Ok, i understand the whole panel/subpanel setup. And isolating the
neutral from the ground in the sub etc etc. Here's the question:
We've recently purchased a house (next door) and it has the typical farm
setup, (meter on the pole with a disconnect, and three wires to the
house). The difference with this one is that there is a second panel that
was added in about 1960, when they added on to the house, which i assumed
at first was just a sub off the main panel. I just noticed today that the
second panel is ALSO tied into the feeders just outside the house and so
it in effect is a second main panel. Are there any issues with it being
this way as long as each panel has it's own pair of proper ground rods?
Should the two be bonded together either at the ground rods OR between the
two panels?


I think in this case the disconnect at the meter on the pole serves as the
main panel and therefore the bonding of the neutral and ground should take
place in there as well as your ground rod connection. So you should have
four wires to each subpanel or metal conduit could serve as the grounding
conductor with three wires. At the time these were installed three wires
were permissible with the installation of a ground rod at each building. One
shared ground rod was all that was needed at the time for both buildings.

I think that the rated life for a copper clad ground rod is 40 years. Other
materials except stainless steel is less. You should probably install new
rods for optimum lightning protection. Install two rods at least 16' apart
and have one common grounding electrode conductor with one end going to one
panel and the other end going to the other panel. Also install at least one
new rod at the meter pole.

Is there a main breaker in each panel? Are the conductor sizes the same for
each panel?