The old mechanical windmill pump folks are still around - really having a hard time with names, these days, but it's cheaper to put up a power generating windmill, battery and pump.

BQ_90 said:

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Quote:

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Cedar trees or bushes near the house can be extremely flammable when the weather is dry enough.

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https://agrilifeextension.tamu.edu/library/disasters-safety/safeguarding-against-wildfire/

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Great link. Thx.

tlepoC said:

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Aggie Infantry said:

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I just finished a 2,200sf metal building from Carolina Carport (don't let the name fool you). I insulated the inside with R30, put in two wood burning stoves and lined every outside wall with Level IIIA "ballistic drywall" (5ft up from the floor).


There is an outfit in Waco that makes it. You provide the sizes and they can make each sheet to order.

They are heavy as hell, so don't go too big unless you've got two or three guys to life them.

It ain't cheap, but neither is a trip to the hospital.

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Why the ballistic drywall?

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Depending on cost i might do that, but reality is to defend a homestead in any real way you need at least 8 highly competent people on strict discipline, minimum. And that is against even any average couple of desperate rednecks with deer rifles or pack of a few urbanites with handguns.

The reality is if the shtf for real, anyone not in a specially trained and built compound of 20+ people, specially designed to resist attack and equipped for the zombie apocalypse is going down in the first few months anyway. Any other surivors will be those who move, forage, and do bad things better than the rest.

I dont have that peer group and have not prepped so, and am not really thinking like that. Im not in bad shape either but i am mid 50's now and not likely to be mad max anymore unless i started really training for it. If it turns to 28 days or walking dead, i'll probably not make it.

I just want a nice reliable place to be left alone in the country while whatever todays' commie yuppies and their idiot ercot and sjl leaders flounder around doing, with their rolling blackouts, developers pinching off rivers and causing flooding, standing in their water and tp lines, eating their soylent green and playing ready player one or hunger games or whatever on their universal basic income. Count me out of that ****ing orwellian nightmare they've voted for.

cbr said:

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Curious about modern wind power/windmill. I would think that in a lot of conditions, a wind generator could also turn a well water pump and unless the wind gets below a certain speed, you'd getting basically a 2-fer- generating electricity and pumping water at the same time. How would that work with an electric well pump for when the wind pump wasnt working? Would that be a simole switch or require controls, or just have a wholly separate system that only tripped the electric pump when tank volume or pressure dips?

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For windmill driven water, let the windmill lift the water to a surface tank, then run a small pressure tank driven by electricity. My FIL has a 3,000 gallon tank fed by a windmill and then a small pressure tank to drive water from the tank. Uses way less electricity than trying to run an electric well pump. His windmill is an Aeromotor, and it is pulling water from a 400+ foot deep well, but I am sure there are others out there too.

cbr said:

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chaca5151 said:

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Already got you beat... completely off grid! 24kw generator, buried 500gal propane ( you get a lot more propane if you bury it) all solar with batteries and a 30k gal water collection tank with filters and uv light. Best damn water ive ever had.

PM me if interested ill get you going in the right direction!

I can't help you with the house, currently suing my contractor they all suck.

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Will pm you-interest in the water collection setup. I think combining that with a well would be smart. How much maintenance is it? Does it require a shed or shade for longevity? Does it require stirring or aerating or anything? Uv to keep algae out etc., i presume? Filtering? How durable is all that?

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Very little maintenance. I change the 5 micron filter every month but I've been getting every other. Change the charcoal filter every quarter and uv light once a year.

We have ours in a small pump house along with our pump, no stirring or aerating. The tank itself has a black liner on the inside which keeps the sun out. Before the rain goes into the tank it goes into a catch box which filters out the big stuff.

I wouldn't want my well water mixing with rain water, when we had to bring in water last year you could really taste the chlorine the city puts in the water. Well water has a distinct taste on its own.