Anyone else just up and "QUIT" & move to the country?

We're working on getting a Jeep... just not found the right one, or the right deal.. Need something beefy for out there..

Got the truck for towing... Just not off road. About the only thing I'm really wishing for is a front end loader, or someone to drop a backhoe in my lap for cheap. I don't see that happening though.. LOL..

Yeah.. I know there's no gold out there, but hopefully I'll find a financial niche to fill and make my own..

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Never let your fear decide your fate!
Kein Mitleid für die Mehrheit

At $65/hr, it makes more sense to hire the backhoe. Get a commuter vehicle for the wife that gets great mileage. A 3/4 ton will do for those times she needs 4x4 and do everything else you need.

I think that dirt road would tear the crap outta a commuter car.. We already have a commuter, and it needs to go.. I've got the motorcycle to ride when the weather is good and so long as I don't need a truck.. We've talked about a lot of vehicles, and we both keep coming back to wanting a Jeep.

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Never let your fear decide your fate!
Kein Mitleid für die Mehrheit

If you're a SHTF type, take a look at the Jeeps with a diesel. You can store diesel forever.

That is a good thought.. But want a Wrangler, and no diesel in them yet.. but talk of it..

What I really want to is a deuce and a half... I sure do dream a lot...

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Never let your fear decide your fate!
Kein Mitleid für die Mehrheit

There's a deuce and a half setting about 100' from where I'm typing. It's for sale or trade. The owner was looking at trading for a 4x4 F700 but the deal fell through. The dealer wanted 6K for the F700.

Wranglers are worthless for hauling big stuff or towing a trailer. Saw one take a woman off road backwards once on the PA turnpike. The woman never had a chance. Check out the Jeep Liberty. I've heard good and bad, but they can be had with a diesel.

Wranglers are toys around here. Great for fun though.

LOL... man, ya just gotta poke at me... I wish I was in the right position to buy one... Never know if it's still there after we get settled and see how tings look....

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Never let your fear decide your fate!
Kein Mitleid für die Mehrheit

Question for you: does anyone at your work or your wife's work know that you are planning on leaving??

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"I used to be a terror, now I am a tired man" Jim Croce

A couple do, not many... We plan to give a month's notice... When you leave a law firm for a different life, they're good with that, they just don't like employees that move to a competitor.

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Never let your fear decide your fate!
Kein Mitleid für die Mehrheit

When DH and I decided to get married, I knew about 6 months in advance that I would be leaving my job. Told a couple of "good friends". They in turn let the boss know in order to move themselves up the ladder. Suddenly, I wasn't doing a good enough job (after more than 3 years of good reviews) and let go. Be careful who knows about your plans!

Check out what is offered on etsy for hand forged items. Wonder if you could turn out coat hooks and other small items relatively quickly. Great idea to look for old barns & sheds. Not only could you work with or sell the wood but you could also sell the nails. Wondering if you could also get into salvage? The guys on the HGTV show "Salvage Dawgs" seem to always have more work than they can handle.

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"Never stop questioning - curiosity has its own reason for existence." Albert Einstein

"I used to be a terror, now I am a tired man" Jim Croce

The ones that know have known for about a year.. I just had my review this last week.. Everything is as good as always..

My wife and I do a lot of sales and salvaging and she resells on Etsy. We've talked about a few ideas of things to do to sell on Etsy too.. or at least try.. We figure for a 20 cent listing, it's hard to beat the entertainment of who buys the strangest things most would write off..

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Never let your fear decide your fate!
Kein Mitleid für die Mehrheit

How much for the deuce and a half? Actually, really been looking for a Korean era army Jeep, but a deuce would be fun too.

Matt

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I'll render an opinion or two on back country vehicles which, once again, will be worth what you are paying for it......$0

I have done a lot of back country stuff, and the only time I really wished for 4WD was in the snow. The rest of the time, 4WD is good for getting one exactly twice as stuck as the 2 wheel drive version. I have seen on more than one occasion, folks get stuck, bring in another 4wd and get it stuck trying to bail out the first one, repeat, repeat, and before long they had started their own junk yard right there in the spot where the road crossed the sand wash and the only remedy was a wrecker from town. This was great fun to them, but to me it was just wasting a day and wearing out a lot of tires and machinery and making the wrecker guy rich.

Then, consider what one means by "off roading". Not too many places where one can or wants to just take off cross country any more. Every hillside you drive up unless it is rock, you are starting a set of grooves in the earth that will catch and channel water and turn into an erosion cut that keeps getting bigger and uglier every year. Now, that is certainly more often the case here, where there is little vegitation to prevent the erosion, but if one is plowing through knee-high grass or shrubs going up a hill, unless you want to have somebody walk ahead of the jeep, you will sooner or later discover a dry well, abandoned coal mine, abandoned chunk of machinery, a rock only slightly lower than the vegitation or some other costly or dangerous thing that has been waiting a century to kill you or your jeep.

Offroading with a jeep is a VERY costly and uncertain passtime. Jeep parts are expensive and 4WD is not as practical as 2WD in terms of longevity of parts. It is a solution to a problem, but it brings with it it's own problems that do not fit the economy of the homestead very well. I have owned a few of them, but I will NEVER buy another used one. Ranchers, at least, use them conpletely up before getting rid of them, and the 4WD crowd that li9ke offroading will subject them to 150K miles worth of abuse in 20K miles, then decide the hobby is too expensive, sell it and move on to dirt bikes.
Everything I ever wanted to do, including logging, I have done with simple 2WD pickup trucks or larger trucks like 60 series chevies or 1600 series IH dump trucks. dI have a 16' open trailer for hauling logs and stuff.

I will try to include a pic of my offroad vehicle that I can use without gouging up the soil much (note the wide tires) and that can be knocked together for around $300 by any guy with a welder.....Joe

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We just sorta did that. Retired, sold a small town business and we are in the midst of becoming full time homesteaders. Till now we have worked 4 days and been at the farm 3. We aren't kids anymore we are both over 60.

Can't tell you how we reached the decision to quit. It has been a long time coming and one day we just said. ENOUGH!

We have been moving, consolidating 2 homes to one for the past year, Still have a long way to go but we are now at our homestead most of the time and leaving only to head for the non homesteading house to stuff another load of belongings in the good old econoline and head west again. Yes, it is tough work, especially when you are sorting through what seems like a lifetime of possessions trying to decide what to keep and what not to keep.

So we are dealing with less money, BUT we are also dealing with less stress. It's a win win scenario IMHO.

Right now we are on hold waiting for the next snow storm to move in. 9 inches. Gotta love winter....not

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