At Home In The Woods

[patrick_g]

Yup, backhoes are expensive to own. An alternative to removing tree stumps with a backhoe (and not using explosives) is to use the FEL to dig at least half way around the offending tree and cut the trunk off below grade level. Rounup if there is regrowth. Alternatively, if cut off above ground and treated with stump destroying chemicals the stump will soon be a non problem. The main chemical is salt peter (potassium nitrate) available as stump chemical at Walmart etc.

To a man whose only tool is a hammer every job looks like a nail.

Of course, if you already have a backhoe it is more fun than the other methods.

Pat

[RadarTech]

Yup, backhoes are expensive to own. An alternative to removing tree stumps with a backhoe (and not using explosives) is to use the FEL to dig at least half way around the offending tree and cut the trunk off below grade level. Rounup if there is regrowth. Alternatively, if cut off above ground and treated with stump destroying chemicals the stump will soon be a non problem. The main chemical is salt peter (potassium nitrate) available as stump chemical at Walmart etc.

To a man whose only tool is a hammer every job looks like a nail.

Of course, if you already have a backhoe it is more fun than the other methods.

Pat

Salt peter? That is an interesting way to get rid of a woody......

Pun intended...... If you don't understand, then you never were in the Military......LOL

RT

[brin]

Salt peter? That is an interesting way to get rid of a woody......

Pun intended...... If you don't understand, then you never were in the Military......LOL

RT

Do you really think they gave us that in Basic training...I mean, ya never know...the military has experimented with troops for all of time....

[patrick_g]

Salt peter? That is an interesting way to get rid of a woody......

Pun intended...... If you don't understand, then you never were in the Military......LOL

RT

I usually say that I was never in the military... just the Air Force! Still we shared the same "old wive's tales."

By the way... do ya know the difference between the Air Force and the Boy Scouts?

The Boy Scouts are required to have adult leaders.

Pat

[patrick_g]

Salt peter? That is an interesting way to get rid of a woody......

Pun intended...... If you don't understand, then you never were in the Military......LOL

RT

I usually say that I was never in the military... just the Air Force! Still we shared the same "old wive's tales."

By the way... do ya know the difference between the Air Force and the Boy Scouts?

The Boy Scouts are required to have adult leaders.

Pat

[Obed]

It's kind of sad. After we finished building the back porch, I was determined to spend some time on it. The combination of cool temps and a stiff breeze caused me to dress for the occasion. Underneath my coat, in the picture I am wearing a full-body snowmobile suit. I was quite comfortable and enjoyed the entire afternoon parked on my back porch. If you look closely, you can see TBN on the laptop screen.

[brin]

It's kind of sad. After we finished building the back porch, I was determined to spend some time on it. The combination of cool temps and a stiff breeze caused me to dress for the occasion. Underneath my coat, in the picture I am wearing a full-body snowmobile suit. I was quite comfortable and enjoyed the entire afternoon parked on my back porch. If you look closely, you can see TBN on the laptop screen.

Now that is determination Obed...you are determined to enjoy that back porch...LOL...just wait until you get your screens in and spring and summer comes...you will spend a lot of memorable time out there...we do and we have a similar house and porch to yours....enjoy it...

[ENG18LT]

Obed, what did you do to get power to the house? I just got sticker shock from the power company. We need to bring PRIMARY line underground to a transformer, then secondary underground to a meter pedestal. Power company wants 8k and they don't provide the underground wire, I have to buy and install in 4" schd 40 pvc, set the transformer pad, and set meter pedestal on my own, above the 8K to the power company. Basically the $8k gets the power across the road, sets the actual transformer and makes the connection. UGH.

[Obed]

Obed, what did you do to get power to the house? I just got sticker shock from the power company. We need to bring PRIMARY line underground to a transformer, then secondary underground to a meter pedestal. Power company wants 8k and they don't provide the underground wire, I have to buy and install in 4" schd 40 pvc, set the transformer pad, and set meter pedestal on my own, above the 8K to the power company. Basically the $8k gets the power across the road, sets the actual transformer and makes the connection. UGH.

ENG18LT,
Our transformer is sitting on the ground 900 feet from the street. High voltage wire was run inside of conduit from the street to the transformer inside of conduit 4 ft underground. Beside the transformer is our meter pedestal. The pedestal is 100 feet from the house. We ran two 220V lines, each line in its own conduit, from the pedestal to the two breaker boxes in the basement.

The power company provided the wire, conduit and transformer and pulled the wire from the street to the transformer. We dug the trench (we paid our excavating contractor to dig the trench). We paid the power company $5K + our power bill can be no lower than $110/mo for 5 years. If we use zero KW in a month, our bill is still $110. We probably use about $80 worth of KW each month on average so we are paying an extra $30/mo for 5 years to pay for our long power line. The power company did not provide any installation service or materials downstream of the transformer. We had to provide all materials and labor downstream of the transformer with the exception of the power company provided meter that we install in our electrical pedestal.

From your description, I'm not sure how far the transformer will be from your house. You will want that transformer to be as close to your house as possible so you can minimize the length of the expensive 220V lines between the transformer and you house. High voltage primary wire can be smaller than lower voltage lines so you will want the 220V lines to the house be as short as possible.

I hope I answered your question. There is a significant cost associated with being a long way from the street. That's why many farm houses are located very close to the road.

Obed

[creekbend]

Salt peter? That is an interesting way to get rid of a woody......

Pun intended...... If you don't understand, then you never were in the Military......LOL

RT

When I was employed by a LEO in the 70's, I had heard rumors in regards to salt peter and decided to do some research. I found documented cases where salt peter was indeed used and given to inmates in Tennessee State Prisons.