Tire question

[Scott Lurndal]

I had a 67 dodge pickup with three on the tree. The floorboards on the passenger side provided a nice view of the pavement by

1977 :-)

I learned to drive stick on a 1938 Farmall B tractor :-)

[rbowman]

Then there was three on the dash...

[Peter]

I learned on a 1928 model A Ford. Was a camper at a sleep-away summer camp with an auto shop. Counselor was a fully trained mechanic. During the course of of the summer, a group of about 10 campers totally disassembled the entire car, the chassis, engine, etc. literally down to the nuts, bolts, washers, piston rings, etc. and re-assembled it. Then, we were taught to drive it on the camp's grounds. I was about 12 y.o. at the time.

[rbowman]

The dealer where I bought my first Toyota in 2007 also sold Fords. I got a real sticker shock looking at a F150. iirc, I paid $10,000 for mine in '86 and it didn't look like a luxury ride brand new.

[T]

So are the both of use!!

I get about 24.4 MPG city on my 2006 Forester with pure gasoline. About 22.0 MPG on that alcohol crap.

The good stuff is consistently 40 cents more per gallon, but the miles per dollar are the same.

[rbowman]

A college friend who had been a commercial pilot but had returned to get a degree had a lot of toys. He casually loaned his Model A to another friend and I. We reached out to my father for a tutorial on the care and feeding of the thing.

Troy, NY is built on sort of an escarpment down to the Hudson river. We learned that mechanical brakes more or less suck. Fortunately disaster was averted and we routed around to some of the gentler grades.

[gfretwell]

These days you are lucky to get out the door with an F150 for $50,000 and a tricked out one is way more than that.

[invalid unparseable]

They do not sell ethanol free gas here and makes no sense that ethanol free costs more.

[T]

That is what I told Maverick. They claim it is their suppliers doing it. Hmmmmmmmmm...

[Ed Pawlowski]

Hmmmm, 15,000 stations but none in DE.

No idea on the price aside from "because we can" On a car forum a guy did tests and he got roughly 22 mpg on ethanol, 24 mpg on straight gas so the cost per miles was the same for him

[T]

Comrade,

They have not sold leaded gasoline for a lot of years. Did you mean alcohol free?

-T

[invalid unparseable]

Probably a volume thing. I understand it is more expensive to transport gas with ethanol as they cannot pipeline it. I recall when it came to nearby PA they had to dig up tanks to replace or clean as gas with ethanol has greater solvent power and would bring up any gunk on the old tanks. It is an abomination that should never have been inflicted on us.

[rbowman]

It may be worth researching ethanol subsidies.

[T]

1+

I am all for any form of energy AS LONG as it can stand on its own two feet.

[T]

That shit needs to stop.

[Dean Hoffman]

The article mentions the Commodity Credit Corporation. It started in the 1930s. I guess the thinking was that there were already too many unemployed people in the cities. The country's leaders didn't want a bunch of farmers going broke and moving to the cities. Farmers would have been ill equipped to deal with city life.

Executive orders existed back then. This is another example of a government agency that seems to have found eternal life.

[Dean Hoffman]

An ethanol plant by York, NE is donating part of its production to the state.

Their public relations department didn't let this pass by without tooting the company's horn. Over 40% of farm income will come from insurance and subsidies in

2020. This has been going on for years. I remember a farm program when the storage was sealed. Farmers weren't supposed to use or sell any of the sealed grain. There was something called the Payment in Kind program. Farmers had to leave some of their land idle.

[Scott Lurndal]

It makes sense to everyone with even a slight understanding of economics. Supply and Demand. Low demand, low supply, little competition results in high prices. High demand, High supply, competition results in low prices.

[invalid unparseable]

Of course I understand that. Perhaps alcohol free is there but not readily available. If it were, it would undercut the blend as the blend costs more to make.

[rbowman]

Like everything else, that has history. WWI put European farming on hold, raising commodity prices. Good times, and American farmers bought land and put it under the plow. Labor was scarce so they bought modern equipment, on credit of course. Wars don't last forever, Europe got back to normal, and Russia became a net exporter. The process was harsh but the Communists dragged Soviet agriculture into the 20th century too.

With prices down the mortgage payments didn't stop and many farmers were in trouble. A local woman recalled the times. Her family was getting by barely. Arsenic compounds were used in an attempt to control the hoppers.

Her father mixed up a batch and was out spreading it when a neighbor came across the fields to ask if he could have some. The neighbor wasn't getting by at all and had another use in mind for the arsenic.

She was a crusty old woman and the story came out when someone said at least a farmer could weather a depression. Her reply was 'Bullshit!' and her story.

At least in the '30s the subsidies were an attempt to save to small farmers. By the Butz era he could say 'We've got too damn many farmers. Get big or get out!' and the agribusiness companies grew.

The US may not have a Chinese style planned economy but the government's subsidies, tariffs, and regulations try hard.