Very nice setup! I like living in the city most of the time, but moments like this make me miss having a garden.
Varen++;
Cerberus buddies today 🍻
Comment on Sunday SOTD Thread - January 7, 2024
walden@sub.wetshaving.social 10 months ago
January 7, 2024
We haven’t gotten as much snow as they predicted so far, but it’s still coming down lightly. I shoveled the walk and snowblowed the driveway.
About 4 months ago I got new (better) tires for my lawn tractor which has the snowblower on the front of it. I also added 80 pounds (36 kg) of additional weight to the back, bringing the total to 160 lbs (72kg) (plus the driver, whose weight shall remain a mystery). The new combo is GREAT. Even with chains, the old tires would spin all the time going up the hill. These tires did a great job.
Yesterday I installed 3 overhead bulb sockets in the shed. They are 120 volt and powered by an inverter. I have a 100w solar panel which charges a 105Ah lead acid battery which runs the inverter. It’s great!
Since I’m talking about lawn mowers and sheds and snow, I’ll share a couple of pictures since I’m so proud of it all. The new tires and weights can be seen in the first picture, along with the new lights.
Very nice setup! I like living in the city most of the time, but moments like this make me miss having a garden.
Varen++;
Cerberus buddies today 🍻
gcgallant@sub.wetshaving.social 10 months ago
Great looking shed! Those weights look as if they are made for the tractor. Are they, or did you customize something?
walden@sub.wetshaving.social 10 months ago
They are John Deere branded, and fit on most of their lawn tractors as far as I know. For being a niche custom fit product they aren’t too expensive. They cost about 30% more than a similar weight dumbbell 💪
gcgallant@sub.wetshaving.social 10 months ago
I like your self-contained power solution also. Many of my friends have built detached sheds or pole barns on their properties. They’ve all run electric supply from their main panel out to the shed in order to operate power tools. Do you typically have enough battery charge for an afternoon of making sawdust? With a small woodstove, you’d have a cozy place for tinkering.
Cerberus++;
walden@sub.wetshaving.social 10 months ago
I figured this would be cheaper than hiring an electrician, and so far it might be haha! It turns out solar is addicting. I’m on my 3rd charge controller after getting the bug (twice) for something more fun.
The next step for me is an additional 100w panel which is already on its way to me, and possibly moving them in the future so somewhere with more sun.
As far as power tools, the inverter I have is only 1000 watts. It turns out that power tools often use more than that! I’ve been able to use an angle grinder, but I had to blip it to get it spinning, let the inverter catch up, then run it up the rest of the way. An additional battery might help, because the problem might be voltage drop.
I don’t want a bigger inverter because then I’ll definitely need more batteries, thicker wires, etc.
It’s a good system for charging smaller batteries though, so for someone with cordless tools it would work well. This time of year it’s too cold to charge lithium batteries though.
A lot of people with this type of setup have nice LiFePO4 batteries, but they have the same cold temp problem.