Got the hoses running on the plants for another while - today was very overcast with smoke from the British Columbia wildfires so it was not as hot as predicted but tomorrow is supposed to be even warmer. Get the root systems nice and wet so they can weather through the day. No sense trying to water during the day - you lose 90% of your water through evaporation.
Planning to head in to the Vintage Tractor show tomorrow - for reals this time... Looking for a couple of things for my shop as well as just to see the steam engines. Despite being perfected in the 1700's and 1800's, steam technology is a remarkably efficient means for converting thermal energy to mechanical energy. Sure, there have been many tweaks along the way but the basic engineering and mathematical understanding of steam engines has remained unchanged for 250 years.
One thing I like about them is that unlike internal combustion engines, your torque is in the boiler. With IC engines, the torque is delivered intermittently and needs to be stored in a flywheel if you want continuous drive (for a vehicle or running a machine). With a steam engine with more than one piston, the torque is a function of boiler pressure - want more torque? Turn up the heat in the boiler.
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