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Post by kevlar on Dec 12, 2021 9:43:50 GMT -6
Usually by the time we take a battery out of a piece of equipment, it would be lucky to even make a light bulb flicker! Beerwiser, how long will those 2 batteries run the fan? Most times in the winter it might be for a night or two that we stay overnight, but deer season might be a week at a time, that's where I will have the most trouble keeping them charged enough, unless I kick everyone out early instead of sitting around drinking half the night! But for that time I can take a gen there to keep them charged if I need. There won't be any area left on the deck, but there will be room under the drop at the back where the ramps were, will put propane there and some storage, maybe a water tank or septic tank later on. I plan on making a wood box next to the stove that's a countertop that will have a door to the outside so you can load it from outside without carrying the wood in and making a mess. Can store the wood under the cabin as there will be room for some under it, can just pile the rest nearby.
Speaking of batteries, this is a little off topic, but what's the longest any of you have had a battery last on an auger? We used to be lucky to get 3 years out of one. We have an Interstate on our main auger now that's 6-7 years old. Thought it was going last year, turned out it was the starter, then again thought it was on it's way out a couple weeks ago but we moved the motor to a different auger and cleaned up the cables and is good again. It sits out in the elements all year long, bounces and rattles on the auger, and pretty sure it froze once even as it got drained right down when the starter was going then it turned -40. It's on a sakundiak which I think helps as it doesn't bounce like on the old Westfields we used to use, that no doubt destroyed them.
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Post by northernfarmer on Dec 12, 2021 10:38:05 GMT -6
Sounds like you get full use out of your batteries ( by the way that also may mean starters or the solenoid have a shorter life ) . I just have one auger with an engine as the example and its a Meridian, I do use the same battery series I use in GM vehicles and is of the highest cranking rating for that use and I'd have to estimate that a battery has stayed on the auger for at least 7 years if not more. As to deep cycle batteries for an RV and seeing the cost of AGM batteries, I'd think that wet deep cycle batteries would give the best bang for the buck and while two 6 volt batteries wired in series are said to do a bit better then two 12 volt batteries wired in parallel I would stick with 12 volt batteries as then it doesn't matter how many or few batteries are hooked up at once or trying to charge one battery on its own etc.
In hunting season when you plan on being there for a number of days and if the sun just isn't doing enough for the solar, even if it were a cheapy small generator that you started up in the morning ( long cord run out away from the cabin so you can hardly hear it ) and just left it running until it ran out of gas and the solar would do what it could as the day progressed and if need be dump in some fuel in the evening and fire it up and again just leave it do its thing and let it run out of fuel. Its the heavy generators with a crap exhaust system, those are the ones that are horrible to be anywhere near.
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Post by OptimallyDismal on Dec 12, 2021 11:51:37 GMT -6
I am putting the little solar chargers on just about everything, they are only 5W so they will (almost) never overcharge anything, they used to be $10 at Can tire, but it keeps the battery topped up if there are no draws.
As far as auger batteries, that is where my batteries go to totally die (usually off a swather but anything goes), so they are usually starting out very disadvantaged anyway. They get shook to death usually, but the solar chargers have lengthened their lives a lot, I have noticed.
If you put a new battery in parallel with an old battery the new one will be pooched before long, that is why you have to change all 4 in trucks and tractors if one dies, ymmv on this but generally true.
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Post by Beerwiser on Dec 12, 2021 19:21:06 GMT -6
Oh come on Beerwiser, wouldn't used farmer batteries give it that rustic feeling over new RV batteries
Haha, ok I will give you that one NF. Kevlar, those two batteries will run the fan all night on the high setting and the panels have enough output to charge the batteries to do it over again the next night. |
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Post by kevlar on Dec 12, 2021 20:05:04 GMT -6
That's pretty impressive, I never thought it would run a fan like that for that long. Maybe that's all I need then. Looks like smaller ceiling fans don't draw a whole lot, and maybe putting an adjustable switch might cut it down even more, I don't need it going very fast. Really only a couple lights on most of the night until bed, and a few others by the beds and bathroom. Now if only I could get my wife and kids to actually turn off a light, it would likely work!
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Post by kevlar on Dec 14, 2021 20:25:49 GMT -6
Going to pick up my cook stove tomorrow, and as luck would have it, found a loader to look at not too far away. Two birds with one stone. It now makes the whole trip a legitimate farm expense!
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Post by OptimallyDismal on Dec 14, 2021 20:40:42 GMT -6
I love it when a plan comes together!
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Post by kevlar on Dec 16, 2021 20:08:42 GMT -6
Got the cook stove yesterday, long drive but worth it, bought a loader as well on the trip. Stove looks to be in good shape, a little elbow grease and penetrating fluid to get things working again and it should be good to go. Sat in the guys basement for the last 20 years, and by the looks of it, hasn't been used a lot. Most of the paint is like new, but the black paint for some reason rusted up so will clean it up and repaint it as best I can. Glass cover on the oven temp dial is broken, maybe see if I can find a replacement. Got it cheap enough, guy was nice, wanted to see it get used instead of scrapped.
Also drove through an intersection with a pile of police cars that were parked in a row with police tape tied to about 5 of them, and another 5 or so sitting there as well, road partially blocked, thought it seemed like a strange place to do a check stop or trying to catch someone as you could see them for about 2 miles. Turns out it was something a lot more intense.
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Post by Beerwiser on Dec 16, 2021 20:50:19 GMT -6
I expect fresh baked bread when I come to visit👍. Nice find, should work well for you. Also is it 120v or 240v? Some of those stoves were wired weird.😂
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Post by kenmb on Dec 17, 2021 11:29:01 GMT -6
Probably uses metric voltage, those are the worst kind.
Surprised those stoves are still to be found. I figured antique collectors would snap them up as soon as they get listed, especially one in good condition. Have one in the farmhouse basement that got dragged in there when I was a kid and hooked into the chimney. Remember making kraft dinner on it a couple times when about 10 years old, and fire it up on some longer power outages in winter. Not going to sell it, it will get moved as needed and stuck in a shed corner till I die.
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Post by kevlar on Dec 17, 2021 13:15:27 GMT -6
It's getting harder to find them in usable condition, and most are priced crazy. People add the word "vintage" to something and they think they are worth gold. Only paid $375 for this one, but see lots listed for a thousand or more, and most of them are just 500 pound ornaments. Some of them are quite a bit fancier than this one, but this is all I need. They make new wood cook stoves that are really nice and more efficient and safer, but I'm not willing to drop 5 grand into a cabin stove.
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Post by kevlar on Dec 17, 2021 13:20:30 GMT -6
I expect fresh baked bread when I come to visit👍. Nice find, should work well for you. Also is it 120v or 240v? Some of those stoves were wired weird.😂 Can't promise fresh bread, used to try baking it when I was younger, my grandmother who could make bread in her sleep kept trying to help me get it right, but no matter what I did, it would only rise maybe half as high as it should. Whatever I was doing wrong, I was doing it consistently. My grandma finally said "Some people just can't make bread, maybe you should just quit." I sure miss my grandma and her homemade bread, her words of encouragement not so much!
You can expect a good drink though!
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Post by kevlar on Jan 6, 2022 16:58:19 GMT -6
Had the trailer in at the welders, got it done the other day. Cost a little more than I was hoping, but what doesn’t now? Looks really good, will be a nice base to start with. Hopefully get going on it here shortly, have to run in with the tractor to get the trailer, will wait for it to warm up a little.
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Post by kevlar on Jan 13, 2022 21:37:45 GMT -6
Finally had time to bring the trailer home, looks like it should work really well for what I want it to do. Now to get a start on actual building!
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Post by Beerwiser on Jan 14, 2022 13:00:21 GMT -6
Looking good kevlar, how do you plan to insulate the floor?
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