The last calf with the new Lowline Arberdeen starter herd was born 3 days ago. That brings up to 3 heifer calves, 3 cows and 1 bull. Guess we now know that Wooly Bully is going to throw a lot of Heifer calves LOL. If he throws 2-3 more next year I will swap him out for fresh blood to breed the existing and new Heifers. Planning on stopping at 9 cows 9 on the teat, and 9 feeding/finishing and one or two bulls, May Keep Wooly to keep breeding the 3 original cows...... Can't say he does no throw great calves. LOL that cow looks about 1000X meaner than she is! The Container Project is all done except for the spray foam and hooking the heat pumps up. The Barn to New House project is ready for the contractor to their part with concrete, closing the open side, installing the doors and windows and doing the roof spray foam. Spray Foam sub contractor is going to do the containers the same time he does the barn/house roof. 6" concrete get done in 2 weeks, spray foam on the roof in 3 weeks, open side closed up in 5 weeks. Then I go back to work on it framing, electrical and plumbing. I do have a little bit more dirt work to do in the barn to get floor as level as possible but not much. I keep adding to the Mill Log stack. Looking like it will be November/December before the new sawmill will ship. Apologies again to the buyer of the old mill for the delay in doing the deal Was not expecting the back order delay and I have to use the old mill to get the interior wall wood for the house milled, stacked and drying Finally finalized the window/door plan for the contractor! And finalized the floor plan for the house that I like and believe will work best for us. Hey I drew it out on a rough trailer floor Went to the box store yesterday afternoon and bought all of the windows, doors and storm doors. Folks are always asking me what the house project is going to cost. Original Barn cost $11,000 the Contractor part of the project is $19,000 and some change. Septic/Plumbing/Electrical/framing/insulation/heat pump(s)/ 20x40 4" concrete patio and all of the parts and pieces for my work come to around $13,000. So my total cost is going to be around $43,000-$45,000. I had the general contractor run a estimate on building from dirt to finished if he did it all and he shot me a $145,000-$165,000 price depending on flooring/walls etc. Fortunately I am skilled carpenter and plumber and proficient enough in electric to save a whole lot of money. A large part of the $165,000 estimate would be the Red Oak walls if he could even get the Red Oak to do them and would require subcontracting mill to custom mill the lumber if the mill could find the logs to mill. LOL we shall not even speak of finding the 30' long 8x8 red oak cross beams or the 40' of 8x8 red oak central beam ( two 20's) that the cross beams will sit notched onto or the four 8x8 red oak post to support the central 40' beam LOL He figured IF he could find a mill that could do it, that lumber would burn me at least $50,000 alone. So to get what I want for interior lumber, I have to mill it myself from the logs I have on property The big solar project is going to be broke into two systems and two projects East for the business side and West for the home and personal side. Going with a 40KW system, a large still undecided battery bank, 30KW Propane Kohler Generator and a 1000 tank Bringing that all in for $72,000 with damn few incentives or tax rebates for a DIY Off Grid System. East Side business will go in next year. It will be grid tied and installed by the all mighty certified solar installers and will be a 60KW System no battery bank initially (that will go in once it is out of the Government programs and incentives) And another 30KW Generator and gas hog that you have to give on/off remote control of to the electric co-op for 3 years. That system qualifies for all the government hand out and tax rebates and comes in at $28,000 out my pocket. Can't take that system off grid for 5 years, without having to pay back the Government Handouts with hefty penalties (Primarily the Ag Grant parts of the funding for that system.) Normally I am adamant about not taking Government Hand Outs from the free sh!t Trees. I am just going to call this one....... recovering a small portion of the taxes I have paid! The Excavating company building the dams for the ponds is coming tonight to get the contracts for the first two dams that will be build this year signed. One pond is going to cost $14,000 the Second will be $18,000. We decided to build a total of 5-6 small 1-3 acre ponds over the next 3 years, rather than one big 14 acre lake. In part because the dam for one big lake was going to cost nearly triple what all of the smaller dams will cost and it got into a whole bunch of State and Federal restrictions and regulations that the smaller ponds don't. Basically two 3 acre ponds that overflow into two 2 acre ponds that overflow into two 1 acre ponds as the elevation in the low spots declines. Deepest two will only be around 15-16 feet deep shallowest two will be 8-10 feet deep. Will still have the four small 1/8 and 1/4 acre stock ponds that won't overflow into the new ponds. One big dam would have been 80 feet high on the back side, a whole lot thicker than I care to think about, depth on the water side would have been 40-45 feet at the deep end ( Where State and Feds would have started getting involved is the depth and acreage) and would have flooded 14-17 acres of the 3 prong low spots. This way I still get 12 acres of water and fishing, just not one body of water at 1/3 of the cost and none of the Government involvement. First of this years pair of 3 acre ponds starts in 6 weeks in the blue circle and will be about 150 feet from the new houses back door for my future fishing ease Going to do simple through the dam screened pipe over flows with a liner and rip rap down the dam to the ditch leading to the next pond and then a screened side spillway on the last 1 acre pond in the chain. Will stock the two 3 acre ponds with Catfish, large Mouth bass, Bluegill and Red Ears. That will keep the big fish in and let ample small fish overflow into the ponds on down the chain stocking them over time. Still need to bring another 10 tandems of 3" rock and 10 more tandems of road pack to put on top of the 3" rock road bases. Because the 300 tons I have already put down this year is not overkill already LOL. MUST BUILD MORE ROADS!!!! I scrape the top soil off down to the clay, back fill it with 4" of 3" rock then put 3" of roadpack on top. So far have built 1.25 mile of new gravel internal roads this year and really want to get another 1.25 mile done before fall. Sad that my internal farm roads are 10x better than the mile of County Road coming down to me. Spending A LOT of money in 2022 on infrastructure with practical purpose here this year. But have saved A lot of money over the last 5 years for this big infrastructure year. I really wanted to get the second solar system done this year and off grid as well but just don't have the money in the budget to do it. Won't have the money to do it next year either thus going grid tie and handouts to get the system at least in and partially functioning. Also would have liked to have gotten all the ponds in this year but again we just ran out of money for them. I probably should have waited a year to retire and ran the food trailers hard one more year. They would have brought in enough cash to cover everything we are falling short on. But that would require me working 70-75 hours per week running one of them and going through the nightmare of finding a crew and driver to run the second one and just am not going to pay someone $20 per hour to flip burgers on a flat top or stand at the sales table taking orders!!! Places paying that kind of money for zero skill labor are not able to find enough people to work for that kind of money anyway. LOL the IS NO Labor Shortage there is a people willing to work for a fair wage equal to the work shortage!!! Then when you do find someone that says they are willing to work you quickly find that $20 per hour hand is in reality worth about 20 Cents per hour SO I am stringing the solar out over two years and the ponds out over 3 years. I generate enough income from leases and investments to save up for those projects over time. I could dip into my retirement savings and investments to pay for it all but I have a hardcore rule that the money there shall not be touched for any reason until I start doling it out when I turn 65. Also won't use any of Mrs. T5Rs money for these projects. Her above and beyond $$$ is going into power saving for our later retirement funding. What we are spending now is what I saved from the crop leases, cell tower leases, the Chuck Wagon and All American profits over the last 5 years. I consider the discipline to save for major projects to be as much a part of being prepared as having a strong reserve of supplies, food and ammo. I am weird like that, I just will not use credit or go into debt for anything. I started out dirt floor poor when I left home and did not get to where I am by going into debt! I guess a lot of debt would be OK if the entire financial and banking system collapsed and then got hit with a EMP wiping out digital records and then fires burned any paper records and there was zero possibility of ever having to pay it back.......... Just don't foresee that series of events ever happening LOL.
Very impressive ,,, you've got it going on ,, that's for sure ,, sounds like it's going to be a beautiful place to kick back at when you hit 65 . I was gonna ask you about the mill ,, but didn't want to be pestering you . I completely understand your situation on that ,,, Carry on . We just bought 40 ,,, 40 ft treated 8x8s for a house I'm building for a guy at the beach ,, and they were a little better than 40,000 bucks . Over a grand apiece . It seems like lumber is the new gold . I appreciate your taking us along with you on your property project,,, I love seeing projects like yours come together .
I do apologize I was expecting maybe 2-4 weeks for the new mill not 7-8 Months. I thought about taking 40' logs to one of the three local bigger mills that can do beams that long. Found out fast they bend you over the barrel pretty quick for that length. I can do 21 feet max but that is enough I can step two together and just make sure the steps are centered on top of a post. LOL Really just expensive deco, Would be a lot easier to just a drop ceiling in. But I like the red oak beams contrasted by the lighter knotty hickory 1x between the beams. Going to build 2x6 pine I beams to put between and beside the 8x8 oak beams to screw the hickory 1x onto for the ceiling and just put 23/32 OSB on above to sandwich the ceiling insulation and make the attic floor. Beams are the one thing that have no practical or useful purpose beyond cosmetic. Will also be a lot easier winching two 20's up one at a than a single 40.
No worries on the mill,, I can wait . Just talked to my pile driver today and he says he can start Monday. So with this house kicking off ,, It's gonna take me a little longer to get my spot ready for it . So I'll be heading to the beach this weekend to get that one started .
Update on the Update Now I am back to doing one big 14 acre pond/lake. Get a better deal because of the higher diesel prices for doing the single bigger job than multiple smaller jobs. And it really does come down to the price of transporting the Excavator, two dozers, two tractors, three pans and a big roller for compressing. Cough and 10% discount for CASH payment. Basically a 40' tall dam wide enough for the big combine to comfortably drive over and a right at 1000 feet long. The Dam will be short enough to avoid Corps of Engineers permitting and the depth wont exceed 25 feet on the deep end avoiding some State and local harassment and permitting. Also avoid the expensive cores that come with greater depth. I know for a fact that there is 12-20 feet of clay before you hit the sand or sandstone under us. Already did a half dozen cores back in 2009 to see just how wet it really was down there. Ran it by my land broker friend a bit ago and he figures the lake will increase the property value by $200,000-$250,000 because who does not want their own personal 14acre recreational lake acre lake! Insurance will jump $400 per year and it will bump the property taxes up $1200 unless I call it for agricultural purpose and not recreational then taxes will only bump up around $550 per year........ Yeah it is for livestock water! And ummmm yeah irrigation!!! Won't be losing much in the way of good crop land, it is the tops that have the really high yields here not the steeper slopes and water ways. So the deal is $46,000 CASH 1 finished steer custom processed and two custom processed Hogs, free lunch for him and 5 man crew when they are working in this area....... Lifetime fishing rights because "This is going to be a MONSTER BASS HOLE!" Seems like a real fair deal to me. Oh and put in a good word with a Mayor and City Councilman I am friends with about what most excellent work his company does. Only condition I put on that last part was that he actually does Most Excellent work for me He will start the first week of July and should be done in 2 weeks. I do believe it comes down to putting in the good word for a couple of semi important people that are going to be deciding in the fall which excavating company will get a very nice rebuild and expand the sewer treatment plant contract that is worth a few millions. So here is what I am going with on the pond,, Blue lines obviously water, brownish block the dam, Orange block the new house. Gray lines the roads I have built or am in process of building. That stock pond on the Southeast of the lake is full of bluegill, little clams and millions of crawdads and water snails. All of that will overflow into the lake and create large healthy population of all over about 2 years. 3rd year I will stock a few thousand bass fingerlings and few thousand Red Ear (Shell Crackers) Basically introducing the predator fish after the bluegill, clams, snails, and crawdads have established and can support the bass and red ear population. Fourth year introduce the channel cat fingerlings. As much as I don't want them in the pond eventually the cranes will stock it with Yellow Belly Bullhead Catfish. Will probably put 14-16 tandems of rip rap on the water side of the dam. Not even going to bother grass seeding the dirt side, straw it heavy until the Black Berries, Honeysuckle, sasafrass, persimmons, damned Russian Olives and blue grass and orchard grass from the pasture grass grows up and makes it a tangles jungle of stickers and vines. Have nice gentle slope on the west side for a side spillway that will take 5-6 tandems of rip rap and 5 loads of 3" rock under the rip rap to keep it from eroding out. I have wanted this pond since I bought this place and every time I think I am going to get it done something more important steals the money for it LOL. The guy is right this is going to be a bass fishers dream pond. I am going to put a half dozen submerged weighted log piles in it, Put a couple dozen rip rap piles in it, That North strip with the double blue line is going to get a lot of sand put to it for spawning, same with that small cove by the larger gray circle. Going to cut down the trees in the woods that will be flooded and leave the stumps around 4 feet high and drag the logs and crowns down the main channel and weight them down good individually. Will end up with 30 good structure spots scattered around under water. A very large sand spawn bar and the smaller spawning cove. We only have like 9,000,000,000,001 Bull Frogs and Leopard Frogs here now LOL I expect it to get even louder here at night after this. And if it has standing water in it there is at least one if not 10 snapping turtles in it. 5 years from now it will be a real good bluegill and redear fishing hole, 6-7 years there should be decent catfish and bass fishing, 10 years out those big bass should start being regulars on a hook. The two stock ponds that don't get flooded by the big pond will be a constant source of clams, snails and crawdads. When me and friend get a wild hair to set some trot lines in a local creek we run sein through either of stock ponds and dredge up a 5 gallon bucket of crawdads and another bucket 2-3 inch bluegills and usually a half dozen 10-20 pound snappers. And all stinking stock pond mud that can cling to us LOL. So I had to make a choice skip the first solar system this year and push that plant to next year and the year after for the second or skip the pond and do the solar. There just ain't money to do both this year I can still squeeze the 30kw Kohler Generator and the propane tank in this year though. Might be the wrong call but damn it I want my big pond just not going to put it off again! Work starts on the big pond the first week of July! LOL Mrs T5R says I just want my own personal lake and private park! Can't say she is wrong in that assessment And now I have around 3 weeks to enjoy not doing anything other than what I want to! It is the time of waiting for contractors and sub contractors to do their things! Mrs T5R is right about something else, I have been pushing too hard and way over extending myself for the last two Months. Was wondering why about a Month ago my friend Matt kept showing up every day between Noon and two......... Mrs T5R arranged it so I would have no choice but to take a hour or two break in the afternoon LOL. Guess there is no point in doing all of this stuff to make life easier and more enjoyable in the coming years if I kill myself doing it
Doing it for two reasons for me to enjoy as long as I can and for as long as I can maintain it. And if the day comes that I can't do it anymore sell it and cash it out to live the last of my days comfortably in a smaller place I can still maintain. LOL the farm, land and improvements have always been my big back up plan. Don't get me wrong I hope I can live and work here until the day I die, but if I can I want the biggest $$$ bang I can get from it if I have to leave.
Damned good plan ,, hell ,, you could even throw you a smaller house back by the pond if you sell out ,, and tell'em that's where you'll be till you've left this world. But anyway ,, I'm looking forward to the day I can pick up the mill ,, but I'm in no way rushing you . I'd just like ya to give me a tour of your property ,, just to see what you've done . Not everything,, just your ponds and livestock ,,, I'm just talking about the way you've used the land ,, just that kind of stuff. I just like the way you're using the land for your full benefit.
Hey speaking of lumber mills, what are you getting? I was looking at one of these: https://www.norwoodsawmills.com/lumberman-mn27
I've never used one myself ,, but the ones I've looked at ,, on most all the videos I've seen ,, the 2 post mills always seem to be a little flimsy when they engage the blade ,, the whole head shakes. On the 4 post brands ,, the whole cutting head seems more solid ,, which to me ,, makes me feel like your going to have smoother , flatter cuts . Just my opinion. But some of the experienced guys could tell you more than I.
Not going to pick on Norwood to hard but just a few barbs. That sure is a lot of nuts to unscrew to tighten a belt or to change a band. And they sure have a lot of nuts and bolts on the track. And I have seen their dogs in action and sure is a lot of screwing to secure the log or cant. My conclusion is the Norwood just likes to make you screw more and if yer doing all of that screwing ya ain't doing much milling
Not trying to put words in Mr T5R's mouth ,, but it basically sounds like he's saying,,, " There's a time for screwing ,, and there's a time for doing ,,, sawing wood is a time for doing " Oh well ,, I'll leave now ,,, I got some doing to do .
Nothing wrong with screwing when one is building something productive while screwing, that just seems like a lot of pointless screwing for the sake of screwing to me
But being more serious the Hud-Son track comes in 7' welded together sections with 4 bolts that connect each section solidly together. The Belt/Band shroud consist of 4 nuts to get both sides off. When I first got it, it took 30 minutes to connect the track, level the track and start milling. Hardest part of setting it up was getting the powerhead on the track by myself. Dogs have hooks that bite into the log with snap pressure, hold the dog up push down on the lever to apply pressure and the log ain't gonna move. Get to do some productive screwing with it and not a lot wasteful screwing
So I am taking next week off and not doing anything beyond feeding and watering the livestock. I am planning on starting the milling of the logs after that. I really need to take a break, Been pushing hard 7 days per week for 3 months getting everything ready for the house shell construction and downing the trees to mill and then getting all moved and stacked up. Starting to look like a lumber camp here LOL. Anyway I am figuring it will take me until First week in October to get everything milled and stacked to dry down, If I mill non stop the entire time. More Realistic is the End of November. If you want to back out of the deal and go a different route because of my delay I would have no hard feelings. I am also concerned that I am going to put a lot of wear and tear on the mill during that time. Again I apologize for the very long delay, I had no idea at the time I offered the old mill that it was going to take 10 Months to a year to get the new mill. I was expecting 1-2 weeks before I would go pick it up at the truck terminal
Well ,,, for the time being ,, as long as your ok with it ,, I'll just wait till your ready to sell it . If something happens between now and then , I'll let you know . But as of now ,, waiting isn't much of a problem ,, getting this beach house going is going to slow me down anyway . So ,, I'm ok with it , if you are .
