New garage time!

[fatjay]

Finished tilling, smoked one belt, 2 bolts came loose holding the tiller on. Multiple huge rocks that it danced on and I had to dig out by hand.

But I did get a decent picture.

 

[airbiscuit]

I think you should give tours!

 

[Kyle_in_Tex]

My garden grows rocks too. Cute baby there.

 

[dodge man]

Nice picture!

 

[BackRoad]

Always impressed with your "git'r done somehow" attitude...

 

[fatjay]

Got the fence up, posts, gate built. I've had chicken cleanout composting for 3 years now, 3 yards, so I think I'm going to spread it around, then make another pass at tilling.

I have to say my harbor freight post hole digger sat for 3 years since I last used it, and it fired up on the 3rd pull, gave me real nice clean holes powering through hard clay and rocks. I was wailing on those fence posts with a 3lb sledge and they barely moved when I hit them.

 

[KCTractors]

I'm about to get started on my new garage. It's going to be 24x44x35, interior finished and heated. I'm doing 24" wide by 36" deep footers, then 2 block up. On the 2 block will be 10' 2x8's making the first floor 12' high for a 2 post and 4 post lift. 2nd floor will have 14" manufacturered floor joists and 8' ceiling, 3rd floor will have 14" manufacturered floor joists and scissor trusses giving vaulted ceiling. I'll have a metal shop on the 2nd floor and an office for work, 3rd floor will be used half for storage and half for a man cave with bay window looking out over my property.

2 8x10' doors in the front, on the side will have 2 man doors. all 3 floors will have radiant floor heating, I haven't figured out how I'm going to heat the water yet though. Going between floors will have a 5x8' elevator. 2 windows per floor on the side and 2 windows on the front on 2nd and 3rd floor.

I have a friend who is a contractor and will be doing the bulk of the work but i'll be on site to help. I'm doing the excavation myself with my 1953 Oliver backhoe, old girl is still kicking and never misses a beat.

I would go with a 10'x10' door minimum. If you eventually get a cab tractor, you will have the height. I know, I have that problem now.

 

[fatjay]

I would go with a 10'x10' door minimum. If you eventually get a cab tractor, you will have the height. I know, I have that problem now.

I went with 2 doors, one 10x10, and one 8x10. It's all done and looking good!

 

[fatjay]

Another project. Solar roof. But not a normal one.

My back porch is south facing and gets full sun, it's basically fire all day and every day. I want to add a patio roof. So I'm going to build one out of solar panels.

I am going to start with a metal frame consisting of 2x2" square tube. The front will be 8' high and the rear will be 13', with a depth of about 16'. I'm only going to do half the house at first, but I'll be scaling it to the entire back of the house.

The total array will be ~11kw, so I'll be picking up a beefier inverter. With a 15kwh battery pack now, I'll definitely need to beef that up a bit. I already planned on packing it out to 90kwh over time, so that's ok.

But for now, most power is used during the day, most of the sun is during the day, so it'll be effective even if I don't have a ton of battery for overnight.

I already had 18 panels, I picked up 18 more on wednesday, and I'll be picking up 18 more on next wednesday. The price is $25 a panel for 240w. It's the cheapest price per watt i've seen so far, so I bought them all.

 

[slckeys]

Where are you getting panels at that price?