Muddy Roads Clive Ellis In the earliest years of my homesteading career I simply plugged my house trailer into my Jeep battery to run some 12 volt lights for a few minutes each evening. I used a propane lamp to light the main living space until I developed a working micro hydroelectric generator, after much trial and error in building my own Pelton wheel. For a while I still used the jeep battery for power and ran the hydro generator intermittently to charge the battery when necessary. The hydro unit was put away for the winter when I left for the season. When I came back the following spring I didn't get the hydro generator out right away as I had numerous other chores to tend to, and wasn't using the 12 volt lights very much (I thought). When it was time to drive to town for supplies several days later, the Jeep wouldn't start. Well no problem, I'll just get out the hydro-gen and recharge the battery. Then I discovered that I had taken the Pelton wheel off the generator to show to a friend in town last winter and had forgot to bring it back. Now I could have walked down to the neighbors a half mile away and asked for a jump start but that would have been humiliating defeat. Figured I could push start the Jeep, only problem being that it was already parked in a low spot. With the aid of a hand winch and a nearby stump, I laboriously inched the Jeep 20 feet or so up a slope, then let it roll down, let out the clutch and... it didn't start. It took about 20 minutes for a repeat try with the same result. Needed a longer downgrade. The battery wasn't completely dead but wasn't lively enough to make a strong spark, I figured. The alternative plan was to push the Jeep about 50 yards up a slight grade, beyond which there was a long hill to roll down. Ever push a car uphill? It isn't easy. I could only do it by grabbing and turning a front wheel, which had lots of fender clearance and knobby tread to grab on to. After considerable effort I got rolling downhill and the engine started. For those not familiar with this procedure, DON'T use the lowest gear when you try to start the engine this way. Think about it, the mechanical advantage of the transmission is working is reverse order. Now if I could just remember my Pelton wheel... Soon after that experience I obtained separate batteries for my evolving alternate energy system.