The first step for my shop

[Frank S]

Along with the arrival of the tooling which was the reason for the tooling to even being hauled was a 2nd 20ft. container which has among other things inside it a 1959 Ford pickup with factory 4 wheel drive that happens to be disassembled to the last bolt. Hopefully it along with my 49 chevy pickup and my 1944 Mack EQ once the shop is fully closed in and I have my sand blast room and paint spray booth built as separate buildings behind the shop, will all become 2021 projects.
But I have a 125 foot receiver tower I want to complete and erect along with an 8 foot fan water pumping windmill I am building for my well which will have a perimeter rim on the fan which will be made out of one of the hose reels I have. I'm leaning towards hanging from 1 to  3 12v alternators on it friction driving them off of the rim even if I have to step up the drive ratios to get them to cut in at lower rotational speeds of the fan the well is only 60 feet and I only need a 1 1/2" pump as the amount of required water per day is negligible.
 However because of the arrival of the container I needed to mound up a pad for it to sit on next to the one I already had

We had to turn the container around before putting it in place so we unloaded it and reloaded it on the trailer
this picture demonstrates how heavy it was on one end at least. the tires on the front of my backhoe have 50 to 60 PSI in them

backing the container in place and using the hydraulics of the trailer and its winch to get it positioned just where I wanted it



I will cut a couple of the hose reels in half and construct a Quonset structure for a roof between them
 then close in 1 end and install a door on the other for this to be stored in

 

[Bruce S]

Wooden spokes still in working condition? NICE!!
I had to look closer at the battery bank to see if they were all hooked up.

Cheers
Bruce S

[Frank S]

Bruce S, actually they are not all hooked up and a good thing too since the guy where Eddy had it stored previously had removed them to see how many would still take or hold a charge. When he re installed them he got them out of order and some are reversed in position 6 of the nine will actually take a charge
 the positive and negative poles are on opposite ends 

[Frank S]

Here are some pictures of the 1916 CT Electric truck




Speed and direction control operated by the wheel under the steering wheel

a closer view

The odometer inside of the left rear hub the numbers are sill barely readable

[Scruff]

Nickel Iron Battery?

[Frank S]

Nickel Iron Battery?

Almost any 2 dissimilar metals will create a galvanic action between them when combined with an electrolyte or acid of some type the combination will produce a measurable amount of current or a battery.
https://www.nickel-iron-battery.com/#:~:text=The%20nickel%20iron%20battery%20was%20developed%20%20by,lead%20plates%20and%20acid%22%20%28%20lead-acid%20battery%20%29.

[Scruff]

I was asking if the battery is Nickel Iron, it seems period correct. It may have been the original. That was the "Edison" battery of GE fame and they can be immortal.

[Frank S]

Sorry Scruff I thought you were asking the existence of nickel iron.
Yes the batteries are the originals highly unlikely they would be the ones the truck was manufactured with as the company that had the fleet kept sets of them being charged while the trucks were being used then would slide the whole pack off onto a trolley then slide in a fresh pack.
 As I understand it when they pulled the batteries out years ago to check for being able to charge them there is a small gold not brass identifier plate on the side of one of the batteries.
 a couple cells in 3 of the batteries will not hold water so I suspect this may be the only reason that only 6 out of the 9 would take a charge. also I have no idea what they were using for the charger 

[Scruff]

Cool motor.
Stuff like that makes we wonder why the modren Tesla wasn't called Edison...except well the truth is obvious.

I love that old stuff they made up for lack of control electronics with sheer clunkin' copper bar that'll run short circuit the rest of it's life and come back asking for more.

Reminds me of these old follow spotlights we have in a venue I used to haunt.



Carbon-Arc
Effectively a welding rod in front of a lense.



Here's the traffo.
None of this noncey shunt business..full load through the ammeter!










You can use anything you want for a charger. This whole 3 stage business is a product of marketing saying they havenay got the poower to run constant voltage.

All chargers are designed to run max output at over-voltage with tail current feedback that tapers current at absorption fixed voltage, the float is a load and parasitic compensation state (0.3A usually) after the zero current feedback threshold is reached at absorption voltage. The level of refinement of the principle is reflected in the price.

If they're lead give them 2.47V per cell until the specific gravity stops improving or the tail current is zero.
Probably best not do them in series until after you do any recovery business. The high internal resistance of some will play havoc with the balancing.

I'd say an adjustable power supply is yer best bet.
Unbridled solar will get you there in a pinch. A charge controller would give you some control.
Fero-resonant chargers are handy too.
Anything modern and lightweight will  reject an old battery because they're designed to be annoying that way.

This is a technique as good as the best around;

That's all I ever do with MorningStar except my way's automated with a more constrained voltage.

Just to add:
The current taper happens naturally as the battery is charged. The battery voltage increases and opposes the source voltage reducing the current as a result.
You don't have to worry about it a whole lot other than keep water over the plates and stop the charger after they stop improving specific gravity or current acceptance.
If they start smelling funny like hydrogen (bad eggs) retire them.

[Frank S]

Well I finally got both trailers I had been working on out of the shop so I can get back to laying down some more fill between 6 to 10 inches needs to be laid down in some areas to bring the floor up to 6 to 8 inches below finished floor level
so the way I have been adding fill is to add a few yards at a time then drive back and forth hundreds of times then add more. I plan to build it up above where I want it then build a 2 or 3 blade scraper to drag all over the floor to make it level then I will probably till it to a depth of 6 to 8 inches while mixing in an enzyme and lime stabilizer with water,  level it again then convert my scraper to 2000 lb. double roller mount my plate packer on it and slowly roll that over it until the clay sand fill is packed to 125% compaction then try not to use the shop for anything for a month while the enzyme reacts in the soil. what this will do will be make the surface hard and nearly dust free similar to creating 6 to 8inch layer of caliche then later once I can afford to lay in the rebar and pour concrete I'll put down a layer of sand pour the concrete and have a lasting floor

Right now I have about 4 more inches to go before I will have enough fill to satisfy me
 

[DamonHD]

You could fit my whole house and garden in there a couple of times over!  B^>

Rgds

Damon

[Frank S]

The west wall of my shop with exception of a 28 foot section at the North West corner will be constructed so I can open it fully this includes over the containers located against the South West corner.
 So today while there was no wind to speak of I hoisted the 200 lb tarp salvaged off of the side of a Conestoga trailer kit
I think it will make an excellent wall/ eventual window when needed.
 

[Frank S]

I may have taken the first step towards building another shop Monday.
 It is Ludacris to think about starting another shop before this one is completed but here is my thinking.
 My friend who does all of my hauling and I do all of his mechanical work as well as all other repairs has a place about 40 miles from me that he is trying to get in shape so he can move into it.
Well consequentially he has several old trucks and trailers stored at my place that I would dearly love to have gone. So if I can help him to build a shop where he has some place to tinker on them and do the things that he doesn't need me to do or I could go there and work on them from time to time it would greatly reduce the clutter at my place since right now I have lots of things tucked away in my woods just to have them out of my way and out of my sight.
this is something like how I plan on building the structure and the placement of his containers which we have already spotted 2 of them in place
 
 I will prefab all of the structure at my place then we will erect it at his place

[Frank S]

Over 2 years of adding the red sandy clay fill to the shop floor and it being packed down over and over had turned it almost into sand stone.
 But now it is time to break it up for the next step in the process of making it into a durable floor that hopefully will not sluff off dust everytime something hard is dragged across it To do this the fill must first be broken up.

the rake Eddy was dragging behind his little tractor would scratch and scratch and eventually do a pretty good job but not nearly deep enough.
 My leveling drag blade was too un wieldy in the confined area given its size plus it would just drag over the super hard spots.
 I tried my tandem disk and this broke up some of the area quite well but I needed to bare down with so much force I was destroying it and still couldn't make it penetrate the really hard spots very well.
Even using the teeth on the back hoe bucket took all day to do less than 1/3 of the floor but at least with a lot of banging and only taking short gouging cuts each time it is finally being loosened into large rock like clods that should break up more easily

[Mary B]

Spread some concrete mix over the top, disc it in, flatten and wet it down LOL

[Frank S]

Spread some concrete mix over the top, disc it in, flatten and wet it down LOL

This is what we plan on using
https://www.chempoint.com/insights/perma-zyme-enzymatic-soil-stabilizer

[Mary B]

Hmm interesting stuff... my driveway isn't paved and is mostly compacted clay... might be way cheaper than concrete for that huge pad...

[Frank S]

We ordered the 5 gallon pail this morning so in a couple weeks we should see if it was nearly $2000.00 well spent of money dumped out on the ground

[Frank S]

The shop has never been this empty even from before it was started



the pail of Permazyme arrived today I have built a spray bar for the back of my pickup and we will be mixing up almost 600 gallons to spread out once the landscaping guy shows up to pulverized the soil then level it out so I can spray it then it has to be blended into the soil leveled and rolled

[Frank S]

Well the enzyme came in so we hired a guy with a small tractor and tiller to try and grind up the floor for us.
He spent the better part of 6 hours grinding then leveling we applied the enzyme and rolled it in place





Since then I have been concentrating on running electrical conduit and building
 a tool rack for my combination wrenches. My wrenches range from 1/4" through 2 1/2" and I have multiples of most so they took up a lot of space in my big tool box and were always a pain to locate the one I needed

[SparWeb]

Where's the row for the MM set going to go? 

[Frank S]

Where's the row for the MM set going to go? 

It doesn't take a lot of space for millimeter wrenches so I put them to the right
7mm through 22mm

[SparWeb]

Frank you've had too many smart-alec kids work for you to take the bait.  Joke is on me, then.

[Scruff]

Frank you've had too many smart-alec kids work for you to take the bait.  Joke is on me, then.

I had to stop myself from asking where the JIS spanners were.....

[Frank S]

Frank you've had too many smart-alec kids work for you to take the bait.  Joke is on me, then.

I had to stop myself from asking where the JIS spanners were.....

I have a few Wentworth but as I rarely work on 50's or 60's Britt bikes or cars there just doesn't seem any point in arranging them on a rack 

[MattM]

Can you tell us about that Permazyme.  Sounds like something I might want but couldn't find online.

[Frank S]

Can you tell us about that Permazyme.  Sounds like something I might want but couldn't find online.

This is their web site
https://www.substrata.us/perma-zyme#:~:text=A%20typical%20application%20for%20Perma-Zyme%20consists%20of%205,until%20desired%20density%20is%20achieved.%20More%20items...%20

[MattM]

I did read that.  The problem is finding how to get an idea on price and the quantity to use.

[Frank S]

I did read that.  The problem is finding how to get an idea on price and the quantity to use.

MattM; the only way you can get any information for price and applications is to contact them.
But I will give you a brief summery.
 the smallest quantity they sell is 44 lbs which is a 5 gallon pail and costs around $1,875.00,this would mix with 1000 gallons of water
and do about 18,000 to 20,000 sq ft tilled to a depth of 3 to 6 inches.
 Even when you contact them their information tht you can draw out of them is kind if vague and not very forthcoming or helpful or at least that was how I perceived it from the way my friend described what they told him, he is not engineering inclined in any way so he may not have known what questions to ask.
 The enzyme is designed to serve as a catalyst to help the clay molecules to bond with the other soil molecules but personally in my opinion it needs a surfactant to assist in breaking down the surface tension of the water creating a wetting agent. the fill in my floor was so hard packed and dry that it would not readily wet up looking back on it now I firmly believe that we should have taken more time in prepping the area by spraying a couple 1000 gallons of water on it as we tilled it up and spread our process out over several days before applying the permazyme solution I feel that a 20% moisture content in the clay would have greatly aided the catalytic process or we should have diluted it with double the amount of water and tilled it in better but what do I know?
 I'm a little concerned that inadvertently I may have created voids by breaking it up with the backhoe which may not have completely filled, only time will tell.
 

[MattM]

Thanks for the details.  I was thinking it would be great for reinforcement around the driveway, but for a similar price I could afford to continue to do a curb and run drainage pipe for a more permanent solution.  Was hoping it was more like 1-2 hundred per pail.

[Frank S]

Thanks for the details.  I was thinking it would be great for reinforcement around the driveway, but for a similar price I could afford to continue to do a curb and run drainage pipe for a more permanent solution.  Was hoping it was more like 1-2 hundred per pail.

It is pricy, and it has been too short of a time for me go give a thumbs up evaluation of the product My friend is the one who came up with the idea as a temporary means of trying to prevent the floor from sluffing off the surface and turning into dust until I can afford to have a slab poured as the distance to the nearest concrete plant to me is around 60 miles and it cost about $160.00 to $180.00 per cubic yard to have it delivered a 90 yard pour as you can figure get expensive plus the rebar and the labor to work it.
 However I'm not completely convinced that a couple thousand dollars of Portland cement spread out and watered in may not have been just as good only time will tell

[MattM]

I had forgotten about mudcrete.  That's not a bad idea for the curb.

[Mary B]

Are you going to pour piers for the heavy equipment?