Boxing These Down, Here
31 minutes ago
Thursday, May 30, 2013
Gas Burners
I like big boy toys as much as the next guy: motorcycles, ATVs, motorboats, cars and the like. They are fun and all, but they burn gas. I've got too many gas burners as it is. There's my lovely wife's car. It doesn't go very far and on average uses less than half a tank of gas/month. The 6 hp outboard on my boat uses gas, but it's a sailboat and we mostly sail.
There's the diesel van. Not technically a gas burner, but it does use fossil fuels. 95% of the time it runs on waste veggie oil, so that's not too bad.
Then we have all the small motors in people's lives. The gas lawn mower got ditched over 20 years ago. For about 15 years the lawn was mowed using a push reel mower. No gas or any other fuel needed. Once that wore out, I got lazy and bought an electric mower. The gas weed whacker was replaced with an electric one and hand tools. The chainsaw was replaced with a small electric and a 3.5 foot long manual crosscut saw.
What about a leaf blower? They are the Devil's own invention. I use a rake. I like quiet.
My though is that a person can complain about the oil industry or they can do something about it. No, I'm not 100% “pure,” but only God is perfect.
-Sixbears
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You're doing fine. I got rid of my string trimmer. I traded for a diesel tractor, hoping to burn veggie eventually, and the electric leaf blower is only used on the roof. So, I'm headed that direction, but I haven't caught up to you yet.
ReplyDeleteThought I'd go there before I had to.
Deleteleaf blower patent is held by the devil.
ReplyDeletepeople cause others' allergies to worsen by blowing up all that dirt.
i have watched people blow all their leaves onto neighbors' property when they are away.
rakes are great and i put the leaves in compost. i get the leaves from across the street , too.
can you burn veg oil in a diesel engine that has diesel in it or does the engine have to be veg only, always?
i read somewhere that the engine cannot have any diesel in it.
my husband was in south america a few years ago and he said most people have cars that run on alcohol OR gas.
it would maybe be good to have one? someone else said the ethanol messes up small motor devices.
do you know? he said don't use it in lawn mowers and such although i don't know where you could get any alcohol-free gas anymore.
love your column. a cool head and fruit of a thoughtful mind. no drum-beating just lots of good sense.
thanks
deb harvey
Thanks Deb Harvey! My conversion has no problems burning a mix of diesel and veggie.
DeleteIf a motor has been built for ethanol, it can handle it pretty good. If not, there's problems.
I prefer the sound of a rake also. There is just too much noise in the world.
ReplyDeleteI enjoy my quiet.
DeleteSixbear i personally hate small engines i am jinxed with them.I personally have switched to electric when its avilable also.When i had a gas station and people complained about a nickle rise in fuel i had a pat reply.You wouldnt mind the cost if you had just pushed that car for 20 miles would you?Oil is a force multiplier = to 500 man hour of work if used right.
ReplyDeletePeople have no idea how much energy is in liquid fuels. It's huge.
DeleteTo tell 'ya the truth, Bubba, I'm damn proud of my carbon footprint...if I can piss off those green whiners in Washington and California, I'll even splash a bit of gasoline on the ground.
ReplyDeleteGlad you can afford to waste money like that. :)
DeleteYou try and save the fuel supply and I will burn it up in my motorhome (grin).
ReplyDeleteYou aren't fooling me Dizzy. You have to worry about your fuel going bad because you don't burn it fast enough.
Delete