just a thought

[bob g]

perhaps a place for trasportation/equipment concerns?

seems like a useful addition to that section, in that we all need trucks, cars, tractors etc on the homestead, and alternatives might be cool.

recently with my looking into wood gas, i have seen small tractors running on it, a bulldozer running on it, countless cars and pickups, along with stationary engines(gensets, saws) etc

might bring in some other options, steam powered, small diesel powered (veggy), electric vehichles charged off the wind genny etc.

just think it might be cool

i know this board gets pretty busy for you folks, but maybe this will fill a void and direct some of the questions to that area

what do you think?

bob g

[Phil Timmons]

Not that my vote counts

But I think that is a fine idea.

We have went around it in several directions.

We have had a large discussion on alcohol fuel that I recall, and even a long running poll on alternate vehicle fuels.

mho, The "off-topic" axe gets swung a bit wild at times.

but you do not see me volunteering to be baby-sitter/moderator either, so by in large I support what works best for most everyone.

[bob g]

i agree most wholeheartedly

just thought maybe it would save some greif for the moderator/host/goodguy, that has to sort out this board and keep it running smoothly.

just thought maybe if there was a place for that sort of thing it would automatically go there, without ruffling feathers, and generating rather heated rants about the board, to which i don't believe are warranted or needed.

don't get me wrong rants about the government, and other outside influences on our lives are ok by me, and are sometimes informative and useful for the rest of us.

rants against the board leave me with a sour taste in my mouth, and i don't care for them, even tho i may agree in part with what the person is ranting about.

i dunno, i guess i was just putting an option on the table that might correct the problem and give another route for some of the posts, but if it is more work than deleting posts and putting up with "rants" then so be it.

ADMIN/MODERATOR, keep up the good work guys!

we all appreciate you and your board

bob g

[deloiter]

Please understand that I don't intend to minimize the value of the proposed topic.  It clearly is an importance issue in today's world.  However, I have moderated website chat groups and it can very quickly change from simply trying to get people of common interest together to a full time job.  Adding more topics means adding more work until resources are chewed up doing things that were not intended in the beginning.  Our group got out of hand so quickly that we simply shut it down due to a lack of time to maintain it.  I am not entirely certain about the original intent of this wonderful site's discussion groups, but I wonder if "transportation and equipment" wouldn't be better articulated on another site where there are serious experts in that field.  If there are plenty of resources to maintain the site, fantastic.  If not, I would hate to lose what we have in the name of trying to be everything to everyone.  

[Lurker 417]

I have to say that I like the current, well focused version of this board the best. I don't always agree with the decisions about just what is off-topic and what is not, but then it is not my board, either. I have never understood why some otherwise reasonable people think they have some right to post whatever they want on somebody else's web site. The owners of this site have every right to run it as they please. I think they have used excellent judgment so far, and from the amount of use the place gets, it appears I am not alone.

As entertaining as the "kooks" were at times, I do not miss them a bit. If I want to read all about how to put a magic carburetor on a Sedan de Ville and get 300 mpg, I know how to find those gurus. Of course that's not what was intended by Bob, but there is not a doubt in my mind that they'd be here within minutes of the establishment of a Transportation section.

This place is all about Homegrown Electricity, and how to use it intelligently. I like that!

[Phil Timmons]

Thinking about this a bit while (unforturnately ) doing some real work . . .  generally when I have seen the off-topic axe fly, it is usually accompanied with "put this stuff in Diary" or words to that effect . . .

So, bob g, I guess you could make everyone happy covering this in (y)our Diaries . . .  maybe I'll start?  Something I have been wondering about is anyone's use of homebrew alcohol in E85 gasoline engines.   I am looking at home brewing alcohol from the waste heat in the steam condensor stage of a Solar Boiler electric generator.

[hobot]

I vote yes for a transporation, fuel, seciton.

I've posted on this and left site of wood gas sources.

We all know there's a problem at gas stations now and

forseeable future. It make me pensive to think how

we depend on major corporation policy just to get

around for vital needs. It'd be refreshing to see

ideas that could move clever home labor over distance.

hobot

Arkansas

[TimV]

Sounds good. Hope you dont blipped off before it gets going.."topics is topics" you know....

[inode buddha]

well, I can help out some with transportation. I've been a mechanic most of my life, mostly Chevy and GMC, with some big caterpilars thrown in for fun. Give a holler if anyone's interested.

[Bruce S]

IMHO

   I have for years fully enjoyed reading and learning from people like windstuff ed , Norm,zubbly, cmmanda and the like.

Until this year I kept off the posts, mainly because I could hold a candle to the amount of kowledge these people have. Even then when questions that related to home-based fuel production began creeping onto the board I kept off.

  My reasons a many fold, but will say that most of them are the worries that a person that reads the how-tos and was under age could take them and make "illegal Alky" that would at the very least get someone in trouble, and if they followed my practices of making it legal to the FEDS and decided to "try it" anyway and DIE from the poisons.

I would be in favor of a small closely watched post area in the home-brewed section, heck I even made a small funny about that if the Alky of bio-diesel where used on fuel based gennys then it truely would be home-brewed elec.

However, as it has already been said, I don't own this forum and if adding the fuel section has even the slightest chance of getting this board into trouble I would be the first to pull/edit every post that I put up about this subject.

At this point I trust people like Nothin to lose and Phil as I have read some of their posts and they seem to have enough common sense not to drink the deadly stuff.

I will go one further though, if the goodguys do add the extra section I would be willing to HELP moderate that section and that it be about fuels not transportation.

Fuels can be used for whatever you like, windmills can be tested using these alternative fueled vehicles, but there are so many types of engines now that one thing may not work for the other.

Fuel, however can be just that fuel, cook with it, pour it in your tank, BBQ with it, heat you house with it.

Admin: Again sorry for the long posts at $2.50/gal and oil now at $70/barrel.

Bruce S

   

[bob g]

Bruce:

very good point and perhaps this will satisfy my needs quite well.

i like your idea of narrowing the scope to home brewed fuels, then leave it up to each to use as they see fit.

bob g