[AT] was Ralph's rotary mower(now fuel price)

Mon Jul 31 04:47:47 PDT 2006

This is late.   I was out of town all weekend and haven't read all replies 
so it might be late and redundant.   Anyway,  I can't remember the exact 
number but it is something like 5000 people will retire every day for the 
next 20 (?) years.   (That being the baby boomer retirement wave)   Many of 
those folks will be taking lump sum retirements and investing the money 
somewhere.  Lots of them will put it in real estate.

I live in coastal NC and folks are flooding in here and buying houses (and 
land tracts when available).  Prices shot up for 3 years in a row. 
Currently the market has flattened and existing houses have dropped (in 
asking price) by about 5 to 6%.    That is about 1/3 to 1/4 of what they 
went up last year.

I think as long as that flow of cash keeps pumping into the economy the 
trend you are seeing will continue, Cecil.   I don't know what it's going to 
do to our farm lands.  With real estate prices high and farm production 
prices low there will be more farmers selling than buying.
I guess the tractors will go to the city folks that build their retirement 
homes in your pasture.  Sad to see but ............

Charlie

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Cecil Bearden" <crbearden at copper.net>
To: "Antique tractor email discussion group" <at at lists.antique-tractor.com>
Sent: Saturday, July 29, 2006 7:32 PM
Subject: Re: [AT] was Ralph's rotary mower(now fuel price)

> This is just a small musing about the real cost of these fuel prices I do 
> not want to start a bitch session, just discussion.  If I knew the answer 
> to these questions......
>
> We used to use about 50 gallons of diesel a weekend building up things 
> around the place, and no telling how much gasoline.  We were always 
> diverting runoff to prevent erosion, hauling some broke concrete to fill 
> in a ditch, moving some shale for a roadbed to prevent rutting, mowing the 
> borrow ditch, grinding a little feed, burying a water line or putting in a 
> culvert, etc.
>
> Now after being hit with a dollar more for fuel from last year and it up 
> $0.60 from the year before, we just do not do anything unless it is 
> absolutely necessary.  The 4 wheelers are used for all transportation and 
> most work and the pickup and truck only if we have to haul something 
> really heavy that we can't drag with the 4 wheeler or we have to get out 
> on the road (more than a mile).  I used to haul tractors and equipment in 
> from all over the state, but now, I just can't justify the fuel cost.  I 
> hauled off 14 head of sheep last month, and after the fleecing I got from 
> the sale barn ($175) , I got one at the fuel pump($110).  Net result $65 
> for 14 head....
>
> Not to mention that I just do not build anything unless it is also 
> absolutely necessary due to the high iron prices.  I was going to open up 
> a fabrication shop upon retirement, but that is now out of the question. 
> Retirement may also be since my monthly gas bill went up about $300. 
> Trips into town are planned much better now, but it still costs way too 
> much..
>
> My question I am posing is: what is the real cost of these high fuel 
> prices? If we forego conservation practices or maintenance due to it just 
> being too expensive, how long will it take until our farms are run down 
> and if left long enough, just erode away.  Western OK is a prime example. 
> There is land out there being taken over by Cedar trees and canyons.  The 
> new crop is hunting leases, but the land is now just one canyon after 
> another.  The high cost of fuel and equipment is the biggest reason 
> landowners cannot afford to clear and repair.
>
> Of course the snowball effect of all this is going to be one great big 
> recession.  Our economy is being driven by mortgage monies.  Folks have 
> sold homes on the coasts and moving here where housing is lower cost and 
> mortgages are low enough, they have some cashed out equity.  What is gonna 
> happen when that equity gets totally used up??  Again, recession, or 
> depression.  I think the difference is just who is out of a job.
>
> Does anyone want to go out on a limb and predict when this will happen. 
> Or is there some way it won't happen...   I would like to hear some 
> opinions, because this will cause our old tractors to either become too 
> expensive to restore, or to own..  At $3.00 per gallon my old LA case is 
> worth about $250 across the scales.  That is 2 tankfuls of gas... These 
> tractors will get very rare, but who is going to buy them or afford to 
> keep them.
>
> This is too long, but you guys have a lot of experience and knowledge, I 
> just thought you might have some opinions.
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Ralph Goff" <alfg at sasktel.net>
> To: "Antique tractor email discussion group" 
> <at at lists.antique-tractor.com>
> Sent: Saturday, July 29, 2006 1:20 PM
> Subject: Re: [AT] Ralph's rotary mower(now fuel price)
>
>
>>
>> Cecil
>> Gas at the pump in town at the Co-op is around the $1.14 per litre now 
>> which to translate is about 5.13 a Canadian gallon or probably closer to 
>> $4.50 a U.S. gallon.
>> Farm diesel last time I checked, maybe a couple of weeks ago was $3.61 a 
>> canadian gallon. I'd guess road diesel is well over the $4 mark by now. 
>> Expect to see the trucking charges on our grain going up again. No doubt 
>> the price we get for our  grain will increase accordingly (just kidding).
>>
>> Ralph in Sask.
>> http://lgoff.sasktelwebsite.net/
>> ----- Original Message ----- 
>> From: "Cecil Bearden" <crbearden at copper.net>
>> To: "Antique tractor email discussion group" 
>> <at at lists.antique-tractor.com>
>> Sent: Saturday, July 29, 2006 4:29 AM
>> Subject: Re: [AT] Ralph's rotary mower
>>
>>
>>> Ralph:
>>> I gotta deviate from this subject a little.  What is the price of gas 
>>> and diesel in your part of the country now.  We just hit $3.. for road 
>>> diesel and $2.89 for gas here....
>>>
>>> Cecil in Okla
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> AT mailing list
>> Remembering Our Friend Cecil Monson 11-4-2005
>> http://www.antique-tractor.com/mailman/listinfo/at
>
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