Ranch Cabin Build

[Uncle_Milty]

This place is amazing. It has been a blast watching the process!

[thegrouse]

Sounds like the boys will go back to SD with some border stories. Keep up the good work

[wlee15]

Sounds like the boys will go back to SD with some border stories. Keep up the good work

Oh yeah they will! I still am amazed they had the gall to open a blind.... I have often just left my rifle in the blind between the morning and evening hunts. I can tell you that will never happen again. I also keep a Heater and a pair of Binoculars in there full time. I may just build a lock box for them; if I leave some canned food and waters in the open they may just only take them.

[hunterburch42]

We had to do that on the our lease in Leakey just leave a couple cans and a case of water out or they would destroy the whole place.


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[braggjr]

Very Nice!

[wlee15]

Looks really great. Please post up details, and several pictures, once you start on the solar install.

Here are the details:

Solar Panels: (3) 180Watt 12v Solar Panels Model KC180 made by Kyrocera $600.00 (I had these already but $600 IS TODAYS cost)
Solar Charge Controller: Sun Yoba 60AMP 12/24v $46.00
Inverter: Yue Qing 3000W Pure Sine Wave inverter $308.10
Batteries: (6) Duracell 6V Golf cart Battery Model GC2 $699.20 Sams club

I have about $400.00 of other cables and parts needed to complete the project:
Battery cables: 1/0AWG (3) 12", (6) 24" and (2) 36"
Solar Panel Cables: outdoor 10AWG 100' roll
(3) 30AMP inline fuses
(2) 60AMP 12v Breakers
(1) 250AMP 12v Breaker
(2) Red 250A 4 post Power Distribution blocks 3/8" terminals
(2) Black 250A 4 post Power Distribution blocks 3/8" terminals


Setup (See Pic 1)
Solar panels - each Solar Panel has its own 10AWG cable coming from the Panel into the Equipment room. The Negative side of each panel gets combined by one of the 4 post 3/8" Distribution blocks and then a 7AWG cable combines those three to the charge controller solar negative input. The Positive from each panel has inline 30A fuse between the panel and one of the red 4 post 3/8" distribution blocks. A 7AWG cable combines the three to a 60AMP 12v breaker. From that breaker another 7AWG cable goes to the charge controller solar positive input

Batteries: The 6V Golf cart batteries are connected in series and Parallel. (pic 2) 3 sets of (2) 6v batteries connected together in series is then connected in Parallel by 1/0AWG cables. This combines the 6 batteries to create a large 12V 630AH battery. The negative Leg of this battery is connected to a black 4 post 3/8" distribution block, with a 1/0AWG cable. Then a 7AWG cable is connected from the block to the negative of the charge controller battery input. The Positive Leg of this battery is connected to a red 4 post 3/8" distribution block, with a 1/0AWG cable. Then a 7AWG cable is connected from the block to a 60AMP 12 v breaker. From that breaker another 7AWG cables goes to the positive of the charge controller battery input.

Inverter: The inverter is connected to the Batteries with 2AWG cables from the 4 post 3/8" blocks to the Positive and Negative terminals on the Inverter. There is a 250AMP breaker inline on the positive cable.

Power outputs: The inverter will provide the 115v for the refrigerator, and 3 power outlets in the cabin (one in each bedroom and 1 in the living room) The charge controller has a 12v output for up to 12AMP's. All the lighting in the cabin is 12v. I am installing a 12v distribution panel with fuses to each light to provide the power to lights and also the 12v RV water pump.

To calculate the Power and solar requirements I used a excel document attached. On the electrical load sheet you put in the devices you are going the run with the watts and the hours per day. On the Main sheet you put in the size and voltage of solar panels you plan to use and the battery size and voltage you plan to use. The worksheet will calculate the number of panels and number of batteries you need.

My total cost was about $1,500.00 (2,100.00 - 600.00 from the panels I already had)

[bobc]

wlee15, thank you for taking the time and posting such a wealth of information on your solar setup. Much appreciated, Senor.

[stxslayer]

Wow that solar write up is impressive. Thank you so much for taking the time and sharing with us. I always love looking at your progress.

[wlee15]

I went to the ranch this past weekend to celebrate my 49th Birthday. I went up early on Friday. My Son, Chad, and Chads Son come up Friday night. Saturday morning my daughters boyfriend and his buddy came in and Saturday afternoon Kyle came down. My neighbor at the ranch and his wife also came by and decided to stay the evening with us. Needless to say Saturday night was a Party!!

So as said before I never go out without working, and this weekend was no exception. I brought along with me 2 nightstands, 1 kitchen cabinet that my dad built when he was still alive, a set of steel lockers like from high school, and a brand new refrigerator. (pic 1)

Saturday morning Chad and the boys began working on the cedar trees behind the cabin. They cut and burned 38+ pretty large cedar trees. (pic 2)

While they were doing that I worked on getting the electrical outlet installed for the refrigerator. When the daughters boyfriend and buddy got there I had them help me haul the nightstands, cabinets and fridge from the truck to the cabin.

I started up the generator to get the refrigerator down to temp, this also gave me the opportunity to verify that the wattage I used for the calculations were correct. I used a device called Kilowatt, it plugs into the wall and when any appliance is plugged in it will tell you the volts, watts, amps and frequency of the appliance. It also keeps a 24hr a total and 1 hour averages. It is pretty cool and I was able to verify that the fridge actually uses less than I thought.

We moved everything in the cabin and swapped the power on the fridge from generator to solar. (Pics 3-4)

I was very pleased with the performance of the solar array. I plan to keep the fridge on 24/7. It is been on solar since about 2PM on Saturday. Andy and his dad went out the hunt on Monday and Tuesday. I was still running fine at that time.

I plan to be back there on tomorrow morning. I will double check the batteries and other components. Right now I only have 2 of the 3 panels connected to the array. This weekend I will connect the 3rd panel and move the lights from the cabin onto the system.

Last pics were from the party and the cleared area around the house.

[bobc]

Awesome is going on here. Every time I open the DIY forum, I do so hoping to see an update to this thread. I love the cabinet your father made as well.

[Russ81]

An idea I saw in case you need future furniture





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[devingreer]

Wow!! Looks like a great place!

[AlaskaFlyerFan]

An idea I saw in case you need future furniture





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Those end tables are AWESOME! The lamps are pretty cool, too!

[joel1618]

On Friday 2-28-2020 I purchased a 600 gallon tank to be used for the septic system. We picked up the tank and loaded the truck late that afternoon but decided not to leave out until morning.

Saturday we left San Antonio at 6:30 and headed out to Rocksprings. We made a stop at the lowes in Kerville for plumbing supplies need to connect the Tank to the bathhouse.

We arrived at the ranch at about 10:00 AM. We first had to build a level base for the tank to sit on. Of course we used metal. 100% of the metal was scrape metal we got for free. We used an 8' round off a metal spool for the base and then leveled it up and added the uprights and supports (pics 1-3). After creating the base we decided to add a cover over the base to ensure there was nothing on the base that could wear a hole in the tank underneath. I believe that I shared the story about the old Valero awning panels that we got for free previously, so we used those panels. The panels are Aluminum on the inside and coated with a plastic coating and a plastic print design on one side. The opposite side has an all white coating on it. We laded down a layer of the panels and cut the to fit the round.

We placed the tank on top and began plumbing the tank to the bathhouse. The tank is 40' away from the bathhouse, and because the bathhouse sit up pretty high on its own the pipe is suspended pretty high. when you look at the pictures it is hard to tell but the pipe is about 5-6' above the ground. We built some temporary supports for the pipe as seen in (pics 4-8). I do need some ideas on how to build permanent supports for the suspended pipe. My first thought is a concreted drill stem supporting the pipe with a rock facade, basically rock pillars.. But I and not convinces that will look the best. IF you have seen any cool ideas please pass them on to me!

We have some really old fashion steel gutters that are like half rounds (pic 9) We have enough to cover the top and bottom of the pipe so it will look like a old steel pipe going from the bathhouse to the tank. I think it would look cool to make the tank itself look like a wooden barre. By putting vertical wood pieces from the base up to the height of the pipe so it will look as if the pipe empty's into the barrel. We have some old strapping from a old wooden water tank that we will use as accents to create the look of a giant barrel.


Next weekend will be the maiden voyage for the wife at the ranch. She has been out before but only for the day. She and one of her girlfriends will be coming out with me on Saturday, and staying the night Saturday night. Hopefully everything will go as planned. I still have to set the toilet in place and plumb it in but that will only take a few minutes. Then I have the install the 20w solar panel on the bathhouse to provide power to the water pump and lighting system in the bathroom.

Hey William,

I've been watching your cabin build thread. Awesome stuff. I recently purchased some property in Rocksprings as well and had a few questions for you about the septic you're doing.

Obviously, below-ground septic seems almost impossible out there because of all the rock. Is below ground just really hard or is it also just not possible as the ground isn't' permeable enough?
I can't find any resources for how to setup an above-ground septic like you're doing.

Do you have some sort of drain lateral off the tank or will it just fill up and then you'll eventually service it?
Did you have to get it apporved by the county or are you doing an off the books sort of thing?

Really been enjoying your build and you've inspired me to one day to the same thing. I'm sort of just stuck on how the septic part of a cabin would work out there.

Thanks!
Joel

[wlee15]

An idea I saw in case you need future furniture





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Man those look amazing! I am going to see if I can get a few things together and make something similar!

thanks you for sharing!!