The American Dream
May 6th 2013, 4:43 am
#31
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Joined: Mar 2004
Posts: 2
Re: The American Dream
Not sure about the Bobcat, everybody here says to get a Backhoe (JCB), more you can do with them and much easier to maintain. There is a guy who comes up in the summer who bought one to build his house, I think he would take 4k for it but you could spend a lot on new hoses.
May 6th 2013, 5:23 am
#32
Joined: Dec 2001
Location: Dixie, ex UK
Posts: 52,588
Re: The American Dream
Not sure about the Bobcat, everybody here says to get a Backhoe (JCB), more you can do with them and much easier to maintain. There is a guy who comes up in the summer who bought one to build his house, I think he would take 4k for it but you could spend a lot on new hoses.
That said, I am intending to rent a backhoe next winter to deal with issues caused by the idiots who cleared and graded my lot by burying large piles of logs and branches.
Parts of my yard have collapsed 3-4ft and appear to have been excavated by giant groundhogs. 
May 6th 2013, 8:22 am
#33
BE Enthusiast
Joined: Jun 2011
Location: California
Posts: 471
Re: The American Dream
That's exactly the way my husband see's it....let's say he isn't living it yet! We don't even own a normal mower 
He is still recovering from having to sell most of his 'boys toys' before moving over here.
May 6th 2013, 9:15 am
#34
BE Enthusiast
Joined: May 2008
Posts: 572
Re: The American Dream
Small John Deere mowers are nothing special if you have 5 acres to mow, I took me an hour to mow about half an acre yesterday with a 42" ride on, similar to a small JD. You should be looking for a small pro-grade mower, a zero-turn one, unless you're planning on spending 5-6 hours or more mowing 5 acres. There are a number of manufacturers of such machines, and one I have my eye on is a Dixie Chopper. Another similar manufacturer is Bad Boy Mowers.
May 6th 2013, 9:24 am
#35
Ginger Monkey
Thread Starter
Joined: Jun 2007
Location: Cheeseland, WI
Posts: 2,772
Re: The American Dream
But a shiny new mower you can RIDE?! Now that's worth it!
May 6th 2013, 9:30 am
#36
Ginger Monkey
Thread Starter
Joined: Jun 2007
Location: Cheeseland, WI
Posts: 2,772
Re: The American Dream
How about fridges? How many are required before you have achieved the Dream.....my Brother in Law (family of 4) has more fridges than people in the house...French door one in the Kitchen, side by side in the Laundry room, chest freezer in the Garage, wine fridge in the kitchen, under the counter fridge in the outdoor kitchen...and when he has a Barbie we still have to drink longnecks out of a cooler full of ice? Cheap git needs to get himself a Kegerator
We bought a chest freezer over the winter to go in the basement and store extra meat and frozen pizzas and stuff. I felt very... hmm... privileged. However, after the SECOND model broke after two weeks and we lost all of our food to a warm mouldy soupy mess, we decided we didn't need a second freezer that badly and we'd get by with just our enormous American fridge/freezer in the kitchen.
I have to say, one of my Dream measurements is an ice dispenser on the freezer door. That entertains my UK family for hours every time they visit.
May 6th 2013, 12:35 pm
#37
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Joined: Mar 2004
Posts: 2
Re: The American Dream
Fridges! Excellent measure of The Dream! I'd say four is quite sufficient for Living The Dream status.
We bought a chest freezer over the winter to go in the basement and store extra meat and frozen pizzas and stuff. I felt very... hmm... privileged. However, after the SECOND model broke after two weeks and we lost all of our food to a warm mouldy soupy mess, we decided we didn't need a second freezer that badly and we'd get by with just our enormous American fridge/freezer in the kitchen.
I have to say, one of my Dream measurements is an ice dispenser on the freezer door. That entertains my UK family for hours every time they visit.
We bought a chest freezer over the winter to go in the basement and store extra meat and frozen pizzas and stuff. I felt very... hmm... privileged. However, after the SECOND model broke after two weeks and we lost all of our food to a warm mouldy soupy mess, we decided we didn't need a second freezer that badly and we'd get by with just our enormous American fridge/freezer in the kitchen.
I have to say, one of my Dream measurements is an ice dispenser on the freezer door. That entertains my UK family for hours every time they visit.
May 6th 2013, 12:48 pm
#38
Account Closed
Joined: Mar 2004
Posts: 2
Re: The American Dream
It depends what you need, and your budget, because I'm sure a backhoe would be cheaper, but a Bobcat is smaller, more manoeuvrable, and with tracks, does less damage to the ground surface and to tree roots.
That said, I am intending to rent a backhoe next winter to deal with issues caused by the idiots who cleared and graded my lot by burying large piles of logs and branches. Parts of my yard have collapsed 3-4ft and appear to have been excavated by giant groundhogs.
That said, I am intending to rent a backhoe next winter to deal with issues caused by the idiots who cleared and graded my lot by burying large piles of logs and branches.
Parts of my yard have collapsed 3-4ft and appear to have been excavated by giant groundhogs. We do not get very muddy, well apart from now it seems, snowing heavily again, there is certainly a cute factor with lots of extra attachments. The ones that are available seem very expensive used for what they are.
May 6th 2013, 1:26 pm
#39
Joined: Dec 2001
Location: Dixie, ex UK
Posts: 52,588
Re: The American Dream
Agreed. I haven't looked for several years, but around $8k was entry level for something about fit for the scrap yard, and the ones at and over $10k still looked rough as he11 and veritable money pits. I decided that I needed a $20k budget before I looked seriously at buying one, a fairly well used one, at that. .... And as I don't have $20k lying around, and there is very little prospect of my doing so any time soon, I haven't even looked in a while.
May 7th 2013, 2:01 am
#41
Ginger Monkey
Thread Starter
Joined: Jun 2007
Location: Cheeseland, WI
Posts: 2,772
May 7th 2013, 2:16 am
#42
Account Closed
Joined: Mar 2004
Posts: 2
Re: The American Dream
Hopefully much bigger than a 6 pack?
May 7th 2013, 3:00 am
#43
.
Joined: Nov 2002
Location: Where bad things rarely happen in movies
Posts: 8,933
Re: The American Dream
Fridges! Excellent measure of The Dream! I'd say four is quite sufficient for Living The Dream status.
We bought a chest freezer over the winter to go in the basement and store extra meat and frozen pizzas and stuff. I felt very... hmm... privileged. However, after the SECOND model broke after two weeks and we lost all of our food to a warm mouldy soupy mess, we decided we didn't need a second freezer that badly and we'd get by with just our enormous American fridge/freezer in the kitchen.
I have to say, one of my Dream measurements is an ice dispenser on the freezer door. That entertains my UK family for hours every time they visit.
We bought a chest freezer over the winter to go in the basement and store extra meat and frozen pizzas and stuff. I felt very... hmm... privileged. However, after the SECOND model broke after two weeks and we lost all of our food to a warm mouldy soupy mess, we decided we didn't need a second freezer that badly and we'd get by with just our enormous American fridge/freezer in the kitchen.
I have to say, one of my Dream measurements is an ice dispenser on the freezer door. That entertains my UK family for hours every time they visit.
A year or so later, I needed the garage space to expand my work area, so my freeloading sister in law offered to "help us out" by taking the freezer. Scroll on about 6 years, and I got a call - could I come collect my frozen turkeys as they needed the freezer space for a wild pig his buddy had shot! I hate to think what they would have been like if defrosted....we never found out - straight in the trash.
We never replaced the chest freezer, and we've never missed it. We've got a huge French door jobbie with the freezer at the bottom that is more than adequate. It also has 2 (count them TWO) built in ice cube makers, one of them with an emergency fast freeze option - WTF? Why we need 2 is anybodies guess....and why you would need to make ice in an emergency is totally unfathomable...
My one kowtow to The Dream is a meat and beer fridge in the outdoor kitchen. So as a family of 5, we only have 2 refrigerators. I realize that won't qualify us for Living the Dream status, but I'm wondering if I can actually claim my kids as officially deprived?
May 7th 2013, 3:02 am
#44
.
Joined: Nov 2002
Location: Where bad things rarely happen in movies
Posts: 8,933
Re: The American Dream
Why is BE trying to subvert my Britishness?????
Every time I type "realize" with an S it "corrects" it to a Z. See, it did it again....
I know someone will come along and tell us that in British you can spell it either way, but come on.....we all know the proper way is with an S
Every time I type "realize" with an S it "corrects" it to a Z. See, it did it again....
I know someone will come along and tell us that in British you can spell it either way, but come on.....we all know the proper way is with an S
May 7th 2013, 3:16 am
#45
Joined: Dec 2001
Location: Dixie, ex UK
Posts: 52,588
Re: The American Dream
I'd never thought about counting fridges, but we currently use three, including a small British one used as a wine cellar and running off a transformer, an upright freezer, and a french door style fridge freezer. I also have a broken side-by-side in the garage awaiting transport to the scrap dealer, and an under-over that will go into a rental house I am renovating.
