I've seen a few designs for pedal operated generators but what I'm wondering about is a pedal operated PTO. I have the desire for a reasonably portable unit that could be used to "motorize" our grain mill, possibly power a homestead sized threshing machine, root washer, maybe even a lathe or other shop tools? The design I like best is the Rodale Energy Cycle, but I'd like for some method for making it belt-drive and adding a flywheel? Other designs out there that come close to this idea?

One thing I have in mind for increasing the speed of moving the Low-cost mobile hoop house is a version of what used to be called a wagon jack. Basically I believe they were cam levers that would lift and hold the body of a wagon up so a wheel could be removed/repaired. Something along those lines would be ideal as you could operate the jack, attach a wheel assembly, drop the jack so the house is resting on the wheel, and move down the house to the next wheel location, easy peasy.

I think it would be a good idea to add a new topic to document the best practices for posts including things like:

Meaningful titles

Posting to proper forums

linking to existing content on the forum etc....

I am thinking about building a trailer for a farm bike that does not involve any welding. Does anyone have any plans? We have some old bike wheels, wooden boards, bolts, etc., but the axle and connection to an old mountain bike are some stocking points that I haven't really "wrapped my head around." I was going to start something on Sketchup, but thought I'd check here to see if there are any resources out there already. We tried a couple renditions already, with some 2x4s and a wheelbarrow, and er, uh, no success.

I think that when tools are posted to the wiki, the original poster should sponsor them - and give some context in the forum. A culture of posting to the forum before posting a new tool would enable evaluation of stage of project, category and areas where documentation will be needed, and it would be really good I think to have tools posted be rooted in the real world by someone who has actually built and or used, or will use a tool rather than just cool ideas. Others thoughts?

Identified Need - lower cost adjustable tine weeder tines

I was just reading Ben's post about building a belly mounted tine weeder for an Alis G, and looking at the economics of the tines from Lely or Kovar. I wonder if we might use the power of Farm Hack to develop a tine bending tool, so that we could get the cost per tine down to something well under the $15+ for the lely? This would also enable some customization and replacement when new ones are needed, or enable farms to try longer or shorter, stiffer, or softer tines based on their application.

Maintainer model (only a self selected few are authorized to make edits)

Pros: May be more productive for Tools that are currently being developed. Much clearer distinction who is driving the tool's development. Tool maintainers may prefer this method as opposed to letting everyone edit and trying to manage it.

Cons: If Tool maintainer abandons the Tool, we need a process for allowing folks to take over maintainership. This could be a community bottleneck.

As the Farm Hack community grows we may want to set up a verification process by which admins approve new tools given a minimum set of guidelines. At face value this idea seems at odds with the Bazaar style of Open Source development (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cathedral_and_the_Bazaar) but we may be able to structure this moderation mechanism in a way that does not stifle collaboration.

Now that we have a working site. It's time to make sure we're all on the same page when it comes to rules before we launch. I'm proposing a set of rules that are VERY VERY relaxed. Even if you don't agree with me that Bazaar is better than Cathedral, I think this more relaxed model still holds water because we have so few users. In other words, if it ain't broke, don't fix it, in this case, don't confuse people with complicated rules.

I think we've all been struggling with the question of, "Where do we put this information?" If we have a new Tool we're building, then that's and easy answer, "The Tool section!" but if we are thinking about how to discuss Urban Agriculture vs. Urban Gardening (which has been taking place on an email thread) or we're kind of stumped. So, I'm going to propose a structure that I think both vastly simplifies the issues we're grappling with and also uses existing concepts/functionality that we're using on this new Farm Hack beta site.