thomas rubino

master rocket scientist
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since Apr 14, 2013
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Biography
13 acres in extreme rural Montana 100% off grid since 1983. Solar and micro hydro. Summer time piggy farmer. Restoring 2000-04 Subaru outbacks wagons for fun and a little profit. Not quite old enough to retire YET but closing on it fast... until then I must occasionally leave Paradise "home" and run large construction cranes on union job sites across the inland northwest. I make (Well try) A-2 A-2 cheese, I love cooking with my wood smoker for everything! Would not live anywhere else but rural Montana ! My wife Liz runs "Rocks by liz" a successful Etsy store and we have a summer booth at the Missoula peoples market. We currently breed and raise persian cats but are about to retire all the girls and let them be happy kittys for the remainder of their days.Oh and my biggest thing is... I LOVE MY RMH !
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latitude 47 N.W. montana zone 6A
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Recent posts by thomas rubino

Although it has not dipped into the thirties here, @2600'
At our son's house in Basin Mt. @ 5350' they have been in the twenties every morning for the past week.
Winter is coming.
3 days ago
Here's mine, I have two.
Heavy cloth, beeswax-lined.

5 days ago
Yes indeed!
We have noticed a huge rodent population this year.
The outside kitties are leaving bodies around the yard, and occasional wet, chewy presents are left in the shop.
The inside kitties are pampered Persians; they would be terrified outdoors!
However, they are not very good mousers. This summer a pregnant mom got inside, and her litter started causing issues...
The Persians got two; I, however, got 8 in a protected mousetrap. Protected from the kitties...
Seems like we have the house back under our control, and Nicky & Sammy have the outside covered quite well.
6 days ago
A week or so ago, I fired off the Shop dragon after a repair.
I have had it lit several times since then. Yesterday it was lit all day!
Last evening I mentioned that they were calling for 43F last night, I suggested perhaps lighting the kitchen cook stove in the morning.
Liz suggested that her feet were cold and that I should light it right then!  I did, and we both enjoyed a bump in temps.
This morning, we only dropped to 47 F up here on the mountain; down in the river valley, however, is 42F
Working in the Shop today, I expect to have a fire out there again!
1 week ago
Hi Rico, it sounds like fuel will keep costing more and more, not much we consumers can do about that.
But running the numbers...
My Subi gets a nominal 28 mpg
The VW got 51 mpg
In Montana today, on-road diesel is selling around $5.50, bump that up to $6 a gallon and my trip would cost $36
Gas is currently $4.60 a gallon, eleven  gallons would cost me over $50

I'm keeping my eye on the new electric Subi Trailseeker.
Once they work out the bugs, it might become a viable option for us.
1 week ago
Sara, Thank you!
You beat me to it. I have favorited it and will dive deeper when I have the time.
1 week ago
And so, a quick search showed me that, indeed, I can adapt a VW TDI engine to my Subaru Outback manual transmission. (or automatic!)
https://subarugears.com/product-category/adaptor/
Will I do this...   if the stars line up perhaps I will.  First thing I need is a complete, running TDI engine...
I will start there; if one makes itself available, it might just have to come home with me.
1 week ago
Hey, Phil, that's word-for-word true!
1 week ago
Hi Christobal;
Currently, I have four 150-watt 12-volt panels, wired in series, using an MPPT controller. I charge a pair of 224 Ah 6-volt deep-cycle batteries.
It is not enough; I'll be adding two more 150-watt panels as soon as I get the new 48-volt house system installed.
I run a trickle charger from the house system to supplement the solar charge.
I am running two 12-volt deep freezers.
I'm hoping that once I add another 300 watts, it might be enough.
1 week ago