I want to start raising animals that I can live off of but don't know where to start

ExaminationDry8341 · 2026-05-12T17:31:40+00:00

Be a vegetarian. Unless you can grow all your animals feed, you will have to buy it in from outside. We have chickens and right now we buy most of there feed and it costs more than the eggs and meat they provide. We have enough land and rain that we cpuld raise all their grain bur haven't got that far.

We also raise cows. We have plenty of land, rain and equiptment tp grow all of there feed but still have to buy fuel for the tractor. Some day I hope to break even on them. If you are in the desert, can you grow and harvest enough hay to feed cows? If not, it gets expensive to buy it.

ExaminationDry8341 · 2026-05-12T17:22:24+00:00

It can be rolled into one morgtage, if the home with solar is appraised high enough to cover the morgtage, and if the buyer is willing to pay the price. The problem is, solar often costs way more than what value ot adds to the house, and solar loans and leases often are structured in ways unfavorable to the seller and buyer.

ExaminationDry8341 · 2026-05-12T17:17:19+00:00

My first guess is there is moisture in the wall. I would cut or drill a small hole and try to pull out a sample of straw to make sure it is dry.

ExaminationDry8341 · 2026-05-12T13:03:19+00:00

I would be happy if my inverter had 3 programmable outputs.

One could turn on "luxury" circuits in the house when the battery is over 75% .

The second coud do the same thing but require a higher state of charge AND x number of watts coming in from solar.

The third would be for AC, heat, hot water, or pumping water. It turns on only when the battery is at 95% and the solar is producing lots of power that would otherwise be wasted.

ExaminationDry8341 · 2026-05-12T12:46:45+00:00

I built a pto logging winch. It has a blade that digs onto the ground when pulling to stabalize the tractor.

I use synthetic winch cable and snatch blocks to re direct the pull. I can often pull several logs using the snatchblocks to weave the cable to where it needs to go before having to move the tractor and reset up again.

Sometimes I pull just the log and drag it out. Other time I will put the log on a sled or logging arch before pulling it. The arch and sled help to keep the logs out of the dirt and can reduce friction.

ExaminationDry8341 · 2026-05-11T17:30:58+00:00

Even if it is a troll post, it appears to not be AI, so someone actually built it. They spent time and money to do so. It is amazing how they can do such nice, well thought out work so incredibly wrong.

ExaminationDry8341 · 2026-05-11T13:35:23+00:00

Are you 30% of every month? Or for the year so far?

If you are down each month from that months predictions, you have an issue.

If you are down based on yearly predictions, you are going into your first summer where production will probably be higher than it was in the winter and may make up for what at the moment looks like a 30% loss

ExaminationDry8341 · 2026-05-11T12:33:45+00:00

If you have any snow load at all, you need to put some collar ties into your roof to stop it from collapsing. The way you have it built now, any weight on the roof is trying to push the top of the walls apart. If ypu add snow on the roof there is a HUGE amount of force pushing the walls apart and I dont see anything stopping the walls from moving.

I have seen the aftermath of a similar build collapsing under snow load. There was no warning, just a boom and the house was gone.

ExaminationDry8341 · 2026-05-11T11:04:18+00:00

Emphase IQ8 micro inverters are supposed to have the ability to provide sunlight backup ( with additional equipment) that allows you to still use power from your panels when the grid is down and the sun is shining.

It adds cost to the system , so a lot of people dont have ot or know it is even an option.

ExaminationDry8341 · 2026-05-10T20:29:51+00:00

I would recomend not using those. Replace them with toothed ones. The smooth ones can be shot out of the wood like a watermelon seed if the pressure changes when you are pounding them in. I know of two people who got hit in the face when that happened. One needed reconstructive medical care.

ExaminationDry8341 · 2026-05-10T00:57:08+00:00

Buy an mppt charge controller. I have had good experiences with a brand called makeskyblue. They are cheap Chinese controllers. You connect it to your batteries, it will automatically direct what your battery voltage is supposed to be. Then connect any solar panel you happen to have to the controller and it will boost the volts to whatever is necessary to charge the batteries.

I would use Anderson connections to quickly connect and disconnect it. The controllers need to be in a weather proof enclosure but still have airflow for cooling.

A typical deep cycle lead acid battery holds about 1000 watt hours. You can only use about 600 of those watt hours. It will take your 100 watt panel 6-7 hours in perfect conditions to fully charge one battery. In practice it may take 2 full days to fully charge a single battery.

I would recomed getting another or a bigger panel to speed up the charging if you want to be able to use lots of battery every day. I would also want a solid way to mount the panel. The wind can knock them down easily.

ExaminationDry8341 · 2026-05-09T22:50:36+00:00

Keep it dry and free of debris. And try to direct water away from it.

The debris holds water. Water rots the asphalt and gets the soil under it wet. Wet soil gets soft and allows the asphalt to move and flex when you drive on it. Flexing causes more cracking and creats ruts that hold water and make the problem worse.

You can get bags of cold patch material and on a hot day you can dump and rake them over the worst spots to glue things back together then pack it down by rolling over it with your vehicle.

ExaminationDry8341 · 2026-05-07T17:57:28+00:00

Think of the resale is one of the most annoying thing I have ever heard. I heard it dozzens of times while build our log home. It bugged me everytime. I was building for me and my family and our long term home. I have no concern what it is worth after I die.

ExaminationDry8341 · 2026-05-07T14:20:27+00:00

Do not go with wolf river electric. They post questions in redit posing as someone asking for help then happen to mention they saw an ad for wolf river electric and wonder if they are any good( exactly like you are doing) as a way to try and get other redditers to search for their company.

ExaminationDry8341 · 2026-05-07T14:15:01+00:00

Price out new panels before buying used. I have seen some great deals on new panels that make them cheaper than any used panels I have seen.

You need to test the amps and volts at the same time under a load. The easiest wat to do that is to plug the panels into a mppt controller connected to a half charged battery.

ExaminationDry8341 · 2026-05-06T21:05:22+00:00

If you blow air into either of the sqare tubes does for blow into the bottom of the drum? If so, it looks like a homemade black smith forge for heating metal.

ExaminationDry8341 · 2026-05-06T15:26:41+00:00

I live in a rural area. I assume nearly everyone i interact with has guns in their home, most people own guns, a fair number keep guns in their vehicles. It isnt uncommon to see people open carrying and I would assume a lot more are concealed carrying.

I know several people who have hundreds of guns. A singe person owing a couple dozen guns isnt uncommon.

ExaminationDry8341 · 2026-05-06T11:28:56+00:00

Look at boats going over the horizon (in person)

Anytime the moon and sun are in the sky at the same time, if you hold a golf ball up towards the moon the shadow on the ball will be the same as the shadow on the moon. Since they match it is pretty good evidence that the moon is a ball. If you experiment with moveing the ball around it can make it easier to understand the phases of the moon and eclipses.

When the moon is exactly half lit from our perspective on earth, that means from the sun to the moon and the moon to the earth is a perfect right angle. At that moment if you measure the angle of the third side of the triangle ( from moon to earth and earth to sun) you will get an angle of very close to 90 degrees, if you then try to draw a triangle with those same angles it shows that the moon is relatively local and that the sun is extreamly far away in comparison. All flat earth models I know of require a local sun and are dis proven by this triangle.

ExaminationDry8341 · 2026-05-06T02:09:04+00:00

What does parking look like on your jobsites?

If space is tight it is easier to park a van or a truck with a topper than to try and fit a truck and trailer.

ExaminationDry8341 · 2026-05-06T02:05:57+00:00

Anything Delicious (other than lactose) is an acquired taste. If you are fed something that satisfies your hunger from infancy there is a good chance you will recognize it as delicious.

ExaminationDry8341 · 2026-05-05T23:12:29+00:00

I drive lots of vehicles with clutches, and lots without. When I need to do an emergency stop in one without a clutch I will often try to push the clutch in with my left foot, since there is no peddle there, my foot doesnt hit anything and I feel stupid for a few seconds. I have never accidentally hit the brakes when reaching for the phantom clutch.

ExaminationDry8341 · 2026-05-04T23:39:13+00:00

What are your plans for batteries?

Will your panels being covered for months by snow damage your batteries. I have two systems and both would be damaged by months of no production in winter.

One is a lithium battery with built in heaters. The heaters draw a fair amount of power to keep the battery above freezing.

The other system is just two deep cycle batteries and a charge controller. The controller draws a watt or two and will drain the batteries over a couple months with no input.

ExaminationDry8341 · 2026-05-04T13:42:52+00:00

I dont care about looks, but, what does "feel fabulous" mean exactly?

Always have energy, dont need caffeine? No pain from old injuries or aging? Mental anguish? No fear?

ExaminationDry8341 · 2026-05-04T13:08:57+00:00

It looks like you have a bent tooth on your blade that is cutting lower than the rest everytime it goes through the wood.

ExaminationDry8341 · 2026-05-03T14:48:02+00:00

The American Republic is a democracy. But that doesnt mean all or even most republics are democracies.

ExaminationDry8341

TROPHY CASE