Recent content by Thinbluelinetx

you could probably find a decent 94-97 Powerstroke for under 10k. Check Craigslist or the Powerstroke forums and look for one from an area that doesn't salt their roads.

Not trying to be cute, but I've urinated on many fire ant hills and that seems to do the job. I'm not sure if it actually kills them or if they just relocate, but after a day or two there are no more ants.

IMO it depends on if you're leasing the land or buying it. Depending on the price of land in your area, it would take half a lifetime to pay off the mortgage with profits from cattle. Also if you encounter a catastrophic event, you're stuck with tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars of debt.

The early 6.0's had problems with blown head gadgets due to weak head studs, and I believe they also had EGR issues. If you could get the maintenance records, that would help you in that department. I know hindsight is 20/20, but you could have bought a 7.3 in good condition for much cheaper...

I've used plastic sprayers to spray mesquite shrubs with diesel. Maybe diesels isn't as corrosive on plastic as gasoline.

Does your truck have a diesel particulate filter? If so, it will occasionally go into re-gen mode and use more fuel to burn up the crud in the filter.

I realize he doesn't have the cash right now, but he could save up. It might take awhile, but it's better than being in debt several thousand dollars at age 15 if something catastrophic happens.

I would pay cash if I was you. Eliminates the risk factor.

Oh ok, I thought you had a diesel. For your chevy, check out Wheatley.com, black bear performance, or Nelson tunes (google them). They do what's called a PCM flash, which reprograms your truck's timing, shift points, etc. Check out some of the chevy truck forums online and there are tons of...

I would recommend a custom tuned chip. The off the shelf programmers tend to be hard on the trucks transmission and contain more or less "generic" programs. A custom chip is programmed more specifically for your vehicle and can be adjusted on the fly. Plus they are a better value. What kind of...

I'm also not trying to start a debate with Wild Cattle, but to say that it's hot and humid in the summer is a bit of an overstatement. Sure, some summers are hotter than others, but I wouldn't define it as humid. Try southeast Texas or any other area near the Gulf, now THAT's humid. Being that...

IMO the summers in west Texas are much more tolerable, and I'd think cattle would do better in the summer time as well. I was born and raised in El paso and lived in the Abilene area on my dads ranch for a few years. I currently live in southeast Texas, moved here 9 years ago. I've still not...

My dad has raised cattle in Taylor and Runnels county (south of Abilene) for the past 20 years. Like any area, there are good years and bad years as far as the weather goes. I believe the avg rainfall in that area is about 20-25 inches a year. The land is much cheaper than north or east Texas...

Back to the original question, most of the land near me (SE Tx about 60 mi N of Houston) is going for around 10,000/ acre., maybe a bit less. Starting from scratch, I don't see how anyone could turn a profit with cattle. My dad has about 1500 acres in west central Texas, but he has a non...

The owner of the land currently has it leased to another individual. He said he ran almost one animal per acre. I believe there is other grass growing with the st Augustine, but the SA is the predominant grass. I still have over a year to plan out my strategy, the current lease ends Dec 2011...