I actually grow a lot of food in home made SWC's & had similar frustrations when I first started out several years ago. I basically had to experiment with mixes & plants, until I got it relatively down. I think one of the reasons he doesn't have DIY plans for SWC's is because the major companies that are producing them own a copyright on the plans. The basic components like a wicking/capillary chamber, water reservoir, overflow hole, fill tube, soil-less mix, and an air space are basically copyrighted. I think Ed or anyone else would get sued. That's probably why he did the 5 gallon bucket on M.E.N. & not the storage bin SWC's. You should do a search for "Wicking Boxes" & "Wicking Beds" since the whole SWC came out of Australia about 10-15 years ago. As far as trellises, I put posts into the ground & garden fencing for tomatoes. I haven't had luck doing trellises in the SWC itself. I usually have a stick to tie the stem of the tomato in the SWC & then a trellis that is in the ground. If you have a chain link fence, I would just use that as a trellis. This has worked for me beautifully. I also prefer worm castings in my potting mix from the get go. I don't use compost from a hot pile/stacking bin because I've had bad experiences with that. The worm castings have never killed any of my plants. I've actually added worm feeding stations using a recycled food grade container (16-24 oz) with the bottom cut out & placed in the SWC. I bury food in there every once & a while. This makes the SWC self-fertilizing as well. This has worked out great too! After 2 grow seasons I have tons of worms & really rich compost for the garden or other SWC's.

My standard book is AHS Pruning and Training which covers all plants. Lee Reich has The Pruning Book which is supposed to be good but I don't have it. I think it covers all plants as well. Harry Baker's Growing Fruit has some of the same material as the AHS book above in it because they are ultimately all from the Royal Hort. Soc. books on the subject. This book has the fruit stuff only, but also covers all other aspects of fruit growing. Personally the book I read the most is Horace Wright's Fruit Growers Guide which is the most extensive writing I have ever found on pruning fruit trees. It is from 1920 and a bit outdated in some respects, but in other respects it has old knowledge which is mostly lost now. I bought this book used somewhere. This book is a revision of a book set written by John Wright who if I recall correctly is his father. His fathers set is online - John Wright's Fruit Growers Guide - an epic 6-volume tome on all aspects of fruit growing. I have not read that set but am sure it has a huge amount of information in it about pruning and training. Scott

The picture gets fuzzier and fuzzier without any pictures to accompany the meandering tale. Let me direct you to a recent thread (click link at bottom of this post) in which the form and function of the Briggs V Twin ignition kill circuits is discussed at great length. This thread was opened and finished before you signed up as a member. You will not read it all. I just know that. Now to try and address the ***" 3 things I want to know."*** 1...***"first is the battery charging i.e. amp meter"*** RESPONSE... I don't know because you don't give any description of what that ammeter is doing. But from the rest of your posts I would have to suspect it might probably not be charging. If the charging system is working, and the ammeter is even wired up correctly............the indicator needle should move to the PLUS side of the gauge face for at least a few minutes AFTER you start the engine (engine must be near full governed RPM for charging). 2...***" second is the oil sensing light working indicating low oil"*** RESPONSE... NO, it is not an indicator of low oil. It is an indicator of LOW OIL PRESSURE. The only reasonable and reliable indicator of low oil is the manual oil level gauge, also known as the OIL DIPSTICK. (do not confuse it with other types of "dipsticks"). The only way to guard against engine failure (due to low oil level) is to check the oil level by following the instructions in the owner's manual. The oil level should be checked each and every time BEFORE THE ENGINE IS USED. This means prior to using it and between use cycles if you must stop and refill the fuel tank. In lieu of following the instructions in the OM to determine if the oil level is sufficient, there are 2 alternate methods (signs) for "guessing" that the oil level might be low. A. You notice a piston connecting rod protruding from a new hole in the engine block. B. Engine refuses to rotate even when a 6' breaker bar with socket wrench is used on the flywheel nut. 3...***" Lastly shutting down in an emergency grounding the coils to each other."*** RESPONSE... I don't understand your use of the term "emergency". Try to read through the thread found by clicking the link I provided and it might "click" for you about how the 2 coils are separated from each other, and how they are connected to a COMMON GROUND for routinely shutting down the engine. Now get to work on posting pictures on here. :^) Here is a link that might be useful: Curiouser and curiouser

James, I have that cooktop and would have gladly photo'd it for you! Also had the decals wipe off and the replacement. The service call here was $65. They send the panel to the guy, he brings it and the switch out take about 20 minutes. I hesitate to say that the new one seems to be holding up better (it does) for fear of jinxing it. When someone in the family is ill, no one needs static like this over a cooktop. Sad that it's happened to many of us.