I also went and looked at the tractors I went and saw by the road. Turns out that they are brand new (there is a new dealer moving in behind where I saw them) and they were Branson. Yuck. Most forums I have looked at said to stay away from them. Looking the unit over, it is easy to see why too. From a distance, it looks like any other tractor.
But then you look closer and see things like this college dropout electrical cob job.
And also things like the whole hydraulic system really has no framing around it.
One other thing I really didn't like was that the tractor had less ground clearance than my car. Look at how short those tires are. Not to mention there is a lot of stuff below the frame, which is abnormal.
I also went Friday and picked up materials for several projects. I got the stuff for a number of projects (many you may recognize from the now defunct checklist): the shed pilings, refurbing the utility trailer, windows for the shed, pilings for the shed, ceiling paint for the house, the brackets so I can put up the last curtains, a few trim boards so I can start putting up trim. Unfrotuantely they were out of the 18" boards, so I didn't get the materials needed for the entertainment center. I asked while I was there though, and they aren't closing, they are considered an essential business (NH has implemented a weak and pathetic lockdown that doesn't really do anything).
Saturday was a real letdown. It was chilly when I woke up, so I went and did some exploring for Matt down in Hinsdale. Very pretty town, but the place he wanted me to go look at was behind unmaintained roads. After getting back, I got my other sawhorses set up, the beefy ones I got from Tim. While I was setting them up, I found my missing spade bit. It made me sad.
It was supposed to be warm and partly sunny, so I got the first round of things to paint set up. These are the boards that go around the window and at the top for the wall extension, since that is still sitting there with house wrap on it.
But then this happened. And the radar started to feel a little green. I got a few sprinkles on me while I was moving stuff up to the shed.
So because I got rained and chilled out, I started to work on the trailer instead. I started with the wiring. Last year the right light had stopped working, so I hooked up the truck and.... Nothing. None of the lights work now.
I pulled it apart at the light and checked the wire. Nothing was getting to the taillight, so I went and checked the wiring connection. It very quickly became apparent what the issue was. That white wire is supposed to be in that butt splice.
I went to strip it and reconnect it, but I noticed that no matter how much I cut off, the wire was corroded inside. So I have ordered another connector.
I also did some research on solar power. Uncle Dennis and I have been exchanging research about my camper design, and he poked holes in my electrical calculations. Here is the short version of what I have found (the long version is available if anyone is curious):
It turns out I was greatly overestimating the amount of power produced by solar panels. Here is what I found out. Since I am installing them flat (they won't pointed perpendicular to the sun, they will be on the roof or they will actually be the roof) I have to derate their capacity by 20%. A general rule of thumb is that you get 4 times the power rating in power, meaning a 300W panel will produce 1.2kW over the course of a sunny day. You can get more further south, but you also have reductions in efficiency due to heat, which averages out to being about the same for me since I am not installing any cooling.
The scary part is when you look at solar production when it is cloudy. You lose about 75% of your production when it is cloudy, and potentially more when it is dark and stormy. This means the 300W panels I have been looking at will only produce ~240Wh apiece on cloudy days. Even if I bump up my expected number of panels to 10 (the most I can really fit in my design) I can't generate as much as I use. I am currently using the actual consumption of my tiny home in the summer as my consumption rate, which will be higher than actual, but still something to start with. So more thought will be needed for the exterior design of the camper and the number of panels. I had originalyl planned on putting on a roof, and then setting the panels on it and covering it with plexi, but I have read that is a bad idea, the plexiglass will reflect too much of the light, causing a noticeable reduction in power output. What I might do instead is make the solar panels the roof, and overlap them and use them like shingles.
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