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 Post subject: Re: Going off the grid
PostPosted: Fri Apr 11, 2014 10:59 pm 
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It's time to start expanding the apiary.

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The bees are becoming more and more active.

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 Post subject: Re: Going off the grid
PostPosted: Sat Apr 12, 2014 2:03 pm 
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Bees = so great!!! :D

How do you keep the bears away?

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 Post subject: Re: Going off the grid
PostPosted: Sun Apr 13, 2014 12:10 pm 
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lfhoward wrote:
Bees = so great!!! :D
How do you keep the bears away?


That's a good question and a question that my wife will often times ask. :mrgreen: She's more concerned than I am. We love bears and will choose a nonaggressive approach to keep them away. With that being said, they can do a lot of damage to the hives, barns, sheds, etc. Last year the State NM department of Fish and Wildlife was handing out bear solar/electric cages to place over the hives (for free). I declined the offer. As of right now, I'm not going to take any preventive measures. There are a few plans in the future that may address the issue.

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 Post subject: Re: Going off the grid
PostPosted: Thu Apr 17, 2014 11:51 pm 
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If things work out, we hope to have the water system completed here in the next few weeks. The remainder of the trenches are dug for the pitless valves and piping. I'm burying all the lines somewhere between 4' to 5' feet deep.

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 Post subject: Re: Going off the grid
PostPosted: Thu Apr 17, 2014 11:58 pm 
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The electrical wires have been run. We still need to install all the electrical components in the well house.

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 Post subject: Re: Going off the grid
PostPosted: Fri Apr 18, 2014 12:17 am 
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Schedule 40 PVC pipe sticking out of the ground doesn't make me very happy. A competent well driller will place steel casing and some type of concrete/mortar mix around the wellhead for protection. Since we need a 6" inch diameter pipe to accommodate both pitless adaptors, a few modifications needed to be made. We cut the PVC pipe about 7' feet below the ground and added an adaptor for the 6" inch steel pipe.

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A torch was used to cut both holes for the pitless adaptor:

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Here's the steel pipe installed with the pitless adaptors:

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Both water lines are ran into the well house:

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 Post subject: Re: Going off the grid
PostPosted: Sun Apr 27, 2014 1:01 am 
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The wellhead is much more stable now. We added bentonite around the PVC well casing and poured concrete around the steel pipe.

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 Post subject: Re: Going off the grid
PostPosted: Mon May 05, 2014 12:48 am 
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We finally made the decision to run the main power in the same ditch as the electrical line going from the meter pole to the well house then adjoin to the waterline ditch that goes from the well house to the main dwelling. In these pictures we are tying the two ditches together so we can lay PVC and pull wire. To meet code, we need two feet of dirt between the waterline and the electrical line. The electrical needs to be at least 18" inches below the top surface in PVC. Since the water ditch is 5 feet deep, there is plenty of room.

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We backfilled around the wellhead up to the pitless adaptors. Hoping to set the pump this week. My pump has been backordered for 3 weeks!

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Since I had the backhoe guy handy, we pulled dozens of stumps.

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 Post subject: Re: Going off the grid
PostPosted: Sun May 11, 2014 9:28 pm 
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We went to Albuquerque this weekend to check out the Lopi and Blaze King wood stoves. Sarah was mostly indifferent between the two brands, but I liked the Blaze King the best. We are planning to have the Princess model in the basement and the King model on the main floor. The stove has an 88% LHV (Low Heat Value) efficiency and 82% HHV (High Heat Value) efficiency. The efficiency is based on how hot the stove is being burned. A lower steady burn over time will yield a higher efficiency, i.e. highway mpg vs city mpg on a vehicle. On a higher setting (damper mostly open), the stove will burn approximately 24 hours. On a lower setting (damper mostly closed), the stove will burn approximately 40 hours.

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 Post subject: Going off the grid
PostPosted: Sun May 11, 2014 9:45 pm 
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Lopi's are a good stove. After heating with wood stoves-fire places for years, in 07 I got the outdoor boiler. Love it. Yes it use's more wood. But whole house is same temp. No cold drafts- and safer.
Mine heats domestic hot water and pole barn too.


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 Post subject: Re: Going off the grid
PostPosted: Sun May 11, 2014 11:47 pm 
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Cherrie 274 wrote:
Lopi's are a good stove.


Agreed. One of the best in the industry.

Cherrie 274 wrote:
After heating with wood stoves-fire places for years, in 07 I got the outdoor boiler. Love it. Yes it use's more wood. But whole house is same temp. No cold drafts- and safer.
Mine heats domestic hot water and pole barn too.


I agree that outdoor boilers are super nice and can be utilized for many uses.

Here's what I don't like about outdoor boilers:
(1) They depend on parts that could fail.
(2) They require electricity (not an easy off-grid solution).
(3) In cold climates like mine, a secondary heat source is needed.
(4) I can't cook on them.

I prefer the simplicity of a woodstove. I also prefer the ambiance of a large glass door. I also like having the option to cook on the stove in a grid down situation.

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 Post subject: Re: Going off the grid
PostPosted: Mon May 12, 2014 6:49 am 
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Yep, I do miss cooking on and looking at them. Sometimes I just standout side with the boiler door open:). I'm having to make some hard decisions- boiler might have to go.


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 Post subject: Re: Going off the grid
PostPosted: Mon May 19, 2014 9:37 pm 
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I had the contractor out to survey the best location for the walkout basement. We decided that these 3 ponderosas needed to go.

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This will be our front yard views:

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 Post subject: Re: Going off the grid
PostPosted: Tue Jun 17, 2014 12:29 am 
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For the past two months I've been waiting for the phone company to tell me how much phone hookup would be. The wait is over, I finally got the phone call today. To get phone to our property, the cost would be $9,000 dollars! :shock: Don't worry, we've got a plan B. :wink:

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 Post subject: Re: Going off the grid
PostPosted: Tue Jun 17, 2014 12:34 am 
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You could drink a lot of orange juice and buy a lot of kite string for nine grand. :shock:

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 Post subject: Re: Going off the grid
PostPosted: Tue Jun 17, 2014 1:21 am 
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profdlp wrote:
You could drink a lot of orange juice and buy a lot of kite string for nine grand. :shock:


Yes sir. It's one disadvantage of living in rural USA. The plan is to get DISH internet (DISH offers 30 gig for $70) and run our phone through the internet using omma. To learn more, click here: http://www.ooma.com/

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 Post subject: Re: Going off the grid
PostPosted: Wed Jul 02, 2014 2:58 am 
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WILD HONEY RANCH is now Certified Naturally Grown (CNG). CNG is a non-profit organization offering certification tailored for small-scale, direct-market farmers and beekeepers that use natural methods and practices to the highest ideals of organic farming/beekeeping.

You can visit us here: http://www.naturallygrown.org/producers/4418

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Last edited by dieselenthusiast on Tue Oct 21, 2014 5:11 pm, edited 2 times in total.

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 Post subject: Re: Going off the grid
PostPosted: Thu Jul 03, 2014 5:43 pm 
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I loaded as many of the stumps as I could by hand.

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Then I had no choice but to switch from manpower to horsepower.

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The first load was loaded and unloaded by hand. The second load was loaded by the tractor and taken off with a Jeep.

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The third load was loaded and unloaded by the tractor.

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 Post subject: Re: Going off the grid
PostPosted: Sat Jul 12, 2014 10:20 pm 
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Trimming and cleaning up the duff around the trees.

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 Post subject: Re: Going off the grid
PostPosted: Sun Jul 13, 2014 1:30 am 
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We are getting closer to finishing the water system. Here's the pitless for the electric submersible pump and another for the mechanical hand pump.

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Here's the 3" Grundfos electric pump.

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Wiring the pump.

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Making sure the pump clears the pitless adaptors.

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Lowering 20' foot sections of pipe.

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Safety tool in place to ensure we don't lose the pipe and pump down the well.

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Here's the mechanical hand pump. You can see the ball valve in the bottom picture. Since I helped with the install, I didn't get any pictures. The steps are pretty much the same except that we had to thread the sucker rods and PVC pipe at each 9' foot section.

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