[AT] TEST? NOW Ramble! (long)

[charlie hill]

Greg,  it's hard to imagine how cold it is up your way.  It was 75 here 
yesteday and 65 today.  However it is supposed to get down to about freezing 
tonight.  I read with interest about your corn stove.
Unless you are on a public water supply why can't you just let your hot 
water run so that the furnace doesn't overheat?  If you are on well water it 
wouldn't cost you except for the electricity to run the water pump.  That 
seems like cheap heat!  Even if you had to buy the corn at market price you 
are in good shape it seems to me.  I've been paying close to $3.00 a gallon 
for #2 oil this winter.  As mild as it is here I've burned nearly $600 worth 
and the ground has only been frozen once all year.

Charlie
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Greg Hass" <gkhass at avci.net>
To: "Antique tractor email discussion group" <at at lists.antique-tractor.com>
Sent: Sunday, February 10, 2008 6:52 PM
Subject: Re: [AT] TEST? NOW Ramble! (long)


> Spent most of the day inside with the temperature hovering at or a little
> below zero, with 30 mph winds causing -25 F wind chills.   This weather is
> putting the corn-fired boiler (which I installed in December) to the test.
> In the past 60 days, it has used about 4 tons of corn and, despite the 
> cold
> temperatures, I will have to get about 3 tons tomorrow as it is supposed 
> to
> snow Tuesday.  I am making a guess on the amount I am getting this time, 
> as
> the one drawback to the corn boiler is that when outdoor temperatures
> approach 50 degrees F, it overheats and must be shut down.  The reason for
> this is that the fire never goes completely out, and if it goes for 
> extended
> periods of time without the house draining off any of the hot water,  the
> water will turn into steam and it will no longer circulate.
>
> Another subject:  I enjoy seeing stories of farm equipment and farm life,
> and pictures being put on the list such as Ralph does.  I used to enjoy
> going through an album my grandmother had which included dozens of 
> pictures
> of their
> F-12, F-20 and WK-40 being used to do everything from binding corn to
> running a silo-filler or running a thrashing machine.  When my grandmother
> died, my dad inherited the book, and then shared some of the pictures with
> his brother.  My dad has been gone for 4 years now and, unfortunately,
> despite going through everything in the house, we have never been able to
> find the book.  We have also asked my uncle's family (he has been gone for
> 10 years) to see if they could locate some pictures, but so far no one has
> been able to locate any.  We have no idea what happened to any of these
> photos, although a sister of mine who would come to "visit" my dad every
> Friday for the last year or so of his life.  We have since discovered she
> systematically went through every inch of the house from basement to attic
> and many things are missing, although I cannot say if she took the book or
> not.  It would sure be nice to have some of these photos to share with the
> list.
>
> On the farm level, I have been trying to prepare for the coming planting
> season, although I am having an extremely hard time coming to terms with 
> the
> fact that most of these seed companies want you to know before one year's
> crop is harvested to know what you are going to do the coming year!  I
> called a cousin of mine who sells seed and, although I ordered some 
> soybean
> seed, he told me his company's corn seed is already sold out.  I had 
> already
> ordered my seed corn from another guy who had the variety I wanted, and it
> is $195/bag.  A bag plants less than 3 acres. Friday I called my 
> fertilizer
> dealer to inquire as to whether it would pay to switch to liquid 
> fertilizer.
> I was told that all of their liquid fertilizer has already been sold and
> they can get no more.  Prices of all fertilizers are going up again on
> Monday.  It seems to me that these supply companies are playing the same
> game as the oil companies with their claims of shortages just to drive the
> price sky high.  Even with the higher prices we are receiving for the 
> crops
> now, it is still no match for the hugely increasing input costs.
>
> I will be leaving Thursday for the National Machinery Show in Louisville,
> KY.  I had not even thought of going, however my brother has been planning
> to go for a couple of months with a bus tour.  The bus tour was cancelled 
> a
> couple of weeks ago due to lack of interest so he has decided to drive 
> down
> (about a 7-1/2 hour drive to where they are staying) and asked if I would
> like to go along.  I still would not have considered it, except that my
> daughter lives near Columbus, IN which is about an hour's drive from
> Louisville, so I will stay with her while I am there. Also, my son lives
> near Indianapolis so we will be able to stop there for a couple of hours 
> on
> the way through.  We plan to be at the show on Friday and do other things 
> on
> Saturday, returning to the Thumb on Sunday.
>
> One last little note concerning the price of old iron....try new iron!  I
> received a JD parts sale catalog last week and one thing that caught my
> attention was something as simple as a drawbar for an 8200 tractor.  At 
> the
> "low" price of $735.
>
> Greg Hass
> Michigan's Thumb
>
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