South Dakota farmer builds bin control for $100 instead of $80K

Grand forks Herald ^ | 22 June 2021 | Mikkel Pates

[DUMBGRUNT]

A western South Dakota farmer wanted a bin aeration control system he could operate from his smartphone. When he learned it would cost $80,000 he used his tech savvy to build his own — for $100.

Too much of a cheap farmer,” chuckles Ehlers, 43, who farms at Presho, S.D. Ehlers said he got tired of forgetting to turn off his aeration.

“In the middle of the night I’d have to jump out of bed and go turn my fans off. Or I’d be gone and it’d start raining and I had to turn my fans off,” he said. “So I always wanted a way to be able to turn off fans from a smartphone.”

He got in touch with a system that is used to control humidity in houses, designed especially for keeping hardwood floors in good shape.

“I found it on the internet, bought a couple of temperature and humidity monitors, and 10 smart switches. I hooked it up to my bins and it worked,” he said. “So I have all 10 bins hooked up for less than $100, rather than $80,000.”

...“The best thing is if you’re laying in bed in the middle of the night, and the fan is still running, you can look on your phone and be able to see the fan is still on and just turn off your controller,” he said.

[Grampa Dave]

Frugal bastard is better than cheap bastard.

I will work with his family (not us) on what to call him.

[Grampa Dave]

IIRC the Lexis problem was from the wrong floor mat.

We bought a different Driver’s side floor mat for my wife’s Lexus and threw the original one away.

I still check on the placement of the mat when I drive her Lexus, which is often.

[HIDEK6]

A MAACO guy told me that if you go to a dealer or a body shop for painting your car, they will throw a high price at you because they don't know how to do it.

Then, if they get the job, they try to figure out how to do it.

[Vigilanteman]

Then, if they get the job, they try to figure out how to do it.

Like subcontracting to MAACO?

[minnesota_bound]

Jeremy Clackson of Top Gear fame has a new farming show.
He has spent a fortune buying what he needs to just start a farm. At least $250,000 pounds

I watch it on Amazon Prime using the ROKU box. 8 episodes. Interesting show.

Jeremy Clarkson’s ‘Honest’ Application for Farmer of The Year | Clarkson’s Farm
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=esTr4IqnXro

[OnAMission]

It’s able to be patented in a limited way on the use. Still very important teachings when the alternative costs $80k. I happen to know about these things. I have a couple of patents that people said that the “technology” is already there. The patent would be on a use that the industry wasn’t using prior to his “invention”.

[HIDEK6]

Probably so.