[Cob] tiller cob and other machines

[Shannon C. Dealy]

On Thu, 22 Jun 2006, joe wrote:

[snip]
> Mixing with your feet sounds like a very environmental way to go about
> things, but if it takes you 10x as long (and 10xs the number of
> commutes to and from the building site in order to get the same work
> done you can do in a week with a tractor you're not going to be saving
> anything.
[snip]

While it will save you a fair amount of time, it may not be as much as you 
expect.  It takes me less than five times as long to mix by foot as it 
does to mix by bobcat/skid loader, and it doesn't save any time in 
application, so my actual total time savings is less than 40% (this is of 
course still quite a significant amount).  Add to this the inferior 
(but still quite usable) quality of the mechanical mix and the $300 rental 
and fuel for one day (assuming you don't own one), and the value of 
mechanical mixing is not nearly as great as it might seem at first.

I also place some value on the quiet working environment and getting 
additional exercise, though of course your goals, fitness level and 
requirements may vary.

FWIW.

Shannon C. Dealy      |               DeaTech Research Inc.
dealy at deatech.com     |          - Custom Software Development -
                       |    Embedded Systems, Real-time, Device Drivers
Phone: (800) 467-5820 | Networking, Scientific & Engineering Applications
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