3 years ago me and Mrs T5R had several long discussions about where things were heading in this Country. That was before Covidmania took the Nation by storm We were very much leaning toward leaving Southern IL. for obvious reasons like ..... IT IS ILLINOIS A few things delayed any action toward moving, two to be exact Mrs T5R had 1 year to go for a even 30 at her .Gov job and the full retirement package. And on my part lots of loose business ends that needed to be cut and cauterized. I am not going to mislead folks, we have came a very long way from me being a E-0 in Basic Training and Mrs T5R becoming a entry level investigator with a $11,900 per year salary It was two very long hard roads from those days to where we are now. We have only been together since 2008 and both of us had considerably larger incomes and assets than we did back in the 80s. So when we married we set clear boundaries and lines in regards to assets and finances. We have Hers, His and Ours. I take care of my businesses and finances and She takes care of hers and the Ours is the general pool of things and money. We have ironclad wills and trust for the transfer of his or hers to the other other in the event one of us takes a dirt nap. Hers being much more simple than my S corps and Subsidiaries that are a convoluted mess to the casual observer but make perfect sense to myself, my lawyer and my accountant It all comes down to legal tax avoidance (NOT Illegal Tax Evasion... Yes there is a difference,) The ONLY way to live and thrive in IL is by getting very good at tax avoidance or by being so rich you don't even notice the the tax bills...... which I am not So over the last 3 years we have been back and forth on moving and finally came to a final decision to NOT move. A lot of factors came into play in making that decision. One of the big ones was moving a entire farms worth of stuff. Moving a household is not easy, moving a farm is a HUGE task. It would have taken at least 35 600 mile round trips with the 30' Gooseneck and the box truck and trailers. Basically I would have spent a year loading, driving, unloading, driving back empty and repeating. And at the same time having a new cabin and barns built. The other major factor is I have invested a whole lot of ME into this land and small farm. It was a raw piece of marginal land with nothing here when I pulled my little camper in and me and the dogs started improving the land and building. Location and security also come into play, we are very rural and at the end of a 1 mile long dead end gravel road. One does not simply find us unless we want to be found. GPS gets you to a corn field 4 miles south of us LOL. Closest town of 3600 is 8 miles to the East and the closest town that has anything is 22 miles to the West with 4500 population. Bigger town 10,000+ are 40-60 miles out. Over the years we have developed a pretty good network of friends and associates, some I trust completely and others I need but would never turn my back to. In short we know who is who and what their agendas are...... That would be lost if we moved. So the decision was made to stay and that will not change now. But we needed to shore up some areas we are weak in. I am a realist and don't pretend a gaping hole is in good shape! I also have no problem looking at myself and situation and seeing the flaws and problems. Problems: 1: I am weaker than I was in 2016 and constantly battling some chronic health issues that are a result of the cancer and sepsis of 2016. Cancer not so bad but that Sepsis kicked the shit out of me and did damage in places that I didn't know I had places LOL. Bottom line I need to get in physically better shape and consistently take the meds that keep things that are out of willy wack in order. For example not taking the Diabetes meds and the blood sugar going way high or way low and getting to a Joe Biden state where you are trying to shake hands with invisible people I also need to convert around 75 pounds of fat back to 75 pounds of muscle. I have wieghed 285 pounds for as long as I can remember and there is a large difference between 75 pounds of flabby fat and 75 pounds of toned muscle! This is important because the farm is me and I am the farm, if one of us is broke or not up to speed the other suffers. 2: We have desperately needed better than dirt roads internally on the farm for a long time. Building roads that will support 12,000 pound tractors and up to 30,000 pound trucks, trailers and wagons ain't cheap. This year as soon as it was solid enough began building those roads. One does get tired of dirt roads that are bottomless mud roads half the year! We decided on a $50,000 budget for 3" rock to make the road bases and road pack to surfaces them with. That falls under the Ours category and we funded that equally. Thus far I have built 1 mile of new road and spent $26,000 on the rock and fuel to do it. That also includes the new parking lot where the trucks and trailers are parked And a spot where I am going to pour a 5' wide 30' long concrete strip for the sawmill and firewood working area. And apologies it posted this when I hit upload file 3: Drainage is a major issue in some places here and the Road Com just will not keep the ditches maintained and open. Maybe the new road com will...... that remains to be seen. But if I want the water to flow I have to spend a week playing ditch cleaner every year. I let that go since 2016 and it got in bad shape. So I am spending a good amount of time digging the ditches out and getting the water flowing instead of standing on the property and on the road. Will be doing a good bit of ditch work beside the new roads I am building as well. 4: Storage and back ups for the back ups. I am tired of trying to get parts and almost everything Kholer, Kubota, Ford and Dodge being on back order indefinitely! When I find parts I need or will need I am ordering them by the case now. This influx of parts has created a problem..... Like my Machine Shop and Shed are out of room for parts storage. Thus the new 40' high cube shipping container. It is going to be the parts warehouse and small machine storage.. Like garden tractors and tillers. 5: While we achieved 100% water and 85% food independence with a solid 3 year stock pile of rotating foods. I want to buff that reserve up, particularly in the foods I can't produce myself or things that are not practical to produce. LOL Despite all the water I can't grow rice, sugar cane or coffee. And it makes more sense to buy bulk beans, flour and cornmeal than to grow it and grind it. So that is why the second 20' container. I am going to insulate the hell out of it and climate control it with a couple of roof mound RV ACs and a Wall mount radiant propane heater. The containers pretty much fall under HIS Category since they are more related to my businesses than our personal use. 6. Bringing Cancel Culture to the farm and sales. I simply will no longer do business with anyone that I know or sense is left leaning. The on farm store will only be open to select customers that have been loyal customers for the last 25 years. I have already cancelled all of my existing liberal customers and when they ask why...... "Because you are for everything I am against and against everything I am for and you folks are turning this Country to shit!" It is indeed perfectly legal to refuse sales and service and discriminate against some due to political affiliation and leaning. God knows the Leftist Progressive Socialist Commies discriminate against me enough! I just don't want their business and I don't want them on my property. 7: Security is weak in places and while it has not been a large problem....... Reports of theft in the surrounding areas are becoming much more frequent. The Bubba's, Methers and General low lifes are getting bolder and stealing more stuff. We need to improve those weak areas and start locking doors that we never needed to lock before. We also need to close some gaps in our cameras sight. I was looking at the screens the other day and saw we have 4 gaping blind spots that 4 wide angle cameras would cover. Also going to put cattle panels topped with coiled barb wire around the main areas where the Cabin, Shops, Store and Containers are. That will funnel any entrance into the main area to one of the two gated entrances on the loop drive. Other than that I am going to break out my old Abloy Sooper Dooper locks and use them on the shop and container doors. They won't stop a determined thief but they will slow them down. LEO is worthless out here with 30 minute to 1 hour response times, that is nothing against them it just is what it is. As the former Sheriff told us several years back the three of you that live on this road are the Law out here. Whether you enforce the law is up to you or not, I just don't have the resources or man power to keep deputies patrolling out here. But if you catch them just try not to kill them and call me to come pick them up." The last couple of new Sheriffs prefer you to just hide and let a thief take whatever they want and they will (Won't) deal with it. Ever since me and the neighbor caught a pair of thieves 14 years ago and had them standing naked with their clothes at their feet and underwear on their heads waiting by the side of the road to get picked up........ we have not had any problems, guess word spread about that But since then the Bubba Factor at the front of the road has manifested and grown and what was once a nice little 30 acre farmstead looks more like a run down mobile home park now days. Needless to say us 3 originals on the road are less than friendly with them, and thus far they rarely come down the road. I suspect as the economy continues to get better and better we will be seeing more of them. So yeah I need improve security and close gaps. And 8: We are not really weak on water as we have two wells on top of a very close to the surface aquifer. But it would not hurt to put in a 5000 gallon cistern and drill another 30' well inside the fenced perimeter. All together including a large increase in solar and wind we will drop around $200,000- $225,000 which comes out to be far less than buying another property in another state and everything involved in relocating everything. I did buy the property in MO a while back before the final decision was made. Then Covid, then everyone making a exodus to rural areas and then I sold the MO property for almost 2x more than I paid for it and actually got to keep a good bit of the profits after the capital gains tax was imposed. But I got to keep enough to pay myself back for what I spent and have enough left to cover HIS part of the upgrades without borrowing more from myself. LOL NONE of this being able to do these things happened over night. These are goals I have been working on and devoting myself and saving money for and doing what I could when I could since around 1984. I am not into short games...... I guess I am better suited to the long game and am the tortoise racing the rabbits. Seen a lot of really fast rabbits roasting over fires on the way here. Over the last 8-9 years though I felt a growing sense of urgency to get more things in much better order. Since Covid and the Government taking power that it should not ever have. That sense of urgency exploded and has only kept growing. My advice to anyone is prep what you can, hide everything you can and have not just plan Bs but plan C through ZZ at least roughed out. Every place I look the situation is deteriorating at a much more rapid pace than ever before. People that thought I was nuts for doing things I did 20+ years ago have not seemed to think I was so nuts after all after the last couple of years.
The part of prepping that most ignore is living well until you need the preps. Love your set up and appreciate all the hard work that went into it that most people ignore. Good road is a gift from God, wish my town would do it right instead of just putting another inch of expensive asphalt on it and having the heavy trucks and water intrusion, than frost heaves, destroy it all in a couple of years. Not one person in twenty has any faintest understanding of infrastructure. When they look at the road you built, they have no concepts of rock for a base, or culverts and drainage, or use of slopes for drainage. Thank you for sharing and I can understand why you would hate to leave all of your hard work behind and basically start over, both with physical things and the inter personal relationships that are often harder to re establish than the physical ones. Side note on the subject you mentioned. Friend got out of military after putting 20 in years ago and started a repair garage. His dad insisted that he hire a retired local mechanic to help out. Kid resisted and dad said that he had to do it. To please his dad he did. Old man pumped the brakes while he bled them, held torches while he took pipes down, etc, but the kid found out that he could not operate the garage without him. He had that one bit of information it took to make the place pay, he knew who paid their bills and who didn't. Man driving 20 year old pickup always paid when he got truck, but the guy with a fancy new car and a high income might not. Easier if you live in area 20 years and watch others make mistakes in judging people than making them yourself, especially if the wrong decision might kill you and you family. Hardest one for me to handle is guy with the best of intentions, honest as the day is long, good Christian, excellent family, etc, but never seems to finish anything that he starts. Does a very good job and worth every penny you pay him, right up until he loses interest, etc, and it is 6 months later before he comes back and does some more on the job. May well never finish it in fact, but I can't stay angry at him. Just have to accept that he works on Gods time, it will get done when the good Lord is willing.
That last paragraph has been a major motivator over the course of my life to learn and become proficient in doing a lot of things myself. It does not hurt that I love learning new things and making all new mistakes in the process!
Damnit TR, here I was hoping you'd load up the truck and move ta Bama.. I understand your choice completely, but just so's ya know we got a dozer and a backhoe to go with the tractors if'in ya change yer mind...
You're on the right tract with the AC units. Have a buddy of mine in Texas that did the same and it works great. I went with window units for the sheds here, and they work good for my purposes. I have converted many CONEX's for the oilfield. Suggest you look at spray insulation. most places will include the equipment loan with the purchase of the material. Much easier,faster than other options.
We have a local guy that does spray foam as his full time job. Hiring him is cheaper than DIY and he does very good and fast work. Pretty much everyone uses him for their barns around here. I have a bunch of 4x8 sheets of board insulation I might glue up instead if I have enough. Have had it sitting in a barn taking up space for to many years now waiting for something to justify my hoarding it. Cough and the last time I did DIY spray foam it became known as the incident where I had to shave my dog......... Ya just don't know how emotionally and physically you get attached to a piece of land until you are getting close to puling the trigger on leaving it.
Truer words were never spoken. When I sold the Colorado ranch there was an empty hole in me-there really was. I thought I'd retire and die there. BUT along came a little 'bama nurse and here I am.. All things considered we have a fine piece of ground here and it'll get better as time goes by. But I do miss the snowy evenings sometimes..
Feel yer pain Brother. My wife's uncle an me are like two peas in a pod. BUT he will promise to come down, will come down and start to help then peters out. I have to remind myself it ain't his fault. The heart is will'in but there just ain't enough lead in the ass to do it anymore..So I just try and brush it off for a week then go rent any equipment I may need to finish. He's stubborne about loaning his stuff, until I prove I can run it as good as he can-then I've got to do my stuff and his too
Hard to find a good size piece of land at the end of a dead end road that is a good mix of tillable, timber and pasture. The first 40 I bought here cost $1,300 per acre. The last adjacent tract I bought cost $5,000 per acre. That last 5 filled a hole and made me a big square and that was 10 years ago. Land around me ain't gotten any cheaper since then. I have as much land as I want now and unless it was a super good deal have no interest in buying more....... Although I might be tempted to buy that trashy little flyby night farm up at the head of the road just to keep any more weirdos from cycling through LOL.
I remember my Father so mad he was almost cuss'in(Baptist preacher) over having to pay $900.00 an acre for some land he wanted to add to the home place. Times sure have changed.. I lucked out with the Nurse,we sold the 1st place we had here and moved to her home place after the folks passed. It was all undeveloped woods except where their home was. I cleared a homestead with a chainsaw, weedwacker and a garden tractor. The uncle dozed the spot level for the house build and the rest is history as they say. As the "Token Yankee" it took a bit for folks around here to know me. But after answering "Who's yer kin?" a zillion times I have been accepted. So much so that the old Lady that drives like she's hunting the 1st spot at talladega and the cops ignore- stopped in my drive and asked if I was "fix'in ta run off any shine" in the near future. And if I was to be sure and save her a quart.. Yup, I've finally been accepted..
Smart staying and NOT restarting , Your on the right thought in my thinking , BUT !!! BUT Do mini splits over AC RV units , pick DC Inverters , buy a 100buck Vac pump and doo them yourself , keep eyes away as you build , AC is EZ , they come Precharged with R410 , and use way less power . We have 4 that are programmed to work daily . Sloth
That's some good advice right there CS. I bought one of those vac pumps from Harbor Freight and it's worked good for my uses.
We're right there with ya T5R! Bought the ranch in Colorado ( not Tully's old place) and been building since! Paid $1500 an acre for the first 180, then $2500 for the remaining 60 to lock in the entire trac so we don't get no outsiders! Between other things, and taking back the old family farms from P.OS. thivin relations we got our hands full! The biggest issue is running operations in two states, that really sucks the weenie, so I get to fly between to manage things until I'm ready to turn the OryGun side of it all over to family, mostly my middle brother and his family to run and make us all a nice income! We're married to the ranch, we built it so my son's will have a place to go when the world spins out of control, and now with a grand baby, things are that much more important! My boys both want to live on the ranch, so when their ready, it's all theirs! We got the Boat, so that's our final rest when it comes, kinda weird, but both of us feel most comfortable on the water, and that goes a long ways toward survival! We got Dad all set up with his own apartment in the house, he can do his thing with out being any bother, and it's nice having the old skipper to tell war stories with! We have awesome neighbors too, something only god hisself could have see to, and we are forever thankful for them! Wife and I are gonna live on the waters in a few years, probably splitting our time between the boat and the ranch, flying all over the place in between, as long as I can keep flying!
Water is life After last nights downpours I could do with a little less life but the frogs are loving it
Speaking of farm improvements, we need to replace one of the semi tractors! We don't really need a sleeper rig, we only haul twice a year cross country to Hershey and back, and once a year to the Chicago area, so, looking at good day cabs! Brothers and I insist on ether Cat or Cummins power and over drive manual trans! Our 94 Pete is a great truck, but farm life is killing us in repairs and up keep, so it's up for sale worth about $20,000. Looking for a very rare Freightliner, one that was never a factory built truck, but a factory conversion of used trucks. Basically it's a mid roof Classic XL day cab, and we don't care the wheel base as long as it's not a shorty or a single screw! Again, don't need a sleeper, so that might make it harder to find! Anyway, we also sent the Mack RDX 880 in for a new dump box, replacing the old 12 yard rock box with a new double floor/double walled alloy box. We're also buying a 36 foot end dump trailer for the semi truck, so we have maximum usage when not hauling the three times a year loads! We have two van trailers and a flat bed for heavy equipement, but need a step deck still for the bigger stuff! Ah farm life! Lol Bonus is my conversion of a forestry Forwarder into a tanker has really grabbed folks attention round here, several folks are asking if I would do conversions for them, awful handy rigs to have for chemical applications and water transport/fire fighting! Might do one or two for folks or at least get them heading the right direction and they can do it themselves!
Good news, found a 2006 Freightliner Classic XL day cab, 180 inch wheel base tractor with 555 Cat and 18 speed Twin Fuller with Eaton rear axles, exactly what we want, and the price is reasonable, bro is driving up to look at it and see what's what! He found the roof conversion is still available, so no need to shop for a specific truck that may not exist any longer! Nice thing is it's got a bunch of work already done, so should make for a very good useful truck with out a bunch of money and work!
LOL I am fixated on the fuel tank and how happy I am not to be filling them up anymore I came to the point where if the 24 +4 GN or the 30 foot toy hauler can't haul it then I don't need to haul it! If fuel prices don't ease up I am going to start looking for a 4 mule team and bigger wagon for them to pull!
Unfortunately, it's a cost of operations, something we will have to pass on to our buyers unfortunately! Everyone suffers when inflation goes through the roof, we all gotta eat it somewhere!
