Plans Change, and now I'm starting with a 12 X 12

Started by JavaMan, April 20, 2010, 12:37:41 PM

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JavaMan

Quote from: old_guy on September 26, 2016, 11:20:28 AM
That sentence sounds like you have passed a hurdle.  Life has been running interference against your plans for a while now, but it seems you aren't gonna' let it distract you from this dream any longer.  Cool.

Here's to 2017.


- John

Yeah, my motto for the next year is "Burn the Boats!"

Meaning there is no option of failure.  Succeed or die. Like Cortez. Like Alexander the Great.  (well, ok, not literally die, but you get the point)

JavaMan

Quote from: OlJarhead on September 26, 2016, 11:52:42 AM
Hmmm....I've done concrete in decent weather with overnight freezing but had to insulate it.  I think you can rent the insulation blankets but I agree that it's best done in warmer weather if you're not a pro (like me, I'm no pro!)....

Stay motivated :)  Do some hunting, get a tarp or felt over the roof of the shed so it stays dry this winter!  That would be my priority -- even if you plan to remove the old roof I'd protect it for the winter as it protects everything under it and hey, if you get stranded a dry solid walled 'shed' is better than a truck seat in my book!  Bring along a karo heater (need one?  I have one I don't use anymore) and a cot and you're set in inclement weather :)

Drat! I didn't see this until just now  d*

Yeah, been thinking about a tarp.  And yes, I want to get up there hunting this year if I can decipher the crazy hunting regs.  I hate that I have to declare  Modern Firearm, Muzzle Loader, or Archery, and if I don't get it, I am SOL.  Where I grew up, you could buy a tag for Archery, and if you didn't fill it, buy another tag for firearm (didn't have Muzzle loading as a big deal back then - cause that WAS modern firearms  :D )

I have a cot, but don't have a kerosene heater - might be good to get one.


OlJarhead

it's not too hard to figger ;)  Pick a method, by a tag, note the dates and away you go ;)

I might hunt rifle season but only on the weekends probably (which will be one and a half or so) and maybe an evening or two but it is what it is.

If you can only make it out for one hunt, I'd do rifle.  If you can make it out for two then the bow gives good options but you're almost out of the 1st season if it isn't over already.

As for the heater, I would part with mine cheap but it's a long way from you.

JavaMan

Quote from: OlJarhead on September 27, 2016, 10:51:56 AM
it's not too hard to figger ;)  Pick a method, by a tag, note the dates and away you go ;)

I might hunt rifle season but only on the weekends probably (which will be one and a half or so) and maybe an evening or two but it is what it is.

If you can only make it out for one hunt, I'd do rifle.  If you can make it out for two then the bow gives good options but you're almost out of the 1st season if it isn't over already.

As for the heater, I would part with mine cheap but it's a long way from you.

Yeah, I'm thinking Modern FA - especially since I haven't practiced at all with the bow this year (too much other junk going on).  I might go up and "hunt" the entire late season - but only because I can work remote from there and hunt in the afternoon.  Guess I should bone up on my Mule Vs Whitetail identification ability.  ???

As for the heater ... yeah, it might be cheaper for me just to get one locally since you're place is a long way from mine.

Speaking of your place - it is looking really good! 

OlJarhead

Don't think there is a late season for MF.  Just the one, mid October and about 9 days...I'll have to look it up.


JavaMan

Quote from: OlJarhead on September 27, 2016, 10:59:45 PM
Don't think there is a late season for MF.  Just the one, mid October and about 9 days...I'll have to look it up.

Yeah, you're right.  15th - 25th.  I just have to watch that I get my species id'd right if presented with the opportunity.

There is a "Late" season, but it doesn't cover my GMU - not the one where I will be hunting.

OlJarhead

Wasn't too far from your place yesterday :)  Almost drove up to check on it but was in a hurry.  I was up Alpine/White Rock checking on a possible milling job for one of your neighbors ;)

I've given her this weekend to start and may be there for a week.  Roads are clear and no snow at all...would be easy getting into your place still.

JavaMan

Yeah, it is usually not snowy until later in Nov.  Been thinking is attempting to head up and just check on the place, but I have to head for AK for work next week and there are things I need to get done here before I go.  Maybe ill push it and go when I get back.  It would be nice to know how late I can get in and out

OlJarhead

I'll be milling up there the end of the month so if you make it out that week (26th through the 3rd or 4th of Dec) let me know


JavaMan

I am hoping to reduce costs with finding some free or nearly free CMUs... 8x8x16s.  It is doubtful I'll find enough to make much of a difference, but I have the source for one complete course of them, so far.  A couple more would be great.  But at $1.35 each, they need to be very close to free to make a difference.

I bit more thinking might prove that it isn't going to be any cheaper... Time for spreadsheet magic to happen!

JavaMan

Time for a quick update. 

I am in the winter part of the project plan and all is going well.  I have all the footer costs covered, and about half the stem wall costs.  It is all on track to have my materials and milling costs covered as needed.  Now it is simply a matter of accumulating the other tools and such that I will need.

Things like a flatbed trailer, quad, board planer.  I am pretty sure I have most of the rest of what I need.

While I am eager to get up there and get started, it is fun to watch the balances grow.


JavaMan

Life is moving along.  Savings are increasing which is good, and while I am eager to get moving on to the actual building and such, I still have other things that need doing (like getting myself back into shape!)

In about an hour, another year of work will draw to a close and I will be awaiting the new year.  It is my hope that this time next year (2017) I will be able to welcome the new year in the cabin.

A lot of my friends and co-workers keep asking if I am going to move up there once it is finished.  Honestly, it is very tempting, but I haven't made that decision yet.  Since I can work from there, it would make some financial sense, and I think it would be a lot of fun, but there are a few logistic issues that I still have to work out - power being one of them.  Yes, solar is how it will go, but putting in solar isn't exactly cheap, so it may take me a bit before moving up there will happen.

Anyway, it's fun to think and dream of these things!

OlJarhead

Solar can be pretty reasonable but likely will run about $6-$7K to do it right.  I just picked up 6 305 watt panels for about $1200 :) but you add cables, a controller, combiner boxes etc etc and a back up genny and the price gets steeper and steeper....still, nice when it's done.


JavaMan

The panels I'm not so concerned about.  Some diligent shopping and I can find some that will do the job for a decent price, and then expand from there.  It's the storage lockers (Batteries) that seem mighty spendy to me - at least for as much as I want to "store".  And from what I read, it's not a good idea to buy X of them, and then next year buy X more, and so on...

OlJarhead

Storage locker?  I have mine on my porch.  There are many options for them (my neighbor has a small room off his entrance with all of his stuff in it and the batteries enclosed in vented boxes.

JavaMan

Not so much the space requirements for the batteries (Storage lockers),  but the cost of the batteries themselves!  And if you're not supposed to mix new batteries with older ones (put new wine in old wineskins?) then that means a large outlay at one time.  So it might take a bit of saving up for, or deciding that I can just run the genny more or do with less power somehow.

I am sure though, that eventually I will have enough solar to power everything I want running except in the most marginal of situations

OlJarhead

Ahhh yes.  The cost of batteries is a huge part.  You can add, just not more than about 12 months apart.  So, if for example, you wanted to run a 48v system and could only afford one string of 6v GCB's (8 batteries) but wanted to run two of them you could get one string this year (less than $800) and a second less than a year later though sooner is better.

Speaking of GCB's I did a cost benefit analysis on them vs the L16's and decided to stick with GCB's for now since they are a lot cheaper and  may well last at least half as long (I think Mountain Don is still on a set after what?  8 years maybe?).  Though prices seem a bit cheaper on the L16's today vs when I did that.

MountainDon

 We have had our GC-2's since 2009, 7 years 5 months ago.  To be fair they are not cycled as much as if we lived there full time. It does go to show that one can expect very good service in a part time situation. They have never been abused. The electrolyte has never fallen low enough to expose the plates. They were seldom discharged more than 20% and never below 50%. They seldom ever sat in any degree of discharge for more than 24 hours.

Ideally you would use batteries all from the same manufacturing batch. that gives you the best chance of having batteries with internal resistances that are as close as possible to each other. In practice that probably does not matter all that much as every point where cables connect introduce a point where resistance can occur. At the very least if you need to add batteries to an existing bank use the same brand and model.
Just because something has been done and has not failed, doesn't mean it is good design.

JavaMan

Well, that is something to think about.  Maybe put in a string at a time, and just rotate them out when they age out.

That would make it much more affordable


MountainDon

Quote from: JavaMan on January 03, 2017, 09:11:43 PM
just rotate them out when they age out.

That would make it much more affordable

Maybe, maybe....  Keep in mind that when you add a battery or a string of batteries, to existing batteries you more or less end up with the newer batteries acting like the older ones after a little while. In the end you end up getting shorted on the life of the newer batteries. If you then begin to change strings after a few years you can easily end up with a set of batteries that fight each other instead of getting along together well. This is more and more of a factor when you have parallel strings.

I would try and save up for the size of bank you need. Then, if you missed your guess or miscalculated, and need more battery capacity buy the extra string before too much time passes by.  But also plan on replacing the entire bank at one time when that day arrives. If that means setting up a savings account for future batteries and making a monthly deposit, do it. When off grid you are the power company and as such must have plans in place for when something happens.

The good thing is that by the time a second set is needed we should have more choices in lithium batteries and hopefully also at better pricing than today. LFP (lithium ferrous phosphate) has some advantages over lead acid. FLA are still a cheaper initial cost and we know all their problem points.
Just because something has been done and has not failed, doesn't mean it is good design.

OlJarhead

I've always thought of adding as a one shot deal -- within the first year.

In truth Telco's do it all the time and often after many many years.  The problem, as I understand it, is that the system will draw off the new strings before it draws off the old string (not exactly right since they draw together but sorta right in that the newer better string will be somewhat abused disproportionately).  I guess the massive banks we use must have some differences that allow more leeway there but I can't say.

In anycase, no more than 3 strings is recommended with 1 being best but not a requirement (I have two and they are doing just fine).  Also understand that they will need to be replaced some day.  It's a matter or when -- and the when depends on how kind you are to them for the most part.

JavaMan

Well, the Ides of March have come and gone - and that means there's 2.5 months left before the snow will be out enough to get in up there ... altho it might be earlier this year because there aren't so many trees shading the road anymore  :(

I might try getting in up there in late May... even one week early would be a help!

I am starting to get the itch to get up there and pour that foundation.  I am going to need to make sure I have plenty of storage on the camera memory to take plenty of pictures.  Maybe I will see if I can't set it up to take a picture every 30 minutes or hour and set it up on a tripod.  That would be fun to see.


OlJarhead

Do you know any of your neighbors?  Might be able to check road conditions with them.

I just get good chains and 4 wheel in ;)

JavaMan

Quote from: OlJarhead on March 19, 2017, 11:05:40 AM
Do you know any of your neighbors?  Might be able to check road conditions with them.

I just get good chains and 4 wheel in ;)

Nearest neighbor I had was 3/4 mile south - wasn't there 100% of the year, and his place burned down in the fire 2 summers ago.  Beyond that is the old guy at the end of the county maintained part and I hardly ever see him out anymore.  And then there are the folks that were on the news.

Mainly I'm concerned about the part beyond the lake that goes up into the hills.  It can be deeper than the axles on my 4 X 4 even in late April/early May... One of the projects I am going to need to pull off the back burner is a web cam of the road through my place that I can pull images from so I can watch the conditions of the road.