Replacing the Bottom Bracket on my Budget Bike from Amazon

This is my Vilano hybrid bike. I ordered it off Amazon 7 years ago and outfitted it with some fenders and a cargo rack. The total cost for the bike and accessories was just under $300, so you know this is a cheap bike. For the price, it has been fairly reliable. Aside from quick trips to/from the gym and back, I have taken it on distances as far as 15 – 20 miles. Regarding repairs, I've had to replace a few broken spokes in the past, which wasn't too difficult; I had to learn how to do those repairs myself. The reasons here being:

1) the bike is cheap, repair costs from a shop would exceed the cost of a replacement bike of this style

2) when I brought the wheel to a bike shop for advice, they essentially told me to toss the bike and get a better one.

Now 7 years later the bike has developed a new problem. When I'd pedal, there would be a subtle 'thunk' in the crank area every revolution. Researching the problem online said the bottom bracket bearings were failing.

Hydroponic Gardening Growth and System Updates for 2022 | NFT 72

Since I have reactivated the hydroponic garden for 2022, I've been doing weekly/semi-weekly garden vlogs to keep up with the progress. You can find the catalogue of videos and episode notes from the 2022 growing season below:

Initial Startup

Week 1

Week 2

Week 3

Week 4

Week 5

Weeks 6 -7

Weeks 8 - 10

Weeks 11 - 13

Purchase the plans to build this hydroponic garden

Learn More about this Garden

Screen Filter Test and Propagated Basil | Weeks 11 - 13 | NFT 72

Topics of these weeks of hydroponic gardening:

The Summer heat has killed the lettuce and Chinese cabbage

Basil Propagation has started

Interchanging ingredients for Pesto

Mesh Screen filters installed, working great

Black Widow Spider living on the garden 

Massive Heat Wave! Transitioning to Summer Gardening | Weeks 8 - 10 | NFT 72

Topics of these weeks of hydroponic gardening:

Hot weather!!!

Harvesting lettuce and Chinese cabbage before the heat

Floating Gravel getting stuck in places it shouldn't be

Mesh Screen filter test

Basil getting bigger, almost ready to propagate

Hydroponic Amaranth? 

Delicious Lettuce Harvest; Leaving the System Unattended | Week 6 + 7 | NFT 72

Topics of these weeks of hydroponic gardening:

Leaving the Garden alone for 1 week

Refilling the Reservoir

Lettuce Harvested, delicious salad

More Basil now growing in the system. Cuttings soon?

Hot weather to cooler temperatures next week

Will the Chinese Cabbage bolt? 

Starting up a 2nd set of channels | Week 5 | NFT 72

Topics of this week of hydroponic gardening:

A new set of growth channels has been activated

Lots of rain filling the reservoir

Basil starting to enter the system

Taste testing some lettuce

What to use the lettuce for before it bolts?

More Vegetables into the System; Succession Planting? | Week 4 | NFT 72

Topics of this week of hydroponic gardening:

14 plants now in the garden. Is it time to open up a new set of growth channels?

Cold Weather stopping basil from entering system

Lettuce Ready to Harvest?

Succession Planting and timing

Moving Plants to the Lower Channels; Leaving the Garden Unattended? | Week 3 | NFT 72

Topics of this week of hydroponic gardening:

Plant roots getting longer, moving to the channels with lower water height

Wild weather swings

Can you take a weekend trip with the garden unattended?

Do the upper channels block light to the lower channels? 

Hydroponic System Troubleshooting, Leaves, Lightning, and Lettuce | Week 2 | NFT 72

After 1 week of growth, @vinnygrowsvegetables discusses how plant growth has been, and the various problems he encountered. Problems included debris from the canopy above, a rainy day, and slower than expected plant root growth.

Loading Plants in the Reactivated Hydroponic System | Week 1 | NFT 72

With the vegetable starts now larger, it is time to activate the pump, and transplant the plants into the hydroponic garden.

Hydroponic System Returns for 2022 | NFT 72

It's finally spring again, and I have a new location for starting up the hydroponic garden. Join me in seeing how my seed starting is coming along and where the new garden location is.

DIY 72 Plant NFT Vertical Hydroponics | Technical Package

Are you looking to grow food at home, but lack space or don't have soil?

Have you ever been interested by hydroponic gardening? Does the premise of food security mean anything to you after we have experienced lockdowns and bare shelves?

Well I may have the solution for you! You can build your own hydroponic garden, just like this one! Available today from Greens and Machines is the technical package detailing how to construct this hydroponic garden.

Restarting the 72 Plant NFT Hydroponic Garden | 2020

If you have been following our YouTube channel or blog back at the end of 2018, you may remember me showing off some of this garden. If you haven't, then welcome to Greens and Machines and I'll give you the cliff notes...This is a hydroponic garden which has the capacity to grow 72 vegetable or herb crops in ~8 square feet. That's a lot of produce! It operates by principle of the NFT method, or nutrient film technique, where the plant roots gather water and nutrients through a thin film of nutrient solution. If you want to know more about that nutrient blend, here's the link.

Crown Victoria Blend Door Actuator Replacement

This part is one of the biggest pains in the ass to replace. But the job is worth undertaking for what you regain.

A common problem on Fords is the failure of the Blend Door Actuator. This motor controls the position of the air door in the plenum which affects the temperature of the air blown into the cabin. If the blend door actuator fails, you are no longer able to control the temperature with your climate control unit any more. Symptoms include AC stuck on cold, AC stuck on heat, and/or an annoying clicking noise from underneath the dashboard.

Crown Victoria Tailpipe Hanger Replacement

Time for another car repair DIY guide for my 2005 Crown Victoria.

I had taken my car to an exhaust shop for what I thought was an exhaust leak. Instead I given a diagnosis for an unrelated issue. The tailpipe was hanging pretty loose. I guess I noticed the symptoms but I had no idea this was the cause of it until I fixed it.

Grain Mill Part 5 - Nut Cracking Wheel

My vision for a grain mill that also cracks nuts didn't exactly work out the first time.  The major flaw was that putting a round nut between a driven and idle roller caused the second roller to spin backwards.  What I needed was a roller with lobes on it that would grip the nuts and force them into the other wheel instead of just slipping.

I had two options for making this;  1.  I could start with round material and mill a bunch of slots in the sides, or 2.  I could start with a rectangular piece, drill a bunch of holes in it, then cut it out with the band saw and turn it on the lathe.  I chose the second option because it sounded like more fun.

DIY Branded Wooden Tap Handle

At some point in time, you'll want a branded tap handle for your brews. Today I am making my own tap handle, without using a lathe. Let's see how this thing turns out.

Reassembling the Seed Starting Shelf | Speed Build | Video

Around this time two years ago, I built an indoor shelf out of PVC to help get my seeds started. I had it disassembled in the individual PVC pieces as it stored nicely when I was not using it. After having it in pieces for several months and several moves, I decided it would actually help with the organization with my new container garden setup as things had started to get a little messy.

D.I.Y. Toilet Paper

Okay, I was hoping it wouldn't have to come down to this, but I ran out of toilet paper, and the nearest store only had paper towels.  They just so happened to be these environmentally friendly recycled ones from Seventh Generation, but nonetheless, they'll do the job.

Beer Battered Everything! Best Beer Batter for Frying Fish, Scallops, and Calamari -- Lent Special

I love fried fish, and I had been struggling to find a decent fry batter recipe for making it. I eventually found this incredibly simple recipe posted up on Paste Magazine, and after trying it out the first time with scallops, I fell in love. So now that it's Lent again, it's time to break out the fish!