An elderly man lives down the road from me pulled into my driveway earlier today... He asked me if I had a Billie Goat.. I answered yes in fear thinking Oh My did Jack get out??? But no there was no problem, he has a doe that needs to be bred and he wanted to know what I would charge for my Jack's services.
Now I had never given the thought of pimping out my Jack before so I had no idea... I didn't want to ask for too much... I did however remember that this man sells fire wood on occasion so I told him "How about you bring me however much wood you think would be a fair trade and you can borrow him" He said that sounded fine to him, I showed him my Jack and we talked a bit... Then he headed on back home.
A few minutes later he was back with about a half a rick of nice seasoned wood... He put it out by the barn and I helped him load up Jack into his truck. Now my Jack is over at his house "visiting" for a few days... He promised me he would take "real good care of him" and we shook hands. He will bring Jack back when the deed is done. And that is how a "Country Contract" is done... A promise and a handshake... I can see Jack when I drive by his house so I know also that Jack is just fine as can be!!!
I got something I needed in the form of some firewood and he got what he needed in the form of a sire to freshen his Nanny goat... So when you are thinking of things that you can use as money should our economy crash do not forget about services to trade. Whether it be your knowledge of how to brew beer or the services of an animal. Barter is truly a wonderful thing and has been around a millennium longer than currency.
Christine.... bartering is fun and enjoyable when both parties are equally satisfied with the outcome. I traded an old crank winch, which I had no use for, to a gentleman that had two #30 propane tanks. They needed a little tlc, a new valve and a new coat of paint, walaa! #60 extra propane storage for my preps.
ReplyDeleteYes and many people do not realize that the "junk" they have sitting around could be traded for something that they need or want. That was the old way of doing business... My pig for your calf...
DeleteCongrats on your trade... It sounds like a good deal!!!! Now if I could just convince our Ace Hardware to trade... I just had to buy flue pipe for the wood stove I am putting in my barn!!
Christine... that triple wall stuff is expensive. For the barn, I would search for old well casing or something similar. A collar could be welded onto the pipe. Doesn't have to go to the floor. A leg can be built for it. Older home flues were mainly made from brick. Brick were scarce, so they built a shelf to set the flue on. Saved brick.
DeleteSeveral years ago, I built a new flu for a wood stove here in the house. I used flue block & flue liners, whew they were heavy. Once I got above the roof, I used brick leftover from a car/post office collision and flu liners. Bye building that flue, purchasing a stove & firewood that year, the cost savings paid for itself, compared with the natural gas I purchased the year before. Since then, the good lord has sent storm after storm for plenty of free firewood for me.
I built the stove out of a barrel I bought from the Little Debbie factory for $10 and the flue goes straight up to the roof from the stove. I am just using regular old single wall black pipe since my barn is just metal, but even that was $12 a stick. I have it plenty far from the trusses which are 5' on center. My son in law works for a place that makes metal buildings so I was able to get a boot for the roof at cost... and then I had to of course buy the rain cap. I am going to cut a hole in the roof by just drilling out the center and then snipping back to where I need my pipe to go thru like a multi point star then shove the pipe thru. I figured that would give it some extra support then put the boot over the top on the roof. It is a high temp rubber boot special made for metal roofs. I may need one more 2' stick of black pipe to get it up over the point of the barn roof but maybe not. So far I have about $110 in flue pipe and then it cost me about $50 to build the stove... I too hope that the Lord sends me fallen trees that I can get, but first I have to figure out how to put the pull rope back on my chain saw... LOL
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