Paul64 Posted January 7, 2009 Author Share Posted January 7, 2009 Here's a view of Paul's village in the winter and a panoramic view in the late spring (large files!) I don't think that winter photo does Ojdula justice as the photo is taken from one of the low lying hills across the village and then out to the plain. Ojdula is surrounded by hills on three sides with the plain opening out on one side. Anyway, I decided to venture out this morning to take a couple of pics myself. I then ventured further into the mountains as the weather is so nice today! This last photo was taken on the river behind my house. Some of you may find this of interest too! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dantd5 Posted January 7, 2009 Share Posted January 7, 2009 75% antifreeze is too much. After 60% the freezing point of the coolant rises until at 100% it is only -12°CRead this very interesting article from Alaska, where it also gets a bit cold http://www.gi.alaska.edu/ScienceForum/ASF6/680.html Jim that was a nice article- I am putting on my jacket and shooting out (from office) to drain som antifreeze....... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jacks906 Posted January 7, 2009 Share Posted January 7, 2009 is that the same river we went threw in the village?? has risen if it is also frozen abit dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul64 Posted January 7, 2009 Author Share Posted January 7, 2009 is that the same river we went threw in the village?? has risen if it is also frozen abit dave Yes, its the ford as you leave the village for the ridge in the hills. You were here in the height of summer so the water level was much lower. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul64 Posted January 11, 2009 Author Share Posted January 11, 2009 Its been a bad week with my clutch going completely 4 days ago. I was in the middle of a 3 point turn in the village and was in reverse. When I came to go forward I couldn't get out of gear and was stranded in the middle of the road! A couple of villagers came to my rescue and rocked the Defender gently until I managed to get it out of gear and into neutral. I then had to start the engine in 1st gear the maintain revs and momentum to get through the gears to a town where I know an English speaking mechanic. Luckily I had a new clutch and fork on the shelf, and although he had never changed a LR clutch before he went to work with two of his staff. I should have taken some photos of this event because they were working in a poorly heated garage with next to no heating and temperature inside and outside was well below the freezing point. Lifting equipment was non existent for the gearbox and four guys had to lower it onto wooden beams across an open pit. Once changed they noticed that my old clutch plate was completely destroyed along with the bearing dislodged and one spring broken. They said the new clutch is not opening properly so will strip down the master cylinder on Monday as they believe this to be the ultimate culprit. The only good news to being stranded in the village is that I have been following up some of the stories previously documented on here and on my blog. One subject (O/T - excuse me) that seemed to generate a lot of interest and attention was the wood burner in my house so I thought you may be interested in what I found this morning! Istvan is one of several honey providers in the village. He has 130 hives and produces 1500 kgs of pure honey per season. His hives are placed on a clearing in the forest high in the Vrancea mountains. He actually lives there with his bees in a small caravan for 3 months in the summer and has his 3 Alsatian dogs with him to protect the hives from honey seeking bears. In the winter Istvan brings his hives down from the mountain on a tractor drawn trailer. He performs necessary repairs and spends the winter preparing for the next season. I love Istvan's completely natural honey, and on a visit to his house to buy some we got talking about keeping warm in the long winter. Istvan's house was particularly warm and I asked what heating system he has. His eyes lit up and he asked me to follow him to the boiler room! Istvan is a physics teacher by profession and he has designed this amazing heating system that runs on sawdust. It heats a large family home and heats the water as well. To the left of the photo above you can see the hopper which is filled with sawdust in the morning. One hopper full is required per day to heat the house during the subzero temperatures of winter. Istvan acquires his sawdust from a local sawmill, which just goes to show that nothing at all in the village is wasted. The fan at the bottom of the burner is driven by a 12V car battery and is thermostatically controlled. Sawdust is simply fed into the top of the hopper by the sackful. At the bottom of the hopper is a chain pulley system which drives a finned shaft which slowly rotates feeding sawdust into the burner. The speed of the feed is determined by the temperature in the house and is thermostatically controlled. Istvan in his sawdust store. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
V8 Freak Posted January 13, 2009 Share Posted January 13, 2009 Topic split. Clutch adjustment discussion now in the Defender forum: http://forums.lr4x4.com/index.php?showtopic=36779 Neil Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Turbocharger Posted January 13, 2009 Share Posted January 13, 2009 Sticking with this thread, it tickles me that one of the more interesting and popular topics (other than my own VGT thread, of course) on this 4x4 forum recently (where we regularly burn ramblers, rip up the countryside without a thought for anyone else in it, and worship the god of crude oil of course) is an eco-friendly sawdust boiler to provide carbon-neutral heat... Thanks for posting up! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul64 Posted January 13, 2009 Author Share Posted January 13, 2009 Sticking with this thread, it tickles me that one of the more interesting and popular topics (other than my own VGT thread, of course) on this 4x4 forum recently (where we regularly burn ramblers, rip up the countryside without a thought for anyone else in it, and worship the god of crude oil of course) is an eco-friendly sawdust boiler to provide carbon-neutral heat... Thanks for posting up! You wait until I go back to this same guys house later this week! He had a cable coming from the bonnet on his Diesel VW Passat, into his house, and plugged into the wall. I asked what it was and his eyes lit up once again. Back on with the jacket and boots to investigate. It was a homemade coolant heater made up from bits and bobs. Photo to follow! On another note the 1kg of honey I bought was absolutely delicious! Next time I drive over to the UK I will take a few jars over with me if anyone is interested. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul64 Posted January 15, 2009 Author Share Posted January 15, 2009 Late last evening the wood was delivered after we loaded the horse and cart at Istvan's house. These two horses were so well behaved and the young lad that handled them managed to work them with such fine control. In the video clip below, he had slightly over run the gates to the house, so he put the horses into reverse before swinging them round into the drive. After the cart was loaded we followed in the Land Rover just in case any pieces of wood fell out. On arrival I opened the gates to my garden so the horses could enter. Once inside the garden I unloaded the cart with the help of my friends and piled it close to the guest house, ready for my neighbour to cut with his portable circular saw this morning. My neighbour made quick work of cutting the wood with this fine contraption! Once finished my neigbour disconnected the prop shaft to the saw, raised the rig and then drove off to the next customer. All of my wood was cut in less than twenty minutes. I collected as much of the sawdust as possible as when mixed with a little diesel makes a good fire lighter. Foxy had other ideas though as he wanted to dig where I was collecting. He could see that I was digging faster than he, so decided to slow me down by rolling in the stuff! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimAttrill Posted January 17, 2009 Share Posted January 17, 2009 Keep it up, Paul, I must say that this is a fascinating thread! (Not that I need any heating at the moment ) And to DanTD5, it surprises me that this fact about antifreeze is not common knowledge in Norway. Possibly this is because the antifreeze never carries a warning about over-use. Not here, or in Alaska. Anyway, it makes a good trivial pursuits question along with 'how can ants live in the microwave' Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul64 Posted January 17, 2009 Author Share Posted January 17, 2009 Keep it up, Paul, I must say that this is a fascinating thread! (Not that I need any heating at the moment )And to DanTD5, it surprises me that this fact about antifreeze is not common knowledge in Norway. Possibly this is because the antifreeze never carries a warning about over-use. Not here, or in Alaska. Anyway, it makes a good trivial pursuits question along with 'how can ants live in the microwave' Thanks for that Jim. I should get to some nice photos today as there was a big snowfall overnight and I am shortly going up into the mountains! Cheers, Paul Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul64 Posted February 28, 2009 Author Share Posted February 28, 2009 It's still cold! These Ox were dragging a log from the forest back to the village. The ice on the road made it a bit easier, but the track they extracted it from was incredibly steep! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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