Welcome all! I love the homestead life style and being as self sufficient as possible even though I am just a minute or 2 outside of town. So stick with me and we will explore how to bring Homestead living to a small parcel and cover a number of topics you may choose to incorporate into your vision of home while I try to focus on that rustic or redneck "feel". #homestead #offgrid #farming
So we will pull out some backwoods or "redneck enginneering" DIY project. Like a drip irrigation system for the garden. Water collection from the creek. A ram pump system, which is a no power pump sending water up hill for watering the garden.
These videos ARE NOT meant to be a step by step guide but they should give you some ideas on things you can do.
Many of my methods ARE NOT verified as safe and in some cases I have ignored or not used proper safety procedures or equipment and you should DO YOUR OWN research prior trying anything you see here.
Nice video filled with good tips & trix. I'm setting up a solar powered pool heater right now and my goal is 30°C / 86°F in the pool. I'm starting with 250 meters / 820 feet of 20 mm / ¾ inch PEM hose in a flat rooftop setup. A 20V rainwater barrel pump (2,000 liters - 528 gallons / hour) will be connected directly to a solar panel, so it's a completely automatic system controlled and powered by the sun. No sun = no pump = no heating. Since I'm located at 60° latitude in the northern hemisphere, I'll guess it'll be some problems and math to solve along the way, but it'll be fun. I've spent 250 USD for the hose, 50 USD for the pump and 50 USD for the solar panel. If it works, I'll have a pool heater for 350 USD that doesn't require any manuel labour at all. You can follow this project and more on my new channel. Keep up your good work and I wish you a nice and warm pool summer.
Have you tried using coffee filters instead of paper towels? I have found that tender seedling roots can’t get stuck in the fibers of a coffee filter as easily as they can with a paper towel. I use a #4 cone filter and slip the seeds inside so they have good contact with the moist paper. I even once used paper cupcake cups folded in half and had good results with those. My marigolds in particular did really well in the cupcake paper. Just something you or your viewers might want to experiment with.
Question: Does it matter what kind of foundation you have? I'm up on blocks, no slab. I imagine it would still make sense to do it this way because the foam would be between the tub and the sub floor? I'm a newish homeowner trying to save some money. Ha ha
I don't think it would matter on the foundation. The foam really is just in there to take up space so the fiberglass doesn't flex. Sorry I've been busy trying learn how to be a single dad of 2 very busy boys since my wife passed so I haven't been on or making new videos for a bit.
Sorry I had some major changes in my life so I haven't been on or made new videos in a while but I used a 5 minute marine epoxy from Lowe's. This fix is still holding strong as of today.
Would probably be better if you put the outlet through the side instead of down through the center kinking the hose. You would have better flow especially for that really small pump.
Absolutely. I was rushed when I built it and thought the same thing after. When I make the upgrades (copper tubing) I plan on going through the sides. Thank you.
Distance isn't much of a factor although over very long distances the flow could be decreased due to friction in the hose. As for height you get about 7 ft of lift for every 1 ft of height between the settling bucket and pump. There are other designs that people claim to have better lifting power but 7 to 1 is the general rule of thumb.
Thank you and Happy Easter! When I was looking into building this last year I looked at so many different designs and wondered if a foot valve for the waste valve would be better or not. In the end I went with the swing valve because I just thought it was more common place and less complicated. Your channel as well as Seth's channel really stood out to me for inspiration so thank you. My late wife would be in awe over this and how well it works.
I will be doing a full length video series on the ram pump build and the whole system I use to water my garden for free. this series will also include the new drip irrigation system I will be installing. thanks everyone for making this my most viewed short so far!
I tried it for the first time this year and it definitely got the seeds sprouting sooner. My peppers would take a minimum of 2 - 3 weeks to germinate. This year most sprang up around 10 days
