Appropedia https://www.appropedia.org/Welcome_to_Appropedia

Prevention and Control of Distortion in Arc Welding (1945) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yhyekAvFc68

In this episode:

• A practical guide to turning a yard-sale bike into a power takeoff, built around an upcoming wheat thresher
• How much power you can expect and
• Where to begin the design process
• Gearing, freewheels, flip-flop hubs, steel frames, and how to tension a chain that is never perfectly round
• Belt drive with inner tubes versus chain, including the old chicken rotisserie as a gear-reduction example
• Standing the bike up, bike trainers, a sideways shaft, adult trikes, and the simple option of chaining straight off the front ring
• Multi-person setups, Appropedia, and why twenty people still only add up to a few kilowatts
• Why direct mechanical drive beats pedaling into a battery, and the kosher thresher they built years ago
• A listener question on eco-friendly building materials, plus a shop note on weld order and distortion

_______________________________

Welcome to the Greenhill Forge Podcast, with Eric from the Greenhill Forge YouTube channel, and my buddy Amal, a fellow builder of many trades.

In this podcast we’ll talk about where the real world meets experiments in alternative energy, wood heating, metal fabrication, off-grid engineering and self sufficiency, so expect discussions about workshops, tools, fabrication, building, homesteading, and what it actually takes to make those dreams real.

We’ll answer a question each week, so send yours to us at https://forms.gle/zNzKTtjDnBEupLBQA

WATCH the podcast on Youtube at https://www.youtube.com/@GreenhillPod

LISTEN on all your favorite podcast platforms.

See you next week!

_______________________________

CHAPTERS

0:00 Bicycle-powered equipment and the wheat thresher build

0:51 How many watts a person can actually put out

2:07 Start at the implement and work backward

3:24 Power takeoff: rear wheel or straight off the crank

4:29 Keeping the bike’s gears, freewheel vs cassette

9:46 Flip-flop hubs and a final-drive ring on the other side

11:43 Steel frame over aluminum

13:01 Derailleurs, horizontal dropouts, and chain tension

15:28 Belt drive: rim as a pulley, inner tubes as belts

18:38 Gear ratios and the chicken rotisserie

25:00 Chain tensioners and which side of the chain is loaded

27:32 Geared one-way drive vs fixed forward-and-back

31:46 Sideways shaft takeoff

34:14 Adult trikes as a ready-made shaft

37:09 Standing the bike up and locking the steering

40:24 Bike trainers as a stand and power takeoff

44:18 Simplest path: chain straight off the front chainring

46:13 Safety with chains and chainrings

47:07 Multi-person power and shared shafts

52:39 Appropedia and scaling human power

57:25 Mechanical drive vs electricity, and why solar changes the math

58:58 The kosher wheat thresher

1:02:43 Recap of the practical options

1:04:19 Flywheels, a pedal bench grinder, and line-shaft shops

1:07:10 Listener question: eco-friendly vs conventional building materials

1:17:37 Tips and tricks: weld order and distortion

In this episode:

• Why old buildings are still standing and modern ones often aren’t
• How American stick framing works, and how it has changed
• Tight houses, moisture, mold, and the “Ziploc bag” problem
• HRVs, wood stoves, negative pressure, and indoor air quality
• Rain screens vs older tar-paper-and-siding assemblies
• Repairability vs 25-year wall warranties
• Speed, year-round building, and the trades skills gap
• Why buildings fail as systems, not as single products
• Modern European masonry and brick-as-rainscreen construction
• Dry-in time, cost, and US vs UK labor
• Brick veneer problems, window upgrades, and out-of-plumb stone walls
• Maintenance: masonry vs wood siding
• Long-lasting roofs: slate, clay tile, and standing seam
• Traditional stone, field stone, and lost mason knowledge
• Laying stone on its natural bed, and orienting wood the way it grew
• Natural building / “hippie building”: cob, rammed earth, straw bale, earthships, earthbags, and papercrete
• Thermal mass, overhangs, drainage, and climate-specific design
• Permitting, insurance, and hybrid builds
• Question of the week: the tool you most regret buying
• Tip of the week: spend money on tools that need to be precise

_______________________________

Welcome to the Greenhill Forge Podcast, with Eric from the Greenhill Forge YouTube channel, and my buddy Amal, a fellow builder of many trades.

In this podcast we’ll talk about where the real world meets experiments in alternative energy, wood heating, metal fabrication, off-grid engineering and self sufficiency, so expect discussions about workshops, tools, fabrication, building, homesteading, and what it actually takes to make those dreams real.

We’ll answer a question each week, so send yours to us at https://forms.gle/zNzKTtjDnBEupLBQA

WATCH the podcast on Youtube at https://www.youtube.com/@GreenhillPod

LISTEN on all your favorite podcast platforms.

See you next week!

_______________________________

CHAPTERS

00:00:00 Intro: Building for longevity

00:02:22 Modern American stick framing

00:05:16 Tight houses, moisture, and the “Ziploc bag” problem

00:11:04 Wood stoves, negative pressure, and indoor air

00:14:38 Rain screens: how wall assemblies actually last

00:19:16 25-year warranties vs easy repairs

00:22:19 Speed, seasons, and the skills gap

00:24:06 Buildings are systems, not products

00:25:33 Modern European masonry

00:27:01 Dry-in time, cost, and labor

00:31:26 Brick veneer, repairs, and out-of-plumb walls

00:37:01 Low maintenance vs hard to get right

00:42:11 Roofs that last: slate, clay, and standing seam

00:49:19 Traditional stone, field stone, and lost knowledge

00:52:32 Natural bed, grain, and why orientation matters

00:55:34 Hippie building

00:56:56 Cob: Devon tradition vs modern cob

01:00:42 Climate, skill, and how natural building fails

01:05:03 Good feet, good hats, and keeping water off

01:06:16 Thermal mass: desert gift, cold-climate problem

01:08:49 Rammed earth

01:14:22 Straw bale, earthships, earthbags, and papercrete

01:18:16 You will never build a perfectly watertight house

01:19:42 Permits, insurance, and hybrid builds

01:23:10 Question of the week: the tool you most regret buying

01:28:47 Tip of the week

We’ll go through the real jobs — clearing, grading, digging, gardens, compost, firewood, moving material — plus what to rent vs buy, implement cost and swap time, PTO vs hydraulics, fuel, maintenance, where these things get tippy or annoying, and what we’d buy first if we could only afford one.

In this episode:

• Which machines are usually rented vs purchased
• Compact tractor (about 25-40 hp) as the most practical first machine
• Mini excavator as the strongest second machine for digging and tight garden work
• Why mini skid steers / dingos rarely earn their keep on a homestead
• Skid steer strengths (lift, attachments, speed) and weaknesses (price, fuel, visibility)
• Walk-behind tractors for small-scale market gardening
• Implement storage, used market and DIY builds
• Dealer vs cheap import, plus the US sub-25 hp emissions cutoff
• Listener question: starting welding
• Tips of the week

CHAPTERS

00:00 - Intro: best small machinery for homesteads, hobby farms and smallholdings

00:51 - Start with the job: raw land vs established property

01:26 - Heavy clearing and big root balls. Rent, don’t buy

04:46 - After infrastructure: when owning a machine starts to make sense

09:51 - Compact tractors, skid steers, walk-behind tractors and mini excavators

11:00 - Mini skid steers / dingos: great on job sites, poor homestead fit

13:55 - Tipping and stability (mini skids, then tractors)

14:13 - Compact tractors: Swiss Army knife, balance problems, counterweights

19:01 - Walk-behind tractors: cheap entry, high labour, fast implement changes

21:34 - Mini excavators: digging, gardens, drainage, compost, reach vs travel speed

33:01 - Skid steers: power, attachments, fuel, visibility, implement swap speed

35:07 - Tractor vs skid steer: pulling, road legality, cost, fuel, maintenance

43:53 - How implements are powered: PTO vs hydraulics

45:39 - Maintenance, parts and how hard each machine is to work on

48:45 - Buying strategy if you can only afford one machine first

52:51 - Size, emissions (sub-25 hp) and dealer vs import brands

55:45 - Audience question: how to start welding

01:00:51 - Weekly tips: stop procrastinating simple jobs + make test pieces

01:04:37 - Wrap-up

_______________________________

Welcome to the Greenhill Forge Podcast, with Eric from the Greenhill Forge YouTube channel, and my buddy Amal, a fellow builder of many trades.

In this podcast we’ll talk about where the real world meets experiments in alternative energy, wood heating, metal fabrication, off-grid engineering and self sufficiency, so expect discussions about workshops, tools, fabrication, building, homesteading, and what it actually takes to make those dreams real.

We’ll answer a question each week, so send yours to us at https://forms.gle/zNzKTtjDnBEupLBQA

WATCH the podcast on Youtube at https://www.youtube.com/@GreenhillPod

LISTEN on all your favorite podcast platforms.

See you next week!

_______________________________

Welcome to the Greenhill Forge Podcast, with Eric from the Greenhill Forge YouTube channel, and my buddy Amal, a fellow builder of many trades.

In this podcast we’ll talk about where the real world meets experiments in alternative energy, wood heating, metal fabrication, off-grid engineering and self sufficiency, so expect discussions about workshops, tools, fabrication, building, homesteading, and what it actually takes to make those dreams real.

We’ll answer a question each week, so send yours to us at https://forms.gle/zNzKTtjDnBEupLBQA

WATCH the podcast on Youtube at https://www.youtube.com/@GreenhillPod

LISTEN on all your favorite podcast platforms.

See you next week!

In this podcast we’ll talk about where the real world meets experiments in alternative energy, wood heating, metal fabrication, off-grid engineering and self sufficiency, so expect discussions about workshops, tools, fabrication, building, homesteading, and what it actually takes to make those dreams real.

This week we’re covering our favorite metal shop tools and answering a listener question about insulating old stone buildings.

We’ll answer a question each week, so send yours to us at https://forms.gle/zNzKTtjDnBEupLBQA

WATCH the podcast on Youtube at https://www.youtube.com/@GreenhillPod

LISTEN on all your favorite podcast platforms.

See you next Friday!