IsaanAussie

Just now, douglasspade said:

the most basic gestures to the people cost me some minutes and a laugh at most but people see who you are and what your attitude is. Sometimes you have to forgive the stupidity and accept a slight bit of responsibility.

The principle of Lost Face, a must avoid causing this. I'm an Aussie and have to catch myself calling out Flaming Stupid Drongoes. I try to remember to "Cop it sweet". It is my gear so obviously breakages are my problem, simple.

I bought a heavy duty 16" drop saw to build trusses etc for the farm. One guy using it managed to break two discs in the first few minutes that cost more than the day rate I was paying him plus they were hard to find. The <deleted> statement didn't happen. I asked what the problem was. "Too much power!" Really, thought of using the vice to hold the tubing? And cutting one at a time? "Too slow! I never keep job when I work too slow."  

Check out Mahindra and other Indian tractor companies. I remember a "knockoff" running shoe factory owner in Indonesia who told me "If I can make the shoe, why do your think the label would present a problem?"

1 hour ago, kickstart said:

Around here they are done by eye ,most cattle dealers have been the job for a few years and are not normally far out

Amazing. When I was breeding pigs weights were contested to the kilo. The scales, the transport box and the animal, any way of reducing the cost.

Now with these beef sales, a pickup arrives with a driver, loads up and leaves, just the beast and the driver, no "witnessed" weighing. 

A-F'ing-mazing 

I have seen a number of beef cattle come and go around here but I have no idea if they are being weighed to agree a price. I assume it is done on a weighbridge including the vehicle. Can someone fill me in? 

Just now, kickstart said:

We have had a Yanmar dealership open near us ,all the same stuff as Kubota, they are a few working  in the area ,seem to work well .

I would say with the present climate you could well get a good deal. 

Yanmar (with their John Deere affiliation) used to be visible just looking at the front end of the tractors compared to Kubota options, much more solid. Kubota leads with their financial department and their investment here in Thailand in both local part sourcing and assembly plants. But for me, a new tractor would be a Yanmar.

Just now, douglasspade said:

Anyway, I will make a turn there and inspect the merchandise this coming week, will let you know what I find.

That would be interesting. When I looked last some 7 years ago, the prices being asked for slightly 2nd hand tractors seemed very high. I was told that the reason was the deals at the time for new tractors were very low deposits and a non-payment grace period, so with interest repos had high residuals owing. The terms were set so the buyer imagined he had a whole season to earn enough to pay off the first actual payment. 

That didn't happen for a lot of people around here. The tractor disappeared and the "young adults" went off to work to pay out what was needed.

Would be good to see if that has changed and you can in fact get a "deal". 

Just now, douglasspade said:

Man that is good HP but probably no 4wheel drive? '85 is a bit old and parts for those monsters are hard to find.

It is 4WD. Isuzu engine. It is a large frame tractor. Seen a few "parts" only ones advertised. But I haven't checked it out, you are probably right. 

Just now, douglasspade said:

How old is old? What tractor is it?

Iseki TS2810 circa 1985.

2 hours ago, douglasspade said:

I can not choose when to do this and have to rely on others. Kindof feeling slightly helpless knowing I can do it better

Mate, that is the issue. I have a tractor, plough, rotary and row maker that sit idle because repair and maintenance costs are higher than hiring a local to do it for me. If you really need to have your own then buy this lot of old stuff and spend on fixing it up. Total cost would be about 250k Baht.

By the way it includes a front end loader, not a grader blade

5 hours ago, CNX69 said:

My growing results are still not very impressive

Not much to go on my friend. What would impress you? Describe your compost content, process and objective. pH level, bacterial or fungal..... 

The issue was always the scales. They could be "adjusted". I never bought a pig based on weight so I dont know. We sold pigs by weighing the transport box, putting the pig in the box and weighing it again. No fiddles. 

A neighbour kept pigs and he would add a powder to the feed that made them as thirsty as hell just before a buyer was due. I believe it added some 5 to 10 kgs to the pigs weight.

I suppose you could do the same thing to cattle.

This is interesting indeed. Have you thought of using some sort of settlement tank/sand filter to clean the water before it goes through your filters? You are asking a lot to pump water through a small diameter pipe, it is moving very quickly, little wonder it is a short life on the filters. 

It looks like you have a decent size roof area near the stainless tanks that should yield a lot of water even in light rain. We have a standard Isaan 8*6 metre house which we have built a 5 mt wide verandah on one corner down two sides. Collecting rain from half the house roof and both verandah roofs yields 4,000 litres per hour under good rain. Currently about 500 to 1000 litres with this light rain. The guttering feeds 4" pipes which flow into 3 concrete ring tanks in the ground plumbed in series of about 3,000 litres each. These rings are full of stone and sand and the water soaks into the ground.

So you pump the water in? We all do this stuff differently but they seem very small diameter pipes for an unpressurised system.

Good to see the minimum draw off level so you aren't sucking in sediments.

How do you fill the water pots?

1 minute ago, billd766 said:

A local campaign was held and the dam was not built. Roll forward to last year and now they want the dam built, especially through the last drought years.

I first came here to the village about 18 years ago. Behind the village was a large swampy area which almost flooded in the wet, it has been cleaned out to form the current reservoir and a system of klongs to handle overflow. The dam is low but still holds a lot of water but the klongs clear any excess so that the "speed" of the water is much increased and the ground water recharge is limited. The dam is clay lined to stop water permeation. 

I believe this is a problem that will get worse. The need to clear floods is obvious but the answer must be to send the water down not away somewhere else. Slow the water down, recharge drains in to the ground.

This is going nowhere. Your generalisations are apparently not backed up with first hand knowledge.

Apart from central Thailand, most farms produce a single rice crop per year. Ours relies completely on rain fall as do many. Farms such as ours have zero effect on your water availability. In fact in better times the runoff might well have ended up in a river.

Extend your argument to include livestock farmers if you like, they use some serious water per head. But again be careful with the difference between "quoted facts" and reality. Our pig farm used 1,500 litres of water per day for drinking and wash out for 100 pigs. That water was from the bore and all the wash water (most) went through a septic treatment and was returned to the ground.

Perhaps look at the impact of the 6000 Chinese dams in Tibet that restrict the flow into 6 major rivers in Asia. 

Just now, Grumpy John said:

If the majority of the 1000 people decided the farmers don't get any water the 1000 will need to have a well stocked cupboard!  Without food being produced you have to rely on stock on hand.  How many people do you know with 12 months supply of food?  Even my wife and I only have 2 months supply of most things.  I think your 1000 people need to think carefully about the future direction they may take. 

Hey GJ,

There is an easy way for urban people to measure the increased cost of food and availability right now. Do the weekly shop as you do and total the bills. Next week repeat your purchases at Villa supermarket and buy only imported goods. 

Just now, robblok said:

Governments should always first give water to normal households and then to farmers and factories. That is how things should be done.

Farmers live in houses and run households too. I fail to see your point. In fact many villages, such as my own, do not have "government supplied" water available and must dig their own well or bore. Aren't they at a disadvantage then?

OK, so take out the household supply needs.

Crop needs are regulated. In irrigated areas, the volume of water available can be, and is in fact regulated. In rain fed only areas, no rain, no water.

Since you are so sure of what should be done, can I ask you to explain how that might be done?

Our ponds are still dry. Rice is alive but not thriving. Looks like our village is again located under a hole in the clouds. Ten kilometres to the south has had some local flooding and ponds are filling. 

Last year we suffered from minor outbreak of rice blast but no noticeable fall army worm. 

Keeping my fingers crossed. 

Aeration is needed but agitation also. You need volume. 

Just now, Grumpy John said:

Why not use an aquarium pump in the bucket?

5 hours ago, CNX69 said:

looking for a best Thai recipe

Nothing wrong with your recipe if it gives you the result you want. Have you produced the compost and castings yourself? 

Give this a try. I reckon you can get close enough buying all you need at Tescos. A bit long winded but understandable.

2 hours ago, Michael Hare said:

Yes, that is the bag that costs 90 baht. I called it Lime, but the real name is Dolomite. Does a great job. 

There are three different limes all predominately calcium carbonate. Lime (pure), Dolomite and Gypsum that have additional elements.

10 hours ago, kickstart said:

A Charolais cow and a heifer calf for 39K ,not a bad price how old was the calf .

At a guess about 4 or 5 months. Great condition and into everything. Cow seemed a little small but in good condition.