Senile Texas Aggie - comic relief for the rest of you

[Mike CHS]

We have a portable now but have not used it a single time since moving in. I had a Generac propane (whole house) unit when I lived in hurricane country in Florida and loved the simplicity of use as well as what I considered a reasonable price.

 

[frustratedearthmother]

I recently purchased a 17,500 Generac gas powered. I don't have propane so that was out and I wanted something that was at least 'sorta' portable. The diesel ones the size I wanted weren't available as portable and of course the gas powered one was more economical.

My son is an electrician so he hooked it up to the breaker box for us. All we have to do is turn off the main breaker, start the generator (electric start) and flip another breaker and we're good to go. Today was the first time we put a load on it and everything worked beautifully.

I have another smaller gas powered generator also. It's a 4000. I used it for nearly two weeks many years ago when Hurricane Ike hit us. It wouldn't run the whole house but it got us through. Wouldn't run the Central AC - but had no problem with a small window unit. We just alternated things like fridge and freezer.

 

[farmerjan]

If you are looking at whole house, go with a propane unit. Even if you don't have anything else propane. The whole house ones will automatically kick on if your power goes out for more than a certain amount of time, like 5 minutes or something. I believe they can be set differently. Most of our stuff on the farm is diesel. So we have that available. Gas ones are cheaper. You can get a dual fuel one that is usually gas and propane and can run off one of the small propane tanks like you get for a grill, or off a bigger one.
One thing to consider about gas or even diesel..... If there is no power, the gas stations do not have power either. So what do you do in the case of say a derechio where the power is out for days or weeks? When there is no gas or diesel to be had. Also, both gas and diesel will break down in storage for any length of time.... gas especially. So it isn't like you can keep a 100 gal tank of gas and only use 10 gal out of it a couple times a year.... you need to be using it and replenishing it. If you store it in 5 gal gas cans the rule of thumb is to not store longer than 2-4 weeks max.
Propane is storable.... you may get a little "bleedoff" if the tank is in the summer sun.... but not that much. You can get a bigger tank and have it there ready to go. It is better if you have something else to use the propane, so you are getting a fillup of the tank every so often....Don't you have a gas heater inside that looks like a fireplace?
If it is electric, then it won't do you a bit of good in a power outage.... but a small gas "fireplace" will help heat a room or two in a house.... of course if you have the generator then you won't need it. But that small gas heater will also cut down on your electric bill if you use it during the winter when the power is working. Some have fans, that need electricity, but some have like a battery backup that can be used if the power goes out.
So my vote is for a propane fueled generator.... and you can store more than a weeks worth of propane without worrying about the "gas getting stale", and not having to go somewhere to find the gas when everyone else's power is out too.
You can get a dual fueled smaller one, but get the biggest one you can afford as they use less fuel if sized for the load and not working so hard...6500 or bigger if you want to do very much at the same time.
Propane is also much more economical in most places. It is produced in the shale oil fields also, so is one of the things that has made the USA energy independent along with the oil reserves....
Of course if AOC and all them get in, you will have to be all "GREEN" in like 20 years.... guess all our tractors will sit and everyone will be using horses and go back to trying to homestead 160 acres and no one will be transporting much feed over the roads......and your house will have to be solar and good luck to those of you in cold climates because too many wood burning stoves will cause pollution too.....
I am not against solar or wind or hydro....but there are things it just isn't going to be practical for.... Can you imagine how long it would take a solar powered tractor to harvest the amount of corn acres in just Iowa, in the time frame it has to be gotten done....????
I had that trip on the steam train a couple of weeks ago, but I sure don't think I want to go back to steam trains as a major mode of transportation for cross country moving of PERISHABLE GOODS.... We will never be able to have strawberries in MN in winter from FL.... or grapefruit.... or any crop grown in Ca shipped across country because how are they going to fuel the refrigerated cars

Well, that is my 2 cents.... and another couple of $$$ worth of opinion!!!!

 

[farmerjan]

If your tractor is diesel, do you have a larger tank on the property for diesel so you don't have to cart 5 gal cans all the time? Ask at your local co-op.... or if the house is diesel, that same #2 fuel oil (diesel) can be run in the tractor if you have a hand pump to pump it into the tractor tank. That is all "off road" diesel....it is not dyed, and is not subject to road taxes like what you get at the pumps.... So a diesel would not be impractical that way.... but in cold weather diesel fuel can "gel" and make it like molasses trying to be sucked up a small straw.... you would have to get winterized diesel....we just add a couple 5 gal cans of kerosene to the diesel storage tanks... or a gal or so in the tractor when we fill it up if it is real cold.... makes it starting easier.... but we don't have all the heaters that they have on the new ones.... a block heater on one tractor and a couple have the heater that goes in the oil pan (?) . All the trucks have heaters to plug in as well as several have glow plugs that help to heat it before you start it....

 

[Bruce]

I would even consider a backup battery bank if the cost of that is comparable to an electric generator.

Up front cost of battery storage is high, far more than the cost of a generator if you have enough to run a decent portion of the house for a long period. I assume you would be charging them via the grid until the power goes out?

I am hoping to get another solar array and battery storage (make use of fed tax credits since we owe a ton of taxes for this year). DW just got a 2020 Leaf and drives 70 miles round trip 6 days a week. Don't want to pay ever rising electric company prices to fuel the car. Also might get some mini-split heat pumps so that would need more electric power as well.

you may get a little "bleedoff" if the tank is in the summer sun.

Our 250 gallon propane tank is buried.

but a small gas "fireplace" will help heat a room or two in a house

And if the experience of a rental house some people I know were in, will run a fortune in propane. Maybe that was was just poorly designed?

Propane is also much more economical in most places.

"Most" being key. I got on the pre-buy plan this year, didn't know I was eligible for it until last Feb. 600 gallons PREPAID is about $2.50/gallon. I was paying almost $4.50 last winter. Yep, the propane company COULD have contacted me and let me know I was eligible for the program and it would save me money. I have paid THOUSANDS of $$ more that I needed to.

that same #2 fuel oil (diesel) can be run in the tractor

Not quite the same. Near as I can tell the sulfur content in #2 fuel oil is higher than that required for diesel fuel. I don't know if the higher sulfur would have any effect on a modern diesel tractor or generator engine though. I add an ounce of anti-gel to the 5 gallon "cans" of off road diesel in the winter.

Anyone want a nice looking 1949 Farmall C?? There is one for sale just up the road from me.

 

[Senile_Texas_Aggie]

We currently have a 500 gallon propane tank that sits just south of our shop. There is a non-functional propane backup generator already connected to the propane and to the electrical circuits of our house. Maybe it would make sense to simply replace the old generator with a new one instead of buying a gasoline or diesel generator. I will look into what's available.

We currently have a propane fireplace which we use for heat in the winter, along with electric space heaters. The first winter here we burned through a tank of propane by December. It cost us $900 to refill it. Ouch! We quickly turned off the central heat and bought electric space heaters. Since we like our house to be cool (especially the bedroom), then the switch wasn't bad.

I am still working along the east side of the driveway, trying to lower a bank of dirt and debris that a previous owner made. I am trying to lower that bank to improve drainage. I wish I had the mini-excavator here to do the work with, as it could move more dirt than I can using my box blade and FEL bucket. But if Mr. Greybeard's dad can dig a pond using only a box blade, then I can remove a bank of dirt doing the same thing.

Senile Texas Aggie

 

[Bruce]

Have you had the generator checked? Maybe it is repairable for a lot less than a new one??

But if Mr. Greybeard's dad can dig a pond using only a box blade, then I can remove a bank of dirt doing the same thing.

Or you could BUY a mini-ex

 

[Senile_Texas_Aggie]

Have you had the generator checked? Maybe it is repairable for a lot less than a new one??

No, I have not. According to the previous owner, the controller board in it is bad. But that is something I should consider.

Or you could BUY a mini-ex

I think I could use a mini-excavator a good bit, at least for a month or two. But considering how much a decent one costs (> $60K, I think), I could rent one for a lot of hours and still be ahead. I would only need to avoid turning around in a small driveway.

On Monday and Tuesday, I continued digging out the dirt bank using the box blade. I discovered that if I backed up using the box blade, I could dig more on each pass than if I went forward. So I managed to dig an area maybe 30' wide by 50' deep. Then a slow moving rain system came in on Wednesday and ended up raining on us almost all day. Once that moved out, then the remnants of hurricane Laura moved in on Thursday, and it rained all day and into the night. We got 3.9" of rain from the two systems. So now the area is really wet, and I will need to let it dry out before starting back.

Senile Texas Aggie

 

[Ridgetop]

Even if the propane generator is bad, have the propane tank and lines checked. Even if you own the tank most companies will do a free check of the tank and lines for safety. If you already do business with a propane company check with them. Since you already have the tank and obviously lines to the house, if the tank and lines are sound, you can get a straight propane generator as Farmerjan recommends. You will be using it for emergencies only, so you won't use it very often anyway. Get the largest one to run your whole house in an emergency. Then contact the propane company and ask about the "up front payment" price deal Bruce is talking about to fill the tank.

Using gas and propane fireplaces for heat is not efficient - my daughter had one in their last house and when they used t it didn't do much for the room temp. Her husband's temperature, however, shot off the charts when he got the gas bill. Several other people have told me the same thing since then about gas fireplaces.

FYI When we renovated my aunt;s little huse in Yelm several years ago, I had the propane man come out to check the tank and he recommended we replace the original copper tubing with flexible tubing for safety. Earthquakes and shifting ground or storms could cause the copper tubing to fracture resulting in a leak. She only used the propane for her stove, since we installed electric heating for her. The company said that propane house heating systems were no longer allowed due to safety. That may be just Washington state. She had a good wood stove that she had been using for heat until we put in the electric HVAC split system. We kept that for emergencies.

Our 5th wheel trailer has a generator that will run everything when it is on. We generally only use it for making coffee in the am, running the microwave if needed, and cooling the trailer down in summer when traveling. When stopped for any length of time, we try to get utilities. Camping isn;t what it used to be. Thank goodness, since sleeping on the ground is not the adventure it used to be!

 

[Bruce]

No, I have not. According to the previous owner, the controller board in it is bad. But that is something I should consider.

If it is only the circuit board and the rest of the generator is good, that should be WAY less expensive than buying a new generator of any type. If you have the generator make and model you can look up the price of a new board online, especially if you can find a part number on the board.

I would only need to avoid turning around in a small driveway.

But that is one of an excavator's strengths - turning around in place!