Posted on 09/22/2014 5:36:25 AM PDT by redgolum
The fact is that farming is a lot like owning a hoard of gold that also pays current income.
And while we all like to point the finger of blame at the bad old railroads, the fact is that there isn't a grain car shortage; there is a handling and storage shortage in the inland grain industry. Increasing the number of grain cars would only transfer that shortage from inland elevators to export houses and processors.
>> Ethanol for fuel is, well, depriving animals who make wonderful dishes on the table.
Agreed
>> my preference is to go directly to hydrogen fuel.
Good luck with that. I have no problem with ANY alternative energy source whatsoever — burn unicorn dung if that’s your preference — as long as my tax dollars don’t subsidize it.
I will point out that the technology and infrastructure for pumping a liquid fuel into a tank that is at atmospheric pressure is rather well-developed and well-proven. :-)
OK, honesty works, what do you want?
Even if I could stop ethanol today, how would that change things for small engines?
You say 70% of them need rebuilds for ethanol, which is a suspect number in my book, but I’ll go with it for discussion sake. Are you saying that they haven’t been damaged yet, and so now they can be used? Or are you saying that they’ve run all this time without damage?
It’s very unclear what you want me to be honest about.
Twelve years ago I rebuilt a 1980 EZ-GO golf cart and we used it around the compound daily for many years. It ran out of gas and my wife filled it up with ethanol by mistake. The next day it was dead and hadn’t run since. Now I have to rebuild it again. Why? Ethanol.
Bizarre.
NT asked me to be honest, and I agreed, so I’m asking the same of you.
Do you believe that manufacturers haven’t figured out how to make gaskets and seals which work with ethanol?
They certainly have figured it out. BBBUUUUUTTTTT, I have many old vintage gas engines around here and now I should have to locate new made resistant gaskets, seals, TUBING, FLOATS, etc for these old engines then tear down each perfectly working engine and throw out perfectly good parts to replace them with new parts? My 1950 Evinrude dock-banger outboard probably isn’t a high priority item for gasket makers to jump right on and make new parts.
Look at many farms. There will be old tractors and a grain truck or dump truck that might get used once a year for ccertain chores. They work great. Fill er up with ethanol and you have the start of a scrap metal pile without rebuilding the engine either before or after the first tankful.
>> OK, honesty works, what do you want?
I’d like it if you’d stop pushing the fallacy that the effects of ethanol on gasoline engines is “no big deal”.
That’s disingenuous.
You’re saying it’s a big deal.
How do you measure that?
Think of the millions of vehicles on the road at this moment, and, as a practical matter, none are having problems relating to ethanol, nor are their engines wearing out because of ethanol.
There are a lot of reasons to end the ethanol.
The one you listed wouldn’t make the Top 20 list.
Cars aren’t the only thing using gas. Millions of small engines are in use and almost none of them are ready for ethanol. A friend landed at an airport in his Super Cub and the gas pumps were broken. His airplane is rated for pump gas so he got some from town and dumped it in and flew on home. The floats in his fuel gauges were dissolved by the ethanol and dyed the sight glasses reddish pink. Our ‘94 Buick would barely run on ethanol, it would chug and slow over and over. Sure a new vehicle can take it, but an old chainsaw can’t. Or boat. Or car. Or truck. Or plane. Or tractor. Or generator. Or pump. Or.......
Here are some things it can do, none desirable.
http://www.popularmechanics.com/cars/alternative-fuel/biofuels/e15-gasoline-damage-engine-2
Let’s back up a bit.
Do you believe that manufacturers haven’t figured out how to make gaskets and seals which work with ethanol?
You back up, I’ve already answered that for you.
You did?
I missed it, did you say yes, or did you say no?
“In short, I fear we are seeing the bubble burst on ag commodities. I lived through that in the 1980’s, and this is shaping up to be worse.”
Which states will be most affected? Iowa and Nebraska would be at the top of my list
I said yes, of course.
Now lets say the government mandates new additives in all furniture polish. Any furniture made after 2007 would be able to use the new polish but any older furniture would simply need to be re-finished with the new resistant finishes, or it would fall apart. That wouldn’t be a problem for you or anyone else, would it? I mean, new furniture is all set to use the new polish. Who cares about old furniture?
You need to take a reading comprehension course. No where did I say anything that could even be loosely construed to lead to that.
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