The Good Banter Thread

[sissy]

not sure but now busy looking at on grid solar system for the house .Any one here have solar .I could not meet the point system for the wind sun one so they turned me down .I was looking at on grid this way I would not have batteries and figure while the sun is out free power .I also donated 3 tv's to my local church to give to people and a lot of clothes to them also .Closets all look empty now too .Next is to call collie equipment as they offered to buy back the zero turn lawnmower in trade for a zero turn with a steering wheel instead of the bars on the one I have and so far new lawnmower from them I want is 18 hundred dollars and the commercial grade one cost me over 4 thousand and so far they offered me 35 hundred as it is hardly used and he said he has a buyer for it already and offered to pick it up and drop off the new one .Plus new one comes with a free cart and free grass seeder .So I get out of the deal some cash too .so commercial grade will go bye bye .
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[sissy]

table at least takes some of the space up and my dolls in my case

 

[CountryEscape]

Sissy, I have the same commercial grade Cub Cadet, but mine is the 56" one, and it's called the "Tank". I love it. Have had it for 10 years, and not done anything to it but normal oil changes and greasing it. Last year I had them go over it and sharpen the blades and so forth, but didn't cost much. I mow about 2 acres, so it's worth it. I don't like that it didn't come with any kind of a hitch, but my former husband put a bar on it so I can hook things up to it. It's a great mower, but VERY heavy. No pulling it by hand out of a ditch if it's too wet. Have to get my tractor or truck. Before this one, I had a Dixon, and that sucker was light weight, I could easily pull it out of the ditch. This one must weigh 800-1000#. It's heavy. I just have to stay away from the ditches when it's wet.

 

[Big Lou]

From what I've read about them, most have decided netting the bottom does a better job in the long run, uses less water, less mess. The stuff on the bottom of my pond comes out in a matt like a rug when I net it a couple times a year. I use a product that's supposed to help that happen. I use it in my aquariums, and it also makes the waste adhere together somehow.
Another note: I think it's best if you are in a colder climate during the winter, to leave the stuff on the bottom of your pond (as long as it's not a bunch of gunk) until after your pond cycles - water has warmed up, beneficial bacteria has had a good chance to get going good, plants are growing, etc. There is likely good bacterial in the stuff that has accumulated on the bottom of your pond, and if you remove it all right now, you may put your pond out of biological balance. I think that's what contributed to my pond going murky brown last spring, took a month or little more to clear back up. I netted it in the spring, trying to clean it out before everything got going good, and may have done more harm than good.
Good luck finding something that works for you! My sister has an Oase' vacuum that she says is the cat's meow, but she lives in AZ, and uses the water on her lawn and plants.

CE, please explain how you net the bottom of a pond? Sounds like a great solution for leafs.

 

[CountryEscape]

Oh, sorry, sounds like a huge net! I have my fish net that is about 20" or so, and use that to run along the bottom of the pond to "net" the muck that is down there. The best part is when I do this after the good bacteria is up and growing well, it comes out in a matt, like a rug, and everything sticks together. I have no rocks on the bottom, so it's a very easy job.
Last fall I netted some leaves out late, maybe in November, and came up with a frog or two. Seems the bullfrogs like to snuggle into the leaf and muck on the bottom. Now, I'm not saying there is very much down there, that's not the case at all. But, I then decided to leave it all until summer, so they could keep their home. I also think (don't know for sure, but just a thought) that the reason my pond went murky brown for a month or more last spring was because I netted the bottom very early, because we had such an early spring, and messed up the bacteria balance. I may be way off course with this thought, but that's the reason I'm not touching the bottom this year until the pond is warm enough for me to be feeding the fish. At that point, the beneficial bacteria should be growing well, too. I know I read that bacteria survives the winter in the muck, but goes dormant. So, that's my theory to the cloudy water. I've not had any algae yet this year, but then we have not yet had more than a day at a time of over 45 degree weather! Nothing like this time last year. But, the sun is shining, and I won't complain. No wind next few days either, and mostly sunny, so I'll be fine with that.

 

[sissy]

I hate that lawn mower i want one with a steering wheel .I think ce is talking about the pool nets we all use on our ponds to clean stuff from the bottom .My pool net I even use to catch the fish .I have 2 kinds of nets for the end of it and with the extention you can reach far .

 

[CountryEscape]

My net is adjustable, but not nearly as long as a pool net. Do you have a net that is deep for catching the fish, Sissy? I'd like to have one that is deep for catching the fish. By the time I move to the other side to catch one, it moves across the pond again. LOL They are smart little buggers. Still have about 5 goldfish in the koi pond. Should try to snatch them on Sunday, when the weather gets cold again, but when it's cold, they hide under the garage shelf thingys, and I don't want to move the pots that are on those things, so they win again ... for now.

 

[koiguy1969]

 

[Fishylove]

Hah!! Love it !

 

[Event Horizon]

Ok, so the cats got in the habit of playing with their water dish. Dragging it across the room, dropping kibble into it, spilling it etc. So we figured we would get a big one that they could not move. Of course we go out and treat them better than the children and get them the cadillac of all water dishes.

No change

 

[Big Lou]

By the way EH, you do not look at all like your first photo. Did you go on a "mountain man" diet? LOLx23

 

[Event Horizon]

I am the guy on the street with the snowblower. That day we had close to a foot of snow. I was just coming in after doing 5 drives and 1\2 of a skating rink, I was so sore, would have been easier just doing my own drive with a shovel. lol

 

[sissy]

My net is adjustable, but not nearly as long as a pool net. Do you have a net that is deep for catching the fish, Sissy? I'd like to have one that is deep for catching the fish. By the time I move to the other side to catch one, it moves across the pond again. LOL They are smart little buggers. Still have about 5 goldfish in the koi pond. Should try to snatch them on Sunday, when the weather gets cold again, but when it's cold, they hide under the garage shelf thingys, and I don't want to move the pots that are on those things, so they win again ... for now.

The pool net i have is over 10 ft long when extended out and I bought 2 kinds of nets for it and it is easy to catch them with the big net.I can get extentions for the pool net but don't need them for my pond .I bought mine nets at walmart but the pole i bought at lowes .I found the easiest time to catch them is when you drop a treat in the water and scoop fast .I have those strawberry and blueberry and orange treats I buy at pet mountain .com and they are less than 3 dollars a bag .They are easy to catch when there belly's are calling them .Also other easiest time is night time they slow down then .

 

[MitchM]

not sure but now busy looking at on grid solar system for the house .Any one here have solar ......

Sissy, I have been experimenting a bit with electric solar panels and have also priced out a solar system for our place. It's very expensive.
We use a lot of electricity here, about 2 - 3000kwh/month and a replacement for our present on-grid supply would run about $100K. Amortizing over 25 years, we might be able to come close to our present $.10/kwh price.
I think it's only worth it if you are looking at a big installation bill for a new install.
If you wanted to do it without batteries, you would have constantly fluctuating power so that would limit what electrical devices you could run without doing any damage.

We do have some solar hot water supply, but again, it's expensive. It does give us enough for our domestic requirements during the summer.

 

[sissy]

I want on grid and solar panels have come down alot and you can always start with 2 or 3 and add on as money permits .I checked out the panels from a local company in Martinsville VA and one from NY and panels for are cheaper now and so far looking at 10 panels 2.450 watts will cost 4.902 dollars and no batteries but that comes with limits of course as the sun is not predictable . .Batteries are over a thousand dollars a piece .I talked to Dan at solar edge .com and it is wholesale solar and waiting to find out the cost from survivorpowersystems.com .I can get some of the tax rebates but not all of them as I don't itemize on my taxes since I payed cash for my house .The new systems have a switch that goes on grid or off grid or half and half .Depends on how much sun you are getting .I am still trying to figure the whole thing out and they are going to let me see homes that have the new on grid systems and how the switching box works and see how satisfied they are with them and how much they have saved so far .2 of the people had there systems put in last year and 1 had there system put in just over 3 years ago .