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So you want to go off-grid on a budget.

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OldKooT:
Let me start with a small rant :D

All over the internet you can find many opinions on what I call "high tech, off grid complications" Or "HTOGC" for those with a Military requirement for acronyms LoL

HTOGC: The resulting confusion and over complication of over thinking, off grid living.

Some background: I grew up a Nebraska Farm boy. On a farm that was homesteaded by my family many years ago. Even as late as the mid to late 1970's there was still a real need for "the old ways" Lets go back a bit further...My Mom now 75 years old, was born in a sod dugout. My grandparents had 80 acres they worked largely by hand and horse at the time. Up the road my Great Grandfather had an established farm of 220 acres and "tractors" But as "Kids", my grandparents had to start out the hard way...and many story's have been told of their experiences.

My early teen years through adult age were spent living in Wisconsin. We lived in a area with a large Amish population. I worked on Amish farms, I worked in Logging mills, A dairy farm, and many other jobs as a youngster. Again lots of older men and women around that I learned a few skills from.  So how does this apply to my HTOGC rant? 

Simple...today's concern about needing to survive without electricity, or "grid" is in my opinion far over complicated.

This thread is just a simple place to share a few of the ideas that are not new, but time tested ways to accomplish things that still work today. There will be no set topic, it will be random, and most likely disorganized because that's how I roll.

Next post: We begin.

OldKooT:
Power.... we all enjoy it. We probably don't appreciate it enough, and we fear it's not working. Oh and we also pay dearly for it as well. What is the first thing people fear about a "collapse" of today's society? No electricity.

No gas/fuel is also a huge fear many express.  So we buy generators, we stock pile fuel and try to think of ways to make that all work in a off grid reality forced on us by some event.

There is another way... a way that is proven to work, as it's how things were done before we had power lines strung all over creation. Before we had fuel at every corner, and before 24/7 availability to whatever we want. I can't be the only man here who remembers when gas stations closed at 5pm, and seldom were open on weekends at all. When you still had milk delivered to your house?

Ok I promise the next post we will really start... I warned you it would be disorganize.

OldKooT:
Before rural areas especially... had available power, how were things done? Every farm had a tool they valued greatly, it was called the hit and miss engine. Lets explore this a bit... Imagine having a somewhat portable engine you could hook a variety of things to while making your day much easier. Now lets apply that to today's off grid "complications"

Want to run a small generator to charge your batteries? A hit and miss can do that. In fact hit and miss engines generated power for much of the USA in local city "power plants" very reliably for many decades. They were VERY large, but the concept remains the same.

Want to pump water? They can do that as well... grind corn? Wheat? Need flour? How about saw logs? Mill lumber? Crush stone? I have personally in my life seen many a unique use of a old hit and miss engine.

The real benefit in today's off grid experience to the old hit and miss engine is the simplicity. They are very simple devices, they require only a understanding of how they work and obviously some fuel/air/water.

Fuel: These really are a multi fuel engine. A hit and miss designed to run on gasoline can run on gas/LP/Kerosene/ethanol as an example. Some modifications required to convert, but nothing that's near as complicated as say a modern Honda engine. They can be very fuel efficient as well.  Years ago I had a small 3hp Hit and miss I charged a battery bank with...it would turn a old Chevy alternator making about 60amps or so using just under a quart of fuel a hour.

A small collection of hit and miss engines could and does benefit a off grid experience immensely. You could have a entire wood working shop or machine shop running off one if you had the notion to do so. It was done for many years that way...

Much like a skid steer or a compact tractor can be used for a variety of tasks depending on attachments, well a hit and miss works the same way. Difference is the attachments are far cheaper, and in many cases easily home built.

A few examples: I have early 1900's Lentz grinder. I have grinding plates for it that allow it to grind wheat/corn/you name it. Fine or coarse it is rather versatile. It can make corn meal for the kitchen, or chicken/hog feed and all with an investment of about $75 and some elbow grease. Last year I used it to grind corn cobs and then heated our home with them in the corn stove.

I have waiting to be restored or working, a variety of old equipment a hit and miss can power. A few plans for the future include the following. A grist mill *$45 at an auction, the Letz grinder *$75 A log splitter *$100 off craigslist, a buzz saw *$45 at an auction. I have 3 different sized hit and miss engines, I have maybe about $250 invested in, that will all be running by winters end.

How about a Coleman Light plant? These were a mainstay of many a farm and when I was a kid it was the backup power for our farm. I still own it and it will also be restored and back in operational condition soon. It does still run, it just needs some love.

For the price of one small cheapo generator, I will have equipment that will run for decades, uses less fuel, and has adaptability to many uses and largely obsoletes a generator to begin with. And they weigh so much...no ones going to swipe them easily either LoL

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UP8laDwgtcc Imagine this beauty in your shed pumping water, running a generator, the possibilities are endless.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=38_-Dcr6w68  I have used one of these, and am looking for one of my own presently...handy, very effective, and well maybe someday a real deal off grid table saw if required.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4fNoOj8v2tI This is a handy little tool if you burn wood. Way less fuel than a chainsaw and less work than a axe. I see these all the time at sales for less than $100 needing restoration. In many cases that equals some grease, sharpen the saw and get to work.

One other interesting aspect to this less complicated way of doing things off grid...it preserves history for our future generations, teaches them there are other ways...and it's a fun family hobby as well in all truth.

I doubt many of us would load of a new generator take it to a show and demonstrate it's usefulness. A old hit and miss engine and a few attachments can be a great way to meet older folks with amazing knowledge, show today's kids about the past, and in general not a bad way to spend a afternoon. We have a show here locally that often has 100's of these things doing all sorts off interesting work. But they also have a practical use...they can provide us with less complicated off grid values that make the idea of no "juice" much less concerning.

My grandfather had a still during WW2 He made the fuel for these old engines to run the farm. Self reliance right there. Try that with a modern engine...

Sammconn:
I'll help you stay off topic then.

At our cabin, totally off grid. The simplicity is absolutely peaceful.
You want peace and quiet, shut it all down, nothing but the water and wind and birds...

Now, I have a hybrid electrical system, and satellite TV, so we're not totally out to lunch, and out of touch with the world.
We have a fridge, it runs on propane, but there is the option if an ice cellar for me, guys still use them out on the islands.
There also are fridges that run on 12 volts, would take a significant amount of solar and battery, but is also an option.

The old wood stoves, I remember an Aunt that had the stove/oven, ran coal and wood, hot in the summer, but you need to cook.

The HTOGC is a problem we all face, but don't need to.
Head out camping, with a tent, some sleeping stuff, some cooking supplies and food, and some matches.
Cook on a fire, throw the phone away, and just sit back and enjoy.

Nate:
norm, if i may add something to this.  i found this video from one of the ones you posted and thought that it being a tutorial would/could be really benificial as a tutorial.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YUE4KwOsAIw

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