20 • FARM SHOW • vol. 31, no. 4 • www.farmshow.com • editor@farmshow.com • 1-800-834-9665

Home-Built DC Generator Ideal For Off-Grid Living

Solar-Powered Garden Creeper

When Rob Davis priced commercial AC gen-erators for his off-grid home, he felt they weretoo expensive and used too much fuel. Bring-ing in power lines would have been evenmore costly, at nearly $80,000.

A DC generator made the most sense tohim, but commercial ones were too expen-sive so he built one, and then another, andanother, each time increasing in power. To-day he has two generators, a 6 hp direct drivesystem and a 9 hp with overdrive. All appli-ances are AC-powered with energy suppliedby battery or directly from a generatorthrough an inverter.

“They run the washing machines, centralheating, welder, all the heavy loads,” says

Davis. “When we want to charge the batter-ies, I just set the generator on idle.”

Davis uses Robertson Subaru gas engines,though he would like to switch to affordablediesel engines. As it is, he estimates his aver-age monthly fuel bill for producing electric-ity at only $40 a month.

“If you have an AC generator charging thesystem, the most you can get out of it is about35 amps, and it has to run at 3,600 rpm’s allthe time,” says Davis. “Mine are at full out-put at 2,800 rpm’s, and if I just want to main-tain the system and keep it charged, I run itat 1,250 rpm’s.”

Davis says he can produce 45 amps for 2hours and only burn a quart of gas with the 9

hp system. The secret, he says, is the over-drive. “It’s just like a car you put in over-drive to save fuel,” says Davis. “If I wantmore power, I just increase the throttle.”

The difficult thing about building a gen-erator system with overdrive was to find theright combination of pulleys. “I used trial anderror and burned up quite a few belts beforeI got it right,” he says.

Since Davis has gotten it right, he has builtDC generators for friends and neighbors.Others hear about his generators by word ofmouth. He sells the 6 hp system for $2,500;the 9 hp system for $2,850. Without theirelectric starters, they’d each sell for $150 less.

Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, RobDavis, P.O. Box 1109, Tehachapi, Calif.93581 (ph 661 972-5540).

Rob Davis started building generators be-cause he didn’t like what he found on themarket.

Planting, maintaining and harvesting a biggarden can be a pain in the back and else-where. Chris Juel’s quiet solar poweredcreeper has made all sorts of garden jobseasier and pain-free.

“The 50-watt panel keeps the deep chargebattery full, and the 12-volt, 1/6 hp motorgives me plenty of power, even on slopes,”says Juel. “I can plant 100 strawberry plantsan hour with it. Trays that hang underneathcan be used to hold seedlings or to hold pro-duce.”

The 36-in. wide creeper measures 7 ft.long. The Naugahyde covered, 3-in. foampadded bed rides 18 in. above the ground.The axles for the 26-in. wheels are mountedabout 5 in. below the bed.

“I made a jig to build the creeper,” saysJuel. “It is just a sheet of plywood with blocksscrewed down to hold the lengths of squaretubing. I lay them out and weld them inplace.”

The frame is 1-in. square tubing. For axle

bearings, Juel inserted a 3/4-in. pvc pipe in-side a 1-in. steel pipe and runs the axlethrough it. A grease zerk inserted through thesteel pipe and the pvc pipe holds the innerpipe in place and provides the once-a-yearlubrication needed.

Juel fabricated the gears himself and useda bike chain to transfer power to the rear driveaxle. A foot pedal controls forward motionwith a top speed of 1 mph.

The solar screen and motor are all mountedon the front end of the creeper, which makesit easy to lift the back end. When Juel gets tothe end of a row, he dismounts, picks up therear end and walks it around for his returntrip.

Slight steering adjustments are made witha rudder attached to the front axle. “I canadjust it about 10 degrees, which is plenty,”says Juel.

The creeper is outfitted with an umbrellaon the rear and can carry a radio or cassetteplayer as well. Juel simply uses a cigarette

lighter adapter to connect them to the bat-tery.

He’s considering altering the headrest. In-stead of laying the forehead on the pad, he isplanning to build a net-style retainer to bet-ter distribute the pressure.

The creeper was not cheap. He notes that

the solar panel alone costs $400, and the elec-tric gear motor costs another $300. He wouldbe interested in building them for sale if therewas enough interest.

Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, ChrisJuel, Box 162, Scobey, Montana 59263 (ph406 487-5014).

Garden creeper’s 50-watt panel charges a battery that powers a 12-volt motor.

Floating Islands Dress Up Farm PondsAnyone with a farm pond will want to take alook at these new BioHaven™ Floating Is-lands – artificially produced mini ecosystemsthat benefit water, fish and wildlife, accord-ing to inventor Bruce Kania of Shepherd,Mont. Best of all, they can be a beautifuladdition to any body of water.

Floating islands occur naturally in somelakes. BioHaven islands simply give naturea helping hand. Plants and trees growing onthe islands draw nutrients and pollutants fromthe water, cleansing it and improving waterquality – especially in waters where there isheavy contamination.

Fish nibble the roots which extend downunder the islands, and they also find shadycover there. The additional plants bring withthem insects that provide food to the fish, andincreased microbial activity that helps cleansethe waters.

The many different benefits of real float-ing islands are what prompted Kania to de-velop his patented man-made version. He re-searched and tested the product for severalyears before recently putting the do-it-your-self islands on the market.

Besides enhancing water quality, the float-ing islands can be used to provide lake birdnesting sites, for wave reduction, erosioncontrol or just to beautify the pond. Islandsare available in a wide range of shapes andsizes. They’re made from layers of recycledshredded plastic which is bonded togetherwith adhesive marine foam. They’re ex-tremely buoyant, flexible, and can support alot of weight, Kania says.

Installation involves covering the base witha special proprietary mix of soil and otheringredients, and adding plants of your choice.

According to Kania, it takes two peopleabout 2 1/2 hrs. to completely plant andlaunch a 250 sq. ft. island.

Plant roots grow through the porous, fil-ter-like material, reaching down to the waterbelow.

“The islands can grow wetland or terres-trial plants like sod and conventional gardenplants, which opens the door to many uniquepossibilities,” he adds. “Vegetation is self-supporting and functional in any waterway.If you prefer islands that don’t move aroundwith the wind and water currents, they canbe anchored or tethered in place.”

Floating Islands International currently hastwo licensed manufacturers – one in NewMexico and one in Montana - however thecompany is in talks with more than 20 otherpotential licensees all over the world.

The floating structures can also be used tocreate walkways, piers, docks, jetties, or toprovide support for picnic tables, floatingstages or gazebos, Kania points out.

The suggested retail price for islands is $29per sq. ft., not including planting materialsor vegetation.

Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Float-ing Island International, LLC, 10052 Float-ing Island Way, Shepherd, Mont. 59079 (ph800 450-1088; questions@floatingislandinternational.com; www.floatingislandinternational.com).

The Canadian distributor isCanadianpond.ca Products Limited, 513Knowlton Road (Highway 104), Knowlton,Quebec, J0E 1V0 Canada (ph 450 243-0976;info@canadianpond.ca; www. canadianpond.ca).

Biohaven islands can be planted with almost any kind of vegetation. They can floatfreely on any body of water, or they can be tethered in one place.

Islands come in a wide range of shapes and sizes (left). Or they can be custom-built tonearly any size. Photo at right shows island used to support walkway across pond.

Plant roots grow down through island material to the water, providing “nibble” foodfor fish and other waterlife.