ArizonaRanch

  Plumbing Maintenance by rdpecken on Oct.26, 2018, under Plumbing Selfie at the Ranch Tara & I made a trip up last fall (Oct 2017). While we were there, we noticed that when the outside faucets were turned on, they leaked from various places . On the West end of the house, water would gush out of the anti-siphon valve on the top of the faucet. On the East end of the house, water would trickle out of the valve stem, near the handle.   Leak spots We returned to Mesa, and attempted to find replacement parts. There were none to be found locally. I was looking for replacement anti-siphon valves and replacement o-rings for the valve stem (or packing bushing). I was not able to find anything that would fit. I went on Ebay and found the correct anti-siphon valves. They were installed and worked well. But I was still unable to find the correct size rubber o-rings for the faucets. I even went so far as to buy another faucet (but not freeze proof) to see if the o...

  May 2018 Visit by rdpecken on Oct.26, 2018, under Area With about a 2-hour drive from our Ranch, there is a beautiful place to visit. The Havasupai Indian Reservation is north of Peach Springs. With a bit of hiking, you are immersed into a Sangri-La atmosphere of blue waters and 200 foot waterfalls.  It is well worth the trip, if you are up to it. The only way in and out is to hike 11 miles each way, or take a helicopter. In early May, Tara, Jessica and I went up to hike to Havasu Falls. We spent 3 days hiking in, around and out of the area at the bottom of the Grand Canyon. It is an amazing trip, and was well worth the effort to get there.    Ready to go down On the way down, we followed along the bottom of Havasu Canyon. It is a beautiful walk.   Tara & Jessica     Shady Spot     Cottonwood Tree   At about 6 miles in, we came across Havasu Creek. Beautiful blue water.   Havasu Creek We stayed in the lod...

  Tractor Maintenance by rdpecken on May.09, 2018, under Ranch Maintenance Last fall, I went to Tractor Supply and got some oil to change into the Ford tractor. After making the trip up to the Ranch, I found that the tools I brought with me were not able to get a good enough bite on the oil drain plug to remove it. I tried borrowing a different socket from our neighbor up the hill, but that one didn’t work, either. So I ended up making a second trip a couple of weeks later, this time bringing my impact wrench and a good 6-sided socket. That did the trick, and I was able to complete the work. Here is the oil filter on the side of the tractor…    Oil Filter on the Ford 2000 I bought a replacement cartridge. So, I had to remove the outside case, replace the rubber gasket, and replace the cartridge inside. It was a little tricky getting it back mounted without the gasket slipping out of place, but I eventually got it. For the next time I change the o...

  April 2018 Visit by rdpecken on Apr.26, 2018, under Communications I came up in April to get the Littlehouse ready for the warmer weather. When I checked my tractor, I found that the darned packrats had eaten the battery cable again!    Packrat Damage! I got some better rat poison on my next trip, and didn’t have further problems through the summer. Then I got a more permanent solution, which I will reveal in a couple of posts down the road… I also installed my weather station that I received as a Christmas gift in December. I placed the main sensors (Rainfall, Wind Speed, Wind Direction) out on the post that hold up my vertical antenna when it is not in use.  It has worked well this year, we are right at 12.73 inches total precipitation for the year. (I preloaded it with the current rainfall total up to April, since I was installing it late. I just averaged the totals from other stations nearby.) It’s nice to be able to log in real-time ...

  Screen Door Repair and Other Maintenance by rdpecken on Jan.18, 2017, under Insulation, Plumbing, Ranch Maintenance Sometime last year, the mice or birds chewed a hole through the screen on our screen door. We brought up some new screen and spline from Home Depot to make a repairs. We started by removing the screen door from the frame. This involved adjusting the rollers on the bottom of the door for as little pressure as possible, the prying the door up and over the bumps which the rollers run on. We set the screen onto our floor to work on it. We started by locating the end of the spline, and pulling it out of the channel to release the screen material.   Removing the Spline Then, we laid the new screen over the door, as square as we could get it, and started pressing the new spline into the channel to secure the screen material to the door, using a roller spline tool.    Installing the new screen material After trimming the screen around ...

  Gas Lines for the LittleHouse by rdpecken on Jan.18, 2017, under Gas Appliances We came up in late October to run some propane lines into the LittleHouse.  These are to feed a wall-mounted, direct-vent propane heater,  gas water heater, oven/stove, and possibly refrigerator. The house heater will be mounted on the North wall, near the northwest corner of the house. We hope to have solar radiant heating run under the floor throughout the house, but the propane will be our backup heating system. The other appliances are all located in the kitchen area, along the north wall of the kitchen. We started out by installing a manifold in the Northeast corner or the house.  There are two 6″ black pipe nipples installed on the back, along with two plugs on the unused ports on the back, and one plug on the unused port on the side. We also installed a gas valve at the inlet to the manifold. This is where the propane tank will tie in.  From there, ...

  Bold Elk Pays a Visit by rdpecken on Sep.21, 2016, under Seasons This Elk seemed a little curious about the whole “cabin in the middle of the wilderness” thing…