The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Smallholding => Equipment => Topic started by: Wizard on January 08, 2010, 09:35:01 am
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:farmer:Hello all Its still white in Grimsby there must be 11/2" - 2" now we up to now keep getting a bit I cleaned the top of the wheelie last night because I took the kitchen bag and put in So I wiped all the snow off the lid.This morning at 8:30 there is a very poor 1/2" of snow on the top of it.The temperature is 0c I think the sun will break through in a little while as it did yesterday,lovely sunny day but bitter with the N.E.Wind.There we are its sunshining now 9:19 am.Yesterday it was nice here but the other side the wold hills there was 6" of snow.So what was he on about when he started?Does the government still use D notices? What is the silly old fool on about now.Well I have a little program on my computer that every Friday tells me how much and where the cheapest petrol is in Grimsby.Today its Salisbury's at 110ppl Now I haven't seen or read in the newspaper the price of petrol is rocketing up soaring,nothing.Now I Know Dear Alistair needs every penny he can get to keep me in the luxury to which I have become accustomed, and the petrol is a easy hit for him but why isn't the AA and the TV and newspapers screaming?Last time it reached over 100p they all went mad in fact dare I say talked of little else.Today now't why? :farmer:
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Thats a lot of snow for Gy!, Im from Grimsby and often go down there visiting family, and also take full advantage of the petrol price whilst down there, its sooooo much cheaper than up at Pickering!!!
My car has been stuck for a while now in the damned snow so not using any fuel ;) ! Maybe by the time the snows cleared and i get to take it out the prices might of dropped back down ??? ;D Im hoping? ;D
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had an annoying moment at the petrol station this week. pulled in wednesday morning to fill up as it was 106.9 per litre (diesel) however my filler cap could not be accessed as the little flap was frozen solid, tried everything, bar breaking it, no joy. went round the corner to work, poured a cup of hot water on it, bingo it opened. drove back round. The price had gone up 3 pence in the 20 minutes gap. >:(. we have our fair share of snow here, which combined with the cold is making things much harder to do.
I have been invited to go on a boat from Grimsby marina, when the weather picks up, not sure I'm looking forward to it.
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they reckon that with the vat increase and extra tax increases that fuel will be 10 per litre dearer than it is now,which means prices have to go up,which means minimum wage and benefits will go up to cover the cost of living,meaning prices will go up to cover costs,which means a lot of small businesses and perhaps even large businesses[who are more likely to walk away when its not profitable as there business people rather than people who do it cos they love it ] will shut down.then when were all on the dole and the country finally comes to a standstill well be equivalent to a third world country. :'(
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3p in 20 mins is crazy! I bet you was annoyed! I would have been! :o
Sounds nice, Brrrrrrrrrr lol :D all the time i lived there i never went on a boat! Id of loved to tho, but i did used to go swimming in the docks and rafting, every year in the summer they have a raft race in the docks it a great! Altho it is advised not to go in in white clothes as you come out brown! ::)
My sisters OH is a fisherman in Gy, didnt no they had a marina tho, it was called "down dock" or grimsby docks when i was a grimsby townie, lol :)
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I think it is a posh word for the docks. he has a small fishing boat, like a trawler, which he uses for liesure fishing and my brother and I have volounteered to go along for a trip. Hopefully catch a little bit of whitefish for the freezer.
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Aye its still down dock Danielle. Do you remember the fuss about the A180(M) It runs from the Flyoverbridge roundabout across what was the Alexandra Docks timber yards and over the dock past along the riverside of Adam Smith Street through Dixons Paper Mills Yard and out to Gt Coates and Immingham.The part of the Alexandra Dock where Thompson Eyre and Denny Motts wood yard was is all a posh up market marina.The Lincoln Castle Ferry is moored in the dead end land side of Corporation Bridge and is a posh caff and drinking den.There is nothing you will remember bar the Dock Tower and the derelict Ice House.Even the bridge on Humber Street is closed today.You can only get on the docks from Flour Square or Riby Square.There is all sorts of rumours about what to do with the Ice House.Victoria Mills and the Palace Buffet are flats and Carphone Warehouse is on the corner of Corporation Road and Victoria Street under the turret.Its still as brown and dirty and we still have the odd silly nutter throw themselves in and drown.
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Looking at fuel prices is a depressing task!
About the only sure thing is that they will always go up not down.
The price of fuel is based on the price of crude oil. This gets confusing because it is listed in dollar so you have to factor in the exchange rate. Recently, it was about $65 per barrel but is now around $80. This is a lot less than the $140 it got up to about a year ago. Think that one over.
However, you then have to realise that a lot of the cost of petrol or diesel is the cost of transport and the refinery capital cost (where it is refined) These costs are pretty much fixed. Then there is a LOT of tax. Not just the fuel duty and VAT but the government gets petroleum revenue tax from all the crude oil out of the UK bit of the North Sea. We still produce about 50% of the crude oil needed by this country.
My conclusion is that we are being ripped off by both the oil companies and the government.
If you can choose a smaller more economical vehicle, you can save a lot on fuel costs. I have an engineering background and can see no reason why small cars can't be made to deliver 100mpg or better. They would be smaller and lighter than many cars made now - a sort of latter day 2CV. Once someone realises there is a market for such vehicles we can save a lot.
However, if you want there are things to cut fuel consumption with your current car and use alternative types of fuel; LPG for petrol cars and using vegetable oil in diesel ones. These are long term solutions so you have to be willing to keep the converted car for a least 3 years if it is going to pay. However, just checking that the brakes are sticking on can save you 5-10% on your fuel. If you can't easy push it on a flat car park, they are probably in need of attention. The saving is immediate and good for the car as well.
A small tip. If you are looking to save on fuel prices, find out where there is an oil refinery near you. Fuel is usually a few pence cheaper near to the oil refinery than further away. Most of them are on the coast or on river estuaries.
NN
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If you are looking to save on fuel prices, find out where there is an oil refinery near you. Fuel is usually a few pence cheaper near to the oil refinery than further away. Most of them are on the coast or on river estuaries.
Not convinced about that, NN. We're not that far from Grangemouth here and the only difference I can see is between different supermarkets. Morrison's have a policy of keeping prices as low as they can and are always cheaper than Tesco and Asda down here.
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NN No wish to quarrel or start a major row and get us banned but A conservative estimate The Big Oil Refinery's in Immingham is but a dozen miles from Grimsby.Spirit is road transported to Barnsley and Grimsby and such South Yorks towns and petrol is always cheaper in Barnsley by several pence per litre.Hargreaves on the dock has a V10 Merc Diesel running on biofuel when it is running.The cost of keeping it going is definitely prohibitive to the man in the street.But it pays lip service to the greenies don't it. :farmer:
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Last time fuel went rocketing up in price everyone was up in arms, the Hauliers were blockading the refineries etc, so why are they so quiet this time? I know they are having a hard time with the recession, is it perhaps that they can't afford to take the time to protest, and can't afford the fuel to get there!
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:-[ diesels just gone up to £1.12 by me .i nearly cried.
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Continuing our moans about fuels There are two huge refinery's in Immingham and across the road opposite the storage tanks is a petrol filling station which usually sells the most expensive petrol in the county.Talk about cry or is it screw the fools they should have filled up when they were in Morrisons :farmer:
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our cheapest is 124.9 and it goes up from there.
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OK, I will accept Immingham is a special case!
The diesel here this morning at the local supermarkets (Tesco, Morrison) is 113.9 per litre. That's in mid Norfolk. The nearest refinery would be Immingham or Isle of Grain on the Thames Estuary.
The difference in price is supposed to cover the cost of distribution which links it to the distance from the refinery.
If you look at Stanlow on the Wirral and mid Wales or Grangemouth and the Highlands you find something similar.
With diesel you can get away with some jerry cans in the back of the car to supplement the stock in the main tank which you shouldn't do with petrol. My 4x4 has a 90 litre main tank but you can fit another 90 litre tank to cope with long trips across the Sahara or similar. With the opportunity to make a trip to a cheaper source of fuel it is sometimes worth combining the journey for fuel and normal shopping. Otherwise any saving in price is lost on the cost of the journey.
My other point was that you can modify some of the older diesel engined cars to use old cooking oil. The oil has to be kept warm and you need extra filters to protect the injection pump but it can work out as a very cheap way of running the car. See:-
http://journeytoforever.org/biodiesel_svo.html
The conversion isn't cheap and there are some risks (e.g. oil polymerisation). You can convert the old cooking oil into bio-diesel but the cost of soda and meths plus the cost of dumping a lot of glycol produced in the conversion usually make it a costly solution. Plus there is a risk of messing up the engine if you don't get the conversion process right.
All of which means that driving less, keeping the car empty of all unnecessary junk and developing a light right foot are still probably the best way of keeping the cost of motoring down.
Just my opinion
NN
Similarly with LPG for petrol engined car, if you fit a kit to match the car engine (e.g. multi-point injection for a recent fuel injected car engine) you can get good economy (normally 10% worse than petrol) and the engine wont need a new cylinder head every 60-80,000 miles (flashlube kit to avoid valve damage). The benefit of LPG is that it is cheap and enviromentally good.
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Hello N N I told you a porky.David called last night and squared me up,saying if you are going to tell some one tell them right.Its a V10 Rolls Royce and its had the fuel injection pump repaired twice at £2000 pounds a go in six months They have abandoned the project now it was to drive a big alternator.Theres about 5000 litres of biofuel in the tank Its some sort of fir tree sap Something extracted from fir trees anyway its like Stockholm Tar to see thick and black and smells of disinfectant.Sorry to misinform you.Regards George ;D