In the video below, I demonstrate driving a modern 2 wheel drive, front wheel drive vehicle on some hilly unplowed snowy roads. I also will show why in some circumstances traction control can limit your ability to climb or get unstuck. There are certain situations where turning traction control off can actually help.
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Author: Mark
How to Control a Slide on Icy Surfaces
This video of a pile up in Montreal has been making the rounds in social media. It shows multiple vehicles, including two buses, a police car, and even a plow truck piling up on a very slippery roadway. It also perfectly illustrates both what works, and what not to do. The majority of the vehicles, including the plow truck, did not know what to do. Do you?
How To Build a Large Solar Generator – Part 4 – Wiring
This is the fourth part in our series on how to build your own large solar generator. In this part we will be completing the wiring for the generator, including the solar charge controller, AC inverter, LED work lights, and USB outlets.
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How To Build a Large Solar Generator – Part 3 – Component Mounting
This is the third part in our project series How To Build a Solar Generator. In this part, we will be mounting all of the components into our case, as well as some of the preliminary wiring.
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Teardown, Overhaul, & Re-Assembly of Yazoo Mower Transmission
I snapped an axle shaft in my Yazoo Mower (YR-76) that required disassembling the entire transmission in order to get the broken shaft out. While it was out, I cleaned each part, and replaced worn bearings and oil seals. Here is the process I took.
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Yazoo Mower
Yazoo Mowers are becoming increasingly rare, but they have an almost cult following of fans and owners. They are very unique in their design, allowing them to have a zero-degree turning radius way before the modern hydraulic zero-turn mower was invented, and they have a gear shift lever that allows quick transitions from forward to reverse.
Does turning the thermostat down really save energy?
An age old argument against turning the thermostat down is that it causes your furnace or AC to have to work harder to catch up, and therefore negates any savings. But is this true?
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Installing Heat Control Solar Window Film
We recently moved into a new house, which has quite a few windows. We also have had a very warm June and early July. As a result our house has been pretty warm and uncomfortable lately. Especially since I prefer to use the AC as little as possible… usually meaning none!
I am a big fan of upgrades that will reduce our energy footprint, and especially ones that have a lasting effect of several years or more. I began researching window films that I could install myself, and eventually decided to give the Gila Heat Control Residential Window Film a try. It is available on Amazon, in several sized and varieties. I opted for the 36″ x 100′ foot roll in the Platinum color. The manufacture claims an impressive reduction in cooling costs of up to 50%. They also state it rejects up to 99% of UV, and 67% of glare. I also found that the vast majority of customer reviews were very pleased with it, some stating that it has held up well even after 10+ years of use.
How To Build a Large Solar Generator – Part 2 – Component Testing
This is part two in our series of posts on how to build your own large (2,000 Watt, 4,000W Peak) solar generator.
Testing the Components of Your Solar Generator
Before we start mounting all the various electronic components into the Pelican case for our solar Generator, it is a good idea to make sure everything is working correctly. We definitely would not want to discover we have a defective invertor only after mounting it and wiring everything else up around it.
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Zero Dollar Fix for a Loose V-Belt
My new Yazoo Mower
I recently picked up a Yazoo mower that is a pretty neat piece of equipment. It’s a 3-wheeled design, with the 3’rd wheel in the back providing rear steer. The Yazoo model I picked up at auction has the 23HP Kohler engine and a massive 76″ front mower deck.
I don’t know the full history of my new (to me) mower, but the folks at the site where I picked it up said they really liked it, but were selling it because parts were becoming hard to find. They also mentioned that the large belt for the mower deck was quite expensive.