Lehmans non electric catalog has almost all you need, love to look for hours.

Here is a link that might be useful: Lehman's non- electric catalog

Hi, Lesli

That was a very quick response - and I do appreciate it!

I logged onto the site. Very interesting. I'll have to get really familiar with it.

Are people making much off-grid use of small-scale solar down where you live?

Joel

It will take me a while to get one of the Lehman's print catalogues. In the mean time, are there any catalogues for small-scale electricity generation that are good - especially something geared toward more northern latitudes?

No, I know of no one off grid at all. I would like to be all solar on grid. I want to be paid for my excess from the power company. It is out of my reach right now. I dream of it but I would not consider myself a homesteader though. I hope that you find helpful catalogs.

You can find "The Blunt Edge of High Technology" at OtherPower.com. It's mostly not a catalog. It's a site that tells how to build your own wind generator from magnets (which they sell), wire, epoxy, plywood, and a front hub from a Volvo car. Whether useful or not, it's interesting reading.

Dan

Here is a link that might be useful: OtherPower

Thanks, Dan. That's an interesting site. I'll need to spend more time with it to appreciate all the various aspects covered.

A few years ago, on one of the GW forums, an engineer mentioned to me that "flywheel batteries" were a technology to watch. These are "batteries" that convert electrical current into mechanical motion and spin a low-friction flywheel, with the mechanical energy being reconverted back to electrical current when needed. At that time, I found some commercially made units being advertised on the Web (mostly for computer-system power back-up). I've wondered if this was a technology that might evenutally replace some of the conventional batteries that have been used for many years with small on-site energy-producing systems. But they're not mentioned at all on the Other Power site.

Hydrogen fuel cells are also sometimes mentioned as a possibly more effective and durable way to store energy (as hydrogen - which, as well, can be reconverted back to electricity as needed). But I believe this tech is still pretty experimental.

J.

There's a lot of research going into hydrogen just now, much of it a boondoggle linked to the petroleum industry. Still, I can hope that it will lead to a fuel cell that would be appropriate for household scale needs, as a spin off from making a car-sized power plant. Which is not to say I'm optimistic.

I've started thinking of electricity the way we think of money. Wouldn't you like to have a bunch of money? Why? Because you can buy stuff with it. But what if you could just have the stuff instead? What do we need electricity for? Lighting, refrigeration, fans, power tool motors, and water pumping top my list.

So what if I could do some of these only when I had a power surplus? Make ice, for instance, and have an ice box (room sized? superinsulated?) somewhere that stores the electricity as cold, rather than as lead and acid. I could have a cistern in the basement that would reduce the amount of pumping needed when power supply was reduced. (An outdoor water tower wouldn't work here in winter, although where it would it would eliminate any further pumping.) Some unused surplusses could also be made into hot water.

Which mostly leaves lights and motors. Lights (efficient ones) would have to rely on batteries, I think. (I'm hopeing for really bright LEDs too, because compact florescents have not impressed me.) But could big power tool jobs be saved for windy days? I really like the forced hot air fan on the wood furnace to run lots in the winter, but I admit that it's needed most when the wind is blowing cold, and therefore there's some wind power to be had. Now if I could just figure out how to get wood out of the woods in large lengths and bring them to a sawing yard to cut them up to stove length with an electric chainsaw when the wind is blowing...?

Batteries will still be needed, but I think there are ways to make hay when the sun shines and reduce storage needs.

Dan

Your thoughts make sense, Dan. I'm married, though, and my wife definitely likes the versatility and convenience of plenty of 120v electrical outlets.

My request in this post is for home/farm-scale (or homestead scale) tech - p.v. to brush-hogs. So keep the catalogue recommendations coming, friends!...

But as a sort of close-to-earth fantasy, I also dream about neighborhoods and small communities using smaller-scale technology to provide energy at *that* level. Community level. Seems to me that as the energy-derivation and energy-storage technologies become more highly evolved, small communities may be able to provide a lot or most of the electricity they require, plus sell some into the grid to pay for the original investment (and contribute to town coffers, eventually).

J.

Browse around this site. There are lots of good links, and the magazine is pretty good, though I quit reading it once they started charging for the e-zine. There are links to several catalogs, Backwoods Solar being one of the better ones that comes to mind.

Here is a link that might be useful: Home Power

A good one, Jason. Good links there, too. Thanks.

I put the Lehman's Non-Electric Catalogue on order.

But I also wonder about catalogues of small machinery like compost shredders, small chippers, brush hogs, walk-behind tractors, etc. I know that individual manufacturers have their own lines and catalogues - but I wonder if there are some regional or major distributors that have put out catalogues of equipment selected for quality (from among the models offered by numerous distributors)?

Compost shreader -- That's a pig.
Chipper -- Why?
Brush hog -- That's a goat.
Walk-behind tractor -- That's either an ancient David Bradley, and expensive BCS, or an ox.

;->

Ha, ha (LOL)....

Hmm... The discussion has sat here long enough that I'm beginning to get the feeling there is no alternative to requesting individual manufacturers' catalogues for mowing equipment and branch chippers, etc. Maybe just comb the little ads in Organic Gardening and Mother Earth News, eh?

J.

Probably not what you're looking for, but you'll probably find it interesting. They focus mainly on horse-drawn stuff.

Here is a link that might be useful: Rural heritage

Jason, you're right - very interesting site. I live in a forested mountain valley, and have known a number of modern-day horse loggers.

I've bookmarked it. Thanks.

J.

You may be able to find several interesting things out of Lee Valley. I bought a scythe, couldn't find one elsewhere. There are quite a few cool things but the prices are outrageous, though the quality seems good.

Thanks, MountainMan. Yeah, I agree - I don't have a Lee Valley catalogue at the moment, but when I've looked at them in the past, there has always been an abundance of great tools.

J.

Joel,
I live in East Tennessee and have some cold winters on occassion, but I'm sure that they are no comparison to what you experience up there. However, I have found a book that can answer a lot of your questions. It's called "The Robin Hood Hand Book" by Bill Kaysing. I highly recommend this book to ALL homesteaders. It covers everything from basic wilderness skills to generating your own electricy using various methods. This book was written in 1974, and I'm sure that alot of improvements and new ways of doing things have been found by now, but I would not be without this book. I found my copy on E-Bay for about 10.00. Good Luck, Gray Bear

Well, the Lehman's Non-Electric catalogue arrived. Fascinating array of stuff - a lot of things for the home also some kind of esoteric hand tools (like a slate hammer that has one end that punches holes in slate! - I'd have thought you had to drill holes).

Still wondering who may publish a catalogue on modest-scale machinery.

J.

Here is a good couple of them from California.... some interesting products in these.
http://www.realgoods.com
http://www.sierrasolar.com

Lilrose, thanks for those links. I haven't found out yet from the Web pages if Real Goods has a more extensive print (hardcopy) catalogue, like Lehman's does, but I'll keep digging.

Solar tech is still iffy in my northern latitude, but as technology develops further, more and more is possible.

I looked on your GardenWeb member's page and noticed you plan to move and set up a homestead. I wish you all the best in your new homeplace.

J.

Joel, I have a low enough opinion of both OG and MEN (both are for dreamers rather than doers) that I have to suggest an alternative: Small Farmer's Journal. The adds will have stuff for real farm use, rather than suburbanites with testosterone poisoning.

Dan

Dan, thanks. Yeah, I like real equipment that works well, is dependable, durable, etc. I've lived on my own land in the country (in Canada) for over 25 years.

J.

Have you looked at Berry Hill? I just received their 2006 Country Living Catalogue and it's full of stuff for the homesteader: poultry and rabbit equipment, small scale grain grinders, cream separators, pasturizers, canning equipment and lots more. Many items are electric powered, but by no means all. Their stuff is a bit pricey, but hey, the catalogue is free and well worth a look.

Here is a link that might be useful: Berry Hill Country Living and Farm Supply

Thanks, Maggie. There's a world of equipment there.

J.

I realize that I started this thread and was looking for other people's knowledge... But in case others have found this thread interesting and useful, I thought I'd post a site that is good for forest-related stuff (some of us do live on land that includes or is adjacent to forest).

They have a lot of professional-quality tools and equipment. If you're not into GPS and scientific-test equipment related to forestry, look father down the list on the page that comes up, for other categories that may suit your needs and interests.

Here is a link that might be useful: Ben Meadows Forestry Equipment

Just wanted to add that on our home place we've been getting some stuff from Lee Valley, both the woodworking catalogue and the gardening one. I do tend to buy a lot of my carpetry tools locally, though - because I don't live near a LV store and I like to handle the tools, if possible. The garedening catalogue has an "eye candy" aspect to it - a lot of the items look good, but are medium-duty, "homeowner" versions and will wear oput too soon. Of course, not all items in there are like that.

Down in the States I believe there is still a woodworking-cat analog to the Lee Valley cat - I'm thinking of the Woodworking Supply catalogue.

Any new additions, folks?

Joel

I got some value out of the earlier recommendations in this thread, so I just thought I'd update the thread with a couple of other items.

One is in the U.S., an amazing source called Grizzly Industrial. They publish a print catalogue that I'm hugely impressed with. High quality tools, and many, many things of use on the homestead. This sort of source is actually used more frequently by professionals working with wood or doing carpentry than are, say, Lee Valley or Woodcraft Supply.

In Canada, Summit Tools is a similar high-quality source, good for carpentry and general shop tools. They also have mechanics' tools, pneumatic and hydraulic equipment, etc. I'm providing the Website for them below, but I believe you have to check with them by phone or go into one of their stores to find out about specific tools that they stock. Haven't locate their on-line catalogue, if they do in fact have one.

Joel

Here is a link that might be useful: Summit Tools

If this discussion is still going, I tend to use Northern Tool and Equipment to start wish-lists on...

I'm reintroducing this old thread because I'm sure the people participating these days have somoe useful suggstions.

The background conversations, above, may be of some interest. There is actually a second thread in this forum that consolidates the info from this one (taking out some of the fluff dialogue, and just presenting the bare-bones info). So good suggestions that may show up here can be transferred there.

While I'm at it, I'll mention epinions.com, which has some excellent user reviews of equipment in their "Home & Garden" section. Spend some time there, look at the categorical lists and click the "more" link at the bottome of each list and a lot of things are shown, explained, and rated.

Here is a link that might be useful: Epinions

Interesting reading.