OP
terry.dinerman
Gold Member
- Joined
- Oct 11, 2009
- Messages
- 405
- Tractor
- 1990 - JD 870
The Great Underground Power Massacree ...
or:
"I didn't buy a nice piece of property to live up next to the road"
About Our Land
Our property, AKA "The Old Goat Ranch" sits in Grimes County Texas, in a transitional climactic zone between the Piney Woods of East Texas and the Hill Country of Central Texas.
Those who know about such things refer to this sort of terrain as "Post Oak Savanna".
Those who are "ignant" of such fine points (myself included) will just appreciate the gently rolling terrain of dense mixed hard and softwood woodlands interspersed with lush pasture ... wet winters and dry summers .. enough of a change in seasons to require at least one warm sweater ... It don't get much better than this, for me and mine at least.
Tho I have appreciated all that living within a stones throw of the Gulf Coast has to offer, and wearing shorts and flip-flops until Xmas has it's appeal, after 25 years and with no less than 5 named storms passing over our house without lifting more than a few shingles, (a record that cannot last forever) and 105% humidity year-round, I have to admit that I am just worn out ... and pretty moldy too ...
Thus ... Retirement to more clement climes for me and mine ...
Our slice of this paradise is roughly 3 acres wide and 5 acres deep ... fronted by the inside of a curve in a State Highway ( speeding drunks straighten it out going off the OTHER side of the road) ... one neighbor up front on a single acre, a large tract of unimproved property on one side, pasture on the other two sides.
The State road runs between two larger cities ... Huntsville and College Station so it sees a good bit of traffic ...
Our land is mostly dense woods mixed oaks, hickory, cedar, pine, sycamore, tallowberry and assorted brush except for those portions gently bulldozed for a driveway, house and barn, animal pens and fence lines, so thick you couldn't walk 2 feet into the un-cleared areas tho the deer, hogs and small critters without number seem to have no problem.
It is Precious Bride who found this place, but I have never seen a piece of property I wanted to own MORE ...
A PROMISE And a Plan
Like the lead-in line says ... I will be dipped in buttermilk before I will have all this nice land just to live next to the noise of a State Highway.
So Plans were made ...
With much discussion over many gallons of coffee, many Guru's consulted and more than a few strong opinions voiced (whoda thought?), a Master Plan for development of this acreage was developed by "Precious Bride and myself, with an eye towards our looming Retirement, and the potential for our descendants to further develop the tract.
One thing is for certain .... it was agreed between Precious Bride and I that we will live as far back in that tract as we can without scratching ourselves on back fence barb-wire ... and irrespective of cost, even if we have to live in a tepee, it'lll at least have AC, running water and Cable ...
This means running utilities from their current location at the Highway, back about 800 feet to the homesite ?
Water became our first issue, not so much as I was thirsty at the time, but because the local private water system operator gave us a deal we couldn't refuse for the privilege of an easement across our property.
Precious Bride negotiated up a heck of a deal while I was off enjoying myself in Iraq ...
... ya see, Water Guru needed to extend his system to our front fence neighbor ... and needed to cross our land to do it economically ...
We now have a 4 inch main running across the entire front fence ... and tho we are at the tail-end of the line, there are so few customers on this leg, the flowrate is impressive ... a flush-point is right next to our meter-box at the front gate and the flow from a 2 inch elbow can reach nearly 50 feet, if the wind is right ... or halfway across the Highway anyway ....
The price for all this was considerably less than the cheapest private well and places the main tap right along my southern fence, which is also where my main gate and driveway runs ...
The Plan here is to run all the utilities down this driveway ...
A Wise Man advised me to consider running 2 PVC pipe for the water, (a tip of the fedora to Eddie Walker) which will have a hydrant installed adjacent to each paddock it passes and then terminate at the house and barn with a flush point set to squirt into our wee pond future ... development could turn those pastures into homesites ...
With this size main, I am confident in sufficient water for up to 4 modest homes ...
"Private Road" .... "Underground Utilities" .... "Country Living" ....
... something like that ....
The same philosophy for future expansion runs thru the plan for electrical service ... however, there AIN'T going to be no deals on the cost for this little addition ...
Underground service is the only sane way to go for this project, clearing a 40 wide swath thru the trees is not even a consideration ... and the thought of one of those lovely trees falling across an aerial line is even less pleasant ...
So underground we go ...
According to the Plan ....
Consultations with our local Power Co-op were held and a preliminary cost of $7 a foot for a primary service run from a new road crossing, down the Utility Corridor to a transformer at the homesite were made ...
That's just for pulling the wire, setting the transformer and hooking up to my main disconnect, and by the way, the specs call for the wire to be pulled thru conduit ...
... and the conduit is the responsibility of the owner to install ...
I don't care where you are from ... But once I recovered consciousness I realized that ... that's a LOT of d*** money ...
But the cost of three 20kva generators at $5k each, distribution controls and a building to put them all in (not to mention the fuel) would be a whole lot more ...
So with a distinct lack of competitors ? I am stuck with whatever our Co-op feels it can charge ... Precious Bride and I now refer to them as the "Commissariat of Power" ...
Now, in defense of the Commissariat ... they HAVE been very helpful with advice and multiple site visits ... they have no bias against owner / builders and once completed, the installation will add tremendous value to the property far in excess of the investment ...
NOW ... I am "The Most Dangerous Man in the World" (TMDMITW) ... I know a little bit about a lot of things and have done most things in my time ... So just the advice from the Commissariatｴs Distribution Engineer has been worth it weight in cheddar cheese so far ....
The specs are a bit of overkill, IMHO ... Sch 40 PVC conduit buried 5 feet deep ... I have seen other systems that use Direct Burial cable for primary service, but ... I have no choice in the matter ...
... and I do agree, there is only the most remote possibility that this installation will EVER be damaged by some dumass on a tractor (ahem) and the copper conductors could even be removed and replaced with helium-cooled super-conducting upsydasiyum conductors at some future date if my laser powered starship needs refuelling .... and all without disturbing Precious Brides bluebonnets ....
Gotta look at the bright side ....
Anyway ...
... even tho I am TMDMITW, I have successfully pulled off a lot of projects by reading "Building Codes for Dummies", getting sound advice before touching a tool, and getting my work inspected by a professional (licensed where possible) when I think I am done and BEFORE I turn any services back on ....
So, like my old Master Chief used to say:
" DINERMAN!!!!! - ##$%!!!! ^^&$$%#$&!!! #@%&^*!!!!!!"
Which translates to; "Proper Prior Planning Prevents P--- Poor Performance ...."
(And you should always try to take advice like that seriously from a guy who used to enjoy swimming into exotic places to blow things up ... )
I did a lot of plumbing, gas and electrical work around my families business when I was a sprat, and Dad taught me how many certified craftsmen were more than happy to make their regular hourly charge to just inspect our work and render advice without having to bust any knuckles ...
Coffee and donuts at the time service was rendered, cash on the barrel-head and a turkey or a jug (or both) at Xmas helped, too ....
... ya gotta know how to TALK to people you see ...
BUT ... we saved beau-coup $$$$ and never failed an insurance inspection ... and that was the bottom line ...
Well - the 5 o'clock whistle just blew ... SO -- Stay Tuned for Our Next Installment;
"You Want HOW MUCH for That???!!!"
or:
"I didn't buy a nice piece of property to live up next to the road"
About Our Land
Our property, AKA "The Old Goat Ranch" sits in Grimes County Texas, in a transitional climactic zone between the Piney Woods of East Texas and the Hill Country of Central Texas.
Those who know about such things refer to this sort of terrain as "Post Oak Savanna".
Those who are "ignant" of such fine points (myself included) will just appreciate the gently rolling terrain of dense mixed hard and softwood woodlands interspersed with lush pasture ... wet winters and dry summers .. enough of a change in seasons to require at least one warm sweater ... It don't get much better than this, for me and mine at least.
Tho I have appreciated all that living within a stones throw of the Gulf Coast has to offer, and wearing shorts and flip-flops until Xmas has it's appeal, after 25 years and with no less than 5 named storms passing over our house without lifting more than a few shingles, (a record that cannot last forever) and 105% humidity year-round, I have to admit that I am just worn out ... and pretty moldy too ...
Thus ... Retirement to more clement climes for me and mine ...
Our slice of this paradise is roughly 3 acres wide and 5 acres deep ... fronted by the inside of a curve in a State Highway ( speeding drunks straighten it out going off the OTHER side of the road) ... one neighbor up front on a single acre, a large tract of unimproved property on one side, pasture on the other two sides.
The State road runs between two larger cities ... Huntsville and College Station so it sees a good bit of traffic ...
Our land is mostly dense woods mixed oaks, hickory, cedar, pine, sycamore, tallowberry and assorted brush except for those portions gently bulldozed for a driveway, house and barn, animal pens and fence lines, so thick you couldn't walk 2 feet into the un-cleared areas tho the deer, hogs and small critters without number seem to have no problem.
It is Precious Bride who found this place, but I have never seen a piece of property I wanted to own MORE ...
A PROMISE And a Plan
Like the lead-in line says ... I will be dipped in buttermilk before I will have all this nice land just to live next to the noise of a State Highway.
So Plans were made ...
With much discussion over many gallons of coffee, many Guru's consulted and more than a few strong opinions voiced (whoda thought?), a Master Plan for development of this acreage was developed by "Precious Bride and myself, with an eye towards our looming Retirement, and the potential for our descendants to further develop the tract.
One thing is for certain .... it was agreed between Precious Bride and I that we will live as far back in that tract as we can without scratching ourselves on back fence barb-wire ... and irrespective of cost, even if we have to live in a tepee, it'lll at least have AC, running water and Cable ...
This means running utilities from their current location at the Highway, back about 800 feet to the homesite ?
Water became our first issue, not so much as I was thirsty at the time, but because the local private water system operator gave us a deal we couldn't refuse for the privilege of an easement across our property.
Precious Bride negotiated up a heck of a deal while I was off enjoying myself in Iraq ...
... ya see, Water Guru needed to extend his system to our front fence neighbor ... and needed to cross our land to do it economically ...
We now have a 4 inch main running across the entire front fence ... and tho we are at the tail-end of the line, there are so few customers on this leg, the flowrate is impressive ... a flush-point is right next to our meter-box at the front gate and the flow from a 2 inch elbow can reach nearly 50 feet, if the wind is right ... or halfway across the Highway anyway ....
The price for all this was considerably less than the cheapest private well and places the main tap right along my southern fence, which is also where my main gate and driveway runs ...
The Plan here is to run all the utilities down this driveway ...
A Wise Man advised me to consider running 2 PVC pipe for the water, (a tip of the fedora to Eddie Walker) which will have a hydrant installed adjacent to each paddock it passes and then terminate at the house and barn with a flush point set to squirt into our wee pond future ... development could turn those pastures into homesites ...
With this size main, I am confident in sufficient water for up to 4 modest homes ...
"Private Road" .... "Underground Utilities" .... "Country Living" ....
... something like that ....
The same philosophy for future expansion runs thru the plan for electrical service ... however, there AIN'T going to be no deals on the cost for this little addition ...
Underground service is the only sane way to go for this project, clearing a 40 wide swath thru the trees is not even a consideration ... and the thought of one of those lovely trees falling across an aerial line is even less pleasant ...
So underground we go ...
According to the Plan ....
Consultations with our local Power Co-op were held and a preliminary cost of $7 a foot for a primary service run from a new road crossing, down the Utility Corridor to a transformer at the homesite were made ...
That's just for pulling the wire, setting the transformer and hooking up to my main disconnect, and by the way, the specs call for the wire to be pulled thru conduit ...
... and the conduit is the responsibility of the owner to install ...
I don't care where you are from ... But once I recovered consciousness I realized that ... that's a LOT of d*** money ...
But the cost of three 20kva generators at $5k each, distribution controls and a building to put them all in (not to mention the fuel) would be a whole lot more ...
So with a distinct lack of competitors ? I am stuck with whatever our Co-op feels it can charge ... Precious Bride and I now refer to them as the "Commissariat of Power" ...
Now, in defense of the Commissariat ... they HAVE been very helpful with advice and multiple site visits ... they have no bias against owner / builders and once completed, the installation will add tremendous value to the property far in excess of the investment ...
NOW ... I am "The Most Dangerous Man in the World" (TMDMITW) ... I know a little bit about a lot of things and have done most things in my time ... So just the advice from the Commissariatｴs Distribution Engineer has been worth it weight in cheddar cheese so far ....
The specs are a bit of overkill, IMHO ... Sch 40 PVC conduit buried 5 feet deep ... I have seen other systems that use Direct Burial cable for primary service, but ... I have no choice in the matter ...
... and I do agree, there is only the most remote possibility that this installation will EVER be damaged by some dumass on a tractor (ahem) and the copper conductors could even be removed and replaced with helium-cooled super-conducting upsydasiyum conductors at some future date if my laser powered starship needs refuelling .... and all without disturbing Precious Brides bluebonnets ....
Gotta look at the bright side ....
Anyway ...
... even tho I am TMDMITW, I have successfully pulled off a lot of projects by reading "Building Codes for Dummies", getting sound advice before touching a tool, and getting my work inspected by a professional (licensed where possible) when I think I am done and BEFORE I turn any services back on ....
So, like my old Master Chief used to say:
" DINERMAN!!!!! - ##$%!!!! ^^&$$%#$&!!! #@%&^*!!!!!!"
Which translates to; "Proper Prior Planning Prevents P--- Poor Performance ...."
(And you should always try to take advice like that seriously from a guy who used to enjoy swimming into exotic places to blow things up ... )
I did a lot of plumbing, gas and electrical work around my families business when I was a sprat, and Dad taught me how many certified craftsmen were more than happy to make their regular hourly charge to just inspect our work and render advice without having to bust any knuckles ...
Coffee and donuts at the time service was rendered, cash on the barrel-head and a turkey or a jug (or both) at Xmas helped, too ....
... ya gotta know how to TALK to people you see ...
BUT ... we saved beau-coup $$$$ and never failed an insurance inspection ... and that was the bottom line ...
Well - the 5 o'clock whistle just blew ... SO -- Stay Tuned for Our Next Installment;
"You Want HOW MUCH for That???!!!"
