Our operation is underway!

WDH · May 03, 2011, 07:15:32 AM

Way to go! It is very awesome to have capability that most people never dreamed of having.

thecfarm · May 03, 2011, 07:23:11 AM

And I can't wait for some more pictures!!! Glad to see the boys helping too. It's great to have family close by.

Magicman · May 03, 2011, 09:05:19 AM

I love to see a plan coming together. Especially with the family.

OlJarhead · May 03, 2011, 09:25:10 AM

Thanks all

Ya the boys do a lot of work but the old man has to keep ahead of them!!! After all, my days of out working them are probably numbered ;) but that's ok.

OlJarhead · May 03, 2011, 10:01:01 AM

Geez I'm behind on posting some pics I see! I'll get some more uploaded but here are a few from the period before we began nailing up interior walls!

This is a windfall blue stained pine we milled up a few weeks ago

Was pretty awesome watching it become something usable and well, artistic.

My son running the mill. He and my step-son both like to run the mill and only need me if they have a problem clamping a log onto it or rolling one up -- which is pretty much never. Heck, the last log they just picked up and put on the mill!!!

We have discovered that small logs are hard to keep clamped flat on the mill so we only mill them if we are desperate for something to make sawdust with.....

OlJarhead · May 03, 2011, 10:08:27 AM

The new stickers are awesome too

I can't wait to pick some more up!

We have a lot of wood to mill and I expect will mill as long as the weather will allow and we can air dry, but what a mess we're making! I have to have a bonfire party soon

Magicman · May 03, 2011, 10:15:03 AM

Quote from: OlJarhead on May 03, 2011, 10:08:27 AM
I have to have a bonfire party soon

Bonfires are just part of the family fun.

What did you ever do without a sawmill??

OlJarhead · May 03, 2011, 10:32:55 AM

Quote from: Magicman on May 03, 2011, 10:15:03 AM
Quote from: OlJarhead on May 03, 2011, 10:08:27 AM
I have to have a bonfire party soon

Bonfires are just part of the family fun.

What did you ever do without a sawmill??

I don't know!!! lol love having one!

ely · May 03, 2011, 10:46:09 AM

what do you use the solar panel for.? can you give a few specs on it, like price,what it powers? etc.

ive been wanting to get some of those but have no idea by looking online.

Peter Drouin · May 03, 2011, 12:03:23 PM

nice job you and the boys did 8) 8) and that wm cuts nice too 8) 8) have fun cutting :D ;)

OlJarhead · May 03, 2011, 12:15:59 PM

Quote from: ely on May 03, 2011, 10:46:09 AM
what do you use the solar panel for.? can you give a few specs on it, like price,what it powers? etc.

ive been wanting to get some of those but have no idea by looking online.

Our cabin is 100% off grid

The solar power is a 615 watt system which charges 6 golf cart batteries (soon to be 8) which in turn provide the power for a 2500 watt inverter. We use the power to run the lights, a freezer (soon fridge too) and will be using it for a ceiling fan, composter fan, radio and whatever else we want to run. We also use it in the winter for the heat tape which keeps the sewer line to the composting toilet from freezing up on us

The system:
3 Sun 205 watt panels in series (from Sunelec)
Midnight Solar combiner box and disco box
Morningstar 60amp MPPT controller (converts the solar panel power to charging power
6 Costco Golf Cart Batteries (660ah)
AIM 2500 watt Modified Sine Wave inverter (peaks at 5000watts)
Iota 750 watt charger (to charge off a generator if the sun isn't cooperating).

Total cost is around $3500 including panel rack mount which I designed and my neighbor made for $300

We bought from a few different sources after much searching the net and discussion with the guys on countryplans.com forum (they have an excellent thread on off grid power systems).

I love being able to 'flick' on the lights when we get to the cabin

Magicman · May 03, 2011, 02:11:04 PM

I would also think that the new LED lights designed for recreational vehicles would be a lighting option. They use virtually no power

http://www.starlightsinc.com/shop/pc/home.asp

http://www.jclampstand.com/

ely · May 03, 2011, 04:47:41 PM

thanks for that info, i will have to investigate that further.

OlJarhead · May 04, 2011, 09:44:40 AM

Quote from: Magicman on May 03, 2011, 02:11:04 PM
I would also think that the new LED lights designed for recreational vehicles would be a lighting option. They use virtually no power

http://www.starlightsinc.com/shop/pc/home.asp

http://www.jclampstand.com/

Thanks for the links! Those look like pretty cool options. I guess I'd have to look for the type of light socket they use but I like the motion lights and some of the others a lot! With my 660ah battery bank I could run them NO PROBLEM ;) But an added benefit is that they don't need the inverter either....hmmmm

OlJarhead · May 04, 2011, 09:45:55 AM

Quote from: ely on May 03, 2011, 04:47:41 PM
thanks for that info, i will have to investigate that further.

No problem. A good place to go is countryplans.com and in their forum is a thread for off grid power that is worth participating in. Another is sunelec.com as well as (I think) aims.com (Or search for American Inverter Store) and I have some others floating around.

Magicman · May 05, 2011, 10:01:29 PM

Your efficiency is probably only about 75-80% with the inverter. I would only use it for stuff that absolutely has to have 120vac. Those LED's are pricey, but they last forever and only sip the juice from your batteries.

OlJarhead · May 06, 2011, 10:11:59 AM

Quote from: Magicman on May 05, 2011, 10:01:29 PM
Your efficiency is probably only about 75-80% with the inverter. I would only use it for stuff that absolutely has to have 120vac. Those LED's are pricey, but they last forever and only sip the juice from your batteries.

And when the inverter dies they will still work

ljmathias · May 09, 2011, 07:05:19 AM

Very nice, Jarhead- wish I could get my offspring interested in helping, but they do other stuff, which is fine.

One thought on your siding: why not put your coating on laying down? Soaks in better, easier on the neck and back and it doesn't run off? I did the outside siding on my son's house that way- easy, fast and saved a lot of stain/sealer in the end. I also was able to do both sides so that it had the same moisture pick up and loss. Poly is touch to work with though if you do it that way- have you thought of oil finish? Easier to handle, put it up wet and do a wipe coat after it's up... just a thought, as I haven't actually done interior work this way (yet).

Lj

Magicman · May 09, 2011, 09:08:22 AM

Good suggestion Lj. I also do all painting, staining, and sealing on sawhorses before nailing it up. Then maybe a bit of caulking and touchup.

OlJarhead · May 10, 2011, 02:50:55 PM

Quote from: ljmathias on May 09, 2011, 07:05:19 AM
Very nice, Jarhead- wish I could get my offspring interested in helping, but they do other stuff, which is fine.

One thought on your siding: why not put your coating on laying down? Soaks in better, easier on the neck and back and it doesn't run off? I did the outside siding on my son's house that way- easy, fast and saved a lot of stain/sealer in the end. I also was able to do both sides so that it had the same moisture pick up and loss. Poly is touch to work with though if you do it that way- have you thought of oil finish? Easier to handle, put it up wet and do a wipe coat after it's up... just a thought, as I haven't actually done interior work this way (yet).

Lj

I thought about doing it before putting it up but decided to put it up and then do it instead as I felt that would be easier and cleaner (lots of dust at our cabin site).

Guess I'll have to see how it goes but figured I could put it on really light and do it in coats in hopes of keeping it from dripping.

OlJarhead · May 17, 2011, 10:29:35 AM

No milling this last trip but do plan on doing so over memorial weekend

I even dropped another pine for the weekends festivities and have a bucket of end sealer ready for it

This last weekend we burned a big pile of slash (and I dropped the nearest pine because it was in the way of the solar panels anyway) which will make the 'yard' in front of the cabin much nicer. We have so much to clean up, however, that I think it may take YEARS to get there....but hey, we're living the dream

That pile was probably 20 feet in diameter and full of rotten wood from years before. We've got several of them and I plan to buy a Bailey's fire starter (forget what they are called) so I can burn them next winter.

Once we were set up we got right to work. Had to pull out the temp insulation, wire the walls in the 'living' room and frame the wall behind the wood stove for the hardy board -- then put the insulation back and tack it down...that was Friday.

The Hardy board isn't actually needed back there but I felt better with it and it's not expensive. I'm going to cover it with brick also...figure it will be functional and look nice too

Still learning a lot about milling your own lumber but am VERY happy! I don't think we've lost more then 10% and that includes losses in making the Tongue and Groove

We've also managed to use a LOT of wood I might have passed up before. For example, sometimes we have a pretty wavy piece of pine but once the T&G is done it seems to hold to the wall just fine so it gets nailed down and we keep moving along

I think using 1/2" paneling is the key maybe.

I love the look and well, all of you know (or you wouldn't be here right) that milling your own, as I'm learning, is well, priceless

The only real problem I have now is that I want to be there and working on the cabin and not at work making money so I can go to work on the cabin!!! hahahaha

Maybe some day I'll get a bigger mill and do it for a living instead of this boring Telecom stuff ;)

Raider Bill · May 17, 2011, 10:47:27 AM

Quote from: OlJarhead on May 17, 2011, 10:29:35 AM

The only real problem I have now is that I want to be there and working on the cabin and not at work making money so I can go to work on the cabin!!! hahahaha

Man that sure is the truth! I'm the same way.

OlJarhead · May 17, 2011, 06:31:13 PM

Quote from: Raider Bill on May 17, 2011, 10:47:27 AM
Quote from: OlJarhead on May 17, 2011, 10:29:35 AM

The only real problem I have now is that I want to be there and working on the cabin and not at work making money so I can go to work on the cabin!!! hahahaha

Man that sure is the truth! I'm the same way.

Sucks to have to work so much! haha...my last job I had 4 weeks vacation a year which I used all of at the cabin....not I have just one week, but I can take a lot of Fridays.

Raider Bill · May 17, 2011, 06:49:46 PM

I can take my work to the woods with me with my laptop and blackberry tethered to a point but my woods are 600 miles away. Still....not being in the office watching the help or able to grab phone calls right away hurts business.
For the 18 months I was building my house in Tenn. it was once again proved that while the cat's away the mice will play. I was gone from the business more than I was there having got caught up in the building process 600 miles away. Work suffered but I blame it on the recession, George Bush and BP oil and not that I neglected things :D