Dumb Mistakes

Bret · #1 11/02/06, 12:57 PM

I bought three one-hundred foot water hoses this summer for padock watering of cows. If I looked at them they kinked. If I moved them they kinked.

I tried to coil them up this fall to drain them and the kinks would not relax to empty. I could not even coil them up enought to put neatly in the trash. I cut one up in two foot pieces to fit in a paper feed sack for disposal. One piece held enough water to run down my boot and soak my sock.

I hated to admit this. If someone gets a laugh, then all is not lost. Anyone else have any confessions of false economy this past year?

turtlehead · #2 11/02/06, 02:35 PM

Well we've had chickens for six months now. Butchered 10 roosters, waiting for the hens to start laying. If I figured out the cost of each of those butchered roos, they probably cost me about $20 apiece. That's some expensive meat!

At least MY situation should improve over time (i.e. as I get eggs and chicks and more meat).

All is not lost. Save those lengths of hose. They make decent insulators for electric fencing and can be used for... something else... maybe.

MELOC · #3 11/02/06, 03:01 PM

i would have made good drip irrigation hose.

Burbsteader · #4 11/02/06, 04:43 PM

I think most common garden hoses contain lead.

I was looking at special hoses to water my garden with, but they are much more expensive. I'm still using a bucket.

anniew · #5 11/02/06, 05:00 PM

I buy expensive hoses. They are about $25-32 for a 50 foot length. I have about 14 of them which I use to water the various gardens. They rarely kink and aren't affected by sitting in the sun all summer. Right now they are sitting stretched out on my sloping yard which drained all the water out. But, I must wait for a semi-warm day so that they are coiled easier. I have had some of them for several years, and get more as my gardens get further from the house, and/or as I make more gardens going in different directions so that I don't have to move the hoses all summer.

tiogacounty · #6 11/02/06, 05:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Burbsteader

I think most common garden hoses contain lead.

I was looking at special hoses to water my garden with, but they are much more expensive. I'm still using a bucket.

I seriously doubt that any new hose available today contains lead. If you want a drinking water safe hose, check out the recreational vehicle section at Wal-Mart. They are the same as garden hoses, but they are made of a white plastic. They do not have that funny taste you get from a typical green hose, and they aren't too much more than a regular hose.

patnewmex · #7 11/02/06, 05:20 PM

drip irrigation is a great use for hose. Plus I use it to put over wire that holds up trees and plants.

FreightTrain · #8 11/02/06, 05:21 PM

yea, i made the mistake of tryin to plow the field the mornin after 1/2 inch of rain, a few days after a few inches... had to drag the stuck plow out several times before realizing i had to wait . dont know how the old ford didnt dig herself in

or how about thinkin i could cut a years worth of firewood in zone 5B with a bow saw ! LOL

yep, im a rookie

**ladycat** · #9 11/02/06, 06:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bret

I bought three one-hundred foot water hoses this summer for padock watering of cows. If I looked at them they kinked. If I moved them they kinked.

I tried to coil them up this fall to drain them and the kinks would not relax to empty. I could not even coil them up enought to put neatly in the trash. I cut one up in two foot pieces to fit in a paper feed sack for disposal. One piece held enough water to run down my boot and soak my sock.

I hated to admit this. If someone gets a laugh, then all is not lost. Anyone else have any confessions of false economy this past year?

I was buying cheap hoses and had to replace them every year. Besides kinking, they sprung holes.

I finally decided the cost of replacing them was too expensive, and the kinking drove me NUTS. I spent big bucks on a commercial hose, which years later I'm still using, no kinking, no leaks, I love it!! It paid for itself years ago.

BasicLiving · #10 11/02/06, 06:28 PM

I've done more stupid things than I have time or even care to ever care to admit in a forum like this.

Lesson learned - spend some money and get a decent hose. There are more expensive lessons in life. I'm poor because of them!!!

Christiaan · #11 11/02/06, 08:17 PM

Costco carries a real good garden hose, heavy-duty, 100 ft, $20. Mine are 3 or 4 years old, only problem is when I shot one with the 22. Missed the rabbit, hit the hose! l

jennigrey · #12 11/02/06, 08:35 PM

We have those as well. They are of excellent quality for your dollar.

Explorer · #13 11/03/06, 06:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tiogacounty

I seriously doubt that any new hose available today contains lead.

Many hoses are made of polyvinyl chloride, which uses lead as a stabilizer.

MorrisonCorner · #14 11/03/06, 07:40 AM

The chickens have to be our false economy... but I like having them around, and I suppose if I were the sort to buy free range organic meat I would be saving by raising my own. Pennies, but something.

The other false economy we made mistakes with is tools. We either buy them less powerful than we end up needing (we've upgraded the tractor THREE times...), or more powerful (just sold a huge compressor and rolled it into a smaller unit).

And then there are the doozies... we bought a Home Depot log splitter which had "wings" on it, poorly designed ones, to catch the split wood. Those bent pretty quickly when wood got caught in them. The the bolts holding the splitting wedge to the ram sheared off. Then something else got fluky. Anyhow, from my perspective, it still worked well enough. But the husband doesn't like cobbed together tools and it wasn't "big" enough, which means its recycle time wasn't fast enough to suit him.

Which would be fine... if he was the one who split the wood.

But he isn't.

He went out and got a big commercial unit anyway, justifying it with the idea that firewood around here is going for big bucks.

Did I mention he's not the one who splits the wood?

Well he is now, because the thing is too heavy and too high for me to operate.

A seriously bad use of our "division of labor" thing since splitting used to be a sort of minor task which I could do in small batches. Now it is a huge project which gets crunched over about a week.

Not thinking through the challenge, that's the biggest mistake.

Auric · #15 11/03/06, 08:01 AM

I bought a nice 120 footer, for getting the water from the house to the garden. A real good one too, contractorgrade, black rubber, spring ends. A week later, my oldest hit it while mowing the yard. Argh! So now we let the horses do the mowing. Oh, I was able to buy a patching unit to fix the hose and am still using it.
DW is constantly buying shelves and furniture that she thinks is cute, and that I have to put together (grumble). I keep telling her its pressed wood crap, will not last, etc. Then I'm expected to fix it when the kids are too hard on it.

**Cabin Fever** · #16 11/03/06, 08:57 AM

You could have brought the hoses in the house and let them warm up. After they were warm, they would have been more flexible so you could have rolled them. Next time buy rubber hoses or roll your plastic ones up earlier in the fall when it is warmer.

Colorado · #17 11/03/06, 09:33 AM

I just drug my hoses in from the field. You bet they kink. New one 7 year gauranteed does it. I have a few that do not. Are they in neat piles, not really. I guess 3 feet wide coil. I had had water to the garden fine and one day no water. I checked the faucets and had water. We are talking like 700 feet of hose. A newer hose that had not been moved kinked it self when it got hot. It was not stretched out as I wanted the joint at the fence line. Could then switch to city water if need be. I spent quit a bit of time before I found the kink. Next year I will know better. Maybe use a shorter hose to get the irrigatrion water to the fence line.