Jr Hill

In all my years I didn't know there was a much of a difference in vinegars except for taste. We use a BUNCH of vinegar and it is getting really expensive. Just recently I got a comupins from the wife that ya don't use people vinegar for utility purposes: that is called cleaning vinegar. I got ripped for using food vinegar for cleaning the toilet. I got educated once again at 15 years of marriage. Buy some CLEANING VINEGAR. Nope, don't put it on your salad.

You never quit learning.

Is this why Permies.com reposts old, old posts with nothing recent because the same stupid questions come up?

From attempted participation, watching, helping and more and it seems many folk should be doing more 'low tech' for their originating homestead projects. One of the biggies I've seen is electricity and trying to do off grid electrical via solar. "My car has a battery. I know batteries because every vehicle I've had has one. Easy peasy." And not just the solar DC but the interior AC wiring. Oh my gosh. Connections, gauge, materials, workmanship and safe practices - it's scary stuff. And not a place to learn from mistakes.

But frankly I believe the low tech thing is really cool not to include a leaky roof or windows, an over fired wood burner or a lamp knocked over. Mice and bugs. Sponge baths or a 37f creek. Or the fact there is nothing on TV any given night. Neighbors. But the other downside is that it is really hard work that never ends and not necessarily the most comfortable life. If comfort is any goal. Then there is longevity. It may be romantic at first but is this what your really want to do day after day, year after year decade after....  And then you start getting older. Darn, it happens. What happens when you can't do what you did 10 years ago?

I'll probably get ripped for the above but it hurts to see folk pile resources into a project and come out with little to nothing just to have to start all over in the city. And all that work.... I sometimes see ads for a live in homesteading person, couple or family. This would be a way to see if you have the stuff.

We have been at our location for 16 years in far back off the grid canyon land. Everything is private including the roads which are actually ancient unimproved logging trails. A main trail from way back in time before anyone current was around was actually a mail route. It is on the country map, certainly not Google because their little camera car could barely get off the county road miles away. But at a halfway point there is a split and the historic two track to the top and beyond has no name. There are some non-resident landowners up there with their bug-out-place and it seems they all have their own road name. It's fun talking to someone and you try to reference a particular place - you with your label and them with theirs.

As for our place we found a parcel those 16 years ago. We actually had to call around to get someone to show it. We fell in love and wanted to submit bid on it. Turns out when our RE agent who was the only one who would actually show** up did research there were two adjacent parcels for sale. The property owners didn't know other properties were for sale around them. There was no bidding war - the land owners were glad to dump them. There was no negotiation because no one was active and didn't know others were selling. So we ended up with three adjoining parcels. In years down the road we have added two more in much the same way.

As for names they are labels according to parcel: the Home site, the Clear Cut, No man's Land and later the **** place and the **** place. As for naming trails we just don't go there. It is this: off of that on XXXXXX parcel. We don't need no Darn signage. I just gives trespassers and poachers a point of reference.

** The RE agent was nobodies model cutsy. She was comely but she clamored up some 50% grades that left us winded. And she was dressed for the occasion. And she had a vehicle that could do the roads (we had an F250). She represented and negotiated for us and did a great work.

Have fun with your trail signs. Whatever works.

The very first few things that come to mind are surface conditions and grades, particularly down hill slopes. Then would be roughness of the terrain. Your understanding of what you can pull and control with your rig has a lot to do with how long you may continue to live. Have you seen any results of what happens when a load starts pushing a rig down a grade? There's not a lot you can do once the wheels start losing traction.

It, to me, has to do with where one is in life. I am of course getting older. But as I think back here are a few memories:

- Getting up way early to be out cutting alfalfa with an old double sickle bar when I could finally see in front of the tractor. By then everything was greased and the tractor warmed up. I went until I had to shut down to go to my 'job' which allowed my to cut the hay.

- Having a self employment job that made money and that nobody else did. I still provided a good value to the customer.

There are of course other things but these come to mind immediately.

The first thing I thought of at the title was shop towels. I've got BUNCHes of worn out clothes in the shop for towels. Heck, I still have boxes of laundered (I liked heavy starch) oxford white and blue long sleeve shirts. These days when someone sees me in the forest and I am in a button collar dress shirt and beat up denims they look at me strangely, ya think? But I'm a guy. Mention towles and I think of oil or gunk on my hands.

I won't bother to post a picture but do have to tell a meat grinder story: The Wife and I were on a vacation where we spent 10 days in Nuremberg. On market day the whole of the town square fills with about anything you could imagine. The Wife bought a pair of metal lid steins for our evening tea and what did I buy? An old but looks-like-new manual meat grinder with 3 various plates for 10 euros. Yeah, good day! The fun part was coming home because when checking in at the airport my checked bag was too heavy and the overweight charge was ridiculous so without the meat grinder it was just right. I stuffed the meat grinder in my carry on. Next was security check in and the wife was fine but I all of a sudden had multiple security guys moving me off to the side. One of them the pulls the meat grinder out of the bag and demands an explanation to which i shrugged and said I bought it at the market. He immediately paged the supervisor who hadn't even got there yet and asked loudly what was causing the hold up. You have to know that American in the security with the meat grinder was getting a lot of attention by now. The the security guy holds the meat grinder up high so the supervisor (and everyone else in the area) can see it. The boss stops kind of dumbfounded, looks down shaking his head and flips his hand and reverses direction. Whew.

Y'all came close to reading about the American terrorist with the meat grinder but thank the Lord for a level headed crew supervisor.

BTW, I still am looking for ways to help. I just don't have much use for rocket heaters.

This is an old thread but has had some recent posts. When we built, far remote, deep forest and off grid with ZERO services, I planned solar from the beginning. 48vdc system with 8 Trojan REb blocks. I went through 2 banks in 11 years. When the 2nd bank was at end of life I went with LifeP04 blocks, actually 3ea SimpliPhi 3.8. Within the first month I was so astounded by their performance that I thought forward and if one of them failed I would not want to get by on 2 blocks. So I bought a 4th and configured them into a 2x2 bank. This upgrade is coming up on four years.

From the beginning I sought to have as close as could be a system that would be reasonably hands off in case something happened to me and the Wife had to step into operation and maintain the system. Batteries were the main demand on maintenance. 2nd would be generator operation and maintenance during low light season (PNW).  The wife has the ability to undertake specific gravity, connection service, fuel and oil, etc but she would curse my memory having to do so. Generators, sigh.

The LFP04 batteries were a major game changer. They are in the 'crouch space' instead of the outside life the Trojans. I do ZERO maintenance on the batteries except to do a balancing charge each month - or maybe every other month - or (wink). We are coming up on the 4th year of service from the LFP04 conversion. There is little no measurable difference in their performance since they were commissioned. I have done a few things to the solar over the years and nothing made the change in operation that the new batteries contributed. But the upgrade was a hit to the budget. Would I do it again? In a heartbeat.

Here are a few things:
-  No real physical maintenance;
- Safer than lead. Don't fall victim of the horror stories of exploding batteries. BS. Some cheap Chinesium batteries maybe but you get what you pay.
- Capacity: the rated amp hours ARE usable. Lead batteries with the rated storage WILL be degraded if you use them more than 50%. LFP04 could give a flip. Just don't kill them dead.
- Energy savings: We run 3 months more than less on generator power. The generator has to recharge the batteries because of lack of sunlight. The LFP04 batteries charge AND discharge with very little loss in efficiency. Over the course of the winter this amounts to many gallons of fuel not burned. Think on that.
- Oversized battery bank: We have 15 kWh of storage. We use barely half of that so we have most of a 2nd day if I bonk my head and am down. Oversizing your bank means you don't have to charge them full (a wear and tear thing) and they rarely get below 50%. LFP04 has virtually no usage memory. So not charging them full and not substantially depleting them means little to no change in performance. So you stay below a full top end voltage hit and don't go too deep. They are warranted (for what that is worth) at 80% depth of discharge for 10,000 cycles. We run around 35 to 40%.

I am new here and this is about the first time I've been able to comment on something worth writing. You can McGivor whatever but if you aren't available SOMEONE has to follow up behind you. Don't put this on other people. Build, as best you can, something that is manageable, by those behind you. If you love them you won't saddle them with a complex system that no one can operate in your absence.