The high cost of cutting grass

[ultrarunner]

Lots of benefits to mowed lawn/grass but water is taking the biggest toll here.

Maintained turf is a good fire and pest barrier unlike rock landscape that every kid feels the need to throw... or so it seems.

Turf cuts down on dust and can help soil retain moisture

That said every two weeks is my schedule for 10 months of the year...

 

[Torvy]

Easy to spend over $5...

I had unexpected trip and filled up at a Shell and paid $5.29 for regular with credit.

Some stations are heading to &
$6 for premium with credit card...

Remember when pumps couldn't go higher than 99.9 a gallon so they switched to Liter pricing...

Ouch...I usually fill up at Sam's Club...it was just about $3 last week. I drive by a Quick Trip to/from work. It was $3.39 last night (up about 20 cents in the last 24-48 hours) The CA tax per gallon is about 42 cents (and change) more than TX. The rest is likely due to regional cost of living.

 

[BnRidge]

So there is a lot going on. Free market vs intervention, value added as in a phone vs a raw commodity, efficiency and productivity, supply vs demand. In my world, I look at the extreme labor reduction from using fuels and think what on earth is everyone complaining about. I just got done cutting up 6 cords of wood, and am not quite through 2 gallons. I look at the picture on the wall of dad cutting wood, in 1950, with a cross cut saw. If it came down to it, what would I be willing to spend today to get that work done. Same with so many other things. So what is the "real" complaint.

 

[ultrarunner]

My top 3 complaints are:

1. The Ban on using bought and paid for gasoline powered equipment

2. Inability to purchase real gas unless willing to pay $20+ per gallon as no end to fuel issues with the blends and older carb equipment

3. The rapid possibly doubling in price over a 30 month period coupled with again being import dependant.

 

[billypumper]

Sheep or goats and a donkey they hate coyotes, stomp them in the ground if they get close, yes donkeys, maybe one Aussie or Border Collie, too many pups and they forget their job. Always only needed one Aussie for 100 head of cattle, they're harder to move than sheep.

 

[billypumper]

Where you live for 5 dollars a gallon, I buy ethanol free gas for 4.35 and diesel for 4.25, I love in the Midwest in the 5th highest state gas tax in the country, California is the highest.

 

[greggyy]

Get some sheep.

Sheep/cattle.... I only have small area here but sheep keep it perfect. you can slightly understock, or over if you like th eno grass look

 

[jyoutz]

My top 3 complaints are:

1. The Ban on using bought and paid for gasoline powered equipment

2. Inability to purchase real gas unless willing to pay $20+ per gallon as no end to fuel issues with the blends and older carb equipment

3. The rapid possibly doubling in price over a 30 month period coupled with again being import dependant.

Import dependent, yet our oil companies are exporting oil (thanks to the 2018 Congress).

 

[Torvy]

Import dependent, yet our oil companies are exporting oil (thanks to the 2018 Congress).

Not really an issue. The point of being import independent is that in a crisis, we will be fine. Given different grades of oil and market forces there is 100% nothing wrong with exporting oil. The problem lies when we shut down our own capacity to produce while simultaneously giving other, less open nations, a green light to increase production.

 

[jyoutz]

Not really an issue. The point of being import independent is that in a crisis, we will be fine. Given different grades of oil and market forces there is 100% nothing wrong with exporting oil. The problem lies when we shut down our own capacity to produce while simultaneously giving other, less open nations, a green light to increase production.

Oil companies have years worth of undrilled lease acres. Increasing or shutdown of capacity are decisions made by the oil companies themselves. At any point in time, there are millions of acres of undrilled leases ready to go. The BLM shows 26 million acres of federal lands where leases are issued and much of these acres have no activity due to the business decisions of the lease holder.

https://www.doi.gov/sites/doi.gov/files/report-on-the-federal-oil-and-gas-leasing-program-doi-eo-14008.pdf

Programs: Energy and Minerals: Oil and Gas: Leasing | Bureau of Land Management

Leasing ProcessThe environmental review process for developing oil and gas resources is multi-faceted and includes input and coordination with other federal and state agencies, as well as the public. Members of the public, typically industry representatives, nominate lands they wish to lease...

www.blm.gov

 

[Torvy]

Leases don't mean all that much, especially if they are speculative. Permits are once being held up because of the p word. Oil drilling is not like a faucet going on and off. Companies don't want to spend billions only to have regulations change. See what happened to Keystone. Arbitrary and capricious. Policies need to be comprehensive not reactionary. Energy sources are not mutually exclusive. Jobs are not interchangeable like legos.

 

[hube2]

I'll be reducing it to every couple of weeks. I'm sure glad I don't fertilize like some.

I have only been mowing my "lawn" every couple of weeks for a long time, partly due to the cost of cutting it. It's not that I worry about the cost as much as I don't see the point of spending all that money. In addition to not cutting is as often, cut it at the top setting on your mower when you do cut it. Believe it or not it will take longer to grow if you leave it longer to begin with. This also has the affect of making the lawn stronger and keeping out weeds better because the energy that would have gone into growing is instead used to make the root system stronger. On top of this the longer lawn and reduced mowing is beneficial to the environment. I may even reduce my mowing to every 3 weeks.

A can't imaging what my neighbors will be paying to mow their lawns this year if they continue mowing 5 acres every 3 days.

 

[jyoutz]

Leases don't mean all that much, especially if they are speculative. Permits are once being held up because of the p word. Oil drilling is not like a faucet going on and off. Companies don't want to spend billions only to have regulations change. See what happened to Keystone. Arbitrary and capricious. Policies need to be comprehensive not reactionary. Energy sources are not mutually exclusive. Jobs are not interchangeable like legos.

You refuse to believe the facts from someone who actually manages federal lands. On federal leases, permits go with the lease, other than state requirements. They could quit issuing new leases for the next decade and there would be plenty of current federal leases for oil/gas development. 26 million acres is a lot of land cleared for drilling. I manage federal lands in the state that is the second largest oil producing state. There are plenty of drilling activities on federal, state, and private lands. In fact, there are more rigs operating in my state than 5 years ago, because companies are pulling out of more expensive areas to extract oil/gas and moving rigs to the Permian basin where production costs are lower and resources more abundant. Oh, and the Keystone pipeline had nothing at all to do with US production; it was just about moving Canadian low grade oil to the Gulf for export. And I might add that NH isn’t an oil producing area, so why are you supposing to understand the situation on western federal lands?

 

[Torvy]

You refuse to believe the facts from someone who actually manages federal lands. On federal leases, permits go with the lease, other than state requirements. They could quit issuing new leases for the next decade and there would be plenty of current federal leases for oil/gas development. 26 million acres is a lot of land cleared for drilling. I manage federal lands in the state that is the second largest oil producing state. There are plenty of drilling activities on federal, state, and private lands. In fact, there are more rigs operating in my state than 5 years ago, because companies are pulling out of more expensive areas to extract oil/gas and moving rigs to the Permian basin where production costs are lower and resources more abundant. Oh, and the Keystone pipeline had nothing at all to do with US production; it was just about moving Canadian low grade oil to the Gulf for export. And I might add that NH isn’t an oil producing area, so why are you supposing to understand the situation on western federal lands?

I live in Texas. Never lived in NH. Spent most of my life west of the Mississippi, including 8 years in Nevada, that is mostly federal lands. I'm a political scientist by training. Your experience in Forestry is laudable, but I think (based on reading the actual statutes) that you have been misinformed. Leases and permits are separate. Permits get renewed every 2 years. I also seriously suggest you research keystone a bit more. It was also supposed to move oil from MT and ND. Even Wiki got that right.

From Wikipedia:
The proposed Phase IV, Keystone XL (sometimes abbreviated KXL, with XL standing for "export limited"[18]) Pipeline, would have connected the Phase I-pipeline terminals in Hardisty, Alberta, and Steele City, Nebraska, by a shorter route and a larger-diameter pipe.[19] It would have run through Baker, Montana, where American-produced light crude oil from the Williston Basin (Bakken formation) of Montana and North Dakota would have been added[12] to the Keystone's throughput of synthetic crude oil (syncrude) and diluted bitumen (dilbit) from the oil sands of Canada.

 

[ultrarunner]

You refuse to believe the facts from someone who actually manages federal lands. On federal leases, permits go with the lease, other than state requirements. They could quit issuing new leases for the next decade and there would be plenty of current federal leases for oil/gas development. 26 million acres is a lot of land cleared for drilling. I manage federal lands in the state that is the second largest oil producing state. There are plenty of drilling activities on federal, state, and private lands. In fact, there are more rigs operating in my state than 5 years ago, because companies are pulling out of more expensive areas to extract oil/gas and moving rigs to the Permian basin where production costs are lower and resources more abundant. Oh, and the Keystone pipeline had nothing at all to do with US production; it was just about moving Canadian low grade oil to the Gulf for export. And I might add that NH isn’t an oil producing area, so why are you supposing to understand the situation on western federal lands?

When a State like California says no to more production can it stop Federal Lease Holders?

A huge deal was just stopped regarding coal.

The City of Oakland said no coal coming through and after years of wrangling it appears to be the last word... not even done at State level.

 

[Hughman]

Just made my first cut of the season yesterday. I mow about 6 ac around the house. Given the lack of rain this year it may be my final mowing of the season. Even at $5/gal, the price of fuel isn't the issue, the lack of water is.

 

[billypumper]

Import dependent, yet our oil companies are exporting oil (thanks to the 2018 Congress).

Oil companies have years worth of undrilled lease acres. Increasing or shutdown of capacity are decisions made by the oil companies themselves. At any point in time, there are millions of acres of undrilled leases ready to go. The BLM shows 26 million acres of federal lands where leases are issued and much of these acres have no activity due to the business decisions of the lease holder.

https://www.doi.gov/sites/doi.gov/files/report-on-the-federal-oil-and-gas-leasing-program-doi-eo-14008.pdf

Programs: Energy and Minerals: Oil and Gas: Leasing | Bureau of Land Management

Leasing ProcessThe environmental review process for developing oil and gas resources is multi-faceted and includes input and coordination with other federal and state agencies, as well as the public. Members of the public, typically industry representatives, nominate lands they wish to lease...

www.blm.gov

Well I own a diesel lawn mower, but have listened to the idiots about banning leaf blowers, buy ethanol free gas at a Sinclair station, just went up to 4.59 but keeps all 2 strokes from having to be worked on as well as small trim mowers that don't get much use, no carburetor issues with that fuel, your correct about several things , this president didn't cause this oil spike, the last president caused oil to be exported, we use 180 million barrels a day but produce only 120 million and export about 3 million so we import the difference from over 10 + countries most from Canada and some from Russia, our president is trying to get oil companies to produce more but to no avail, that speaks for itself, greed.

 

[billypumper]

Well I own a diesel lawn mower, but have listened to the idiots about banning leaf blowers, buy ethanol free gas at a Sinclair station, just went up to 4.59 but keeps all 2 strokes from having to be worked on as well as small trim mowers that don't get much use, no carburetor issues with that fuel, your correct about several things , this president didn't cause this oil spike, the last president caused oil to be exported, we use 180 million barrels a day but produce only 120 million and export about 3 million so we import the difference from over 10 + countries most from Canada and some from Russia, our president is trying to get oil companies to produce more but to no avail, that speaks for itself, greed.

I was wrong and you were wrong it was the 2015 Congress that placed a bill to start exporting oil , Republicans controlled the House and Senate and that president threatened to veto that bill, but was trying to pass other legislation through and went along with the bill

 

[jyoutz]

I was wrong and you were wrong it was the 2015 Congress that placed a bill to start exporting oil , Republicans controlled the House and Senate and that president threatened to veto that bill, but was trying to pass other legislation through and went along with the bill

Thanks for the information. I thought I remembered it passing along with the 2018 tax bill.

 

[lman]

Well I own a diesel lawn mower, but have listened to the idiots about banning leaf blowers, buy ethanol free gas at a Sinclair station, just went up to 4.59 but keeps all 2 strokes from having to be worked on as well as small trim mowers that don't get much use, no carburetor issues with that fuel, your correct about several things , this president didn't cause this oil spike, the last president caused oil to be exported, we use 180 million barrels a day but produce only 120 million and export about 3 million so we import the difference from over 10 + countries most from Canada and some from Russia, our president is trying to get oil companies to produce more but to no avail, that speaks for itself, greed.

I've seen posts deleted that were less political. I'm sure this won't be touched though.