Who is Prepared for a Major Attack or Natural Disaster?

[B 2/75]

Used motor oil will work just fine for lubing either a misery whip two-man saw, or your Stihl chainsaw bar. The scrubbing action of the metal dust that's suspended in that used oil is so negligible as to be nonexistant. But the fact that one oil change in your car gets you a few years worth of bar oil is a pretty good benefit, IMO.

[schibbs]

Originally Posted by B 2/75

Used motor oil will work just fine for lubing either a misery whip two-man saw, or your Stihl chainsaw bar. The scrubbing action of the metal dust that's suspended in that used oil is so negligible as to be nonexistant. But the fact that one oil change in your car gets you a few years worth of bar oil is a pretty good benefit, IMO.

That is all good to know and thanks for the advice. I worked years ago with a bunch of purist loggers in the mountains. They were all big Stihl guys and never used any other oil( of course they made a shit ton of money)... It just got to be so daggum expensive when I was dropping trees here on the farm.

[Ole crusty bastard]

Originally Posted by schibbs

That is all good to know and thanks for the advice. I worked years ago with a bunch of purist loggers in the mountains. They were all big Stihl guys and never used any other oil( of course they made a shit ton of money)... It just got to be so daggum expensive when I was dropping trees here on the farm.

I think that Honda and Harley make their own oil too.

[wowzers]

Well my calculations were wrong on water consumption. The last big rain we had that filled my cistern was back in early June. We made it to last week on 2000 gallons plus or minus some small showers. I think the tenfold increase in animals upped consumption substantially. By next year I should have a collection system on every barn, and shelter etc, hopefully another big tank in the system and potentially a pond. Guess I'll hauling water once a week in from town till the rains come.

[Stretch]

Do you guys have a well? Based on the water table depth they run around $6k here.

[B 2/75]

1500 gallon cistern tanks avail at Tractor Supply for about $800.

[wowzers]

Originally Posted by Stretch

Do you guys have a well? Based on the water table depth they run around $6k here.

No well till I save for it. They are considerably more here. The water level is at about 400' and I'm figuring about $15K. I have a friend in a different town who is into his almost $50k and gets like 1.5-2.5gpm, sometimes. I can buy a lot of tanks for that.

Originally Posted by B 2/75

1500 gallon cistern tanks avail at Tractor Supply for about $800.

Same here. My original one is 2500 gallon but I had to drop the entrance point to keep the water from freezing up in the in pipe off the roof, so I lost about 500 gallons capacity. I need to come up with a better use of the grey water then having it just hit the septic also.


There are a lot of folks off grid here so it's pretty common to buy water from town. It cost me $5 to fill my 350gal tank off the hydrant from the municipal water works. There is a spring that a lot of folks use too, but it takes a couple hours to fill up a tank like that off it.

[Gsniper]

Wow, I'm spoiled on water. My well is 590' deep and runs 9 gal/min, but I have a stream right thru the property and a pond as well. Water is the least of my worries. I also have a 3" pipe thru my pond dam at a depth of 10', so if I ever need pressurized water all I have to do is hook up.

[schibbs]

It is easy to take for granted when one has ample water supply. Our well is deep, don't remember how deep and it is a fire hydrant. There is no shortage of water here, that is for daggum sure!

[B 2/75]

I have municipal water stubbed out on the property, but digging the ditch and running the line up to the house would be about $3K, and since Black Mountain is a gravity-powered system, and I'm at the exact same level as the reservoir (2,500') I'd need a booster pump, which is at least another $K. So, minimum of $4K to get municipal water that I'd have to pay for,
or -

I dug a well 285' and got a 10 gpm flow with a 60' static level, shallow enough that I have a Simple Pump brand of hand pump that's sticking down 100' into the column. Four strokes and I've got water. If the power goes out (not likely as I've got solar panels with battery backup, and the well pump is 'red plugged' to the batteries) I simply connect the hand pump head to the water line using a washing machine hose, and in a few pumps the 50 gallon pressure vessel is pumped up enough for you to take a shower.

I've also got a 1,500 gallon Tractor Supply rainwater cistern that's buried in the yard for watering the veggie garden and the greenhouse when we get one.

[wowzers]

Small world, I grew up where you live.

[schibbs]

Where I lived for many years in Grand County, Colorado, collecting rainwater , cisterns, et al were illegal. The Denver Water board and the Senior and Junior water rights holders owned everything that came out of the sky. Wells were commonplace and cost mega bucks, drilling through the rocky mountains!

[The Fat Guy]

I have 2 10k gallon cisterns in the ground, 1 I use to water livestock. The other one just leaks out during heavy rains. I have a 3k gallon water catchment system in pieces, waiting for someone to come repair my gutters. I may just install gutter made from PVC to ensure a cleaner fit. I am also going to put gutters on a large outbuilding to run rain water right into the operational cistern. (It has a pump and pressure tank) I am going to put a solar generator in that wellhouse so HH6 does not have to fuck with a generator when the power goes out. I also have piping which sadly is compromised from the cistern to the house. Ideally, I could use the city water system to fill the cistern and then shut off city water and pump cistern water through the whole house water system and run the drinking water through the reverse osmosis filter. Right now, I would have to do that with a hose, making winter use of this system a bitch.

[schibbs]

I wonder how much work I could manage just travelling the country helping folks with their chores.......I reckon I have a few good years left working with these hands the Lord gave me. I would need to upgrade my truck , and I have all the tools......

[wowzers]

TFG, we have those chintzy plastmo gutters and they last even through 18" of snow on the roof. In fact at one point before I redid them they were completely full of ice. I had scheduled a guy to come out and put seamless ones in but couldn't justify the price. When we build the future house I'm sure we will though.