New garage time!

[goeduck]

A pumpkin a day keeps eggs layin' and the hatchet away.

Google says:
Pumpkin is one of the most nutritious treats you can ever offer your chickens. Pumpkin flesh is chock full of vitamin E, thiamine, niacin, vitamin B6 and iron. Pumpkin seeds are an excellent source of dietary fiber, zinc, protein and healthy fats.

 

[fatjay]

Rumor is it's also good for deworming. It's why i have pumpkins in my garden.

 

[EddieWalker]

Yes but i havent' figured out how to edit yet. Once I do, watch out.

I use https://www.capcut.com/ It's free and pretty simple to use. I try to make all of my video's less then a minute and a half so I can post them on Meta and TikTok. The Speed up feature makes it easy to get a lot more into a short amount of time.

Here is a drove video that I took of my place last week. It was over 20 minutes long of flying around my land. It was boring. I cut it down to a minute and a half, and it's more watchable.

 

[fatjay]

I got the first rail up for the panels, now I need to go down the line. i made a little jig so i can clamp the next rail to the first and it'll be appropriately spaced and hopefully will go faster.

 

[fatjay]

I use https://www.capcut.com/ It's free and pretty simple to use. I try to make all of my video's less then a minute and a half so I can post them on Meta and TikTok. The Speed up feature makes it easy to get a lot more into a short amount of time.

Here is a drove video that I took of my place last week. It was over 20 minutes long of flying around my land. It was boring. I cut it down to a minute and a half, and it's more watchable.

I'll have to check that out, thanks.

 

[fatjay]

The structure is done. Now it's time to add the rails.

I got the first rails last night, now the second tonight. 2 rails is 6 panels. When I got the first rail done, i made a jig so i could space the second rail. In total there will be 4 sets of 6, but for now I'm focusing on 2.

Also the structure is made of steel and the panels are aluminum, dissimilar metals can cause problems. So I'm sticking a rubber washer between them.

 

[fatjay]

I'm having a hard time marking my holes where to drill. I tried paint, but it's raining, and it runs all over. I tried cutting a pencil off, but i can't get leverage. I'm looking for suggestions.

 

[airbiscuit]

Jolt of spray paint (if not raining)?
Lipstick?

 

[EddieWalker]

Little bit of caulking at the end of the bolt will tell you where to drill.

 

[fatjay]

I ended up using a pick to scratch the metal. It worked well. I got 3 panels up, I'm going to have to figure out a way to get the top ones up.

 

[fatjay]

Not everything is perfectly true, square, and plumb. That's why I wanted to use the panels instead of templates.

I also am spacing the panels with 16p nails to allow for some expansion. They're mounted on rubber washers to insulate the materials from each other.

I want them as close as possible to each other. Then I'll cover the gaps with butyl aluminum tape to make the roof waterproof.

I have another set of rails that I need to mount, that'll account for 12 panels, then i'll need to go get more rails for the 3rd and 4th set. Then after that, I'll need to get more framing to build more structure.

But 24 panels will be enough to get me started with my 4x3kw growatt inverters.

 

[fatjay]

Back almost better, another panel up. 3 more inverters arrived today. Finally have to finish the laundry room I guess.

 

[fatjay]

I have a tree in the way of my solar at about 4pm. Can I top the tree to make day longer?

 

[EddieWalker]

I've never missed a tree that I removed. Take it down and never have to deal with it again.

 

[fatjay]

I've never missed a tree that I removed. Take it down and never have to deal with it again.

It’s to big of a job right now. It comes up in the middle of my chicken run and provides great shade for them.

 

[fatjay]

Got the first row finished and the racking up for the second row. Hopefully will be done tomorrow.

I broke my $18 bit on the 23rd hole I drilled, it snapped in half. It claimed that it would stay sharp 15x longer, but it didn't say it wouldn't snap in half. It's probably still sharp.

 

[EddieWalker]

Photo's with the drone. Very cool!!!

 

[fatjay]

Got the second set of rails up and the first panel on that set. It's a lot easier now because I can measure off the first. Which means I can drill on the ground and not on a ladder, which makes a big difference.

I'm out of angle iron, which means I need to go to the steel shop for more. I'm trying to think what else I need while I'm there. Eventually I'm going to put roof on the other side, I'm not sure if that's what I'm going to do right away.

So there's 15 panels per inverter, I have 4 inverters, so the obvious solution is 60 panels. Challenge is I can only fit 48 even if i extend to the full back of the house. I'll probably round that to 45 to make life simpler.

So I need to find a place for 15 more panels.

Also, I'm working alone so yes this is obviously going slow. Everything is heavy, and I'm making everything myself from raw materials. But I try to make progress every day.

 

[EddieWalker]

Are you going to do anything to make the underside of them more attractive?

 

[fatjay]

Are you going to do anything to make the underside of them more attractive?

i'm going to see how it looks when it's done. I sort of like the machine-esque look.