[rustyme]

hello Mandy,
                 sorry forgot about the willow !!!,I have a brain like a sieve , jog my memory about the willow ? .  I have a had a few major things hit the fan here, with some being left with unkown results, hence the rethink (bringing forward) on  present and future plans . One way or another I will be able to get online 3 or 4 times a year , I should think . I may still even get the phone line put on ?  So everything will remain as normal , but that decision is a way off at the moment...

cheers

Russ

[rustyme]

Sandy,
           lol... I used to keep pigeons and they would seem to fit into my plans better than the documentary !!!! It would be my luck though , that a falcon would zap the poor old pigeon while delivering the info ......
Carole,
        I am not brave at all really , I will just be doing what I have been doing for a few years now ... but without the internet  , and I have only had that for about 5 years so it won't take that long to get used to not having it again... maybe? never even had a pc till I was 42 .... learnt dos and how to program in basic etc and then build all my own pc's . However that all took me in a direction completely opposite to the one I wanted to go , so heading back the other way now...lol.       

cheers

Russ

[doganjo]

Can I seem really stupid and ask why you have to give up the internet?  You already have a computer so the cost of that is not the problem.  So are you giving up your phone line? or are you moving somewhere without a phone line?  or are you just giving up internet connection?  Are these very expensive?  It seems to me that the internet is a great leveller and communicator and no matter how much some people think it is a means of keeping watch on us it is now an established part of modern day life and will become more and more indispensable as time goes on.
Annie

[rustyme]

hello Annie,
             you don't seem stupid at all mate !!!! I have my land, which is about 2.5 miles from where I live on another farm (in a mobile home/static caravan ), and I will be moving onto my land full time sometime soon. My land doesn't have electricity or a phone line , it only has 3 springs for water. I could never afford electric to be put on and I will only be able to have internet if I get a phone line put on . This could cost the minimum , about £75 or it could cost anything upto £1500. If it was £1500 then it is a total forget job. If it were £75 , then I would be able to afford it , but I haven't made up my mind if I want the bill each quarter. My phone and internet connection costs at present £100 give or take £10 a quarter, and that really stings . I have only had a land line for about 4 years, so got by for 47 years without one  , and can not make up my mind how much I think I need one now. I may find after being without one for 6 months that I decide to get one fitted , I won't know though until I am there full time. Modern life, with all the associated bills, is what I am getting away from . I have had my fill of it all , and I really want a simpler way of living . I don't mean I want to live in a cave , I just want to get rid of all the stuff, I can neither afford, nor do I want !! The computer I will keep if I can , but it does use a lot of leccy . A laptop uses much less , but you can't build them at home which is how I have always got my pcs in the past. So a case of swings and roundabouts there really . I will still be able to have a tv , although there is no  signal there, a satellite dish will get me all the stations I want . A tv and dish and dvd will all run off of 12 volt so I will be keeping a foot in the present ( well a toe anyway ) . That covers it really I think ??.....

cheers

Russ

[sandy]

Sorry I miss understood your Good Bye, I thought you were no longer going to do smallholding type stuff, that's why I asked what are you going to do, well I think it is a giant step but better a giant step than regrets. I know we would all like to be self sufficient, although, I thrive on change although like to keep in touch with people and get advice from the internet so I am sure that would be a luxury I would really find it hard to do without....Well done!!!!! I can hear the cheers!!!

[rustyme]

god no Sandy .. that really would be a change I am not prepared to make  . I will always do my smallholding, self sufficiency bit, till I drop .... I must have somewhere in the region of 2,000 books . Most of which are on farming, smallholding , woodwork , metal work and how to do it books in general , plus I have thousands of files and ebooks on cd/dvd and hard drive . If I aint already got it I doubt I really need it ...lol.

cheers

Russ

[Crofter]

Well done Russ!
When it comes, the very best of luck with it.  We're a long way from the things you plan (I hope!) as we run a B&B for income so have to have most mod cons.  Don't suppose that will last forever though and in not too many years we'll all be in the same boat no doubt.
You'll have to write a book in all that "spare time" you'll have

Dave

[sandy]

Thats what lifew should be about, looking after the earth and yourself.

[sellickbhoy]

you know, when i 1st read Rustyme's original post, i thought you might be dying or contemplating suicide - i was a bit taken aback

anyway, good luck and try keep in touch.

[doganjo]

I'm sorry but I still don't understand.  If you can't afford to put electricity in how can you have a tv or a computer?  I suppose you could have a generator but they don't produce much power and they cost a lot to run on diesel if full time.  I must be really think 'cos none of it makes sense to me.  I like my creature comforts.  A cosy bed, a warm home, my PC mad the internet.  Good luck whatever you do.  I feel sad like I'm losing a friend.

[rustyme]

I feel sad like I'm losing a friend.

blimey Annie.... you got me there, brought a lump to my throat and choked me reading that .....
as for creature comforts well I will have a nice warm fire and a comfy bed and a nice sofa etc to sit on and the tv will run off of 12volt batteries which will in turn be charged by an alternator run by the river and by solar panels and a small wind turbine . I will have an old lister genny which would run most things in a house just not all at the same time ...lol , but mainly I will just be using much less electricity than a normal houshold. I have lived without it completely , didn't like that much at all really !! So I will have electric lights , a tv, dvd a fridge although the fridge may well be a 3 way one , that runs on 12volt/240volt and gas . I won't have an electric kettle or toaster or things like that , I will use a gas cooker or the woodburner for those things. So although I won't have mains electric , I will have most things I want just not powered by mains . I have lived without lots of things for years now , so I am already used to it to a great extent. I will , in all probability, be around for a year or so yet , and who knows what can happen in that time ?  Although I have a basic road/route I am traveling along , I may end up taking a side turning here and there , as we all do as we go along . Nothing in my 'plan' is set in concrete as so many things can change from day to day let alone from year to year. However , My wood/gas/water/solar powered time machine will take me back somwhere !!! how far ? who knows ? thats all part of the fun .

cheers

Russ

[rustyme]

sellickbhoy,
               errr... I am not dying anymore than anyone else ( I hope ) although I feel like I am at times ... , no i am fine , and if you knew me , you would know topping myself would never be on the cards !!! no matter what !!!....you don't get shot of me THAT easy .... I will only go, kicking and screaming all the way    Crickey ... I will have to make sure I read what I write in future......Sorry if it came across that way though mate....but rest assured .. I fully intend to outlive every bugger on this planet...

cheers

Russ

[doganjo]

Ok, I'm reassured now - You seem very well organised and I applaud you for your forethought and attempts to minimise your use of our World.  I wish I was as brave and forward thinking.  I do think it is easier for a man though.   If I wanted to go down the same avenue (and I would have liked to if John had still been alive - he was very eco conscious too) I just don't have the physical strength to do some of the tasks that will be required.  I wish you all the luck in the world and look forward to you updating us stage by stage.  We would miss your wise words on here 

[sausagesandcash]

I'm dying to know how the water wheel goes. I've a stream at the back of mine and have always been tempted to try, just lacked the expertise....Rusty i'm in your hands on this water wheel concept if you're willing to lend a hand, and pass on your knowledge...please.


Morgan 

[rustyme]

Hello Morgan,
               my knowledge is only based on the water wheels that used to be all over the UK. Some are still  there , many have gone. My main use of a water wheel will be for actual power ...ie to run a circular saw , or a lathe or power hammer ,or even a loom . Basically anything that used to be run by water power years ago . All the technology is still there to be seen , you just need to go to the right  museum  . I do intend to run an alternator off of the wheel as well . This is where things get tricky ... I will start with just a car alternator to charge batteries. Now a car alternator normally runs much faster than a water wheel , my  w/wheel will be about 12' dia. and will  turn relatively slowly. Therefore there is no point in trying to run it off of the w/wheels axle, it will hardly be turning at all . To have a huge fan belt going all the way round the w/wheel and then the alternator pulley, wouldn't work either ...the belt would cost an absolute fortune and would rot in no time .I will therefore be fitting teeth all the way round the dia of the w/wheel and they will in turn fit into something similar to a motor bike sprocket fitted instead of the pulley . This is where you have to work out different ratios to find out the speed the w/wheel will turn the sprocket on the alternator, ie if the wheel was 10' dia and the sprocket 1' dia , you have a 10 to 1 ratio . Mine will be about , water wheel = 144" dia, sprocket maybe = 4"  , that should be about 36-1 ratio.....You then have the speed the alternator will run at . I am looking  at finding different gearboxes to to run off of the wheel direct , instead of the alternator  , so I can then turn 360 rpm through that gearbox which would be say 3 - 1 , and thus give me 1080 rpm , which would then run the alternator quiet well. Trouble is you get all sorts of power losses each time you go through a gearbox or even pulleys or sprockets . So it will be trial and error once I have the wheel made and in situ. Thats one of the problems ... another is the type of wheel you have ..ie over shot or under shot . An overshot wheel is where the water comes to the wheel along a wooden or metal shute and hits the wheel near the top , and then the weight of water turns the wheel . This is about the most efficient type , giving you about 80% efficiency. An undershot wheel is where the wheel is powered by water just flowing along as if it were still in the river...ie at the bottom of the wheel . These are about 20% efficient , a big difference. If you have a stream with a head of say 20 ft, then you can go for an over shot . If you only have a stream with no head ie it just flows along a field with no discernable  fall, then you have to go with an undershot . I only have the later , so I will dig a special cutting next to the river . I will then make a small dam and from that dam a little channel will feed water to the wheel . If you put the wheel direct in the river you get problems with winter flood water washing the wheel away etc. I will also be digging a mill pond up the hill from the river and feeding that from different sources to run the wheel as much as I can , as an overshot , thus giving me more effeciency from any given amount of water stored in the mill pond. So a two pronged attack lol... I would then be able to use the mill pond when maximum power was needed and the river when less was needed. I am lucky in that I have a section of river about 200 yards long , and I hope to have two wheels one each end . One will power the house and one the workshop and forge etc. I will then be able to use the saw bench , lathe , drill stand, sander,bandsaw etc in the woodwork shed , and a metalwork lathe , power hammer , drill stand etc in the forge/metalwork shed. I will also be able to mill wheat, crush/roll oats, barley etc and run any other old type static  machinery I need , either direct or via line shafting and belts. Hope that gets your cogs turning !!!!!!lol... it will be suck it and see with me as I do it ....so more details as and when ...

cheers

Russ