Well if the area is small I'll assume the amounts are small too ... hand operated hedge shears, ~10" blade, cut plants down from the top while still in the ground, then pull up the last bit to get roots out. or use a hand pruner, with the pruner in one hand hold whatever over a trash with the other hand and snip away a few inches at a time. A bit tedious, but it goes faster than you think it would. machete - lay 'em out on the ground in a sort-of pile and chop away; depending on what and the pile, it can be an aerobic workout. Or, let them dry out for a couple of weeks, then use that electric shredder you mentioned in your other post. Use any combination of the above to get the job done.

djensen, Sorry about misreading your post. My mistake. But your right, the answer doesn't really change much. My point is that the lowest setting is rarely the most optimal. You are also right in that the energy consumption changes as a function of plumbing head loss but what I have found is that the unsually falls within a small range around 1000 RPM. However, it still may not be enough in flow rate but it doesn't hurt to check. To me, this would be the simplest solution. As to the efficiency of the pump, my comment was based upon several factors but mainly Pentair's own data, PG&E (power company) test data on pumps and reports from several owners. VF owners have been kind enough to give me a range of operating points which show flow rates, RPM and energy consumption. I have been able to collect enough data to model the pump's behavior over a variety of operating conditions so I can fairly accurately predict the performance under almost any condition. Since there is a minimum amount of energy the pump consumes even at the lowest RPM setting due to the drive electronics, it really doesn't make sense to run it below about 800 RPM for most situations. The gallons pumped per watt-hour starts to fall below 900 RPM and above 1100 RPM for most plumbing systems. The feedback from the VS-3050 is minimal so it is hard to tell what flow rate you have and how much energy is being consumed. Do you have a flow meter installed? If not, there is a way to calibrate your system using filter pressure to determine flow rates and energy use. If you are interested, I can help you do that. Just post filter pressure at couple different RPM levels. If you can measure vacuum at the pump, all the better to increase accuracy.

Hi, Wow thanks for the recomendation Wayne. Hope my advice is correct! :) Some of the things are covered on the other thread. But I would like to add two comments. 1) Transfer switches and lock outs. In general you should never connect your generator and the utility power lines together. Bad things happen like electricuted utility workers and fires. What a transfer switch (and lock outs) ensure is that when your generator is connected, the utility mains power is discounnected. It is designed to be "goof proof" and hence ensure safety. Alternatively, a safe way is not to use the houses' electical system, and run an extension cord from your light to the generator. Note this does not help you to run heating, sump pumps or anything that does not have a plug and is hardwired into your house. 2) Your power requirements. I think you are looking at quite a bit of power there. A 3.5 ton A/C unit I think is one of those central A/C outside whole house units. I am not an HVAC person so bear with me a bit. The compressor bit, the cooling tower that sits outside, has a motor in it. This is the most power consuming thing. I think you may be correct saying that it is about 3kw power to run, but the key thing is the starting current. At start up you may be seeing a power spike of maybe 8 times that. It only lasts maybe 1/2 a second hence your breakers do not trip. However that spike will mean that your genset has to handle it. In general if you want to run your whole house HVAC I would recommend a 15kw and up genset, but you need someone to check out what exactly you have installed there. Your generator needs to supply enough initial power to start that compressor up. One solution that people do is to avoid running whole house A/C on generators. They buy a smaller in the window A/C unit (get them from Sams Club, Costco, Sears) with a plug. That AC will only cool one room, but the familly camps out there until the utility power is back online. That way you can get by with smaller genset installation. Hope this is useful. Warmest regards, Mike.

@gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9) The problem is not what to do when the bags of stone are at the final destination. The problem is how to safely transport the material in a car or truck from the wholesale supplier to the job site. In our area, you get to a wholesale supplier and they give you empty one cubic foot bags and a shovel. It is self-serve. Once the bag is full, how do you secure it so that when a 100-pound bag of stone falls over, you do not get loose stone everywhere in the car or truck?