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The Corroboree
Sarcophilus

My journey towards self-sustainable living.

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Edited by Sarcophilus
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Nice one, I look forward to watching this thread, and your property progress...

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I see you have a stream that looks to have a good volume of water and a good flow rate. There's a few yourube vids on using a fisher paykel washing machine as water powered generator. You have to re-wire the stator and make a few other mods but they are a great way to make free energy from a creek.

This website has a good rundown on how its done & lots of other green power projects
http://www.yourgreendream.com/diy_fisher_paykel.php

Edited by Sallubrious
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Thanks Sallubrious,

 

Hydro generation is definitely something I will be looking into. The stream isn't particularly deep but it does flow at quite a rate! 

 

I have been wondering if anyone has ever built a waterwheel generator with a spiral pump incorporated into the design. It would be nice to knock over two necessities in one go. Would that be complicating things? What are your thoughts? 

 

Thanks for the information. Appreciate it.

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The spiral pump is a good idea, I think it would need some type of gearing if it was to be used in conjunction with a generator.

The dynamics of the water generator require relative high speed because of low torque production in or order to generate a reasonable current and the spiral pump can operate at almost any speed. I'd suggest they would regulate their own speed and that would not be in linear slope in relation to each other, so gearing them together would be quite difficult.

I'd suggest the two devices would be better to be self standing separate machines so they can do their own thing and not interfere with load dynamics of the other device.

Edited by Sallubrious
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You've made perfect sense. I had figured that there had to be a reason for not being able to find evidence of a spiral pump in combination with hydroelectric generation.

 

Can't say I've seen the incline coil pump before. Archimedes screw type deal, albeit seemingly more refined.

 

Thank you

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If you haven't already, you could check out the Cabin Porn thread for some inspiration. Looking forward to your updates, the place looks amazing.

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Thanks heaps Anodyne, I'll be stuck here dreaming for hours now! Appreciate the kind words.

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Awesome place, looking forward to seeing the thread updated from time to time.. 

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Great stuff and much respect. What a fortuitous situation - you have approached it really resourcefully and look to have ended up with a good score..

 

Is there logging coupe visible in the background of one of the photos of the footings??

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If I could wake up to that view every morning, I'd ditch 90% of my possessions consider myself lucky to live there. 

 

Nice work on the footing & piers that's awesome man!

 

Are you planning on capping the piers with white ant caps/ or insulators etc ?

 

White ants get a taste for hardwood very fast, especially if any moisture is being wicked up anywhere.

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Thanks for the kind words Tarenna,

 

Is there logging coupe visible in the background of one of the photos of the footings??

Yes there is, thats to the north, it's plantation forest that has just been logged and is currently being revegetated.

 

Its such a magical spot Sallubrious, that view to the south is spectacular hey!

 

Are you planning on capping the piers with white ant caps/ or insulators etc ?

 

White ants get a taste for hardwood very fast, especially if any moisture is being wicked up anywhere.

No need for any of that thankfully, we do not have a form of white ant in Tas that is destructive to buildings, only a forest dwelling variation that inhabits rotting, wet timber. Nevertheless, the footing tops will be protected and spaced from the house with Malthoid paper and concrete sheet, but that's mainly for packing purposes.

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I had no idea about Tassie not having white ants that attack buildings. You learn something every day.

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Well there you go!

 

How lucky right? I would not have gone telegraph pole if it was the case, saved an absolute fortune in $$$ (concrete) because of it. I can expect to get 50+ years out of the poles because of no termites. 100mm of concrete went in the holes first then the exposed and untreated cross section of the poles were painted with sump oil and allowed to soak in and dry providing a hydrophobic barrier. Then the surrounds were concreted. I can't see any reason why I'll have any problems with the foundations at all.

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Nice, where at in Tas, good cheap land there :)

Out in amongst the North East state forest reserves. Around Pyengana, Lottah and Weldborough. $$$ per acre/hectare exponentially reduce as size goes up. You could expect to pay 20-60k for 1000m2 but for 100k you might find 100+ acres. Thats my area anyway, theres defonitely cheaper about. 

Edited by Sarcophilus
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Another Update:

Spent last weekend putting the old girl back together. Had help from 17 friends. Saturday was spent with the Laser Level, setting up the bearers onto the piers.
***Note to self: Just buy new bearers instead of recycling the original bearers, especially on a building over 120 years old.
It took a whole day to fit and fix down the bearers and the floor. It would not have been possible to put back together without pilot drilling into the hardwood for the bugle screws.  

Sunday was spent erecting the walls onto the floor, Internal walls were stood first and then the external walls were set in place. Without a Nail-gun, it would have taken two days at least.
Surprisingly, for a building so old, the whole place went back together without any setbacks. I, among a few others, were very impressed with the work of the original builders to say the least, everything just slotted back in.
The ceiling was also fitted Sunday afternoon, It like the floor had to be cut in half through the centre, before being cut again to make quarters along the internal walls. Steel strapping was fixed across the top and tightened to try and it all square at the top. My younger brother, a qualified tradesman, and I gave up at 20mm out of square, it just wouldn't go anymore.

 

It's unbelievable just as to what is possible with some help over a weekend.
All in all, more than happy.


I should have another update soon, as I am just about to leave the house now to head up there this afternoon, If all goes well, Insulation and silver paper will be fixed on, the roof should get pitched, and maybe some cladding will be achieved also.
Pictures to come.

Sarc

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What a beautiful chunk of nature mate! 

what about some poly tunnels with cacti for some sell-stuff-iciency to keep the wheels turning? :3

 

look fwd to this thread developing and learning some cool things along the way too!

Good luck!

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What a beautiful chunk of nature mate! 

what about some poly tunnels with cacti for some sell-stuff-iciency to keep the wheels turning? :3

 

Thank you! It's such an unbelievable place.

 

In regards to cacti, they are definitely something I will be building a permanent greenhouse for at some point, possibly after winter. I don't feel quite ready to attempt to look after any as of yet. Especially given that temps will often fall to a few degrees below zero over the coming months. 

 

First priorities after the home is fencing and food production, through a garden and livestock. Then I can work on the finer things in life :)

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Sorry everyone for the slow update.

 

It's been tough as of late, working massive hours and haven't had the motivation to do more work on my weekends. Had issues with my roofing iron also so I decided to go a brand new colorbond roof, as it would have taken at least twice as long with recycled tin. Placed my order and it wasn't ready by that weekend, so I had to wait another weekend to get it up. This way too, with the colorbond, I just got everything exactly to length. It turned out to be a breeze. I'll still use all the reclaimed rusty iron for the rest of the exterior cladding though. 

 

On a side note, a mate of mine managed to catch the first trout out of the stream, fair to say that I was a little annoyed with him for that haha. She was undersize so we let the little girl go.

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Wow.
It's been a while, funny how time just gets away from us all without us even noticing.

Since my last post in March, progress had been slow, and is now temporarily halted. I was offered a Job on the Gold Coast, It was a hard decision to make and move away from paradise but realistically it was the best option. Relocated up here for now on a much better wage so that I am able to pay off my mortgage and finish not only the cottage but power, ammenities, plus fencing for livestock. On track to achieving all of this, but I shall be living up here for at least the next 24 months. I do plan to have some more progress to show you all by the end of this year, but that is an update on what is happening with me.
Hope everyone is well.

Peace,
Sarc

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