Well I finally quit talking about it and started the little aeration project up on the mountain. We worked on it so hard we barely ate some days and definitely didn't take as many pics as I should have. The project took us a solid 4 weeks of working pretty much every single day.
We had to have a place to put all the solar components so we built our first ICF building. A couple buddies helped me stack all the styrofoam and put the rebar in place. 8" thick concrete core. 18 yards of concrete total in the walls alone. 2 by 12s with spray foam for the roof. Inside dimensions of approximately 10 by 16. I say approximately because we had to move the walls around on the footer to get the embedded vertical rebar centered in the styrofoam walls. We made the footer 24" wide just so we would have some cushion for something like this and because I like overkill.
A couple buddies helped me out with the project. The guy in the sunglasses helped us for 3-4 days.
None of my projects would have ever been possible without this guy!
More stacking...
Rain couldn't stop us from stacking!
Finally we got it ready for concrete. Well, plus a ton of "mountain bracing" that I wish I had gotten a pic of. We basically cut a bunch of aspen poles to brace it with.
So we called in the pump truck. Of course it rained the day before and he got stuck.... The driver was ready to say forget it, no way he could make it up there. The little Cat skid steer was just enough to help drag him up the rest of the way. Wish I had a pic of that too! The driver was GREAT and didn't mind giving some guidance along the way to a first time ICF'er.
On to the solar pole mount. It is a MT Solar 9 panel pole mount. IMO, the heaviest duty one you can get. MT Solar recommended an 8" pipe in a 4'x4'x5' hole with ~3 yards of concrete to withstand 90mph winds. I did a 10" pipe in a 5'x5'x6' hole with ~6 yards of concrete. Then we filled the 10" pipe with concrete as well. Did I mention I like over kill?
saddled the pipe and welded some 4" drill steel to the bottom to keep the snow from eventually shoving the pipe through the concrete (sounds crazy but it happens all the time up there).
Holding a 17' long 10" pipe plumb while you pour concrete is no easy task!
Some pics of the MT Solar mount and my son helping me tighten bolts. This thing is no joke! I am very impressed! Extremely heavy duty and my Grandmother could adjust the tilt. You leave the center panel out, use the chain hoist to raise the array and lock it down. Then just install the last panel in the hole. Worked just like they showed it on youtube!
EDIT: Spelling
