recycled boat and trailer

Recycled boat from rubbish it is made from steel sheet its 13feet 6 inches long and4feet wide. The mud guards on the trailer are cut from plastic drums.The top half of the boat is a utility cover . The shed its in was recycled and when finished the insulation on the front of the boat will be used in the walls and roof this is also recycled. The timber to the left of the boat is to be used as walls it will be stacked and glued together like bricks. cheers Stewart

green sustainable mud brick failure

This mud brick wall was plastered with concrete mix and this is the result after time.The dirt from around the house could have been used with better results.

Sustainable minds?sustain NSW

This photo shows a bus stopped at a red light and is contravening a no stopping sign,where are the revenue getter's here they can't loose..Taken at Albion Park in NSW










Talk about highway robbery the state government in NSW Australia takes the cake sorry money for confusion.In the picture with the 50 speed marker you will notice fifty metres further on there is 100 marker the photo was shot while standing in a 100 speed area.Amazing going from 100 to 50 then back to 100 in 50 metres."Cool A".All the traffic does 100. When will some imaginative copper set a speed camera here? Photo taken at Yallah in NSW






















And finally the 60 and 80 signs,do you add them up giving 140 or do you subtract them giving 20 this would be the speed for the next 30 miles.But then they do have a 20 speed sign?Look again the 60 is in front of the 80 so does that mean you can do 60 till the next sign80 the photo was taken in a 110 speed area. This was taken at Gundagai NSW. Please feel to add some more to the comments it could be interesting








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going green wasing machine

I GOT A REFUND FROM THE WASHING MACHINE MANUFACTURER THANKS GUYS .

I will use the money to buy a water tank and will use the waste water in the garden and this will save the water better than an water saving washing machine!
water saving

As seen in the photo there is not enough water to wash clothes in...
I bought a water saving washing machine. I would have been better buying a water tank and pump and saved the water that way, As the new washing machine doesn't wash clothes. A normal washing machine and a water tank would save more water over time and the clothes would have been cleaner. The waste water can then be used to water the garden.

This is an extract from an email I got from choice online web feed back

Our testers also ran the Aquasmart on a 'traditional' wash * which uses twice the amount of water of the high-efficiency wash * and no residue was left behind. However, this defeats the purpose of buying a water-saving model in the first place.

We received some feedback about the Fisher & Paykel Aquasmart models leaving detergent residue on clothes. Our rinse test only measures the soluble component of detergent left in the clothes, so we did not see this. Overall they are very good performers and so remain in our What to buy list, however if this problem occurs, our research detailed in Downsides of water efficiency offers some advice.

From our report:
Downsides of water efficiency
Detergent residue
Following reports by concerned readers that their water-efficient washing machines (including the CHOICE recommended model, the Fisher & Paykel Aquasmart) left detergent residue on their clothes, we decided to recreate the problem in our labs and try to work out how to deal with it.

The problem comes about because some of the insoluble ingredients in detergents and some dirt don't get washed out when used with a low-water program. Normal CHOICE tests didn't pick this up because the standard rinse performance test measures the soluble component of detergent that's left in the water after rinsing, not the insolubles. Also, our wash load is made up of white items (to best check the wash performance), which don't show up detergent residue well.

Our testers used various detergents for the test, washing black items in two water-efficient machines (the Fisher & Paykel Aquasmart WLT70T60C and the Miele W1712), to see which produced the least residue:

A powder detergent that was a poor performer in our last test.
A high-performing powder, both new and in a humidified state (simulating a packet having been open for a while).
High-performing clear top- and front-loading liquid detergents.
Only the high-performing liquid detergent didn't leave any residue on our test load. Alternatively, using half the recommended dose of the high-performance laundry powder, dissolved in warm water, also reduced the problem. CHOICE tests have shown that liquid detergent doesn't wash quite as well as powders, and it's possible a reduced dose of powder will lower the dirt removal performance. But if your wash load (like most people's) isn't very dirty to start with, these two options are probably your best bets for getting rid of detergent residue with the least compromise on wash performance.

Our testers also ran the Aquasmart on a 'traditional' wash * which uses twice the amount of water of the high-efficiency wash * and no residue was left behind. However, this defeats the purpose of buying a water-saving model in the first place.

Fisher & Paykel agreed that using a good-quality liquid detergent will reduce residue. It told us the problem tends to happen with very water-efficient machines, if you're using poor-quality or old detergent, and living in an area with very hard water can exacebate the problem. It also suggested not buying detergent in bulk, because once opened it absorbs moisture, which lowers performance and can cause residue problems. As a last resort, Fisher & Paykel suggests switching to warm water washing, or a 'traditional' wash.

Other things that help:

Store detergent in an airtight container to prevent it becoming clumpy, which can make the problem worse.
Try putting the residue-affected clothes in a dryer on the 'air-dry' setting (that is, without heat, just using the fan) for five minutes. Some people have found it helps 'knock off' the residue.

cheers Stewart

model boat

Built this years ago, world war one gun boat.

home made lawn mower

This is my son Tim at 14 years of age with his home made lawnmower.It has Datsun wheels and diff and a Holden gearbox, and is driven by a Honda 10hp engine driving a loose belt clutch.The steering wheel is from a Toyota Dyna truck.It cuts grass 3 ft. high at about 2 miles an hour. It has three cutting decks underneath and cuts three feet wide..Cheers Stewart

opal mining

This is my mate Ray and the contraption is used to lift spoils from an opal mine.I will ask Ray if he wants to do an article on the subject? It is amasing what they do but they are a close nit bunch and dont like to be in the public eye.

electric vehicle

This was my sons first attempt at a electric vehicle, he was 11 years old at the time. He went on to become a electrical engineer, He also built a hydraulic front end loader by the time he was 14 years old and got first in the solar boat race in Canberra with David Hughes when he was 16. Too bad about high school...cheers Stewart

Junee fires

This is Brain Beasley's burnt out workshop. it was an old 1800's house with hand hewen logs and had some of the most beautiful hand crafted bodgered wood pieces I have ever seen.. All gone. There was 30 or so properties distroyed by this fire leaving people without homes and farms.
Brian examining the destruction. Brian is an amazing man and gives so much to his community, I say good luck Brian.

This is Brians workshop before the  fires. Every thing was lost.cheers Stewart
Just a little lighter note this is Wollongong's Belmore basin light house,(lit at night for a once only occasion I think)..
Hows this for regeneration?

Art thats not art

This fire was lit by an unnamed person (I know his name and it wasn't me) on good Friday so I call him and this photo "Moses and the burning bush"
This is the thinker out of cardboard on a chair It stands on one leg and hangs out to the side.I thought it looked OK but the critics didn't so I burnt it..
This is wood heap art it left great shadows on the lawn,sort of like a fairy would build. cheers Stewart

Jetty at rileys flat Gundagai

Polly the dog on jetty at Gundagai
This is Rosie on another jetty I built with the owners son Andrew Flower in Wylangta in Tasmania this one was made out of rounds and wired together.


This is the jetty I built on the river bank atGundagai. It was made from timber from the rubbish tip,I bought and some screw rod to put it all together at a cost of $8Au.The river was down and it will have water under it for a couple of months of the year when they are irrigating out on the riverina. cheers Stewart

locomotive 7 1/4"

This little train has 5hp and is able to go flat out forward and go flat out in reverse skidding the wheels while going forward.The radiator is from a bigger train I made it was 2ft gauge this one is 7.25 inch gauge.The black and white is the first train completed that's Tim sitting in the train..This train is for sale. cheers Stewart

mini tug part four and final episode

Launch day arrived and the tug performed to all expectations on sharp turns it would submerge the transom corners and spin like a top.It took spray over the bow and wet the windows and it remained dry in the wheelhouse:)....I think that the journey was worth the effort and would recommend anyone to have a go,the tools used were Titon table saw,Dewalt drills and saws but any brand will do.Total price including boat would come in under $300 Australian....cheers Stewart

recycled scrap timber offcut wall

This is the back wall in the house at Gundagai that was demolished by time and vandals and was rebuilt with 3x2 soft wood offcuts from Tumut recyclers,I used a nail gun to put the wall up. Total cost of $6 Au for the timber insulation and sisal.

recycling

This shed is built from recycled everything, Note the no bolt scaffolding.There is a roof ladder on the roof that clips over the roof capping.

Saw horse (stallion) from the wood pile the legs are let in using a draw knife to shape the top ends of the legs

Removing willow from the river bank to be used in bodgering,willow is a noxious weed. The trailer was made from scrap.That's a friend Brian Beasley loading wood,Brian is a artisan wood bodger and pole lathe operator and ukulele player

This light stand and gate were built from scrap and bits from the rubbish tip

sprint car model

Hi all this was my first foray into sprint car racing.
I gave up the idea when we moved to Gundagai ..For those of you who don't know where Gundagai is its half way between Sydney and Melbourne and 100 kilometers from Waggawagga.The animal is an echidna which visits the garden looking for ants and borers etc.
This is the radio control version capable of 80 k/hr its a bit dangerous as these things weigh about the same as a small lawnmower and are run inside an oval track with timber fencing around the outside. I put it through one of these fences,(they are made from 6x1 wood) and it did three end for end rolls before coming to a stop.

boat garden

When the top wouldn't fit the hull for the mini tug that's when the mini tug boat became a vision.The garden is about a month old as it is seen here on the bottom right. The moulding has holes drilled about half way up and doesn't need a lot of watering as water fills the bottom half. My wife loves it and I got lots of brownie points. I thought since this post was written I might do an update with some photos.Top left is a new garden made from an old spa bath and top right is my shade house I made at Gundagai. Top centre is how the garden has grown since the first post. cheers Stewart

cycle cars

These are some of the cars we made for Shell Mileage Marathon

Car 19 was made by the driver and achieved 94 miles per gallon.This car had mini front wheels Datsun gearbox and a Dihatsu differential with a robin 5hp Robin motor out of an old cement mixer with loose belt drive to the gearbox.The mud guards were from my box trailer come to think of it the front wheels came from the same trailer mmmm.

Car11 got 150 miles per gallon and was articulated and was originally powered by a 10hp Honda driving a large fan until I crashed it and rolled it on its roof,This car crashed several times during development.

Car 20 got first in the experimental section of the energy challenge 33rd overall and was(I believe) to be the first and only Shell Mileage Marathon car to be registered to drive on Australian roads.The bloke with the hat is Ernie Dingo the TV presenter. The funny thing is when he presented himself I didn't have a clue who he was :). Hi Ernie I know you now!!!!!

The PIRTEK car won the transmission drive award for unique drive system.Was powered by a Kawasaki engine.
All cars won the gas guzzlers award in the Shell Mileage Marathon

mini tug part three

All the screws were taken out and replaced with Australian red cedar dowels ,the windows glued in with silicon, the use of pva glue for the dowels as immersion into water is unlikely.This took about three days to complete...cheers Stewart