Farm Hack Talk

I have a question on how to get more water to our wash station. Presently we are using well water (pump in the well) to a pressure tank in the basement then about 80 feet through 1" pipe to the barn then out to the wash station in 1.25" to 3/4" hoses. Currently we have nice pressure/flow on one of the spray stations. We would like to get that same pressure to 2-3 spray stations.

My best idea is to put a cube (1m3), jet pump and pressure tank out in the barn, and crank up the pressure in it (instead of to the whole house). Does this make sense? Other ideas?

Why are you interested, intrigued, excited about Farm Hack? Where would you like to see it go? Share your thoughts, rants, vision, or relevant links here!

wondering if someone can help or point to a basic resource on using battery power. wanting to do small food cart for off farm income (live very close to a college entertainment district). wondering if can use battery power to run just light strings, speakers (maybe) and a toaster oven. will be a cheesecrisp stand. am thinking to use a high capacity 12v battery and an inverter like used in a car and then just plug the stuff in. should that work? how to figure how long the setup could run on the battery? hope to solar recharge; i imagine that would be simple. thanks

Hi Everyone! Last weekend Severine and I sat down and organized the FarmHack.net Next Steps list. We set our priorities to 1) moving the frontpage over to FarmHack.net (it's currently at NYFC's site), 2) reorganizing the header, and 3) building out a commerce/listing/classifieds section. This past weekend Louis and I talked over this idea of topics (see Simplifying the Site for New Users conversation).

Please vote for our ag innovation: http://tffchallenge.com/team/foodisclosure/!

High-Tech Circuit Design Company Goes Awry To Serve Farmers with Niche Electronic Needs

One day I am going to own my own hi-tech cattle farm.

But before I can own my own farm, I have to build a sustainable custom electronics business.

My company, Henway Technologies, designs and manufactures electronic circuit boards. My clients are new product design teams, business owners, and well funded start-ups. I currently own a 3,000 sq ft office in downtown Akron, OH where the design and manufacturing takes place.

Hello Farm Hackers I'm Melissa Brandao in Oregon and I'm new here. I would be interested in getting your feedback on applications/needs/wants for a unmanned aircraft, specifically hover, low-flight helicopters or hover craft. We are working on a demonstration project here in Hood River and we would like it to be as relevant to micro/premium Ag farmers as possible, but it's not going to be focused on the high flight aerial photos. We are looking at low-flight hover craft applications. Please contact me here or @theladyelectric Thank you!

Hi. I'm up above Idaho & Washington, on a bit over eight acres of land, graowing lots of things, and have been at it for years.

I'm interested in how common things - junkyard/garage-sale items, used machinery, used materials, components, etc - can be designed into and recombined to make useful structures & equipment.The sort of equipment or structures that might be used on small farms and homesteads, and in serious urban food gardens.

I came away from "Chasing Ice" and a Bill McKibben talk muttering, "We've got to stop burning fossil fuels" - and knowing how helpless we are to stop.

Yep, draft animals is a good direction - but we're all driving cars and trucks; tractors, and most of us heating with fossil fuels, and on and on.

I knew that ethanol is a terrible idea - what is more stupid than burning food in cars!! Besides, it takes away from small farmers in Latin America; and it takes more energy to grow and produce it, than you get out of it when it's burned; and it's bad for engines.

NOT!

I am interested in putting together fire alarm systems for two of my barns where I house livestock. Ideally I could set something up that would sound an alarm inside my house to alert me to the danger of a fire. I found fire alarms set up with relays, but they are quite expensive ($70/unit not including shipping). Standard fire alarms are pretty cheap. Any ideas on how to retrofit several to sound a remote alarm?

Thanks.

George