The Water Pressure's Too High, Excavator's Broken... 

My opinion is that you can't have the tank too high. Your Rural Power systems company has the correct solution, a pressure regulator. I'm sorry you had to get more panels, and have to modify the pump though. The advantage to more height is firefighting pressure at the house, and its a lot easier to regulate pressure downwards than it is to add pressure to a system with a booster pump. On the excavator, you can weld... why not build a cage to protect your skylight? Wishing you all the best! Keep up the good work! I've been watching your project from the beginning, when you first bought your land. I hope to do what you are doing soon, and will have my own stumbling blocks. Thank you for not just showing successes. The true journey is always more interesting. -Ryan

Sorry to hear about the excavator but at least no one was hurt. Too high of water pressure is better than too low. Glad you can put the reducer valve in to help. Looking forward to the solar project, I love my solar Panels, no electric bill. 👍🏼👍🏼 thanks for sharing

Just wondering, could a person find the elevation 100’ above the house by placing a balloon on a 100’ string, go up the hill, shoot a horizontal line from a rented Transit until you see the balloon. Your thoughts , thanks

Thankful no one was harmed. Better a broken window than an injured family member. I see the wisdom in clearing away the trees that you mentioned, not only for a clear line of vision, but to open up an area for grazing land for future animals to feed your family with. The trees are beautiful, yes! However, the balance you speak of is wise. I do not think you or your wife would ever forgive yourselves if one of your children or grandchildren were harmed by wildlife just acting on their natural instincts. Hold fast! The water pressure issue and solar panel mounts are just a part of adjustments and the process. Autumn is coming! A time of incredible harvest, bounty and plenty to remember to be thankful for. Best to you all in the days to come from the low desert of Arizona.

We have live 9 psi over 30 years here at our ranch. 95% of all our construction I’ve done alone. All the construction is passed by the county, all of it has passed final inspections. First I built the water tank from redwood lumber from the local lumberyard. The tower it sits on I built with a chainsaw in sleeting weather. While while my bride studied to be a schoolteacher in the warm cab of my running truck with the heater on. For every 2 1/3 feet of elevation you gain 1 psi of pressure where water is concerned. If it were me I’d put a pressure regulator drop it to 45 psi that’s all a person needs. Save your fixtures and fittings. But then again I don’t live in your area.

i would worry about the pressure bouncing when you closed the valve.. so you might want to at the end of the line put a big surge tank.. so you don't end up with any massive water hammers that will bust the line.. i am taking additional stages are going to be installed in the pump to add the ability to pump that much head. curious. do you have a well surface level tank.. so the well pumps into that.. and an additional pump to pump the water up the hill to the tank only when needed.. so you could turn on the water pump at midnight to 4 am when the local power usage is low.. i am guessing you are going to use solar direct to pump the water.. not the local electrical grid.. are you also going to wrap the bottom 2/3rds of the water tank in foam sheathing.. wrap the foam in some kind of material.. even tyvek and then pile dirt up to add to the insulation at the tank. you don't want the bottom freezing.. its a shame they don't offer food grade plastic inflatable mattresses that could float on top of the water in the tank to create an insulating cover for the water.. perhaps with a hose to an external pressure inches of water gauge since it won't take much to keep the inflation pressure up without needing to climb in the tank to check it. as for cats and critters coming down the hill. video cameras with night vision and movement alerts are easily sourced.. when running the wires for them.. add additional wires.. so you an turn on a relay to activate sirens or horns at the camera installation.. to scare the critters away. get your kids hats to wear outside that have faces embroidered on the back.. along with faces on the back of their shirts.. cats won't attack if you are looking at them.. look at the zoo videos where the kids turn their back to the window and the big cats charge the window. its like a natural game of simon says. people who run or ride bikes in the woods also need these.. but they are too smart to use them. don't believe me.. look up the movie " the gods must be crazy part II" where the little boy holds the bark over his head to make him seem taller than the hyena.. until the bark breaks in half. i grew up in the mountains north of los angeles in the 60s.. from our place back then straight west it was 26 miles to the next road. a mile in any direction the other ways. heck.. i never wore shoes until second grade. as for the sun reflecting off the tyvek.. homedepot and other stores sell 25 to 35 dollar rolls of solar shade cloth.. you might be able to string some of that up to shade the reflection. it blocks 70% of the light. when you go to finish that wall.. please put some strong eyelets into the bottom of your eve rafters.. this way if you decide later.. you could string up some solar shade cloth to keep the wall from being super heated. works great on window covering also.. really reduces the amount of sun coming thru..

What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. I am glad you are safe from that fallen branch breaking your cab glass roof. I hope 🤞 you find the part for that. Good news about using a more powerful pump to solve your water issue even if it requires more power from more solar panels. 👍😎

Opened the front window on the min excavator flat glass to protect it as I broke up concrete. One small piece flew past me and hit the back window of the cab. It was a curved glass and cost twice as much as the front glass.

Since you're clearing only a small part of your property... Maybe think about building... Maybe an expanded metal shield to protect the window that got broken on the excavator...

Why are you messing with GPS to get a height delta? You’ve got the distance to the tank and the angle of elevation, this is just simple trigonometry. If you want an actual sea level measurement then Google Earth will give you a reference point from the nearest road.

With the pressure you got you could wash a car with only a spray nozzle and it would work real nice. When you replace the glass maybe make a tube frame cage for the roof.

Looking good. 80 psi of water is a bonus. Sorry about that window. That just sucks but as you know if it can it will happen

Good idea to spell out the reasons for clearing the trees. I haven't seen a single negative comment this time. How refreshing! It's been a bummer of a week, but you're still making progress. Stay safe!

Never put the solar panels further than 100 feet from your batteries because of the voltage drop you want the highest voltage possible so a short run is a must. I have mine close to the house as possible I call them yard art. Im use to them.Yeah bummer on the window but you will get it replaced later. I wouldn't worry about it. God is going to take care of you and your family. He promises us in his word Philippians 4:19 But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus. Ephesians 3:20 Now to the One being able to do exceedingly above all things that we ask or think, according to the power working in us, Psalm 37:25 King James Bible I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread. Matthew 6:25-26 (NIV) "Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?"

Excavator lid... OUCH. Looks like a good place for an expanded metal roof rack :D What a silly place to put a window.

You have come a long way. This week was just a minor speed bump to go over.

I thought it looked like you were a long way up just trying to judge by how many house heights might fit going vertically but it's always hard to tell for sure from wide angle video. I don't have any protection at all from widow makers so I often study trees and analyze exactly what's should and could happen for much longer than it takes to actually cut them down...worked so far!

It all OK ....you found water and now you are in the process of tweaking the system ....thanks to the smart way you designed it all. Move forward you are almost ready to move the family into RED POPPY RANCH....if you don't cry that day its ok because i will cry enough for all of you. :-} hugs, deb in Iowa.

So your static pressure was high.... what did you get for a flow pressure sir?

Instead of a pressure regulator at the house, you may want to consider an inline ceramic filter which will reduce the house presure considerably depending on the size of the ceramic filter. And you get crystal clear water in the house all the time no matter what the condition of the well or the tank at the hill.

Remember, that is static pressure, when it flows it will drop do to friction through the pipe. The higher the flow the lower the pressure. In a fire flow you want that. When we make mistakes, God gets to shine... just had you one of those "Divine coincidences". Smile and know God is good.

More red poppy shenanigans, love it.

I would make a pattern of window, and take it to a plastic fabricator, and have a replacement made out of Lexan, limbs will bounce off of Lexan, and cost a lot less. They might even have something tougher than Lexan. Harbor Freight sells contour gauges so you get the right curve on window. Think I'd fabricate cage to protect that window, and other windows. I can only imagine cost of that windshield. If your leasing it, you might not be allowed to alter it, don't know.

The line of sight is very important when you have little ones running around. We are cleaning our property for the same reason. You can never be to safe with predators running around. :)

Generally speaking, GPS receivers such as a modern cell phone or a Garmin are going to be equally accurate as the receivers are essentially digital devices. As you know, most mapping apps such as Google Maps are not going to give you altitude readings. I use an app 'GPS Status' that works quite well. Altitude is the less accurate part of the GPS solution; there is less resolution that there is for the latitude and longitude because of the satellite geometry.

You may need to spend a few weeks checking as many trees as possible and clear out the dead ones,thus encouraging the good ones to thrive. I had a customer who got struck on the head by a falling branch. it didn't kill him but the tumour that started growing a few months later did. They are not called widow makers for nothing.

An easy way to see altitude in great detail is to simply use Google Earth (you don't have to be on site, just bring it up on a PC or laptop anywhere, I don't know if it works on a smartphone). The lower right corner shows the coordinates and the elevation of the place where your cursor is.

That kid with the Handeeman channel just posted another good video about his off grid rain water catchment system (I call him a kid because I'm 66, no offense to him). But I do believe he should have either mounted his rain roof higher off the ground or fenced it in to keep the critters off it.

You did hit a big home run. You didn't get killed or hurt, with someone having to find your carcass, and you found an easy fix so the water problem is fixed. You now have water and are very close to power, heat and shelter complete. A window is nothing

sad about the excavator. Add a crash cage/brush rack for the roof of it. might consider a roof and north east side walls only for tank. the volume and exposure should keep it from freezing with the two walls and the roof keeps it cooler in summer.

GPS can only provide an approximation of altitude due to limitations of the technology and well, physics. For more accuracy, use a barometric pressure based altimeter or use trigonometry if you have line of sight to the water tank. Search youtube to see how to use trigonometry to determine the height of an object.

Nice part about the broken window is you can finish cleaning up the trees without worrying about it now and fix it after and put a cage over it

Lexan and a headache rack will solve that problem. Lucky it didn't spear the glass and come rite into the cab. Your a lucky man.

Another great video... Funny design on the glass over the driver.... vs either steel or plexiglass... but all these companies factor in making making $$ on replacement parts. I think you said the interior is AC'd... so reason why no open cage. Overall the excavator is a beast... Pressure issue is easily resolved like you said, these well pump companies have been using pressure regulators for years.... won't use much electricity running it.....should be interesting videos coming with the fall weather...

Sad to hear about the Excavator. My wish is that you recover from the financial loss. The accident reminds us how important it is to keep an eye on the children who want to wander around while doing this type of Excavator work - at least your children were not around when the tree fell. So, you've got lots of pressure! They make tons of pressure regulators for that problem. Hang in there. Some days are disappointing, and some days are great.

Man, i hate that for you.. but the good side of it all , if that's all that happens your way ahead of the game... you could of fallen off the house or something a lot worse ... I know from now on you will look up before bumping trees ...

Thanks for video. awu sorry everything will be fine from south Africa.

A baseball player that bats in the 300s to 500s is a real star player so don't beat your self up i know what it is like I have been in the same place as you are the only one that didn't ever make a mistake never did anything don't think of the money we spend on mistakes but all the money saved and the years of pleasure we get from doing it

Digital maps often use elevation models with high "post spacing," meaning it could be hundreds of feet between actual measured elevations, with the space between "posts" averaged out. So they aren't very accurate in areas with steep hills.

With a high pressure line you'll need to consider mitigating the effect of water hammer. I'm not an expert in solving that situation, I'm just raising the possibility.

Would it be worth it to build a cage outside the glass to take the next hit? As you are figuring out these measurements remember to record them so you have for later use. A perfect time to stamp the data into cut up aluminum cans to nail onto posts so even years later you have it.

75 psi is nice to have for irragation and fore suppression. Glad to see you are getting the place closer to habitable new home.

Your basic water system plan works. Good job. Glad that widow maker hit the excavator and not you. You can fix equipment. Stay safe.

You always figure the things you need to do out. You also do a great job doing the right thing with nature and your families safety well done on another good job. the property look amazing and neat and tidy. good job. God bless your friend and follower Gillyb

Get a steel mesh cage on your excavator.

I live a block from the city wells. We have 75 lbs closed port pressure for the last 45 years. I like it

I wonder if they make a metal gridded safety bars you could set above new window to prevent that from happening again ?

Possibly weld some kind of steel cover onto the top of your excavator. so it takes the hit and not your window?

Man, You scared me with that title. Glad your not in the hospital or something. Thanks for the visit.

I watched your video earlier today and this idea just popped in my head so I came back to leave this comment. Since you have that miscalculation in the height of your tank now you can afford to put an inground tank in I've done a little bit of research for my own personal use for in-ground poly tanks and I'm pretty happy with how they've come along so a couple of smaller ones could go in to equal the size of the tank you have right now and then you would not have to worry about freezing in your winter months and if you wanted to you could keep the large tank for summer months for watering the garden and the Fire season or try and sell the large tank to recoup your cost of the in-ground tanks.

You are doing an excellent job... I wish one of the men in my circle had your skill set or desire... I want 5-10 acreage with Chickens.. However my husband and I are still arguing over who's going to harvest the chicken when time comes... I work the small garden we have now he wants to know part of homesteading.

For getting exact heigths I recommend triangulation. Get angles in heigth and direction from a well defined base length and then start making a drawing. In your case you don't need a theodolite. A simple print of a circle with one degree graduation lines, a plumb line (a simple ruler hanging of the center of the circle) and a rear sight and grain will do and you can be within one feet of measuremnt. BTW: This is a nice project (country surveying) for your kids trying to put their maths skills into action.

It all looks good. I guess it is better to have high pressure than low. Like you said if need be a regulator would fix it. The finish line is closer than you think but it's all good.

Not a waste...just a bump in the road..your a hard worker ,doing a lot of work

I don't know a lot about excavators but I don't think I have ever seen one with a window on top.

Thats right u clear the trees u have a better eye sight on predators...very smart...the trees loo dead not all

My husband and I are in awe of all you have down and your perseverance and patience! Wow, just wow! We’ll keep you in prayer, along with another couple on You Tube that’s also building a home! But not in the same mode as you!

THe scarecrow from OZ gives you the geometrical formula you need to determine the height. A(squared)+B(squared)=C(squared). A is the distance from your house to the tank if there was a straight horizontal line. C is the distance from your house to the tank in feet (up the hill). You are missing B the height in elevation. Solve for B and you will get your height fairly accurately. You probable either have or can get topographical maps for the area of your plot.

If I remember right, every 10 meters or 40 feet of elevation is equivalent to one atmosphere or 14.7 psi. (give or take, sea level, etc.) So roughly 80 psi divided by 14.7 times 40 places the tank at about 217 feet. GPS may not be accurate enough, especially for elevation, unless you have RTK. You might get better results with a level and a story pole. By the way, we run our pressure tank at the max, either 75 or 85 psi, and love every bit of that pressure.

Time for a NEW WELDED CAGE over your excavator glass window? The OUTCOME of the NEXT falling tree/limb could be dramatically different. Agree?

A glass window above the operator. what a fabulous idea. I wonder how many operators have died from having something go through that window. why wasn't it made from plexiglass, or reinforced with wire mesh? instead of replacing it with the same factory install as before, you might think about calling around and seeing if you can get some 1-inch thick plexiglass installed instead. might just save a life someday. Oh, BTW, I'm glad your OK.

A 300.00 piece of glass saved you'r life,Count you'r blessing's and follow you'r heart. I have been watching and must say you are a lucky man with a beautiful family and a great piece of property. With you'r skill's and support you can't loose just take you'r time and do as you do.Hug sent.

Heath have you acquired an inverter yet? If not, it's probably worth looking into the Sol-ark 8K out of Texas, they can build you an EMP proof version and the inverter is a charger/inverter that eliminates the need for separate charge controllers. Engineer775 has a video on it that's pretty kick ass!

I'm so confused, I've watched this video probably 3 times now. Your water pressure is too high because the tank is too high? IE too high up = too much gravity down flow. Although the pump is adequate enough to get plenty of water up the hill from the well to the tank? So instead of moving the tank down, you get a bigger pump and more solar to pump up the hill what was already adequate? Sorry it's just bugging me, I know I must be missing something. Not a complaint at all, love the videos and look forward to them. I'm just lost here :)

Try to stay positive. Everyday is brand new! God is by your side!

Why not just some valves to regulate the pressures? I would think 90 psi at the house is a bit excessive. Shouldn't it be max. 54 psi ? (out of a hydronic pressure tank it usually is, well pump on at 37 psi and off at 54 psi)

At $350 you're getting off easy, a new one-piece windshield for my 1962 Willys Wagon was $650 last time I looked ;-) Sucks man! Someone shot the windshield out of my Willys before I bought it. I had no idea they were that pricey! Keep kicking ass, man!

Widow-makers are no joke! I've seen one almost do it's namesake on a friend of mine. Have you considered bending & welding rebar (or other metal) over the glass to help prevent future damage? Andrew Camarata has some very good videos on fabricating protection for his equipment.

Heath I love your attitude and your stories. Every time there is a catastrophy ( a hiccup) you dust yourself off and keep going. You are a beast!!! You should be really proud of your accomplishments so far. You are doing a great job. Just be careful of your wife Cedar if you cut too many trees!!! :)

I reckon the next step after the new window is a metal grate or heavy steel mesh for a window protector? 🤔

Man that's a lot of panels for just a pump. You might actually get more accurate readings from google earth

It looks like there are mounts to put a guard over the window glass. Maybe just replace the glass and make or buy a guard to reduce the chance of braking it again. Does your well pump have the option of powering it with a generator, just in case you get a number of bad solar days. Always good to see another of your videos. Keep up the good work 👍👍👍

So sorry for this hiccup. But you're correct. The glass is nothing compared to any life being taken. In fact, I thank God for His Mercy that the glass was chosen.

you should be able to replace the glass with plexiglass

From a forestry perspective, grazing animals are not a good idea. I understand what you are trying to do and it makes sense but it would be best to keep animals out. Their hooves compact soils around tree roots, affecting water and nutrient uptake by the tree. Animals also damage the trees by rubbing on them. By removing younger saplings, you are removing the recruitment trees for the more mature trees you are planning to use now. It's tough to do unless you have more land or plan on getting fewer animals and can keep them separated by a fence Good luck though.

Watching from Indiana. Love your videos. Property is starting to look good. Can't wait for the next video. 😁😁

You keep staying positive buddy and everything will fall into place. I enjoy watching your progress.

Thanks Heath. Glad everything is fixable. The clearing will be a good addition. Here's to great weather and a less challenging next week!

can someone explain why the number of solar panels would affect the water pressure? and he said it was too high and the company told him he needed MORE panels. maybe i am missing something ?

It’s been a week of learning. Keep moving forward. Cheers

RPS are great to work with. Mike will hang in there with you till you have it worked out. I'am a dealer in the southeast - South and North Carolina. Its probity the best thing is to install a pressure regulator on the system.

Glad you were not hurt. That is what counts

When you said that the excavator was broken, I feared the worst for you. No one wants anything to happen to their equipment, but a window won't stop you from using it. Some of the hydraulic lines on your excavator might be more $$ than the window, and the pump or drive motors would have been alot more. Your excavator is new enough that there should be a F.O.P.S. Kit(falling objects protection structures) that you can order for it to protect against that in the future. Your NH dealer should be able to help you in that department. Take care and GOD BLESS

Stay positive and keep pushing forward

I'm thick. Why did you need a solar panel and pump upgrade, pressure too high or too low? Pressure looked fine to me.

Does your upper water tank ever need to be cleaned? Is there a system drain on it? Is the man way large enough for you to fit into it, or is the a job for one of your boys,...or Ruger?

I have enjoyed watching your journey. I was curious how you will lessen rain run off with the tree removal.

Not to sharp-shoot but why not use a topographic map for elevation? Worked in Army great.

Suggest a roof guard. Logger use them to protect the cab

what about adding a gaued to top of excavator when replacing window

I see NO problem with your gravity pressure, our area has 100 psi as a normal street pressure and my house regulator is 60 psi. Why are you worrying ?

You will have a lot of of fire wood to keep the family warm.

Thank you for showing and explaining the highs and lows of the process as you go. It's sobering to some I think when they see all aspects of a project like this, not just day to day but overall long term projects. ENJOY

Like a couple people have said, too high of a pressure is probably better than too low, much easier and cheaper to put in a regulator than some sort of booster. This week may not have been as productive but you’re still moving forward; half the hill clear is much better than none of the hill clear.

I’ve done that exact same window repair using a scratch resistant lexan, for pretty much the same reason. Years later, the lexan is holding up fine. To keep the curve, instead of mounting the plastic in the rubber, I drilled holes around the perimeter, sealing it with silicone on the inside, and butyl on the outside. Same story with the glass door on my skid steer. While the glass was cheap from the dealer, but replacing it gets old fast. The lexan was twice what the glass was, but it’s lasted 6 years now.

Just wanted to say I ennvy what you're doing. Please keep it going, you're an inspiration!

If possible repair the window before the heavy rain is dropping down, and a new winter job.... welding a guard to fit above the window!

HANG IN THERE!! YOU ARE DOING A GREAT JOB.

At the end of the day you need power (solar or gas) for your system to work in any kind of a long term situation so I don't understand the obsession with getting your main/only holding tank up the hill for pressure. Seems to me a tank like that should be a secondary/recreational tank for use in summer that you could fill with a gas pump. A direct burial tank next to your house in combination with as much tank as you can possibly fit in your attic is more simple, solar power efficient, and safe for winter. You would only need a fraction of the solar system you have there to just pump the water to your house where you need it for winter, and then into your house for 45ish psi. Pumping water up 150 feet is a job for a gas pump. For winter you want the pumps/batteries/water close to the house and thawed out either underground or in the space you are already heating. Stored water is no good to you frozen. That big unburied tank up there seems to me like a potential serious problem if it is your only flow of water. Without it operational you have no stored water close to your house and no way of getting it there outside of pailing it out of your well. I would at least get a direct burial tank and dig it into the side of the hill if you insist on having it up there and away from the house. Even underground sewer systems can freeze up, it's not something to mess around with. I also think those yard hydrants are wildly overboard unless you plan on needing a significant amount of water up the side of the hill in the middle of winter. Would have been much cheaper/easier to set up a summertime only system buried in about 6 inches that you just blow out with compressed air for winter.

Keep the good work. Only people who are doing things make mistakes, the ones sitting on their ares don't make any 😉