Precision Ranch is reborn

[BraceMaker]

How much water could a wind mill conceivably pump?

 

"For a 10 acre ski lake, using a loss of 6 inches a month, surface area of 435600 square feet, that is a loss of about 1.63 million gallons. With John's pump adding 900 GPM, that's about 30 hours of pumping, or an hour a day every day."

 

900 GPM for 1/hr a day - vs a lower capacity wind pump but would run all day/night if there were prevailing winds. Sized appropriately it could meet demands - if it saved ~10 grand a year it could pay itself down rapidly.

 

 

 

[Kelvin]

"How much water could a wind mill conceivably pump?"

 

From all of the glassy smooth water I've seen in @Horton's photos and videos over the years, a windmill is not going to do much good.

 

[ski6jones]

@Kelvin. we could use one at Katy.

[ntx]

@BraceMaker. Based on location and the type of soil and ave summer temp, my guess is that the loss rate is much closer to 3 to 4 inches per week. The amount of use is also a huge factor. When we host a all day long tournament in mid July, we will lose a half inch in a single day.

Wind mills and water ski lakes are two items that should not coexist in the same area. LOL

[Horton]

Windmill in Bakersfield is a hysterical idea. We get a few days of shocking howling wind a year and hardly any air moment the rest of the time.

[LeonL]

@ntx, yeah we lose a lot more water on tournament days, so activity has a significant impact on loss.

[BraceMaker]

@horton - sounds ideal - a calm day for us means you could still pump hundreds of gallons of water.

 

Onward wave electric generators.

[Horton]

I measured again tonight. 42" deep. 56" to go

[MattP]

Thats 9" in 3 days. Filling up rather quickly!

[Horton]

Current average is 2.3" per day.

[MattP]

@Horton so another month of pumping before you an ski.

[Horton]

that is the plan

[MrJones]

Oh my gosh! Remind me to never complain again about Louisiana being humid and wet. I might run my well 20 days per year max. No pumping in the winter at all. May-Sept max. I think the biggest bill for a month was around $60-80. (Don't hate me. The humidity does make for bad hair days. I don't think Horton's 'do would survive it.)

[skiep]

http://aces.nmsu.edu/pubs/_a/A104/welcome.html

[Horton]

The lake was exactly 5 feet deep last night. 3 feet to go.

[klindy]

Ok if the lake is roughly 2000'x125'x5' now that works out to less than 300 gallons a minute if it's pumped 24/7. That means at least another 20-25 days to add another 3' of water.

[Horton]

We got 5'in 26 days. So I think you are pessimistic

[klindy]

Ok

[Stevie Boy]

What is the window, regards depth, obviously you have a prescribed optimum depth of around 8 feet, at what depth would you not ski on it ?

[Stevie Boy]

I do not claim, to be great at maths, but surely as the lake fills up, the amount of depth achieved each day will decrease, simply because, as the water makes it's way up the banks, the surface area increases ?

[LeonL]

Yeah, @Stevie Boy, that's what I've been thinking too.

[Horton]

Yes the last inch will be the slowest....

 

We are not skiing until the lake is full. we spent a crapload of money digging lake and getting the contours correct... we don't want to cut steps in the grade by skiing a few weeks early

 

 

[Skoot1123]

@horton - how steep are the slopes on your banks?

[Chef23]

@Horton will you pump water to maintain consistent water level? Around here water level fluctuates a couple of feet depending on the weather.

[Horton]

@Skoot1123‌ heck I don't know. all the design work was done before I purchased my lot. from 2 feet deep to the shore I think is 10 to 1 but I'm not really sure.

 

@Chef23‌ yes we pump every week. We will try to keep the water level within a few inches year round

[Skoot1123]

@horton - was just curious as we made ours fairly steep slopes. (better for weed control as we are in farm country).

[Horton]

@Skoot1123‌ once we get past 2 feet deep the slope down to eight foot is pretty steep

[Skoot1123]

@horton - and we will also be using a dye for our lake too.

[Horton]

@Skoot1123‌ have to. Lots of blue

[Stevie Boy]

We are all missing, one very important question here, how are you going to decide, who get,s to ski on it first ?

[crashman]

Reverse baller coin auction?

[Horton]

@Stevie Boy‌ who ever is on site the day we get to the 8 foot mark. Guess it is not going to be me (I do not care) because my boat will get there a week or so later.

 

There are 6 owners on the lake so someone will pull the trigger at 7' 11 15/16"

[Boat030]

@Horton I'm pretty good with a tape measure, I think I might try and fight Bob for the first ride!

[Stevie Boy]

I wanted to ask, just for interest, six owners, six boats, why not one or two boats, owned by all six ?

 

[MattP]

You can only use 1 boat at a time. So sell them all and use 1! It makes the most sense.

[chris_logan]

Probably good to keep one of each current "tournament approved" hull on the lake. Makes for well rounded practices sets.

[Horton]

Just not the way it works here on the west coast. Everyone has their own boat and agenda... We all do our own thing. Not saying it is a good thing but that is the way it is.

[kstateskier]

Good god isn't this thing full yet???!!

[Commuterfisher]

Just got solar for my home in North County San Diego. The ROI for my investment is 4.5 years to pay for the cost to install. After that my electric bill is essentially free. I will be saving $ 550 per month or $ 6,600 per year. Plus Socal rates are expected to go up another 25%. My panels are Axitech made in Germany. Expected output at 25 years at 85% and around 80% at 40 years. Each panel is monitored and optimized for peak output. It would be great to put in a system for the pump and all 6 homes.

[Horton]

@Commuterfisher that would be a huge capital investment. The well eats a LOT of KWs so we would need a LOT of panels.

[Wayne]

@Horton do you know the power rating and what voltage the pump is using? Would be interesting to figure out what that thing is sucking off the grid.

[Horton]

@Wayne‌ I do not. 100 hp maybe

[GaryWilkinson]

All pix look great, calm, serene, how's the wind in your area. Planning on planting additional wind break tree line. In that area I'm sure you could grow some protection rather quickly!?

 

Looks beautiful though

A dream realized I bet.

[OTF]

@horton, didn't mean to off topic you. iPhone casualty

[Horton]

@OTF you Rat Bastard!

 

(you know you can fix that by going back to the post and changing it. .... I could care less)

[uflbret]

@Horton, I'm thinking you are grossly overstating the HP rating of your pump. I'll bet it is 5hp or less. They do suck a lot of electricity but the HP ratings are surprisingly low.

[Skoot1123]

@uflbret - it all depends on how deep the well is and what the output is. As @horton stated earlier they are pumping 900 gpm. That is a LOT of water. For example - an irrigation pump that is being used in the Midwest to pump 1000 gpm from 200 ft below the earths suface is ~75 hp. I wouldn't be surprised if the pump is 90 hp. Either way - a LOT of KW's!

[Horton]

For the record. I don't know. The well is shared by 4 lakes. I am the new guy so details like that have not yet sunk in.

[Horton]

@OTF‌ I disliked your post just got fun

[bojans]

How is the fill coming along?