Latestarter's ramblings/musings/gripes and grumbles.

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misfitmorgan

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DH jokes all the time that we can split a cow....the other person gets the neck/head, legs from knees down, tail, hide, guts, and soup bones :lol:

We were just talking about getting a foreign truck Tuesday....have to look into toyota. We owned a ford f150...i used to be a Ford girl until it got stuck..on a slight incline on wet grass. We have a chevy trailblazer now which never gets stuck but everything keeps breaking like major parts and its only 10yrs old this year 172k miles, the tiny saturn i traded in for this car was a 1998 and had 305k miles with less problems. So yeah we were talking non ford/chevy/gmc/ram
 

AClark

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@Latestarter - now what's wrong with an old tractor? Lol my parents have a 1938 Ford tractor, little thing, I learned to drive on that about as soon as I weighed enough to push the clutch in. We're Ford folks, they have a 1969 3/4 ton 4x4 that I started driving on when I had a permit, no hydraulic anything, the clutch is super hard to push in, and no power steering. It looks like a use Ford lot at my parents, they have the 1969 3/4 ton F100, 1980 F150 (mine) 1990 F150, 1993 F250, and when I come to visit, my F350. The tractor and all of those trucks runs, my 1980 has a blown head gasket due to owner lack of intelligence (drove it on a split radiator hose and let it over heat) but that's why I have it, they gave it to me for free.
The 1999-2003 F250 turbo diesel has the same motor as the F350. There are definitely some big perks to having a dually. If you blow a trailer tire with a lot of weight and at high speed, it generally won't whip that heavy and big of a truck, and more than likely won't roll the truck if the trailer gets crazy. Yes, buying 6 new tires can suck, but I just did last year and it was $1050 for all 6 mounted and balanced - with a 55,000 mile warranty on the tires. My husbands 2009 Dodge 1500 is on 35's (has a lift and 20 inch rims with mud tires) and his 4 cost more than my 6. The biggest benefit is if I blow a rear tire, I can keep driving without ruining a rim, and I don't carry a spare because if I blow a front, I can yank one off the rear for the front.

My AC is ICY cold. The only problem I've ever had with it is the low pressure sensor has come apart twice, but it's a $30 part and 5 minutes of installation time, you can literally do it without tools. I only paid for it once since it busted under warranty the last time - but it was an aftermarket part. My AC runs colder than the newer Dodge does by a lot, even when it's close to 110 I have to turn it down because it gets freezing in there.

I had a 2004 GMC prior to this, it had 140k and I could hear a lifter knocking when I started it, and I'll be real honest, it was pretty gutless for a 1/2 ton. It would scream going up hills with a light trailer on it, less than 5000 lbs. It was one of those 5.3L Vortec's, the flex fuel ones - yuck. I loved how the GMC rode, it was silky smooth but the pulling power left a lot to be desired. The water pump went out on it to the tune of $800 from the shop right after I told my ex husband to keep it, since he threw a giant fit during our divorce over that truck. He's had nothing but problems with it since. I feel like I dodged 2 bullets with that!

A huge thought on this, but diesels are a lot more expensive to maintain than a gas motor. First off, oil changes cost a lot more. No kidding at all, mine takes 15 Quarts of oil to do a change. That's about $70 for a 5 gallon bucket of 15w40. If you don't do it yourself, it's $100 or more to have someone else do it. The parts, if and when they go, are super expensive too. Also, mine takes 2 batteries to start it, and you can't use just a cheap regular battery, they need 850+ CCA, and the starter takes 18v to crank it over. You end up replacing both batteries (can't do 1 at a time because if one is weak it drags the other down since they are in series) and that gets expensive fast because batteries used in a diesel generally are only good for about 2 years. You also need to change the fuel filter about every 15k miles - which is easy, but messy. Also, God forbid if you run out of fuel, it's not like a gas truck that you can put some in and it will start, you have to sit and prime it.
 

greybeard

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Also, mine takes 2 batteries to start it, and you can't use just a cheap regular battery, they need 850+ CCA, and the starter takes 18v to crank it over.
No, the diesel engine starter requires only 12volts, as the 2 batteries are wired in parallel with each other--not in series. --unless you have a very old BIG truck (as in Peterbilt-Kennworth etc) or a military surplus truck.
 

babsbag

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We were just talking about getting a foreign truck Tuesday....have to look into toyota.

The new ones are $$$$$...$$$$ But I wanted a truck with a higher towing capacity than my '01 Tundra so I started looking for a 2007 or newer with less than 100,000 miles. I would find them and they would be sold before I could get to them; and I was willing to drive 6 hours to get one and still couldn't make it work. I found this one at the local Toyota dealer. With only 36,000 miles it may be the last truck I ever own.

I have owned 7 different Toyotas over the years of various models. My boys and DIL also own Toys. Guess it isn't hard to figure out my preferences. I have also owned Ford, Chevy, VW, Datusn, and Honda but the Toys have been better body and under the hood hands down.
 

Devonviolet

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Hey Joe, (I guess cat's out of the bag on your name) :lol:

I don't know diddly about trucks & tractors. So, I'm going on to a different topic.

I know you want to build a nice pond where the natural streams converge. My dream has always (at least since I dreamed of having land for homesteading) been to have a farm pond, stocked with fish, that I could fish for food and swim in. We have had to put that dream on hold, due to DH recovering from his heat stroke and needing to watch our spending.

I told you I would give you the link for Darrell - the guy who has the newsletter with good info about pond building.

When I went to do that I thought I might as well include some of the other info I have found online.

http://www.whatpond.com/free-education/
This is Darrell's site.
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www.aces.edu › ANR-1114 › ANR-1114. - pdf download
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http://www.aquahabitat.com/techfaqs.html - gives costs for building a pond & more
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www.nrcs.usda.gov › FSE_DOCUMENTS - pdf download
General info on building a pond
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http://www.motherearthnews.com/homesteading-and-livestock/build-a-pond-zmaz06amzwar.aspx
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http://modernfarmer.com/2015/07/how-to-make-a-pond/
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https://pubs.ext.vt.edu/420/420-011/420-011.html#
Pond Construction
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http://www.pondboss.com/free_articles.asp
Lots of free articles on pond building
*****
 
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