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BDT in Minnesota
03-22-2007 11:01:39
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Re: Weak horse market in reply to souNdguy, 03-22-2007 07:45:53
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The taxes and insurance issues are causing concern up in my area also...I have totally failed to think of a workable solution to the problem..There is one couple in Fargo,ND that recently downsized their house..Their property taxes were over $500 a month, and the house was nice, but not a gold plated palace.I try not to waste money, but it would sure be nice to back up the time clock about fourty years..Not that I would have the answers, but I certainly would have done allot of things differently..We can hardly blame ourselves as individuals for the shape the rest of world is in, but, we can be a little more cautious when we open our checkbooks or go to the voting polls..My crystal ball fell off the shelf a few years ago..I used seven tubes of super glue to put it back together, but, it is no longer what it was cracked up to be... Back in 1999, I started my own trucking business. One truck, no hired help, licensed for the eight surrounding states, plus Manitoba and Sask...That brass ring was somewhat in sight. In the mean time, fuel went from $.90 per gallon to over $3.60 at times...The improvement in unit train performance has eliminated allot of the longer grain movements by truck. Just four miles from my place is a new unit train loadout faculity for grain...It is the first loop track facility of it's kind in the state of Minnesota..Three large locomotives come in with the unit train and remain coupled to the 100+ railcars..The locos pause as each car is pulled under the grain chute and filled..It works good for me to haul in to the new terminal from area elevators, but unfortunately, it is not steady enough to fully depend on..It is pointless to run a truck a longer distance without a back haul lined up...The back hauls of the past are found more and more on railcars also...The bottom line is, in my thoughts, that all that truck traffic was nuts in the first place..I have run the coast to coast loads before, and, I had my fill of that...I bought my own truck so I would not have to be a "Road Gypsey" as I call it..I don't mind being out a couple nites a week to keep things going...But I didn't buy a truck to live in it...There too, It costs me over seven grand a year for license, insurance, and permits before I turn a wheel...The only reason I ever got a commercial drivers license in the first place was so I could LEGALLY test drive any vehicle I worked on in the Dealership shop..The truck driving occurred when I needed a break from pulling wrenches..That was twelve years ago,,during those twelve years, I have never stopped buying tools and shop equipment..It the meantime, I have built a new shop big enough to work on large trucks...namely mine..Well, I am always joking that I am not going to give up my day job, but I would have to figure out what my day job really is?? I end up doing a customer repair job every time I turn around...I also joke about not knowing what I want to do when I grow up...Well, I turned 55 on Monday, still no answers..There are a pile of things that I enjoy...If I could stay home and work on old tractors, I would be in hog heaven. I have promised myself one thing, tho...over thirty years ago, I tore down an old barn on my property. It was 18 by 24 with an extention on one side...I want to replace that barn with a hobbybarn...There are about five people within a mile of me that have horses...I have a soft spot for horses, especially the miniatures...An 18 by 24 barn should be plenty large for a couple horses, a goat or two, some rabbits, ducks, a few chickens,two pigs, etc..I like animals, and am willing to do without something else to be able to have them...Of course, a new barn will increase the property taxes again, and we just had a increase...As far as the taxes and the economy, I will most likely remain lost...But it can be interesting how life goes around in circles. As far as the barn goes, it will be used for animals only, and no tractors.. I could use some ideas as what to do, and, "not do" on such a project.
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