Don't you think it's time

Just about the time I am starting my mowing and discing business, seams like the fuel price goes up every couple days. I raised my prices last year, and just can raise them again this year. With all the problems going on in the world, most of our middle east oil supply could be cut off in a hurry, then watch the gas price go out of sight. I think we should be drilling for our own oil, in every state,or coast line that has some. Just my opinion. Stan

Today's gas prices...I guess that what Hope 'n Change is all about. The last time prices got this high (Katrina?) it was Bush's fault because he was supposedly in cahoots with Big Oil. I might need to somehow convert my tractors to wood burners. There's plenty of that around.

A little food for thought.

10% of the US oil comes from the middle east.

Ethanol and biodiesel provides 10% of the US fuel supply.

So 90% of the US fuel supply comes from the US.

Lately there have been days that crude goes up and wholesale gas prices go down and days crude goes down and gas goes up.

None of it makes any sense any more.

Gary

Dave, google wood gasification. You could do just that.

Sorry to burst your bubble, but over 2/3's of our oil is imported. And it doesn't matter whether it comes from the middle east or Venezuela or Nigeria or Libya or elsewhere. Different refineries are set up to refine different crudes, so a refinery that is set up for Nigerian light can't just switch to Venezuela heavy sour feedstock overnight. What I am trying to say is that if you want to cut out the middle east, then the slack will have to be imported from somewhere else, which is probably less stable than the middle east, and it will cost more in the short run due to reduced refinery capacity and changeover costs. More drilling in the US would help, but there is no way we could ever find enough new oil to reduce imports to zero.

Its already been found. The Rocky Moutain west has the shale oil and deep deposits to make the USA totally independent, for decades, maybe centuries, not to mention the natural gas that is abundant in every one of the lower 48 states. Whats lacking, on the nnalert side is the political will to drill and produce and tell the whacko environmntalists to go fly a kite, the nnalert don't want prosperity so they would never go along anyway.

When you get all set up for wood as fuel they will say you can't cut the wood.
Frank

Yes I should not have put in the line about 90% of the US fuel supply being from US. Mistake on my part

But it is higher than what you may think it is.

All the fuel imported from Canada is made from oil exported to Canada from the US.

you can complain or look for an alternative energy source your choice

(quoted from post at 04:45:38 02/21/11) Its already been found. The Rocky Moutain west has the shale oil and deep deposits to make the USA totally independent, for decades, maybe centuries, not to mention the natural gas that is abundant in every one of the lower 48 states. Whats lacking, on the nnalert side is the political will to drill and produce and tell the whacko environmntalists to go fly a kite, the nnalert don't want prosperity so they would never go along anyway.

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If the nnalert don't want prosperity what do they want then?

Face it the rich run this country and we have to live with it. For the most part the price of most stuff is a scam at best. Back in 1971 you could buy a new bare bones car for $2500 or less same car now will cost you $15,000 fuel back then was $0.199 per gal. but now it is $3 per gal. So it goes back to the rich keep getting richer and the poor poorer fact of life. And as long as we let the crooks in the white house do what they want it will stay the way it is. Every year they get a raise and what do the poor guys get but a shaft

alternative energy 1939-45. charcoal.

They want to tell people what to do and how to live, in order to do that they have to get and retain Political power, in order to do that they need a guarunteed block vote, the only way to guaranty that is to keep as many people as possible dependent, its fairly easy because most of the people drawing off the system are too lazy to do anything else.

About a year ago I was in Charleston WV and had dinner with a gentleman who sells supplies to coal mining concerns. He told me that we have enough oil shale to get all the oil we need for over two hundred years. The only problem is that you won't buy it! Gasoline has to be selling for $4.00 a gal. for it to compete. Of course that is still cheap virtually any where else on earth. Be glad that you live in the country of cheap energy!

(quoted from post at 06:02:46 02/21/11) About a year ago I was in Charleston WV and had dinner with a gentleman who sells supplies to coal mining concerns. He told me that we have enough oil shale to get all the oil we need for over two hundred years. The only problem is that you won't buy it! Gasoline has to be selling for $4.00 a gal. for it to compete. Of course that is still cheap virtually any where else on earth. Be glad that you live in the country of cheap energy!

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Almost $8 a gallon here...........

The government stepped in and mandated the design of the automobile and the price jumped up accordingly. There is quite a bit a government manadated component tracking that goes into the manufacturing that the typical car owner doesn't know about or understand. There is also the cost of the EPA intervention required to build a car without poluting the environment. The cars before government intervention were basic transportation and very simply built and therefore what seems now to be inexpensive. Inflation has also taken it's toll on the price of the auto. When cars were simple there were approximately 12 engineers who did the engineering on a particular transmission. Now the engineering is subdivided into component types so one group does all of the structure while another does all of the lubrication systems and yet another to do the electronic control strategy and so on. It takes many more poeple to handle all the additional tasks. We had new engineers that came to work from McDonald Douglas and were amazed at the complexity of an automobile transmission as compared to an aircraft system.

Lots of farmers with woods or woodlots here in
Western Wisconsin are putting in outside wood
burners to heat homes/building, provide hot
water. But city folks moving to the country,
where they can raise,(and starve) a horse on
1 or 2 acres are complaining of the "smoke smell"
so they"re passing laws against outside woodburners ! The newcomers "load" the town
board meetings and get their proposels passed !

Old: I always appreciate your posts! But look at the price of gas this way: how many gallons of fuel (at.19.9/gal) did an hour's labor purchase then and how many gallons of fuel does an hour's labor pay for today? There isn't a whole lot of difference, is there?

And those old cars were basically junk by 100K. Engines needed tuneups every 15 - 20K. You didn't get 250K out of those old girls.

IMO The world will never run out of oil,There is plenty everywhere and oil fields are constantly being replenished by a natural process from deep within the earth,altough we might be pumping faster than it comes in.
I don't believe crude is derived from plant/animal matter.There is just to much of it.

But hey,there's plenty money be made in oil right now by the ones involved.
Keep the common people stupid and keep fleecing them
why would they kill the golden egg laying goose eh.

here in ontario canada about $5.15 a gallon
dollar about par so no need to convert
bob

Might depend on who you are and what you make as income. Me back then I could afford to buy a full tank at any time but now days I can not say the same thing. Back then I could afford to buy a new car which I did do in 1974 cost $3800 and that was even a special order. Now days I can not even think about buying a new car so I can not say I agree with what you say income has not matched cost

I chickened out this morning. Usually I wait until mid March and get all my tanks filled. That lets me burn off most of the winter blend, catch the price usually at its low point annually, and is enough fuel to get me through first cutting. With whats happening in the middle east I just didnt want to be unprotected on price any longer. 2.99 for off road and 3.34 for on road may seem cheap in a few weeks. Regardless, I think the upside risk in the next 2-3 months is greater than the downside opportunity.

the nnalert want prosperity off of MY back.
nnalert aint worth $hit.

Ok, so I guess it's my turn to be mean about it..

Fuel is up about $1.00 a gallon as opposed to this time last year.. Check local listings. Gas is up less.. more like $.75..

Now, are you trying to imply that a $1.00/gal jump is going to more-less "break" your operation? If so.. You're WORKING TOO CHEAP.. I don't know what kind of tractors you're using, or what kind of truck you use to get from one place to another.. but it CAN'T be that hard on fuel.. I run a large JD tractor at work, and the worst I've ever saw the screen show is right around 20 gallons to an acre.. Now, keep in mind, that the working weight of the tractor, tanks it pulls, and liquid have a combined weight of nearly 200,000 pounds (full tank of fertilizer is 100,000 pounds itself), plus pulling a 6-shank toolbar at about 12" of depth, and it comes out to the width of the tractor (16 feet) and usually 1.5 mph, so it takes a little bit of time to cover a acre.. Plus, the tractor runs from one spot of the field to a loaded truck, unloads the truck, runs back and unloads again on that 20 gallons.. and sometimes I have to sit and wait on a truck to arrive.. again still on the same 20 gallons.. Or to make it simple, On an average 11 hour day it will burn right around 100 gallons a day.

So back to the original point, say your tractor is a hog and uses 10 gallons to the hour.. That extra $10 is going to break you?? (Again, as I just stated, in a 11 hour day my 400+ horse tractor uses less than 10 gallons a hour)

Now, My uncle will do backhoe/dozer work, or mow ditches for a per hour fee, and last I knew, he didn't put a key to the ignition for less than $100/hour, 5 hour minimum.. And it makes money.

I will agree that the prices of most things are ridiculous, but in all honesty we're not going to ever change that.. Maybe in a perfect world we can, but face it, it's no perfect world.

To end my long post.. I see 3 options.. 1) Just give up 2)Raise your prices or 3) Just keep on keeping on and live with it, like everyone else. Hell, I wish I got a raise every time fuel went up because it costs me more money to drive to work.. But, it don't work like that for me.. I get my hourly wage to show up for work whether the fuel is $1.00 a gallon or $100.00 a gallon, and whether I drive 1 mile or 100 miles to the jobsite

Rant over.
Brad