CornShucker, "The other issue is that, so far, nobody here has been able to give me any thoughts about how the Bearcats do in the shredding department. I want to be able to feed it corn stocks, grape vines, tomato vines and garden debris. Nobody here apparently has used one of these Bearcats for that. I'm going to try to keep this thread alive long enough for a Bearcat owner to show up and give me specific advice." Well, no BearCat user has come forward yet, and I have never used or even seen an actual BearCat, but I am going to venture that if Home Depot makes good on their promise to put that BearCat 70380 in working order, that it will be able to handle your corn stalks, grape vines, tomato vines, and garden debris just fine. It could also process dead leaves from trees very well. I am basing that statement on this BearCat Model 70380/70580 Spec Sheet. (If the print is too small, you can magnify it, because that is a PDF document.) Or you can read this BearCat 70380 information. Notice that the 70380 has swinging serrated knives and a shredder exit screen with holes. It's not exactly a hammermill because it has knives instead of hammers, but the principle is basically the same. The swinging hammers or swinging knives keep "punishing" the material until it is able to escape through the holes in the screen. Also, notice that interchangeable screens are available to let you control how fine or coarse your product will be. If you do buy that BearCat 70380 from Home Depot, you might want to consider purchasing at least one of the optional screens with smaller holes to get a finer product with more surface area for faster composting. I notice it also has an available screen for wet material. If it were me, I would get all of the optional screens: the .75" screen, the .375" screen and the Wet Debris screen. But I would for sure get at least one extra screen and, in my case, it would be the three-eighths screen for the finest possible product texture. MM

The advantage of LED's. light shines in one direction so if all the led's are pointed in a narow range forward, then most of the light will hit your trees. The life expectancy of the LED bulbs are 50,000 hours but the electronics in it probably won't exceed much over 6000 hr. You and I loose. The multi color lights is largely a gimmick. Single color bulbs are less efficient than all spectrum bulb. So lets put all the diodes in all spectrum instead of having a group of one color combined with a group of other individual colors. Citrus trees are slower in winter because of many reason with one being less light. trees are genetically coded to sow down to day length, decreasing solar angle, light wavelength shifts as the solar angle changes through out are seasons. BR40 CFL - 23 Watt - 120W Equal - 6500K Full Spectrum Daylight this is the best bulb for your trees and will look good in you living area. check out this company's link and check out Home depot or other for equivelent. If you value time and don't mind reasonable sipping cost than just get the above. Home depot may have a 6 pack going for much less. They may not. Kroger's will rip you off on these. No rush you have 5+ months left.

With help from the forum, I got 3 consistent load calculations and a bunch of quotes. I have settled on the American Standard contractor who was knowledgeable and had a fair price. Here is my final choice: AUD2C080B9V4 4A7A7048A1 4TXCD063 AHRI# 5942858 I am going to add a 5" media cabinet as recommended here. TFM245B0FR0. The contractor recommended getting the largest filter (24" wide) even though the furnace is 21" wide (said it improves air flow). My last question deals with the thermostats. I've read all the forum posts and am still a little confused. I've asked for a quote on the Honeywell Prestige IAQ 2.0 as recommended here. The contractor is recommending 803s, however. Should I insist on the Honeywell? The contractor made it sound like the 803 does the same thing but from reading here it seems like the 803 just overcools to de-humidify whereas the Honeywell slows the blower speed. Is that correct? Is it possible to have one Honeywell Prestige downstairs that controls both the downstairs and FROG (with a temp and humidity gauge installed in the FROG)? Let me know any final thoughts before I sign the contract. Thanks so much. MB

We spent 60 but that didn't include any fencing or softscape. We did not replace any fencing and did all of the softscape ourselves. Furniture was from Costco and probably cost around $300 total. BBQ was a drop-in from BBQ's Galore, about $1000 plus $200 for the delivery. Our pool included: 345 sq feet, 3.5-7 feet deep (25x14) 7x7 spa Group 4 tile (from NPTG) Poured-in-place concrete coping with bullnose edge 3M Colorquartz, premium group Aqualogic PS 4 SWG and computer, kitchen panel, floating remote 400 btu heater, filter, and pump (all Hayward) Extra jets incl. calf jets in spa and booster pump Sheer descent RBB Hydrostatic relief valve Navigator with dedicated line Acid-washed, scored decking Autofill Overflow drain Umbrella sleeve Baja shelf and loveseat Special rebar & gunite setup to make pool freestanding (we are on the upside of a retaining wall), so if wall should collapse, pool should not be affected Gas line run All digging, demo, hauling, etc. We also had a back wall collapse and they had to fill up to 8 feet down behind the pool, and they did that free of charge. We did not have any extra costs or change orders during the build. Really, really think about what you want and make sure everything is included in the contract. Also don't make the builder think that you are without budget. Tell him what you can spend and stick to it. If you tell him you have 100 grand available, you better believe your pool is not going to cost 70. He's going to charge you what he thinks he can get. The market is in your favor. People aren't refinancing as much and therefore, not putting in pools as much. Good luck!