Well the rain runoff from the  roof became a problem as a garage, heavy rain would come under the garage door. I needed a gutter,,, the problem was, I had no place convenient to run the water.

I decided to build a “mini-septic system” to cause the rain water to “leach” away. I had a plan, now, I needed to implement. The 20X40 foot roof had a gutter added, all I needed to to was dig the leach field.

I selected a spot between two giant oak trees, the yard was always dry there because those two trees sucked up any available water. A local building supply sells leaching chambers. the chambers are 6 feet long, almost 3 feet wide, and about a foot tall. I purchased the chamber and 2 endcaps.

Next, the digging. I dug a trench with a continuous fall to the spot I wanted the chamber.

Then at the chamber location, I dug a 18 inch wide hole under where the chamber would set, about 4 additional feed deep, and filled it with rock. I estimate the entire chamber can hold close to 300 gallons. The chamber was put in at the end of the 4 inch pipe.

In case there was too much rain, and the chamber was not able to hold all the water, I added a “T” fitting bringing the pipe to the surface. (in 3 years, and MANY heavy rains, the chamber has never filled)

All of the digging was done with the CADplans CADDigger Model 821. The backhoe was used to dig as deep as 7 feet under the chamber, it will dig to 8 feet.

I back-filled the trench with the Model 821, then finish graded with a Gravely tiller and a landscape rake.

A little research found that the water in the chamber develops 1/2PSI pressure for each foot of height.The water in the chamber would be able to cause over 3PSI pressure forcing the water into the soil. That pressure does not seem like much, but, with the large surface area under the chamber, the leach chamber will never overfill. The water will go into the soil before there is any water seen above ground. This spring, I will cut off the “T” below grade (it is not needed) and regrade some minor settling that occurred along the pipe, then the project will be done.

NO MORE GUTTER WATER WORRIES FROM THAT ROOF!!

I do kinda enjoy moving Virginia snow, it is  usually too heavy to move with a snow blower, so, I do not own one of those devises,,, but, moving snow with a tractor is fun! the 2015-2016 snow season offered several snow storms that needed to be plowed, I used my 60HP International Harvester tractor during those storms. The snow was quickly moved, as well as the snow of several neighbors.

That was a big storm for Virginia, usually only occuring once every decade. Both the front bucket, and the tractor rear blade are used.

We were only snowed in once, that was 25 years ago, and prompted me to look for this 4WD IH tractor. The tractor has never failed to move ANY Virginia snow.

Some day, we may get “The BIG One”, which will be too much for my tractor to move,,, luckily, in Virginia, you only have to wait 3-5 days, and the snow melts,,, anyways!! LOL!!

That is exactly when the first major service is needed for a machine like this. All of the lubricants and coolant needs changed. I am OK with  that, doing this type work is relaxing and rewarding. It is nice to know everything is “fresh” in the used tractor.

The John Deere 4105 has a turbocharger, so the two most important things to do are to change the engine oil, and engine air filter. That was done the first day the tractor arrived.

The Previous Owner used the tractor to pull a three point hitch attachment, and ONLY that one task. The PTO had never been used, the hydraulic cylinder connections had never been used. To the best I can tell, the 4 wheel drive was never engaged.

The tractor had been used in a dairy barn, rather than for field work, in 1,800 hours, the engine did not even get dirty,,, this is how the engine looked, before I cleaned it with the pressure washer.

Since no hydraulic cylinder had ever been connected to the tractor, the hydraulic valve was “stuck”… I sprayed the valve completely with penetrating oil, the next morning, the valve was un-stuck.

Amazingly, the paper ID tags are still intact on the hydraulic lines,,, so is some cow manure!! Below is a front view of the hydraulic valve with the cover removed, everything is in nice shape, except for some minor rust. More penetrating oil.

One thing that DID scare me, was the PO covered the access to the fuse panel with duct tape. The tape had been there 3.5 years, I was afraid I would never get that tape reemoved,, it was HARD!

An over-night soaking with WD-40, and some scraping with a plastic windshield ice scraper, the tape was off, and the original paint was not damaged.

Some polishing compound was tried on the hood of the tractor, it looks like the near-original finish can be restored,,,

Next the hydraulic oil in the transmission and front axle were changed. Over the next few months, as the temperature warms up, I will complete more cleanup, and paint touch-up. The tractor, hopefully, with only normal service, will be ready for many seasons of mowing,,,

some weeks I mow 15 acres of grass. If not done regularly, the  grass starts to look like a hay field.

As usual, I go looking for a “new” tractor, then, without fail, a “used” tractor catches my eye. It happened again,,, the John Deere dealer had tractors close to what I wanted, but, not exactly a match. The biggest problem, is a small tractor, too small for my mowing, is too expensive. A large tractor, too large for mowing, cost less than the small one. Hmmmmmm,,,,,

This dilemma kept me roaming the dealer lot,,, MANY tractors, many prices,, I keep looking. The more I looked, the more of the lot I walked. Then, all of a sudden, I see it,,, the orphan,,,,

Sitting at the back of the lot is a dairy farm trade-in, A John Deere 4105, 41 horsepower, 4 wheel drive, and in need of a good cleaning.

Even though the tractor was used by its original owner for 3.5 years,,, it looked rough. I think it even scared the dealer that  took it in on trade. (the dairy farmer that originally owned it, only keeps them for that short time and trades).

Well,, I decided this was the perfect size tractor for my needs, and considering the condition, hopefully, it would be sold by the dealer at a low price.

Typically, tractors of this age, sell for 60-80% of the new cost. When asked the price, the salesman admitted he did not know the price, but, he did state the owner of the dealership would probably be happy for the tractor to be GONE!.

The salesman asked me to make an offer, and, I decided to offer 30% of the tractor’s original price. It did take the owner two days to decide,,, but, they accepted my offer,,, Two days later, the dealer had the tractor dropped off at my place. I guess the dealer was even embarrassed by the amount of cow manure left on the tractor, they washed much of it off before it was delivered.

January 2017 has been abnormally warm, one day, the temperature was over 70 degrees F.. I decided to finish the pressure washing of the machine. I pressure washed for over 2 hours, a surprising amount of manure was under the machine, but, it is gone,,, now.

So, for the last couple weeks, I have been using the 4105 for some hauling chores around my property. The biggest problem enountered, so far, has been the  battery. When I first looked at the tractor, the battery was completely discharged. So, charging of the battery was necessary.

I ended up having to charge the battery daily for seven times to get the battery back to its original condition.

Now, the hunt is on, for suitable attachments for the  tractor, a mower first, then,,, who knows!!??

Click on the pictures to enlarge.

Well, this year for my wife’s birthday, I took the Hobart to a local hot rod paint shop. I told them to paint it orange with flames, it came back a week later;

We are very happy with it now!! The flames were hand taped, the green and purple paint were excellent choices by the paint shop.

My wife is very happy with the “new” addition to the kitchen.

Within a week, tomatoes were ready in the garden, so we used the Hobart to make sauce.

After we made the sauce, the next logical step was to make pizza

Here is a video of the N-50 kneading dough;

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VYrVQN4uPFk

The pizza and bread from the whole wheat dough was perfect!!

Click on any of the photos to see a larger view. Use your back button to get back.

A softbox is a device that changes the light of a flash from harsh direct light to soft light coming from multiple directions.

A good quality softbox costs $400 or more, something pros can afford. I wanted low cost. The low cost ones available have a reputation of not lasting very long, I wanted rugged.

Several times I have ordered what is known as a “Grabbox” from KEH Camera. A Grabbox is basically a box full of miscellaneous camera gear, mostly good, but, you are seldom sure what you will get. The cost of a grabbox is so low they are fun to order. For about $10 you get a whole box of goodies to tinker with.

One box had this square aluminum plate with several items bolted to it. About  a year later, another grabbox had a 17″ x 17″ Larson Soff Box, minus the backing plate/spin ring. Low and behold, the 2 items fit together.

I had a softbox!

Now I needed a way to connect a flash to the softbox and mount the softbox to a tripod/stand.

Off I went to the big box hardware store with the mounting plate in hand.  I walked the electrical aisle, then the plumbing. I found just what I needed in the plumbing section, a 4 inch schedule 40 PVC male adapter and 2 geared hose clamps.

I then walked down to the lumber area and got a 8 inch heavy duty tie strap. I had a 1/4×20 nut at home, so I now had everything I needed.

The threaded end of the 4 inch adapter was about 1/8 inch too large.  I needed the adapter to clamp tight to the spin ring of the softbox.

A few hacksaw cuts later, the end of the PVC adapter had a series of tabs left at one end. The gear hose clamp could now tighten the adapter to the spin ring.

The heavy duty tie strap was bent into kind of a “U”. I drilled a 1/4″ hole so the strap could be attached to a tripod.

The tie strap and PVC pipe adapter were clamped to the spin ring of the softbox. Done.

My first photographs were better than any I had ever taken!

My $9 modification of a $10 softbox worked. Now I needed a way to secure the speedlight into the pipe adapter. I had some heavy duty foam about 1 inch thick. I cut a 3 inch wide strip 12 inches long.

The foam formed a perfect, tight fitting, pocket to hold the SB-600 flash.

I also tried the SB-26 flash, it fit also.

Using the SB-26, the optical slave on the flash allows me to use the softbox as a wireless flash. The SB-600 will do this also.

The way  the PVC pipe adapter clamps to the spin ring, the softbox can spin.

Being able to spin the softbox is important if you are using baffles on the front of the softbox for situations like making shadows on a back drop.

So, if you have a softbox, and need to power it with a speedlight, hit the plumbing section!

We were trained to compare miles per gallon.

That is because in 1950 nobody cared how much a gallon of gas cost, they just cared how frequently they had to stop for gas!! 

In 2012, to make this understandable, you must compare dollars per mile.

My 2500 Silverado gets 15 miles per gallon or $0.20 per mile at $3 per gallon.

My Honda Honda Accord gets 30 miles per gallon or $0.10 per mile.

If I drive the Accord instead of the Silverado, I save $0.10 per mile, a significant amount!! 

If I buy a hybrid that gets 45 miles per gallon it costs $.066 per mile.

Only 3.4 cents per mile better than my Accord, to me not worth it at 15,000 per year. ($510 savings per year with how much additional risk and initial cost, not even including the poor performance and small size)

At 100 miles per gallon or $0.03 per mile, the yet unavailable car would be 7 cents per mile better than my Honda. It would save $1050 per year, and at $40,000 original cost, the “Super” car would cost $372 per month more in payments over 5 years compared to my Accord.

The “Super” car would cost $3414 EXTRA per year for 5 years. After the “Super” car is paid off you will have to drive it an additional 16 years, 3 months TO BREAK EVEN!! 

Sorry hybrid, you loose!  I will drive my Accord daily, and use the Silverado when the going gets tough!! 

I’m glad I stayed awake in math class the day they went over that!! 

Most attempts to use less energy to heat or cool your home (or business) are successful, but, you are less happy.

An example is :
Changing the thermostat (who enjoys being warm and humid in the summer or cold in the winter!!??)
We hear about the methods over and over in the news. They are simply methods of saving energy that are not successful.
Why are they not successful? Two reasons; we do not like change, and, the energy savings methods make us less happy!
If you question why I was able to find enough different methods to reduce my electricty usage see my post about saving electricity be modifying the exhaust duct of your clothes dryer.

Our Forced Air Heatpump
My next project would have to be the heatpump. Again, this was something that effected everybodys comfort, and used lots of energy. The results of this change will be similar for ANY forced air system, natural gas, propane, combination, or electric. I knew my plan would not save half of the energy used, but, there was going to be BIG side benefits.

• The house was going to stay cleaner
• The system would last longer
• Fewer air filter changes would be required

I was ready to do this project!!

We hear everybody telling us, “Change your air filter frequently, you will save energy!!”
WHY!!?? Well a dirty filter does several things:

• Reduces the air flow through the furnace
• Makes the fan work harder
• Lets dust, pollen, and dirt go through the filter!!

The reduced air flow causes a higher differential temperature across the furnace, the higher, the less efficent. The lower the difference is between the inlet and the outlet, the more efficent. It is that simple!!
The harder the fan works, the more electricity it requires to run.
The dirty filter acts to block airflow at the filter. After the filter is blocked enough, dirt will go right through the filter, damaging your furnace, staying in the ductwork, and worst of all, will be blown back into your home where you will have to clean it by dusting and vacuuming!!
Also the reduced air flow reduces the amount of moisture the air conditioner can remove. This makes the home more uncomfortable. Besides removing heat, a primary function of a air conditioner is to dehumidify the home. If the unit does not efficently remove moisture, you will lower the thermostat setting to maintain comfort. Rapid reduction of moisture means less on time for your A/C system. We want to be happy!!
In the north, many homes have humidifiers. During winter months, the humififier raises humidity, improving comfort. Again, the dirty air filter will inhibit the effectiveness of this system.
I needed a fix to my air filter problem! The original filter for my heatpump was a 20″ X 20″ X 1″ throw away.
It was located in the basement, and was always forgotten!! My system, similar to many southern homes, only had one air return in the hall. Years ago I had eliminated the furnace mounted filter and relocated it to the hallway where I would be reminded to change it more often.
The new location used the same filter, a 20″ X 20″ X 1″ throw away. The only difference was convienence of my ability to change the filter. One time I bought a filter that included a “whistle”,  the filter would whistle when clogged while the fan was trying to pull air through the filter.
This whistle soon taught me the filter needed to be changed monthly, or more!! One time I started to change the filter and the fan started. I decided to just go ahead and change the filter. Well I got a surprise, I could almost not remove the filter!! The suction of the air conditioner fan was so great, it was holding the filter in the frame!!
That was when I decided this had to be resolved!! I was spending money for electricity, and not receiving the comfort!!
I looked at the filter. It was a pleated media designed to capture dust. It worked better than the cheapo woven fiberglass filters which captured almost no dirt, but, the pleated media reduced air flow shortly after installation!! The way to make the filter change interval longer and make the system more efficent (use less electricity), was to have more filter media surface area!! The greater area would mean:

• More time between filter changes
• Less air flow loss because the filter would not be “blocking” the air flow as much
• The air would be going through the filter slower, the filter would be more efficent at capturing very small, slow moving dust particles

My first thought was to add another filter somewhere. The more I thought about it, I realized I needed 3 more filters!! That wasn’t going to happen. My wife was lienent with my changing things in the home, but, a row of 4 air filters in the hall wasn’t going to happen!! Back to the Big Box Hardware Store (BBHS)!!
Like the exhaust vent for the clothes dryer, this solution was not obvious. I actually went to 4 BBHS’s before I ran up on a solution. New homes were being built with a new type of filter, a 20″ X 25″ x 4″ filter!!

 Click on the images to enlarge!!

Not only was the filter 25% bigger, it was 4 times as thick!!

This new filter would be 5 times the filter area of my old 20″ X 20″ X 1″ filter!! Just what I wanted!! The air would go through the media at 1/5 the speed resulting in much lower pressure and capturing much more dust!
I had to have it!! BUT, the only way it was offered was as part of a $7000 new heat pump system. That wasn’t going to happen, it didn’t fit the previously described 80-20 rule, not by a large margin!! The replacement filter was offered, and it happened to be the same width and height as the 20″ X 25″ X 1″ filter. The only difference was the 4″ depth.
I knew I could make it work! In the duct work area of the BBHS, I picked up a new register grille that was designed to hold a 20″ X 25″ X 1″ filter. I had some aluminum flashing at home.
I enlarged the hole in the wall to accomodiate the new 5″ wider filter grill. Now the hard part, I cut the rear lip off the new filter grill and extended the depth to 4″ with aluminum flashing.

The assembly was pop riveted together. The competed new grill was mounted in the enlarged opening and nailed/screwed into place. The new 20″ X 25″ x 4″ filter was installed.

SUCCESS!!
I was amazed! The filter exibited none of the pressure when trying to remove it like the 1″ filter had. Even after 4 months the filter was not in need of replacement. Yes there was a coating of dust, but, no blockage like its predecessor!
Within a week everybody noticed the home was staying cleaner. Only 10% of the dust seemed to build up between dustings. This was a big plus.
The users were happy, and, I had achieved the savings I was trying for.
So the savings were:

• The heatpump was going to last MUCH longer
• Summertime humidity was lower, the air conditioner had to run less to keep us comfortable.
• Home cleaning was easier
• Filter change interval was extended dramatically
• Oh, yea, we use less electricity

What more could you ask for!!??
P.S. My daughter since bought a house. Yep, within a month I had updated her return air filter with a 16″ X 25″ X 4″ filter.
Keep looking for my next step into reducing my total electric bill by half.

If you like this idea, download the CADplans Corp. catalog at the right, for some really great ideas.