Toy Shopping!

[CJ]

I had a very productive (and expensive!) few days back home. I took the ATV that we purchased a few weeks ago down here in AR to my folks place in MO. I got to try it out on our land, it worked great! I hooked up a garden cart and had my step dad, a cooler and some tools in the cart, my mom on the back seat, and it towed us up the steep grassy trail just fine. Thanks to everyone for helping us choose the ATV. It was quite a treat not to have to haul things up that hill on foot.

The land was totally overgrown. I hardly recognized the place. Amazing what can grow up in a year and a half. The on small clearing on the land was nearly head high in scrub already. Fortunately, it's still brush hoggable. Poison ivy everywhere, ugh.


Off to the John Deere dealer, where I ordered a 4320 48hp tractor, heavy duty front end loader, brush hog, post hole digger, debris grapple and a box blade to be delivered in July when we go back home for a couple of weeks. I purchased an 18' flatbed as well, that I went ahead and took with me, but they didn't have all the tractor parts I'd ordered in stock, so I asked them to just hold it all until July.

Tomorrow I'm going to order the supplies to build a tractor shed, and I hope to finish researching a 3 pt chipper and have it ordered in time for delivery in July.

I don't know how much we'll get accomplished in 2 weeks, but I'm sure looking forward to starting work on our land.

Time to start saving up again...
The Wandering Quilter's Life in a Box!

[OK Yankee]

It's amazing what you can do when you put your mind to it, isn't it? GOOD JOB!

I have some brothers who think that we are rich, when they spend what they don't have. We don't.

Congrats! And when you're done, I know of a few acres that could use your brush hog! LOL

Yankee

P.S. Your land looks good. Good and VERY green!

[CJ]

Well I was glad to get the purchase out of the way. We've been waffling about getting a tractor and what size for the last 6 months. It won't get a whole lot of use for a few years, but we weren't really thrilled about that money sitting in the bank either. We're not ready to build, so the tractor investment seemed like the way to go. And if we end up between contracts for a few months, we'll have the tools to go get some work done!

The Wandering Quilter's Life in a Box!

[12vman]

This could be a cheap option for the tractor shed.. Depending on how big it is..

http://www.strombergschickens.com/st...late_index.php

[CJ]

We're going to use a 14' x 21' Port-a-Hut with the front door enclosures for a tractor shed. It's just tall enough (by 2 inches!) for the tractor to fit under with the ROPS bar down.

We've always loved the huts, and used a number of them for our sheep in the past. When we get around to building the shop, the hut will make a great sheep barn. They're fast and easy to assemble, and ship in 7' sections, so they're also easy to get into any area you want to build them at.

The Wandering Quilter's Life in a Box!

[FoolishDreamer]

That photo looks EXACTLY like my land - all 10 acres of it. I'm taking it one tree at a time...

[CJ]

Originally Posted by FoolishDreamer

That photo looks EXACTLY like my land - all 10 acres of it. I'm taking it one tree at a time...

Take heart, once cut it's amazing how different it will look! This is almost the same shot taken last April, before it grew up. We have a spring up on the southern hilltop, that runs down to here. Even the pool was totally overgrown and you couldn't even see it.



The Wandering Quilter's Life in a Box!

[hunter63]

Congrats, don't just love it when a plan comes together!

It's amazing how much you will find uses for the quad and tractor.
When I purchased the first quad 1995, DW thought it was just a toy, now she has one also.
Used the first one as a tractor for ten years, pulling mower, cart, trees brush, plowing snow and sometimes just riding it for the fun of it.
If you have any kind of hills it is definitely a good investment.

The tractor has taken over some of the duties of the quad, and the bucket is finding new stuff to do everytime I fire it up.

Good luck on the underbrush, been hacking away at my "buckthorn", and wild blackberrys, grape vines and box elders, for a while now, and you really need to keep it under control.

Added to the mix is all the elms died, ('bout 200) all about 8" dia.

I think my next tractor toy will be a 3pt splitter.

As a tractor shed, my plan is to roof over a pole structure, then use fire wood under the eves as "walls". cover for the tractor and firewood at one time.
May be this summer if I get caught up on land scaping and insulation.

Was talking about this at the local saloon and 'lo and behold, the guy down the road is doing it!

[CJ]

We had a comparable tractor on our last place, I wouldn't dream of setting up a homestead without one. It shaves years off the project! Not too mention, we aren't spring chickens any more.

I was already in hog heaven with the ATV this trip. Riding up our 1/4 mile of steep drive instead of walking it gasping for breath was great! :1pig: Yeah yeah I know it's good excercise.

What killed all your elm trees? How awful! Definitely get a log splitter if you're going to turn them into firewood. That's high on our list once we move to the place, as we'll be heating with wood. However, up to that point, we're going to chip everything we take down. Next payday, the BX62 3 pt chipper is getting ordered. Another 2 weeks of beans and rice .

That's a fantastic idea on a tractor shed. Are you going to have the roof overhang the stacked logs?

The Wandering Quilter's Life in a Box!

[hunter63]

Originally Posted by CJ

We had a comparable tractor on our last place, I wouldn't dream of setting up a homestead without one. It shaves years off the project! Not too mention, we aren't spring chickens any more.

I was already in hog heaven with the ATV this trip. Riding up our 1/4 mile of steep drive instead of walking it gasping for breath was great! :1pig: Yeah yeah I know it's good excercise.

What killed all your elm trees? How awful! Definitely get a log splitter if you're going to turn them into firewood. That's high on our list once we move to the place, as we'll be heating with wood. However, up to that point, we're going to chip everything we take down. Next payday, the BX62 3 pt chipper is getting ordered. Another 2 weeks of beans and rice .

That's a fantastic idea on a tractor shed. Are you going to have the roof overhang the stacked logs?

The Wandering Quilter's Life in a Box!

Interesting on how you call it "The Place" (bold letters are mine), this is how our "Place" got it's name.

Yes, my plan is to over hang about 2 ft on the sides, for some weather protection. I can always close in the walls later.

The elms here die off every 10-12 years or so, they are all about the same size 8-10" dia. I have been taking them down, chunking, splitting, stacking as fast as I can. They rot from the ground up, so the longer they stay up the more rotten they get.

First came the ones in the fields, (in the way) next came the ones that were going to fall on something I didn't want smashed, then come the rest.
Bad news lots of dead trees to deal with, good news lot of firewood, elm burns pretty good.

Neighbors have been invited to help themselves, just sorta pile the brush in on spot. They have really helped me out and did cut 30-40 over the winter.
Been using my little Harbor Freight 4-ton electric to this point with good results, but a bigger one is in the plan.

Gonna have to wait for a while as I just purchased a hydraulic dumping trailer last week. Lot of dirt, rocks, blocks, pavers to haul.

[CJ]

So what did you call your "Place"?

We need a good name for ours. What could be more fitting than the Tinkles that live on "P" highway? Definitely a name to top it off is in order!

I love the idea of your tractor barn. We might set something like that up later, heck even as just a wood shed, that would be super!

I drooled over the hydraulic dump beds when I picked up the flatbed for the tractor, my how I could put one of THOSE to use! LOL

The Wandering Quilter's Life in a Box!

[hunter63]

That's what we named it "The Place" because everyone always asked "are you going to The Place"?



Actually a sign in the upper right hand corner of the porch, donated by friends.
Can't read it too well, but it took it's name all by it's self.

[CJ]

What a great cabin! I LOVE the window shutters, did you make those?

The Wandering Quilter's Life in a Box!

[hunter63]

No, they came with it, I did do all electrical, plumbing, and kitchen /bath cabinets.
Whole cabin built by the Amish, cabin trucked in, then they came back the next day built the porch.
Cabin 16 X 40' +8 X 40" porch, with 2-6 ft dormers and 14' and 12' loft.
Built out of 8" "D" milled solid logs.
Delivered, at less cost than my truck.