slope. Not a big one, but a slight up angle. This is what helped to pull the heat through such a long distance. I wonder how much impact a slope would have on the RMH pipe in the floor?
I suspect the slope was as much or more about water drainage.
Zach Baker wrote:It's good to read your experience, I appreciate it. Not to be contrary, but I've read a lot of reports of the frames rusting.
In '07 a coworker in Michigan took his '97 truck in to the dealer for an oil change. They wouldn't let him drive the truck home. They did let him pick a new car off the lot (lower end model, but still) and drive that until he received a check 2 months later for 1.5 times the bluebook of the truck. They use a lot of salt in Michigan so that may be the culprit. He bought another Toyota.
Is Trichinosis still a threat?
I grew up eating burnt pork chops. Mom always made sure she cooked those fully, and honestly I love a burnt pork chop, a well crusted dried out pork chop sounds just fine to me. The Maillard reaction is a wonderful thing. Thanks Mom?
Click on your county It looks like each district has different trees to offer, you might find a different selection nearby if you don't mind the drive.
This PDF has a much shorter, lower temperature recommendation.
"... heating water to 60°C in a volume approximately equal to the volume of dry field waste-substrate to be pasteurized.
When the temperature is reached, the dry field waste-substrate is added to the water. It is desirable to have the
field waste-substrate in a wire or fabric mesh container, so that the water may easily mix with the substrate when
it is put into the hot water and can be easily drained when the pasteurization is completed (Figure 2). The substrate
is held in the water for 30 to 60 min, while the water is maintained at 60 ± 3°C. Then the substrate is drained
and allowed to cool slowly for 16 to 20 h."
The standard guideline for determining earliest planting date is when morning soil temperature at a 2 inch soil depth is 55º F or 50º F at a 6 inch soil depth. Planting before the soil temperature is warm enough for germination greatly increases the potential for stand failure.
Soil temperature may vary depending upon soil texture, slope, color and amount and type of crop residue. Thus, randomly measuring soil temperature with a thermometer within a field should provide a reliable indicator of desirable conditions for stand establishment.
Water is an incredibly effective "mass" for storing heat. It comes with a host of problems when so used... but still. If you use water tanks to contain your mass you could drain them for transporting the trailer then refill them for for use while you are parked and living in it.
This is exactly what I was thinking. Another aspect to consider is the balance of weight. The trailer was designed to be stable when towed. If you throw a few thousand pounds in random locations you might find yourself in a "tail wags dog" situation.
Are you sure the trailer was built "winterized"? Most aren't, and the water and waste tanks are often exposed to the weather.
