Fuel, Internet & Insurance

[Jlblake]

Is that a typo? You stated that you only use your tractor about once every other week. Can you burn 25 gallons of fuel in a day?

I currently keep no diesel supply at home. When I have room for five gallons of fuel in my tractors, I'll fill up a can on my next trip into town.

well it's 2200 acres...just kidding. I have no idea how much I'll use. Just bought the land and just bought the tractor. I burned through 20 gallons pretty quickly though over a weekend.

 

[drssg]

well it's 2200 acres...just kidding. I have no idea how much I'll use. Just bought the land and just bought the tractor. I burned through 20 gallons pretty quickly though over a weekend.

Congratulations on your new (to you) land and tractor! That's quite a milestone.

It might make sense to hold off a bit and see how much fuel you really use longer-term. Then the solution that fits you best will become more apparent.

 

[ericm979]

Thanks. Is the fuel worth it at that level? I wouldn't mind buying 300 gallons at a time but I don't have a good idea of how long that would last. I was thinking I'd probably use about 50 gallons a month.

Figure a gallon of fuel per hour of operation. That's probably high (it depends on the tractor and what you're doing with it) but it makes the math easy.


We have radio based internet from a local provider. We had to trim trees to get a good connection. We hit a repeater on the next ridge and they have line of sight to a base station. The first system we had 20 years ago used a 3' dish on the roof that looked ugly but the current one is a 9" square.

 

[GSVette]

I use a 35 gallon diesel caddy for fueling (everything except the dump truck)-35 gallons generally lasts me most of two months-provided I’m not running the 580E much. Find the caddy most convenient as I can wheel it about easily and refill it easily.

We ended up with HughesNet-still hoping for one of the other land systems to put in a tower that is L.O.S. HughesNet works ok but it isn’t really speedy-adequate for streaming but just barely.

My shop is insured as a rider to my primary residence. Once we build our home on the site that will change. Looked at an Inland Marine policy for my LS but just couldn’t stomach the premium. So self insured on the tractor (unless it is in the shop and lost as part of the shop).

 

[shooterdon]

I had a 300 gal storage tank for gas for a few years. I had water issues with condensation even though I used Seafoam. I sold the tank this year. When I converted to a propane stand by generator I did not need to store as much gas.

I use a 50 gallon tank from a reefer for diesel. I built a wood frame that I can lift onto the truck to fill with off-road and save $.50/gal. Store it in the garage as it is OK with my insurance company. Fuel is treated as well to prevent algae, and also anti-gel in the winter. I go through 2-3 reefer tanks a year. It seemed like a better option for me than having a large tank that would last more than a year that may have condensation issues. I have paid for the setup with my fuel savings.

 

[TheMan419]

Thanks. Is the fuel worth it at that level? I wouldn't mind buying 300 gallons at a time but I don't have a good idea of how long that would last. I was thinking I'd probably use about 50 gallons a month. Does your neighbor have a problem with water/condensation in the tank?

Internet's proving to be tougher than I thought. The tower may be the best option but it's $2,800 for the tower and then $100 per month for service. I thought Ubifi worked everywhere...it must be satellite.

Thanks for the feedback.

Ubifi is AT&T based. All you really need from them is the SIM card. You can buy equipment off of amazon or elsewhere.

Remember on the ubifi as long as you get decent reception on your cell you can add an antenna to the equipment to boost your speed w ubifi.

 

[grsthegreat]

i personally only store gasoline (ethanol free only) in 5 gallon jerry cans due to moisture/age issues and flammability. just my own fears im sure, but i dont want above ground storage of gas on my property. for diesel i use off road dyed diesel and store 55 gal at a time in my poly fuel tank. like poly as i've had rust/corrosion issues in past with steel tanks. My poly tank is on pallet and can load into truck easy. Tank also has its own battery and self contained 10 gpm pump system. .


i have umbrella policy also...not very expensive compared to main policy. i also have insurance on tractor and equipment, but im probably going to let that lapse this year. im no longer using tractor in my business, so homeowners policy will be enough.

we use microwave antenna to earth mounted tower aprox 9 miles away from house on top of mountain. WAY better internet than i had from satellite. here cellular internet is WAY to expensive and limits download. my internet still costs $69 per month (no throttling and no limits), but verizon quoted close to $350 per month for the level i requested for my business. i have been told that we may get fiber out our way within a year, but im not holding my breath. the company putting it in told me to check back in 6 months. they promise its coming our way soon.

 

[TractorGuy]

Fuel suppliers vary. I talked to one supplier that has a 300 gallon per sale minimum. Mine only has a 60 gallon minimum but I end up paying pump price of road diesel for off road. The convenience of not hauling it is worth it to me. I keep two 55 gallon drums on hand and end up filling them about 3 times a year. I also have a diesel generator and live in a storm prone area so that is another motivation for me to keep fuel on site.

Sounds like you should try to find a internet provider that uses the Verizon towers IF you have a good fast signal in your house. Download a speed test app or use your phone browser to test at fast.com. Finding one that doesn't throttle or short you on data is the trick. DSL is a good deal if you can get it at reasonable cost and you are in an area where they deliver decent speed. I had it for years but could only get 1.5 Mbps down on the best day. My AT&T internet service is working good but phone service from them, not so much. Go figure? We have a Verizon phone that works okay in the house but recently had to add a booster for that. Not sure what they changed but our cell service diminished all of a sudden. We cannot and have never got a decent data bandwidth from the Verizon phone. I can get a steady 15 Mbps down through AT&T but can't get my old Motorola phone to use internet calling.

Are you sure your deductible is 3% of the value of your home or 3% of the claim? A $6000 deductible across the board is pretty extreme. Call your agent and find out how low you can get it and what the cost difference is. We have $500 deductible on our home owners with $100 deductible on contents and everything else. Worth it to me for piece of mind. We use to have $100 on everything but our government regulated us to no better than $500 on the house for the insurance companies benefit.

 

[Jlblake]

Congratulations on your new (to you) land and tractor! That's quite a milestone.

It might make sense to hold off a bit and see how much fuel you really use longer-term. Then the solution that fits you best will become more apparent.

Thank you! It's exciting. I think you're right, I should be a little more patient!

 

[Jlblake]

Fuel suppliers vary. I talked to one supplier that has a 300 gallon per sale minimum. Mine only has a 60 gallon minimum but I end up paying pump price of road diesel for off road. The convenience of not hauling it is worth it to me. I keep two 55 gallon drums on hand and end up filling them about 3 times a year. I also have a diesel generator and live in a storm prone area so that is another motivation for me to keep fuel on site.

Sounds like you should try to find a internet provider that uses the Verizon towers IF you have a good fast signal in your house. Download a speed test app or use your phone browser to test at fast.com. Finding one that doesn't throttle or short you on data is the trick. DSL is a good deal if you can get it at reasonable cost and you are in an area where they deliver decent speed. I had it for years but could only get 1.5 Mbps down on the best day. My AT&T internet service is working good but phone service from them, not so much. Go figure? We have a Verizon phone that works okay in the house but recently had to add a booster for that. Not sure what they changed but our cell service diminished all of a sudden. We cannot and have never got a decent data bandwidth from the Verizon phone. I can get a steady 15 Mbps down through AT&T but can't get my old Motorola phone to use internet calling.

Are you sure your deductible is 3% of the value of your home or 3% of the claim? A $6000 deductible across the board is pretty extreme. Call your agent and find out how low you can get it and what the cost difference is. We have $500 deductible on our home owners with $100 deductible on contents and everything else. Worth it to me for piece of mind. We use to have $100 on everything but our government regulated us to no better than $500 on the house for the insurance companies benefit.

Thanks for the information. I do have 3% deductible...wanted lower premium. It's good for the house since nothing is likely to happen to it. Not good for equipment since the deductible makes up so much of the value. I figure if anyone messes with my stuff, they'll probably mess with all of it.