Electrical Installation and Irrigation Repair Cost Update                                           Provided by                  www.YucatánRanchFarmandHome.ccom                _______________________________________ Part 1. Approximate costs for the installation of a minimal pump suitable for a medium sized drip irrigation system. Part 2. Approximate costs related to running power from the highway (State electrical company) to ranch/farm properties. The copied email estimate below received 8/14/08 will give you a basic idea of current prices for such essential ranch/farm necessities as power and irrigation were they to be contracted/installed at today´s prices of $12.5-13 Pesos to $1US. This quote is by no means complete nor as detailed as a formal estimate would be. This quote, for example assumes that the well has already been drilled and lined, an additional expense were that not the case. I assured the engineer that we were interested in an overall estimate for the minimum required well-pump for ourselves and for the cost of running power installation to the adjoining ranch which we have also listed. I will translate for those of you who may not speak Spanish. I will also comment upon and/or clarify some of the important technical details as well. This is a complicated and at times daunting technology to understand so please do not lose heart if it seems a bit overwhelming at times; It is and can be even for those of us who have perhaps had a bit more experience than the average buyer of real property………. 1).The Estimate: Irrigation repair --- El jue 14-ago-08, Alberto Pÿfe9rez <tunboriente@yahoo.com.mx> escribió: De:: Alberto Perez <tunboriente@yahoo.com.mx> Asunto: Presupuesto. (Subject: Estimate-bid) A: Info@YucatánRanchFarmandHome.com Fecha: jueves, 14 agosto, 2008, 8:21 pm This first section is related to a “bomba” (water pump) that recently failed on our own rancho. Fortunately, in this first part of our operations, we will be installing a drip irrigation system which requires far less water and therefore pumping power. The existing pump (since repaired for less than $70 US and working fine) which failed was 15HP which would be the minimum required for irrigating pastures for sheep, horses and cattle. As you see below, our engineer is suggesting and quoting for just a 1.5 HP submersible pump which on average (depending upon supplier) will run from $700-$900 US for the pump alone. As you can see, there are numerous additional parts and cables as well as a $230.00 labor fee, at today´s exchange rate, for dismantling and removing   then replacing the recently failed pump. " Hola, le paso el presupuesto que me solicito. 1 bomba sumergible de 1.5 hp con caja de control y switch de arranque 16 mts de tubo galvanizado de 2" para columna 2 llaves esfera de 2" 25 mts de  cable sumergible de 3x8 25 mts de cable para tierra 1 tee galv de 2" 2 cople galv de 2" 1 tapon macho 2" 1 conector de inserción de 2" 1 abrazadera de hierro                                                    TOTAL DE MATERIALES  $12,933.76 MANO DE OBRA POR DESINSTALAR BOMBA EXISTENTE E INSTALAR BOMBA NUEVA                                                       $ 3,000.00                                                                             TOTAL        $ 15,933.76 EL PRECIO ESTA SUGETO A CAMBIOS SIN PREVIO AVISO. Bottom line in this case is approximately $1000.00 US for materials plus an additional  approximately $230.00 for labor. The 1.5HP pump would be fine for a drip irrigation system up to 6-8 hectares but is not adequate nor would it be considered as sufficient for a professional/commercial irrigation system. Our 15HP pump is in the range but it would be very easy and advisable to consider at least a 25-35HP pump for a major operation. A 35 HP pump is not uncommon and in fact may be necessary a lot sooner than one would want to imagine as it is  still only adequate relatively for small to medium tracts of land.  Nevertheless, the advantages of having electricity, and especially with deep-well, year-around irrigation, we think  far out-weigh the initial costs even over a year or two. It should also be noted that the government (State and Federal) has numerous programs for rural economic development and often will match a rancher´s investment to 50% in purchasing  fencing, animals, wind-mills, irrigation equipment of all types including well-drilling, deep-well pumps, and even bringing electricity from another source. Fortunately, and depending upon one´s goals,  there are many options and approaches to all of this. One is to graze fewer animals so that they have natural pasturage year around without irrigation between rainy seasons. From a farming point of view, and once again, simply plant one less crop per year and give the land a break during the hottest driest period of the year. Another obvious option is to grow drought resistant plants, be they cash crops, medicinal plants, or a combination thereof. A few which  very quickly come to mind are nopal cactus, aloe vera, henniquen, cedro (a type of cedar which looks like Mahogany), pine, and the as yet to be discovered “tree of 40 cures”, the Neem tree. Please see our LINKS Pages. Finally,... This engineer and company has an excellent reputation, great inventory and products, and are as professional as you can find. They design and install the latest in technology and indeed at times this is needed; a bigger start-up investment perhaps at the beginning may mean a greater savings of time, money and crops long- term. They are however pricey and in this case would have sold us a new pump instead of trying to work out whatever problem our recently re-built , much larger pump, was having.   In the end, our electrician came out, spent a long day setting up, working with, and taking down what almost looked like and oil rig to pull and replace our pump after also making some minor adjustments to resolve our problem, and the whole day (labor and materials) cost us $945 pesos or roughly $70.00 US. Price variations here are dramatic and  so it really pays to do one´s homework and to have a sense about where to buy and with whom to work with when it´s appropriate. In this case, hiring the engineer instead of our very competent electrician, would have been like hiring a Beverly Hills brain surgeon to pull a splinter from one´s finger. Live and learn........ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Electric Installation: Below is the ballpark estimate our friendly engineer gave us to bring in  electricity on private property like a ranch or farm. Let´s jump below and “read between the lines, shall we? "El precio de 1 kilómetro de ´tendido eléctrico en línea recta es aproximadamente de $160,000.00 MN …a parte se cotiza lo que le platique de la subestación, que aproximadamente una de 45 kva cuesta de 30,000.00 a 40,000.00 MN" What he´s saying is that for every kilometer (.6 mile) of poles and cable you install, it will cost approximately $12,000.00 USD. Let´s keep it simple and stick with metric as that´s what we use down here. So, each kilometer (Km) of power installation will have a pole and cable installed approximately every 100 meters (10 x 100m = 10,000 meters, hence 10 poles per Km. The necessary "Sub-station" and 45 KVA transformer (we have 2 on R. Santa Cruz) will run an additional $30K-$40K pesos or between $2400 - $3100. Fine, $1200 USD per 100 meters "isn´t to bad", subject to whatever budget restrictions,  if your home/base of operations  is going to be less than 1km- 2 km from the existing source of power,usually the road where the state power passes.  Our house sits a full KM from the road and not only do we have 1 but 2 “substations” each one housing a transformer which reduces our in-coming high-voltage power to something usable in a house, a business, or , in our case with 3-phase, a factory…or major farm irrigation operation. "Le pido me disculpe por lo informal de esta cotización pero posteriormente le enviare una mejor redactada. Gracias por su amable preferencia. Lic. Alberto Perez" ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Please use this information for estimating purposes only. As you have seen, prices and  services vary widely and with the current economy in such turmoil we should all rely on at least several bids from the most competent professionals we can find. Material prices especially, continue to rise almost weekly, probably to get more in line with the Dollar. Without rushing into anything, we do feel that now is a fantastic time to take advantage of unprecedented conversion rates. As we have see above, the rates we were quoted above may not be the bottom line and you may actually do better by several thousands of dollars depending upon how long your electrical run will be. We are of course available to assist our clients whenever possible........                                                                            Let there be light!