Forum: Lawn and Garden
06-29-11, 03:49 PM
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Replies: 115
Views: 148,413
Cast-off Electric Mower
Awesome...I hope to acquire an electric mower by similar means, and replacement batteries using tips from the other posters. Then I take one more step away from the prevailing petro-culture...:cool:
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Forum: Product Reviews
06-21-11, 09:26 PM
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Replies: 10
Views: 14,881
Howzit Work?
Makes you wonder what impeller/blade configurations they tried, i.e., how many failures preceded the current design. Did they try a lift-blade?
The impeller ejects air above and parallel to the...
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Forum: Product Reviews
06-21-11, 02:15 PM
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Replies: 10
Views: 14,881
Mower Trimmer Mash-up
Ya know, I assumed (and ya know what happens when ya do that) the Flymo blades both cut the grass and provided lift. Then I turned the mower over.
Turns out there is a separate impeller, above the...
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Forum: Product Reviews
06-21-11, 10:15 AM
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Replies: 10
Views: 14,881
Go for it
I've been thinking the same way. The more I tinker with electric motors and look at how electric string trimmers are built, the more I think, "Marry a string trimmer to a walk-behind and..."
I now...
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Forum: Lawn and Garden
06-20-11, 12:24 PM
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Replies: 51
Views: 47,494
How much lawn is too much?
S-F, your work history suggests the exertion induced by a reel mower is well within your capability. Is that lot 1/3 acre, minus the footprint of the garage, driveway, house, etc? If the the lawn is...
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Forum: Lawn and Garden
06-20-11, 09:45 AM
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Replies: 51
Views: 47,494
Reel Mower Notes
I bought a Task Force brand 18” reel mower last year from...was it Home Despot?...well, from one of the larger chain stores, and mow my small front and side yards with it. It is lightweight compared...
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Forum: Lawn and Garden
06-19-11, 07:38 PM
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Replies: 6
Views: 8,855
Flymo Hovering Mowers
Came home Saturday evening to find a strange lawnmower on the lawn next to my driveway. This is not a normal occurrence in my world. It was a walk-behind with a bright orange deck, had no wheels and...
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Forum: Geothermal & Heat Pumps
06-16-11, 10:19 AM
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Replies: 91
Views: 107,192
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Forum: Solar Heating
06-09-11, 10:06 PM
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Replies: 14
Views: 19,728
Parabolic Plug
Here I put in a plug for just a bit of math: designing a parabolic reflector really isn't too demanding.
The Creative Science Centre - by Dr Jonathan P. Hare...
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Forum: Lawn and Garden
06-09-11, 10:12 AM
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Replies: 13
Views: 13,448
Lawn Theory
Perhaps your landlord could be persuaded that a “test bed” of native grasses in one corner of the back yard is reasonable. You might even segregate the test bed from the lawn with some type of border...
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Forum: Lawn and Garden
06-08-11, 08:13 AM
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Replies: 9
Views: 7,708
Exactly where my thinking was going...felt I...
Exactly where my thinking was going...felt I should produce a few scale drawings and views to help determine the most efficient use of materials and a means to construct it that would lend itself to...
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Forum: Lawn and Garden
06-07-11, 09:01 AM
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Replies: 9
Views: 7,708
That 120V DC Motor
toolingjim:
I found the motor you mentioned at the Surplus Center website. It even includes the rectifier and has an 8' power cord(!) The motor draws 8.15A at speed and has a 5/16" diameter shaft,...
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Forum: Lawn and Garden
06-05-11, 03:04 PM
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Replies: 9
Views: 7,708
Gfci
AC is right: a GFCI circuit adds greatly to user safety.
The steel of the motor shaft is notably soft: I nicked it while removing a pulley.
I'm slowly building a network of sources for the odd...
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Forum: Lawn and Garden
06-03-11, 07:15 PM
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Replies: 9
Views: 7,708
The AC Mower Essay
I replaced the cranky, leaky, noisy ICE on this walk-behind mower with a motor from a washing machine. Now I can mow without earplugs, hear the birds chirping and the cicadas droning, and even listen...
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Forum: Solar Heating
05-26-11, 12:44 PM
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Replies: 219
Views: 280,521
Attic heat
Ahhh, so perhaps you have a newer natural gas-fired furnace that vents out the side of the house? Could the water heater be vented so as well?
The chimney bricks could be re-purposed for other...
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Forum: Conservation
05-26-11, 11:38 AM
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Replies: 5
Views: 7,058
Gross Domestic Happiness
I credit the video for tagging some habits of thinking and acting that have gone largely unquestioned for decades.
...“Butan has something unique in the world that all other countries ought to...
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Forum: Geothermal & Heat Pumps
05-25-11, 12:01 AM
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Replies: 91
Views: 107,192
Re: Sump water for cooling
Are you designing it as a gravity drainback system? That is, when not in operation, will the radiator and return pipes drain all the water they contain back to the sump well? The pipe that supplies...
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Forum: Solar Heating
05-24-11, 01:28 PM
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Replies: 219
Views: 280,521
Re: Using Attic Heat
Cool project, BTW. Do you have a thread or posting about how your chimney was rendered obsolete for heating purposes?
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Forum: Solar Heating
05-24-11, 09:52 AM
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Replies: 219
Views: 280,521
The Chimney as Plenum
Is the chimney sound, i.e., a sealed plenum? That visible portion appears so, perhaps you even tuckpointed recently? I live nearby, in Milwaukee, and my chimney was built of cream city brick, once a...
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Forum: Geothermal & Heat Pumps
05-21-11, 10:02 AM
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Replies: 282
Views: 236,995
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Forum: Geothermal & Heat Pumps
05-20-11, 01:19 PM
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Replies: 1
Views: 6,155
Underfloor PEX Efficiency
Quote:
Originally Posted by AC_Hacker
AC_Hacker here...
The GSHP and Hydronic floor is a match made in heaven... but the key word is "match".
With this combo, the boiler can output 140 to...
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Forum: Introductions
05-19-11, 03:48 PM
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Replies: 5
Views: 5,215
Under Floor PEX Efficiency
Above you find AC Hacker's commentary. I'm reading up on GSHP and doing some preliminary measurements and calculations, and may attempt a small-scale, proof-of-concept installation and measure the...
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Forum: Introductions
05-17-11, 09:51 AM
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Replies: 5
Views: 5,215
The AC powered Walk-Behind Mower
Alas, the AC motor met a smoky death. Before I appreciated the need to use a properly-gauged extension cord, i.e., 12 gauge, I mowed the back forty using two 14 or 16 gauge cords and burned out the...
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Forum: Introductions
05-16-11, 06:09 PM
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Replies: 5
Views: 5,215
Hello from Milwaukee, WI
Found this site because I've been lurking over at eco-modder. Great Site here! I've been tweaking my hydronic heating system for years now, but an oil-fired boiler is hell to clean. I'm interested in...
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