The Home Improvement Thread

[Taco Loco]

Get some paint on the bend on the support bracket.

You should be videoing that work and post vids like Andrew Camarata on the Tube. I could watch his stuff all day. Dude just WORKS!!

Oh and one other thing... nice work!

Tractor Therapy in person is so much better, , yeah I need to get a new support arm, my cousin bent that section by dropping the damn grapple on it.

 

[Oswego]

Tractor Therapy in person is so much better, , yeah I need to get a new support arm, my cousin bent that section by dropping the damn grapple on it.

Seriously though - people actually watch that stuff on youtube so you could double dip. I thought about it if I bought land and built a cabin. Saw one the other day was less than a week old with a few million hits. I forget the pay scale but it used to be $5 for 5k views or something like that before tax's. Watched a residential house being built and the lot/jobsite/address of the build was chosen just for it's view/production value.

BTW - your regular hourly rate is on par with our NE union labor rates for a journeyman - thought that was funny - keep up the good work - hope it's all cash

 

[Taco Loco]

Seriously though - people actually watch that stuff on youtube so you could double dip. I thought about it if I bought land and built a cabin. Saw one the other day was less than a week old with a few million hits. I forget the pay scale but it used to be $5 for 5k views or something like that before tax's. Watched a residential house being built and the lot/jobsite/address of the build was chosen just for it's view/production value.

BTW - your regular hourly rate is on par with our NE union labor rates for a journeyman - thought that was funny - keep up the good work - hope it's all cash

No invoice on most yobs.... barter

yeah I took out a standing tree that was dead, less 2ft from the fence line, it was probably 13-14in in diameter and about 25ft tall, it was just the main limbs and trunk(widow maker), that would had been cool to video, not one limb hit the fence, but it was sketchy grabbing and pulling it towards the property I was working on.

Get some paint on the bend on the support bracket.

You should be videoing that work and post vids like Andrew Camarata on the Tube. I could watch his stuff all day. Dude just WORKS!!

Oh and one other thing... nice work!

 

[Taco Loco]

Before and After Pics (Stack of Jackson’s not pictured )

 

[Silverback]

Before and After Pics (Stack of Jackson’s not pictured )

So you cleared the land for free but $20 is $20?

 

[Silverback]

I see a Kabota hauling trailer in your future and maybe a skidsteer or small excavator.

 

[Taco Loco]

So you cleared the land for free but $20 is $20?

, it happens

 

[PSU Taco85]

Ant - do you think they are subsidizing homeowners because they can't keep up with supply? Curious what your take is since your a pro in a career that supplies everyone.

Nj was giving crazy subsidies but it ended real quick from what others tell me. My old job decided to move warehouses to NJ just to take advantage of it and in Deptford/Paulsboro the amount of solar is insane. Every warehouse has it and there are more than a few food farms that got converted to solar farms. Heard once Nj figured out people were turning green space into solar farms on their dime to make money they quashed it

That's part of the reason, it really comes down to politics though. The grid could easily keep up with demand, but the regional transmission organizations that price the power such as PJM, NYISO, etc. are making it unreasonable for new construction of typical generation plants, but make it affordable to install solar and wind due to the subsidizing. They know the grid demand, and set the prices, which is why alot of the old nuclear and coal plants are shutting down. Power generation is profitable around $25/MWh, and that's the goal for the cost for our company to produce power. If you were to price the cost of solar energy, without the subsidies it's around $50/MWh. Nobody would install it or own it. The price of natural gas is the primary driver for low power costs. New 1300MW combined cycle plants can be constructed and put online within 2 years, and they are cookie cutter designs. GE/westinghouse can stamp these out like building a 500 acre home.

The whole solar/wind debate is all a bunch of BS, it's again people trying to go "green", so they are promoting people to build these micro grids and have their own reliable power, so much that the power companies are even paying people via SREC to generate their own power through solar. The demand on the grid although you think has gone up over the past few years has actually gone down, due to more efficient things such as LED bulbs, VFD controls for motors, digital controls for home appliances, etc. And alot of big companies that used to use alot of power are no longer around since the we decide to import so much shit that barely anyone manufactures anything in the USA anymore like the good old days.

Funny, I know Texas is off the grid from the rest of the transmission operators, and then there's this small dinky town known as Vineland, NJ (actually the largest city in NJ physically) which has it's own municipality for production and transmission of electricity. Things like this have always existed, but the government is now promoting micro grids on a residential level.

A new big wind farm just got approved for down in the Delaware river, so you'll soon be seeing ground breaking here.

Salem County residents hope new wind port will bring jobs, boost economy

My personal opinion, in 20 years when all these solar panels shit the bed, our kids kids will be stuck figuring out how to dispose of them or recycle them. Nobody has thought that far ahead, but I think if somebody could start a business in solar panel "refurb/recycling", they would have a flourishing business in the next 10 years.

 

[Oswego]

That's part of the reason, it really comes down to politics though. The grid could easily keep up with demand, but the regional transmission organizations that price the power such as PJM, NYISO, etc. are making it unreasonable for new construction of typical generation plants, but make it affordable to install solar and wind due to the subsidizing. They know the grid demand, and set the prices, which is why alot of the old nuclear and coal plants are shutting down. Power generation is profitable around $25/MWh, and that's the goal for the cost for our company to produce power. If you were to price the cost of solar energy, without the subsidies it's around $50/MWh. Nobody would install it or own it. The price of natural gas is the primary driver for low power costs. New 1300MW combined cycle plants can be constructed and put online within 2 years, and they are cookie cutter designs. GE/westinghouse can stamp these out like building a 500 acre home.

The whole solar/wind debate is all a bunch of BS, it's again people trying to go "green", so they are promoting people to build these micro grids and have their own reliable power, so much that the power companies are even paying people via SREC to generate their own power through solar. The demand on the grid although you think has gone up over the past few years has actually gone down, due to more efficient things such as LED bulbs, VFD controls for motors, digital controls for home appliances, etc. And alot of big companies that used to use alot of power are no longer around since the we decide to import so much shit that barely anyone manufactures anything in the USA anymore like the good old days.

Funny, I know Texas is off the grid from the rest of the transmission operators, and then there's this small dinky town known as Vineland, NJ (actually the largest city in NJ physically) which has it's own municipality for production and transmission of electricity. Things like this have always existed, but the government is now promoting micro grids on a residential level.

A new big wind farm just got approved for down in the Delaware river, so you'll soon be seeing ground breaking here.

Salem County residents hope new wind port will bring jobs, boost economy

My personal opinion, in 20 years when all these solar panels shit the bed, our kids kids will be stuck figuring out how to dispose of them or recycle them. Nobody has thought that far ahead, but I think if somebody could start a business in solar panel "refurb/recycling", they would have a flourishing business in the next 10 years.

It all makes sense. Funny thing is I'm anti China because their gubment subsidizes their industry and it makes it unfair for the global market - yet the more and more I look into the good ol USA - we do the same exact crap just with other things like farming, gas, electricity. Getting real tired of living in a "capitalistic" society that's realy a bunch of commies in gubment trying to make the people a bunch of dependent sheep with their hands put. Banks, airlines, automakers, now every citizen thats unemployed all get bailed out. Where does the taxation stop of the people making money? Freaking Fed just took 2k right off the top of my commission check last week - for what? That's my money for going above/beyond yet it gets taxed more than my normal pay. Freaking gubment. They incentivize single mothers with 5 kids and slap down a single guy who works hard. It's completely backwards IMHO. Producers get screwed and takers get incentivized to take more.

Dude - you scared the crap out of me with the wind farm on the DE river... thank god it's not upriver where I'm looking for property and enjoy nature.

 

[Oswego]

Oh and I totally forgot why I cam to this thread this morning, but perfect timing......

I signed up to get "clean wind power" 1-2 years ago even though I know thats total BS and my bill this month is pretty goofy.

I use VERY LOW amounts of electricity, but Ive never been negative before. Last months bill was less that $70, but I was not expecting to go backwards this month. When I get home Ill have to see whats really going on. I pre-paid all my utilities and bills out until 2021 that I could before I quit my job next week, but the bill still should not be negative.

 

[Taco Loco]

Get some paint on the bend on the support bracket.

You should be videoing that work and post vids like Andrew Camarata on the Tube. I could watch his stuff all day. Dude just WORKS!!

Oh and one other thing... nice work!

I went by the dealer to grab maintenance items yesterday and I order new support arm yesterday, $46 it will take a week or two to arrive, that bent arm causes me to be off about ~3/8 inch from being level, I can actually notice the difference(a bit more soil is collected on one side of the box blade) when grading large areas, and that is with adjusting the pitch on the link arm, but it’s something that a property owner does not typically see/know, and I usually float the bucket over the area to smooth out tracks depending area use, and that fraction of soil is usually compacts down with the bucket no problem.

 

[Taco Loco]

I see a Kabota hauling trailer in your future and maybe a skidsteer or small excavator.

I have a bid out on a 33ac tract clean up/out and if I get that, after running cost/expenses, it should pay for about 80%+ of the cost of the trailer. fingers crossed....

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[Oswego]

Welp here goes the new green solar solution....non toxic but 21% less efficiency than the 30% some of the most expensive and efficient panels are getting

Solar Glass Could Convert The Windows Of Every Building Into Power-Generating Panels

 

[Anathollo]

Helped Jason run a 2" pipe from the power pole to his container. Not pictured is the licensed electrician. We ran the pipe as deep as possible but the dirt on top was pushed there by a Dozer and it's a solid rock bed underneath. Next time we will be renting a trencher but it's not like he's going to running an 18-wheeler or Dozer over the top of this area again so he'll be fine.

Laying out the trench and starting to dig.

Pipe in the trench with jet line running through it to pull the cable. I'm glad the licensed electrician was there.

Ran up into the container's junction box. The licensed electrician also installed a grounding rod just for the container to make sure that everything is bonded together for extra safety. The camera makes this pipe looks like it's out of the ground but it's not.

We got lights installed! Not pictured is the outlet's we ran as well. We also ran #8 wire for a 220V plug in the future. He's got a 50A or 60A breaker to choose from for whatever he needs.

Jason is learning how to run wire thanks to the licensed electricians help. He is a damn good student.

Pics from the top of the container or of the container. We also fixed up an old feeder, modified it's legs, put a new solar panel & battery on it and dropped it off in front of the container. This feeder will be for deer and birds.

All that white stuff in the background is a 30 acre pond getting put in on the neighbors property. That rich oil guy also high fenced one side of Jason's property as well! Pretty lucky for Jason!

 

[AlienXtx]

looks to me like yall just grabbed one of the trespassing Mexicans on his place and let him do it, or possibly that's what yall should have done

 

[Silverback]

I don't know man, I think they are fixing up "The Love Shack" nicely.

 

[Anathollo]

looks to me like yall just grabbed one of the trespassing Mexicans on his place and let him do it, or possibly that's what yall should have done
View attachment 27171

What's wrong with it other than the depth of the trench? And the missing pipe support? I've personally ran miles of underground piping so this isn't my first rodeo...

I wanted to come out the bottom of the panel but I left that open for the future cabin that we'll need to run pipe too.

 

[Silverback]

You had me at "ran miles of pipe".

 

[AlienXtx]

What's wrong with it other than the depth of the trench? And the missing pipe support? I've personally ran miles of underground piping so this isn't my first rodeo...

I wanted to come out the bottom of the panel but I left that open for the future cabin that we'll need to run pipe too.

You used a sweep 90, should have used one of these like you did on the other end

 

[Anathollo]

You used a sweep 90, should have used one of these like you did on the other end
View attachment 27175

You are correct but that would've led to me having to break out the concrete base around the pole to get it to work. I also just realized that you can't see the grounding rod is to the right of the pipe and in the way as well. The 90° sweep kept me clear of both of those issues.