Nu Trac – Page 12 – new life tracks – growing organic, self reliance, permaculture

new gable fan for coop – problems and savings

With temperature in north Georgia back in the 80’s it was time to summerize the coop. On the south and west facing sides I atttached the pre-cut tarp pieces from prior years, silver side facing the sun to reflect heat away from the building. Then I plugged in the cord to the gable fan – and there was no response. I examined the cord from the power socket to the thermostat and noticed that the white (neutral) line had been chewed by rats (now why didn’t they chew on the positive line?). I replaced the cord, plugged it in and there was a hum from the motor but no rotation. The fan blade did not turn freely. Time for a new motor. I had purchased the gable fan at least 4 years ago for close to $100 from a big DIY store. Was there a cheaper option? Amazon to the rescue – their #1 best seller was $57 with Prime (so just sales tax on top of the cost). A click and it arrived 2 days later. And then my problems began.

new fan — new gable fan consisting of motor with fan blade in housing, cable to a thermostat box and right angle brackets to be attached to the housing and then to the exterior wall

WARNING – WORKING WITH ELECTRICITY CAN BE DANGEROUS – IF YOU ARE NOT COMPETENT IN THIS AREA, STAY WELL CLEAR

As may be seen above, the fan housing is attached to the wall with 4 brackets but there were no bolts in the package to attach the brackets to the fan housing. Also the fan has a 14″ diameter and the existing fan was 13″. The housing of the old fan could flex with the spinning of the fan so there would be less vibration, but the new housing was rigid – I guess that’s why it all cost much less.

old fan disassembled - you can see the housing has built in brackets and a cushioning design — old fan disassembled – you can see the housing has built in brackets and a cushioning design

I didn’t want to delay to locate or buy bolts to attach the brackets to the new housing or to have to cut a larger hole in the exterior wall to accommodate the larger diameter fan. The old and new motors appeared identical. Which got me thinking – why not simply replace the motors and use the old fan blade?

So I removed the old fan from its location and with oil and sand paper removed the fan blade from the motor shaft and then extracted the motor from the housing and placed the old and new motors side by side.

I installed the new motor in the old housing and attached the old fan blade to the shaft of the new motor. The thermostat wires were in the thermostat casing so I fished them out and connected them to the new cord and switched on the outlet. All was silent and I realized the thermostat was set too high so I turned it down and – pop. The socket shorted. How was this possible – could a new purchase arrive with a malfunctioning motor. I disassembled my installation and tried to open the motor to locate a wiring short. No luck. Then I noticed it was manufactured in Texas – got to be decent quality inspection procedures. So either the wire in the armored cable to the thermostat or the thermostat was the problem. I opened the thermostat housing and there was the answer.

The 2 wires I had fished out were the wires to and from the thermostat and that’s why it kept shorting. Silly me – them being the same color should have told me. And you can see the black and white wires from the motor doubled over. It was a simple matter now to connect the black wire from the motor to a black thermostat wire and lead the white wire and the other black thermostat wire out the housing to the power supply. I reassembled all the parts and installed the fan back in the coop.

the new motor, old housing, old fan blade installed in the coop. note the black and white wire emerging from the thermostat housing — the new motor, old housing, old fan blade installed in the coop. note the black and white wires emerging from the thermostat housing

And, of course it worked. Some simple lessons there for me. It also would have been nice if the new fan purchase had come with some instructions and the nuts and bolts to attach the brackets to the housing. And the old motor – I will disassemble it some day and see if I can fix it.

spring activity and some lessons learned

The garden is beginning to respond to spring. Interestingly my diary (postings on this website) indicate activity is about 2 weeks behind where it was in 2012 – see my post on March 26, 2012 where growing was further advanced. Attributable of course to the unusually cold periods in February and March.

Last year I cultivated a strip between my apple trees for corn. Not very successful but in the fall I seeded with turnip and clover and winter pea and it is thriving now.

a pretty sight - maybe corn will grow better this year? — a pretty sight – maybe corn will grow better this year?

I am learning not to be too idealistic. For posts for my muscadine vines I used steel posts and cedar posts but also the trunk of a felled cherry tree. I did not wish to use pressure treated wood posts. Well, grubs invaded the cherry post and then the wood pecker got busy and the result is a much weakened post which must now be replaced. And I will probably use a 4×6 pt wood post – not organic I know, and a strong steel post would be preferable for this anchor position.

Another lesson learned is the importance of keeping tree roots out of the growing beds. Last year I invested much effort hacking down the bushes and small trees growing along the east side of the vegetable growing area. The rationale was this would take care of their roots which invaded my vegetable beds. Well it did for a time but there were two negatives – it removed shelter for the insect loving birds and, since I did not pull out the roots or roundup them ( which I will not do on principle) the growth and roots came back. This year I am using the trenching method – a 1 ft deep trench dug alongside the growing beds which severs the roots. Though I am learning that the roots will dive deeper so vigilance and deeper trenches will be required.

portion of the long trench. it involves work but also provides good soil for beds and potting — portion of the long 1 foot deep trench. it involves work but also provides good soil for beds and potting

Some of the vegetable leaves lost their green not because of nutrient deficiency but the result of the cold weather.

cold damaged kale leaves. the younger leaves look fine — cold damaged blanched kale leaves. the younger leaves look fine

Strawberries and blueberries now have flowers.

And my muscadine (v. important crop) and grape (paltry producer) are now in leaf.

the prolific disease free nectar tasting muscadine now in leaf

this grape looks promising but history is it will taste lousy

As for my figs – I enclosed them in plastic bags during the v. cold nights but again it looks like most of the above surface areas died from the cold. However this small fig partially survived.

the Takeuchi bobcat saga (part 3)

Caution – this is a long tale and will only be of interest to those who have similarly suffered from malfunctioning engines!

In my November 25 post I described how I replaced the starter and that the bobcat started fine but then would not switch off. Sporadically during the subsequent months I tried diagnosing the problem but it was only with the return of spring and serious bobcat chores awaiting, that I focused on the issue. The immediate bobcat task was turning and consolidating my 100 plus leaf bags so the composting process could advance.

2 piles of leaf bags awaiting consolidation and mixing

Diagnosing why the diesel engine would not switch off was not easy and I tried various remedies which were a waste of time. With hindsight I should have considered events preceding the problem and methodically eliminated the possibilities.

For example I thought the problem might be a faulty ignition switch. I had installed a new replacement switch a couple years ago and it had 5 terminals and should have had 6 but I satisfied myself at the time that 5 would be fine based on the wiring diagram. And it did work fine until I replaced the starter motor and the engine would not turn off. Logically therefore the ignition switch had nothing to do with the problem and there was no need to order a new 6 terminal ignition switch.

So with new switch and re-charged battery and partially refilled diesel tank I tried starting up the bobcat. After a brief period of turning, it started – delay probably the pumping of diesel to the engine which I had run dry in November. But now in the on position there was a whining noise which was the starter not disengaging. In the off position the whining stopped but the engine kept running. To switch it off I had to turn the emergency shut off knob near the carburetor clockwise to the stop position.

you can spot the shut off knob it is the shiny cylinder in the center of the photo

It took some time before the engine strangled to a stop with a lot of black smoke coming out which made me think of oil being burnt, not a good way to stop the engine.

So now I had a new problem – starter not disengaging after the engine was running. I checked a lot of wiring and re-examined the connections to the starter, to no avail. The only conclusion I could come to was that I had incorrectly wired up the new ignition switch. The light green red wire (LGR) at the ignition switch is the wire which switches on the starter motor. Could the LGR be connected to the wrong terminal at the ignition switch – should be C terminal. Worth checking.
I pulled cab forward, disconnected battery cables, pulled cab back, opened control box and examined wires at ignition switch and yes I had mixed (LGR) light green red with (GR) green red. Crazy I should have made such a silly mistake, but the wires are old and discolored. I corrected the mistake, pulled cab forward, reconnected battery cables and started and it started ok and no whining from starter BUT it still did not switch off at ignition and fortunately this time just shuddered to a stop. At least I had corrected a fundamental mistake through logical analysis which made me feel better about my chances going forward.
I tried restarting the engine. The engine turned ok but now would not start. Seems no fuel getting to the combustion chambers. I now had a new problem – a fuel problem – how to bleed the fuel lines. A nice thing about Takeuchi is that the operator’s manual (but not the workshop manual) is available for online download. The operator’s manual referred to a manual pump located near the fuel injection body. It is hidden from view but I managed to locate it, and after turning clockwise to free it I pumped several times until diesel emerged at the top. I tightened it (clockwise) and the bobcat started easily and seemed to switch off at the ignition key but a second try had it continuing to run. So I still had a problem with being unable to switch off the engine and the fact it shut down once at ignition but not a second time indicated some intermittent failure.
I decided to do some internet research. Apart from some vehicles which have a vacuum switch-off like the Mercedes, it seems most diesel engines have a fuel shut off solenoid. The solenoid can cut off the fuel by either pushing or pulling on a protruding pin/shaft. From this point on there are many mind confusing possibilities:

the action of the solenoid can be to push or pull on the shaft, and when the solenoid is not acting, the position of the shaft will be determined by a spring in the solenoid ;
one process could be that when the solenoid is not activated and the shaft is positioned by the spring then fuel does not flow, and activating the solenoid moves the shaft against the pressure of the spring and fuel flows. Deactivating the solenoid permits the spring to return the shaft to original position which cuts off fuel flow.
or fuel flows when the shaft is held in position by the spring, activating the solenoid cuts off the flow for a short period of time which shuts down the engine and then with engine off the spring returns shaft to fuel on position.
there are 3 wires to solenoid – 1 is earth, 1 is direct from battery and 1 is from ignition switch. Another possibility is the wire from the battery activates the solenoid all the time and the wire from ignition via a relay deactivates the current from the battery. This would mean the solenoid is continuously powered which is wasteful. So I rejected this possibility (I also found later that when engine is off, the solenoid spring positions the shaft).
If wire from ignition switch via a relay connects wire from battery to solenoid to power it then it would seem that when wire from ignition is switched off then power from battery will be off and engine will shut down. But engine was not shutting down when wire from ignition was switched off! This didn’t make sense – instinctively I felt the problem was there was intermittent failure of the wire from the ignition switch to the solenoid and this wire had to be intact to switch off the solenoid. The logic doesn’t really hold for example if the wire was interrupted then the engine should shut down but it was continuing to run (perhaps some kind reader can explain this for me). Nonetheless, a break in the wire was what I would look for.

I thought it was about time I found the solenoid. On the web I saw images of what the solenoid for Takeuchi should look like – a round device with 3 wires emerging from the rear and a movable pin on the other side and it should be connected to the fuel body. I spent a lot of time looking for the solenoid both visually and feeling with my hands for any wires coming out of the fuel injector body. And I couldn’t find it even with my inspection mirror and there was nothing in the workshop manual showing where the solenoid was attached to the fuel injector body. I still had the access cover off from underneath the Takeuchi so I looked from underneath and there it was – it was located near the bottom of the engine with a long shaft running vertically to near the fuel injection body.

start solenoid near bottom of engine with shaft at top of picture

One suggestion had been that the solenoid might have jammed in the on position so I moved the shaft up and down and it was in the up extended position held there by a spring in the solenoid housing so therefore the solenoid had not jammed and presumably did not have to be replaced. The wires to the solenoid were located below the starter motor and I had quite likely pushed against these wires as I removed the old starter and maneuvered the new one into place. But again, if a wire had disconnected then the engine wouldn’t start and my problem was that it started but wouldn’t switch off. When I purchased the machine I noticed that someone had run a red wire from the cab control panel down to the innards of the engine. I now saw that the red cable was attached to one of the solenoid wires. Why?

So I decided to investigate the red wires. I loosened the instrument panel box and saw the 2 red wires coming in and they headed to a push button.

red wires added post factory to a push button in the control panel

With a voltmeter/continuity tester I established that the push button was normally open which means when you press the button the circuit closes. So the red wires had to do with the shut off solenoid and the circuit was open until the button was pushed.
I figured that engine shut off must have been a problem for the previous owners and they had this circuit rigged to shut down the engine which I vaguely recalled the dealer telling me about. So, thinking I had found the solution I started the engine then switched off the key and it kept running, then pressed the button and it kept running. Then, thinking the key had to be on for the switch to work I turned the key to the on position and pressed the button and the engine kept running. I was pissed. I tried switching it off by turning the shut off button above the injector but this time it ignored me. I did not want it to run dry as I did last time and then it occurred to me – why not get under the engine and pull on the shaft from the solenoid. I work by myself so if something goes wrong there is no one to hand which is a sobering thought. But what could go wrong? So under the engine I went and via the access gap I reached up, found the vertical shaft from the solenoid and pulled down on it and the engine promptly shut down.

So the push button added to the control panel was not shutting down the engine. Back under the bobcat I went to the access hatch and carefully studied all the wiring leading to the switch solenoid. And then I saw it – what appeared to be a break in the insulation of the LGR wire which I must have caused when I worked on the starter.

damaaged wire — can you spot the break in the wire in the center of the picture to the right of the yellow connector

Perhaps the break in the wire was more than insulation but some of the strands as well. This would explain why sometimes it did or did not shut down. There is very little space under the bobcat and I could only effectively use one hand. I snipped the wire at the break and tried splicing it but it was too high up to do effectively with one hand. Eventually after a lot of back and forth I added 3 connectors.

because of space constraints I had to add additional wiring and connectors to reattach the wires

The fix seemed to work – the engine shut down at the ignition switch! Now to re-attach the access cover. But this also was not straight forward – it did not go back into place. I recalled that when I undid the cover it seemed to spring out. So the cover or the port into which it fitted was out of shape. And force would be required to get it back into position. My tractor bottle jack was too large but I found my pickup jack would fit and so with this smaller jack I raised the cover. But it came up .5″ out of line with the bolt holes. After several attempts of raising, trying, lowering, adjusting and raising I got it right.

the yellow plastic container was to hold the access plate in place while I made the adjustments. the jack was invaluable

With all this done I cleared the tools, started the Takeuchi, and consolidated the compost heaps. And when I was finished and the bobcat was back in its berth, the engine did turn off!

mission accomplished! leaf bags consolidated and turned

ferry service and spring seeding

Past week I have operated a ferry service for the ladybugs/ladybirds which hibernate each winter in the northeast bathroom. Each day about 20 new ones appear and since the windows are screened it is easier for me to collect them in a small glass jar and carry them to the raised beds area where I release them. It is easiest to catch them when they are on the ceiling – simply hold the jar below them and nudge them with paper and they topple into the jar where they may momentarily play dead before climbing to the rim. More care and luck is needed for those on walls or windows and a square container would make it easier. I notice I wrote a similar article on April 2, 2014, so they may be a couple weeks earlier this year.

this fellow/gal seems to be doing a headstand prior to takeoff

My compost powers my growing – each year I collect >100 leaf bags and add various ingredients and it is usually ready the following fall.

compost between two piles of leaf bags. once I sort out the electrical problem plaguing my bobcat I will amalgamate and turn the bags and add horse manure

I have a number of raised beds for vegetable growing and past couple weeks with return of good weather I have been assiduously weeding and preparing the beds and seeding. Weeding is a chore but I seen no way around it. I pluck and drop and the areas between the beds now have good soil. The yellow rope on the left is my deer discourager, the theory being it will dissuade the deer from leaping the 5ft fence. So far no deer incursions.

some of my raised bed. the little branches/twigs at the end of the row inform me that space has been seeded — some of my raised beds. the little branches/twigs at the end of the row inform me that space has been seeded

The winter clover cover crops helped protect areas from weeds but the beds I neglected are covered in weeds which I individually remove. And the spaces between the garlic have to be weeded as well. Once weeded I rest the bed for a week allowing weeds I missed to surface and then be removed. Running the weeder spike over the surface each day uncovers weeds and their white roots and prevents them from gaining a foothold.

After about a week I add compost and maybe ash from the wood stove, then I scribe long parallel rows into which I drop the seed. Then mound the soil over the rows and pat it down and I am done. I used to place plastic strips notated with the veg name and date of seeding at the head of each row. I now simply insert a stick at the head of the row to remind me that this area has been seeded. I alternate the rows with radish (4 kinds), purple top turnip and chantenay carrots and black seeded simpson lettuce. In the greenhouse I have kale, cabbage, collard and lettuce which I will transplant this week.

I purchased good quality 1020 starting tray flats about 5 years ago but with continuous exposure they have become brittle and crack easily. For the far gone cases I have used sized 3/4″ plywood as a secure base for moving them around and have doubled up trays as well.

chipped tray with plywood base. I label the tomatoes and peppers but usually not the greens

Another view of my small greenhouse which functions primarily as a tomato staging area.

Most of my tomato seeds have germinated and I am transplanting them into the 2″ soilblocks in the greenhouse. I have cut old venetian blinds into strips on which I write the name of the tomato and label each block individually. Two interesting newcomers are seeds I prepared myself last year. The one I have labeled MOS (my own seed) which was a Rutgers possibly cross fertilized with Cherokee purple or Ukraine purple – will be interesting to see how it turns out. A friend gave me a large red tomato last year and said it was an oxhead and urged me to keep the seed. I have several now growing in soil blocks but research on the internet reveals no oxhead though there are oxhearts so wait and see.

installation of 2 packages of bees

9am March 8, Sunday, was the big day. The #2 packages would be available and I had ordered two (cost $78 each). A package is a small wooden box which contains a lot of bees, a mated queen bee in a small cage, and a tin of sugar syrup.

a package after delivering its occupants. the syrup can is placed in the top hole

The syrup can has small holes in the removable top through which the contents are delivered to the supping bees.

to my mind the slits were too small and I spiked a few larger holes when I provide the can as additional food to the hive

Sunday was a lovely day although 9am new daylight savings time meant an early start to be at the pickup point. BJ our local professional beekeeper arrived shortly after 9am in his flat bed truck at the back of which, covered in tarps were at least 100 packages. After removing the tarps he studied the outer cages and determined that a couple of them had chilled occupants. He started his truck, switched on the cab heater and placed these packages in the cab. The rest of the packages were ready to go. They are held together with long strips of wood and with a large pruning shear he snipped off 2 packages for me. Italian queens he told me as I headed for my car.

Since there were some bees on the outside of the packages I placed them in the trunk.

Two packages of bees en route to their new home

The two bee hives were ready, my epipen kit was close at hand and I had prepared bee syrup (sugar water 50:50 ratio), so I donned my bee jacket and carefully carried the first package to the awaiting hive. There are usually 10 frames but I was using 9 of which 4 had drawn comb. The reason for using 9 frames was to leave space for the queen’s cage which is small probably 2″ by 1″ by 1″ and contains the queen and her attendants and would be surrounded by 2 frames with drawn comb on each side.

For this procedure gloves are too clumsy. The bees were noisy but I sprayed them with syrup and they instantly quieted down licking the sugar water off themselves. I removed 4 frames so there was space to work. I removed the syrup can and then the queen cage which was covered with bees and was attached to a foil strip. At the top of the cage is a cork which you remove and beneath it is a marshmellow mixture which you leave. I screwed the strip into the top of a wooden frame so the queen’s cage was positioned with the gauze side facing the center. While I was doing this there were bees peacefully crawling all over my hands. Then with the queen cage in position I upturned the package and poured the bees into the hive. Some remained in the package and I placed the package at the hive entrance for them to find their way home. I replaced the 4 frames gently then placed a top feeder on the frames and covered the hive. The process was uneventful.

The installation of the second package should have been easier but I let the queen cage slip to the bottom of the package and then had to reach down among 10 thousand bees to find it and bring it out (not recommended, I should have fished it out with long nose pliers). It was warming up and bees don’t like perspiration and with bees all over my hand as I was screwing down the cage strip I must have squeezed one, so I was rewarded with a sting. But they were remarkably peaceful being young bees without honey stores to protect.

Both hives were voraciously hungry and I replenished their food the following morning. Now they are out and about and a few have found food tho most are just reveling in the good weather and orienting themselves.

one of the hives. it is next to a pear tree which provides sun protection and the window wind protection in the winter. both hives face south

In a couple days I will check on the hives. By then the bees should have eaten through the marshmellow and released the queen and I hope to see, if not the queen and her attendants, then a good laying pattern of eggs.

cold weather returns

I won’t complain about the cold, not when I know what is going down in the north east, I will just comment on conditions and how I am responding. We had freezing rain 2 days ago and the result was more aggravated where my farm is 50 miles north of Atlanta, than Atlanta itself. The trees off the highway look normal as you head north on the 515 from Atlanta until you pass Canton and then you notice a silvery, icy sheen on the branches. Georgia has lots of pine trees and the pine needles are adapt at catching the freezing drops and making icicles, the weight of which bows down the younger trees and snaps the branches of the older trees.

I wonder if these youngsters will be able to right themselves

And when you look closer you see the icy fingers.

In the coop I have a water heater and each day of freezing temps I have to refill the 2 gal container which sits on a thermostat controlled warming base. Monday night during the freezing rain, the log cabin and surrounding area had an 8 hour power outage. I know the hours because my security system emails and texts me with unusual events such as the dsl modem losing power. Since there was extensive black ice on the hilly road to the farm, I did not visit on Tuesday and my neighbor let the chicken out of the coop and locked them in the evening. A wonderful neighbor. My coop door is set to open automatically at 9am and I texted her in the evening whether she had reset the timer. She had not and went back to the coop and the door had opened after she had cooped the chicken. Whatever can go wrong will go wrong and an open coop door in the night is how I lost my favorite chicken a couple years ago. Another consequence of a power outage is the lamp bulb in the well house no longer warms the well pipes. This is my well house.

well house, you can see the corner uprights I replaced last year

From the inside of the well house I noticed chinks of light and I caulked every occurrence to make the structure more air tight. A savvy neighbor tells me that because of power outages he uses oil lamps for heating his well house. He bought his at an estate sale. I traversed Amazon and found two 12″ lamps, one for $11 (red) and one for $15 (blue).

I tried them both out and the blue one was still burning the following morning, the red one was extinguished (there was still oil in the base). So, when I am at the property and the temp will fall below say 15 F the next morning, then I light an oil lamp. If I will be away for several days, then I use a light bulb (base 50c at the Thrift store) and a timer to switch current on during the cold hours.

my electric lamp heater in the well house with timer and cable run from the house

I have a small greenhouse I built on the south side of the carport. It is passive heated (sun only) and the cold temps have hammered some of my seedlings. The warm weather vegetables (pepper, cucumber, eggplant) have been annihilated, but the cool season (kale, collard, lettuce etc.) are holding on. The situation is exacerbated by an uninvited guest, a feral cat which ripped a hold through some sheeting near the top and beds in a pine straw box (I use the pine straw for my bee smoker). I have not the heart to deny the visitor entrance and I do not have a rodent problem (except in the coop), but when the weather improves I will make the greenhouse cat proof.

small greenhouse for developing vegetables, especially later, tomatoes — small greenhouse for developing vegetables,especially later, tomatoes

And finally, my wood stove, which was installed last year, is a boon – it has some mass and really helps out in the living room and keeps my utility bill down.

old house & appliance repairs

Past month I have been fixing electrical things in the Atlanta house which >35 years old. The garage opener went dead so I replaced the whole caboodle (quaint word lodged in the past) – motor, track, chain plus the new required sensors to prevent the door closing on an infant. Took a good few hours to figure out the components and how they fitted together and to come to the conclusion that the sensors have to be used and there is no override. The new opener operates very smoothly and before the old opener failed there was a lot of clattering, which I now realize was due to a loose chain and this probably caused the failure. A stitch in time saves nine.

Then the exhaust fan in the bathroom failed. I ordered a replacement motor and the supposed quick 10 minute change out took ages. The motor ($15) arrived with “reverse mounting instructions” – it seems it was incorrectly assembled at the factory and the bearings had to be reversed. Then when I attached it to the mounting plate it would not fit in the receptacle – the spindle was too long. It took time to craft a satisfactory fix. But now it purrs happily.

The subject of this post is the refrigerator. It’s a GE Profile Arctica, 36″ wide, large top freezer refrigerator (24.6 cu ft) which they no longer make in that size since most who want a large refrigerator go for the double door configuration, which my house boss categorically does not want. So I was dual motivated (money and peace) to get it working again after it suddenly died this past week.

Actually why it died is very interesting. Tuesday of last week the lights began flickering and the flourescent fixtures would dim and then brighten. I have a UPS (uninterruptible power supply) which beeps when the voltage changes and it was beeping incessantly. The boss blamed it on old wiring and everything going wrong in the house and the world. But when I noticed that lights on unrelated circuits were also blinking I figured this was a general problem. And then, Wednesday am we both identified a distinct burning plastic smell at the garage entrance. We figured all hell was about to break loose. That evening I examined the main fuse board for loose wires – all were tight. I removed an access panel and examined the area where we had smelt the burning – all was fine, cable insulation had not been gnawed by rats ( a wild supposition) and no sign or smell of burning. I called the utility company and their automaton said the problem had been called in and they were on it. Thursday I had a voice message (and I listened carefully) that power at the house was fine and a work crew would not be dispatched. The message did not say there had been a problem which was fixed, but maybe this is the protocol to avoid being sued. Sued for what? Well our refrigerator no longer worked and the voltage surges could have been the cause, the proverbial last straw. But the flickering has not recurred, the UPS is silent and we have consigned the burning plastic smell to the imagined.

Note – before working with a refrigerator always unplug it from the power source and discharge the capacitor. If not competent with electricity, leave alone.

Prior to the refrigerator failing I heard a lot of clicking so I thought the issue was a bad capacitor (it usually is) and I extracted the capacitor and tested it with my capacitor tester and it was fine.

the small capacitor which starts the compressor motor of the fridge

My next thought was the starter relay – it is hidden behind a black plastic box.

behind the black covering is the starter relay

You can see it clearly once the cover is removed.

But it was also ok. And then I opened the fridge door (the interior lights came on) and looked at the electronic panel for setting the fridge and freezer temperatures, and it was dead. So I silently cursed, since this was the first thing I should have checked and I could have saved myself time. If the control panel is dead then the problem is most likely the motherboard. So I exposed the motherboard and it looked fine though there were signs of age and heating.

In for a penny, in for a pound. From the GE website I located the motherboard for our model and the new part # and via Amazon I scrutinized the various suppliers both for price, delivery time and delivery cost (the cheapest supplier wanted an exorbitant fee for quick delivery). I placed the order Saturday am and the part arrived today, Tuesday (refrigerator main control board for GE WR55X10942) cost including shipping <$70. I carefully detached the wire clips from the old board, connected them to the new board, attached the earth and panel and plugged in the power and it works!!

I had been concerned the motherboard failure was because of problems with the compressor or relay starter so I also purchased a Supco 3 ‘n 1 start combination ($13) in case the refrigerator had difficulty starting and 2 new GE sensors ($9 each) since there were prior complaints about unsatisfactory temperatures. The 3 ‘n 1 I will keep for another day and I may have to replace the sensors if the temperatures are out, though I hope the new motherboard will resolve any issues.

Some final comments – the reverse side of the motherboard has a black scorch mark from a failed component which theoretically I could have unsoldered and replaced, though this would have taken more time, may not have fixed the problem and time was of the essence. The clicking noises I heard before the fridge failed was probably the compressor trying to start on reduced volt supply when we had intermittent power. And I have just been informed “it seems to be cooling” so peace reigns again.

mystery of the trees

Last night I attended the premiere of the 1 hour documentary Mystery of the Trees which is about so-called “bent”, “thong” or “marker trees” left behind by the Cherokee indians in north Georgia. Young trees were bent horizontal by thongs before being allowed to resume vertical growth and many examples still abound in the area.

I had noticed a horizontal shaped tree in the adjoining woods but assumed it was from natural causes, just like the tulip poplars I have previously posted which also look unusual. Here is an unusual looking tulip poplar.

umusual tulip poplar — unusual tulip poplar

.And here is the other side of it.

unusual base, but could humans have been involved?

Now a bent tree is not a tree that initially grew at an angle and then turned vertical, like this one.

Nor is it a tree felled in a storm that began growing again, like this one.

this tree was knocked over in a storm, is lying on the ground and has resumed vertical growth

But how about my mystery tree which seems so unusual you gotta wonder if man was involved.

the bend is chest height off the ground and it points due south

The bent trees had significance to the Native Americans who created them, perhaps to mark the location of springs or areas of significance. Here is another shot of my mystery tree.

I watched the documentary with mounting interest but had a question which I posed to one of the producers. I know the woods were harvested about 30 years ago. If this is a marker tree it would have to be very old and my question was whether such trees were avoided during logging operations. The producer said that often the logging crews included Native Americans and they spared the marker trees. I really do not think this tree can be that old but it is intriguing and has heightened my awareness of the land and those who lived before.

long hibernation ending

My last post was November 25. As we moved into winter my growing activities were largely shelved.

In November/December I cleared and weeded some beds and planted out, closely spaced, several 100 garlic cloves. They are all descended from 3 varieties of garlic I purchased from California 4 years ago. After harvesting last year I strung them together and hung them from joists in the carport. Fewer rotted compared with previous years where I had stored them in laundry bags hung in the basement. So this is the way for me to go in the future.

Although I was not actively growing, there was always something to harvest. Initially the radishes did well but as cold weather and rains set in, most became soft and lost their taste. The daikon radish also held up well and then deteriorated with the cold weather (below 15 degrees F). When my family visited over Thanksgiving, I dug up this specimen to show off.

a daikon radish next to a 5 gal container

While we enjoyed eating the small daikon radish we found the big guy above indigestible. What we should have done is pickled or fermented it, but it was Thanksgiving and it went to compost. This year I would like to do fermenting and will be planting out more cabbage for sauer kraut, and more daikon.

Apart from some large carrots I unearthed, the main winter crop was purple top turnips which survived the weather well. Plus, in the leafy greens area, turnip greens, mustard, kale and collard. I planted out the spinach too late in the season but they and lettuce are holding on and should do well in the next few weeks.

In the orchard I have tried new pruning techniques and used wires to train the branches horizontal or downward so the fruit will be easier to reach. There is a theory that when the branches are horizontal or downward sloping, the tree concentrates more on fruit production than vegetative growth.

Past few years I lost my young fig trees to cold weather (below say 12 deg F). Actually I lost only the above ground parts because after each winter the roots, which survived, produced new growth. This year for the few days when it was really cold, I pruned the trees to a few ft and enclosed them in commercial grade large trash bags weighted down with stones at the bottom. I hope the trees survived.

My chicken, 10 hens and a rooster, are all still around. The two oldest require special attention. Gimpie has a bad hip and she struggles out to the paddock in the morning with the others and in the evening she waits for me to carry her back. The Ameracauna, who used to be assertive is now timorous when it comes to eating and so I have a routine where I enclose the others in one section of the coop and allow her to eat undisturbed in the other section until she is done. I think part of the problem is the rooster, who acts aggressively to her, and she often goes into a nest box to avoid him when they are locked up for the night.

I built the coop a couple years ago and it is robust and immune from drafts. However on the colder nights, of which there were only a few, I treated them to a heat lamp and a water heater.

heat lamp and water heater for the cold nights

The heat lamp is on a timer to operate only in the night. The water heater is on continuously during the cold spells. The summer ventilator has an external cover to prevent drafts and you can see I have raised the feed dispenser fairly high off the ground which reduces the flicking of feed onto the ground. During winter I supplement the pellets with scratch.

Two of the hens (Wanda and Randa) are fliers and each day they fly over the fence and go everywhere and I will often see them hard at work on the compost heap. I was very happy to see they now visit the base of the fruit trees and dig up the overwintering pests which despoil and then drop off the fruit in the summer, hibernate over the winter in the ground and climb the trunk early spring for the next summer’s feast. I must figure a reliable way to get all the chicken out there.

here are Wanda and Randa at the base of a pear tree

Egg production is recommencing. Apart from the occasional use of the heat lamp I do not use artificial lighting so egg production shuts down for the short days. From the occasional 1 egg a day we are now up to 4 or 5 and I have now begun supplementing their feed with oyster shells.

I spent much time during the winter months working my way through an electronics course provided by Georgia Tech on the Coursera MOOC, which was excellent. In January I began a second course with Georgia Tech and also one on simple robot building offered by Berkeley on Edx. Since I do not have a background in these areas they require much work and focus. And the endgame? I have plans for microprocessors for various of my growing activities. The first one will be using an arduino controller to keep a tally on the chicken during the day so it will know when they have all returned in the evening and will then lower the coop door. Presently, the coop door opens on a timer in the morning and must be human lowered in the evening. Other applications for the future, in addition to enhancing security routines, will be sensors to monitor humidity, temperatures and maybe ph as well. To my mind, all part of becoming more self sufficient and using electrons to simplify daily tasks.

I forgot to mention what transitioned the end of my hibernation. Last week I seeded a germination tray and now a few days later the kale, lettuce and beet have germinated and I needed to get outside and prepare the 2″ soil blocks for the vegetables to continue growing in the greenhouse.

So making the soil blocks has galvanized me back into the growing mode. Here I mixed my compost with soil, peat, building sand and, because I had no lime, ash from the wood stove. You can see the mold for making the 2″ blocks of which 36 fit in each tray. I bought more seed at the big DIY stores and specialty/glamor/fancy looking vegetable seed from Johnny’s. So I am now switched on and looking forward to spring.

the Takeuchi bobcat saga (part 2)

I agreed a $75 fee with the towing company and next day, probably because it was early morning and they were not yet busy (or because bobcats are fun) a big tow truck and a couple guys in a pickup came out. They winched the bobcat onto the back of the truck using ingenious pulleys located at varying places on the bed to bring it in at an angle.

the bobcat was at an angle to the bed so a pulley was located halfway down the left side of the bed so the bobcat was winched initially to the left side and then, when on the bed it was winched up

Getting it off was more difficult – they raised the bed up and jiggled it and the bobcat slowly slipped down, but slowly is the word. So they hooked a pulley to the end of the bed where it met the ground and winched the bobcat down the deck. Clever.

the bed was jiggled to slide the bobcat down but it was slow progress

you can see the pulley with 1 wire to the winch and the other to the rear of the bobcat to encourage it down

Cost was the quoted $75 and I topped it to $100. And now I had the bobcat away from the curious and possibly mischievous and all to myself. I was sure the starter had jammed but how to remove it. The engine is surrounded by plate metal underneath and to the side. A starter has 2 bolts. I could reach the top bolt by raising the cab.

you can spot the starter just above the wires and the top bolt of the starter — you can spot the starter just above the wires and, to the right of the top reverse C loop wire, the top bolt of the starter (also my shoe, bottom right)

But the bottom bolt was inaccessible from the front. I dismantled some components on the top of the engine but couldn’t reach the bottom bolt. Then I tried from the rear – no success. Time to watch utube. And there I found a video of how the owner of a Takeuchi excavator (same manufacturer, different kind of machine) removed his starter. In his case he could access the bottom bolt of the starter but not the top bolt. So he pulled out the engine! Wow, definitely not for me. But unfortunately for him he did not get a new starter, he had his repaired, and 6 months later when it failed (again) he went a different route. He cut through thick plate metal to access the top bolt and succeeded. I was beginning to think this was all too much for me and then the penny dropped. How did he access the bottom bolt (which was my problem)? He mentioned there was an inspection hole in the plate metal which covers the underbelly. So I dived under my bobcat to look again and under the caked mud and dirt I discovered two bolts and a plate (19″ by 21″, pretty heavy) which I removed, and there a short way up was the bottom bolt of the starter.

the underbelly with the plate removed allowing access to the bottom bolt of the starter motor

After first disconnecting the battery cables, I was able to remove the starter without trouble. A very encouraging event was as it came away from the engine I heard a metallic zing, which I knew must be the stuck gear disengaging, so proof that the starter was the culprit.

here is the old starter and which had evidently previously been pulled and worked on - note one of the 3 screws surrounding the gear is missing — here is the old starter which had evidently previously been pulled and worked on – note one of the 3 screws surrounding the gear is missing

I ordered a new starter on the internet for $260 and when it arrived I connected the various cables and bolted the starter motor to the engine. The process actually took some time since I had to figure which way to push the starter up to the engine (space around the engine is limited) and how to attach the cables (cables had to be secured before the starter was bolted to the engine because once the starter was in place it was not possible to reach the nuts securing the cables). And then I reconnected the battery cables turned the key, the bobcat started immediately and I drove it to under the cover of the carport.

I wish I could proclaim success and say I switched off the engine, dismounted from the cab and cracked a celebratory beer. But no such luck – when I turned off the key the engine kept running. I siphoned off about 5 gals of diesel and had to leave the engine idling until it used up the remaining diesel and stopped. So now I have another project – to figure out which wires or whatever I must have knocked loose while working on the starter and then make the repairs so I can have a normal functioning bobcat.