At Home In The Woods

[Robert_in_NY]

Are you certain that you have to buy the high voltage primary cable? I forked over 13k for a similar deal but they will provide the primary, secondary cable, and transformer pad. Where do they expect you to buy this stuff at?

Wouldn't solar become a viable option at this point? Live off grid and not have a monthly usage bill?

 

[ENG18LT]

Lee,

I have to wonder what the justification is for charging you $8K? I would tell them that I am considering building the house right beside the road and ask them how much that would cost? When you find that the price is almost nothing beside the road, I would ask them what the $8K is for if you are paying for all the materials and labor. Something doesn't seem to add up.

Obed

My thoughts as well, unfortunately that's the way it is with this particular power company. I did verify this with several local electricians before I shelled out the cash for the wire.

Thanks again
Lee

 

[clemsonfor]

My dad burns the woods on his farm every year or so, or at least he used to. I don't know if he has done it recently. I could probably clear out the junk in the woods in front of our house in a weekend or less with a sling, loppers, chainsaw, and tractor when I feel like doing it. Although I probably wouldn't catch our woods on fire, I don't think I want to chance setting that natural area on fire.

Obed

If you read up a bit and watch videos im sure on youtube and follow your forestry commission burn page it will tell you good days to burn. On those days you have high enough humidity you almost have to force it to burn!. I am lazy though i would make sure there is a break around it and light it up. You should not have flames ever much higher than your head which do nothing to the woods but consume litter and kill small harwood and briers on the top.

Its not like your burning when you havent had rain in 6 weeks and there is 15% humidity or anything.

I have helped in quite a bit of burning. Done right its actually beneficial to the woods and makes it look better in the long run.

 

[tony Cecil]

I thought the power company had to provide you power? We are two miles in on the farm, and there already was a power pole line coming to a side of the property.....I wanted it underground for ascetics , but they SCE&G provided the underground wire, and charged me a reasonable amount of money for it, and I had to dig the ditch for them to bury it in......They were very nice to work with.....This is rural so everyone knows everyone else...I know times have changed but this was as it use to be.....Tony

 

[tony Cecil]

Man Clemson---This is his home, yes the same one he has worked so hard for ...Who would want to see blackened trunks against the pure white snow.....Poor suggestion....Tony PS we have to burn , due to the size of the place, and it takes years for it to not look horrible....

 

[Obed]

I thought the power company had to provide you power? We are two miles in on the farm, and there already was a power pole line coming to a side of the property.....I wanted it underground for ascetics , but they SCE&G provided the underground wire, and charged me a reasonable amount of money for it, and I had to dig the ditch for them to bury it in......They were very nice to work with.....This is rural so everyone knows everyone else...I know times have changed but this was as it use to be.....Tony

Our local power company was also great to work with. In fact, all the utility companies, except for Comcast Cable, were very helpful while we built the house.

 

[955Lincoln]

Wouldn't solar become a viable option at this point? Live off grid and not have a monthly usage bill?

Moneywise, it probably would have been the smart thing to do. I'm at a point in my life where I want to turn on a switch and not worry about how much power I can use or add another maintainance item to my already bloated list.

 

[clemsonfor]

Man Clemson---This is his home, yes the same one he has worked so hard for ...Who would want to see blackened trunks against the pure white snow.....Poor suggestion....Tony PS we have to burn , due to the size of the place, and it takes years for it to not look horrible....

To each his own, i think woods look great that are burned. The fire scars are minimal if you do it right. Its not like your going to have 4-15ft char marks on the trees!! Thats a wild fire. You will have charring up to say 2ft in the hottest places most of it in hardwood will be 12"s or less and fall off by the end of the summer. You really only see it in the crevices in the bark and cankers.

If you cant stand any char on your trees DO NOT BURN. But if you like the woods as nature intended that will include some charred bark. Before the white man started putting out fires i think his area was on a 5-10 year burn cycle, naturally.

 

[MotorSeven]

Well Obed...did you get those cage pallets?

 

[Obed]

A ladder stabilizer, if you don't have one, is a good safety item too. Aluminum Stabilizer-AC96 at The Home Depot

If you can get the angle correct, the stabilizer ends will rest on the roof allowing the ladder to bridge the gutter. The ladder will also be much less likely to want to slide left or right.

Dave,
I bought a ladder stabilizer last year. Combining the stabilizer with the levelers should make my gutter cleaning about as good as it will get.
Obed

Yesterday I had the day off from my regular job. After returning home from the fireplace store, I cleaned out the 2 story gutter. I attached the Louisville Ladders stabilizer to my ladder without any trouble. The stabilizer made the ladder much more steady. I still didn't like climbing that high but there's not much I can do about that part of the job. I can probably put up with cleaning the gutters 2 or 3 times a year. Having the ladder stabilizer really helps.

I raked up the leaves that came out of the gutters and removed them.