This weeks preps check-in

[Maverick]

The problem we had is the ground is so saturated with water we couldn't get the 'hoe up on top. We got a winch truck out today. He got stuck 1/4 mile away in the driveway. Winched him out and he was able to get within 300 feet from the hoe. We set up a snatch block to a tree and with a double line pull with a 30,000 lb winch, we finally managed to get it out. I now have a trench 8 feet wide x 6 feet deep and 200 hundred yards long from the barn to the house site. My truck and the wife's Jeep and stuck and won't be moving for a few more weeks. And my tractors still buried. Looks like it will be about a month before things dry out enough.

Oh Lordy not good, I'm picturing WWI and WWII Army's being bogged down in mud

 

[jimLE]

and i thought i stuck in a rut..LOL

My truck and the wife's Jeep and stuck and won't be moving for a few more weeks.

 

[Mountain trapper]

Oh Lordy not good, I'm picturing WWI and WWII Army's being bogged down in mud

Yeah. It kinda looks like a war zone right now. And it's raining again. Suppose to rain and snow through next Tuesday. This was the winter from hell, and spring isn't looking much better.

 

[jimLE]

well.we got a section of the living room floor,just inside the front door redone.turned out that section of floor was riddled with termites some time back. all that only costed 150.00 for materials and labour..in which we got some materials left over..

 

[Brent S]

Had a huge prep addition today! I brought home a slightly used Kubota tractor/loader/backhoe. I've been looking for a deal on one for a while now. Finally found a deal on one, but had a 14 hour round trip today to go and pick it up. I'm beat, but looking forwards to playing with it tomorrow. This will help me with all sorts of projects, prepping and otherwise.

 

[Mountain trapper]

Had a huge prep addition today! I brought home a slightly used Kubota tractor/loader/backhoe. I've been looking for a deal on one for a while now. Finally found a deal on one, but had a 14 hour round trip today to go and pick it up. I'm beat, but looking forwards to playing with it tomorrow. This will help me with all sorts of projects, prepping and otherwise.

Congratulations on the newest addition to your family Brent. That backhoe attachment should come in real handy for you. I wish that I would have bought one for my tractor. Still might. I use my tractor for all kinds of things. At least I did before it got stuck.

 

[Brent S]

Congratulations on the newest addition to your family Brent. That backhoe attachment should come in real handy for you. I wish that I would have bought one for my tractor. Still might. I use my tractor for all kinds of things. At least I did before it got stuck.

Honestly, the backhoe was the main reason I got it. Here in Ga. the clay is no fun to dig. The loader is also a must to move the dirt with. It sucks that I sold my last one (10 yrs ago) but I needed the money to finish the house. It was a bigger machine too. We all have to make compromises in life though. Hopefully you'll have yours out before too long.

 

[Mountain trapper]

Going to test drive a boat tomorrow. I looked at it last week but didn't have time to take it out. It's an older model 16 footer with an 85 HP jet. It'll work fine for fishing, hunting and trapping, plus I can tow it with my Jeep.

 

[Mountain trapper]

Got the preliminary house drawings from the architect yesterday.
I'm going to order all of the solar equipment within the next couple of weeks. The solar company is offering free shipping this month. That will save almost $600. Got the generator on order, and should be delivered in a few weeks. Still too wet and muddy to start building the house but I can start on the generator building, it's on a hill above the house site. And the tractor is still buried.
Bought the boat yestersday too.

 

[Brent S]

Got the preliminary house drawings from the architect yesterday.
I'm going to order all of the solar equipment within the next couple of weeks. The solar company is offering free shipping this month. That will save almost $600. Got the generator on order, and should be delivered in a few weeks. Still too wet and muddy to start building the house but I can start on the generator building, it's on a hill above the house site. And the tractor is still buried.
Bought the boat yestersday too.

Somehow boating while it's still cold just dosent seem like fun! Lol. I'd be interested in what kind to of solar system your using.

 

[Mountain trapper]

Somehow boating while it's still cold just dosent seem like fun! Lol. I'd be interested in what kind to of solar system your using.

I'm keeping the boat at my parents place for now. Once it warms up a little I'll take it out fishing.
For my solar system I'm going with Solarworld 60 cell modules with auto sun trackers, a Magnum inverter and a 48 vdc 20,640 watt hour lead acid battery bank. The salesman says this will power everything, but I have my doubts. The great thing about solar is that it's all modular and can be added to if necessary. For the generator I'm going with a 12kw Perkins Diesel. The generator will wired directly to the well pump and to the inverter. My well pump is pushing water up 700 feet high and out 1300 lineal feet and needs 7500 watts to start. I'll add a second pressure tank at the well head to cut down on the generator start times. The generator will have auto-start for the well pump and for times when the solar and batteries can't keep up with demand. I'll also add a wireless remote start in the house. The solar equipment and generator will be housed in building about 200 feet from the house and the solar panels will on top of a hill nearby.

 

[Brent S]

I'm keeping the boat at my parents place for now. Once it warms up a little I'll take it out fishing.
For my solar system I'm going with Solarworld 60 cell modules with auto sun trackers, a Magnum inverter and a 48 vdc 20,640 watt hour lead acid battery bank. The salesman says this will power everything, but I have my doubts. The great thing about solar is that it's all modular and can be added to if necessary. For the generator I'm going with a 12kw Perkins Diesel. The generator will wired directly to the well pump and to the inverter. My well pump is pushing water up 700 feet high and out 1300 lineal feet and needs 7500 watts to start. I'll add a second pressure tank at the well head to cut down on the generator start times. The generator will have auto-start for the well pump and for times when the solar and batteries can't keep up with demand. I'll also add a wireless remote start in the house. The solar equipment and generator will be housed in building about 200 feet from the house and the solar panels will on top of a hill nearby.

I was impressed the other day when driving thru NC. There were solar farms in pastures along the way. I passed by over ten of them at least. There's something I wish I could do, lease some ground to the energy company for a solar field. If shtf then just hook up to it. Sure would be cheaper than buying your own.

 

[Mountain trapper]

I was impressed the other day when driving thru NC. There were solar farms in pastures along the way. I passed by over ten of them at least. There's something I wish I could do, lease some ground to the energy company for a solar field. If shtf then just hook up to it. Sure would be cheaper than buying your own.

The price of solar panels and gear has dropped significantly over the past 5 years or so. Plus the Feds offer a 30% tax break on solar equipment and some States also offer tax breaks. Now days solar is very reasonably priced. Running power to my ranch is not an option due to the distance from power (6 miles) and for crossing National Forest.

 

[Brent S]

I got on the tractor I just got for the first time today. It's a little hairy on all the hills on the property, but I was getting more comfortable after a few mins. I filled in some of the holes one of the dogs had dug, and while I was filling in some of the last ones that little turd was redigging one of the first ones I filled.... How deep do you need to bury a body??? He's lucky he's cute.

 

[Dani]

Did the last of my weeding in the garden this morning along with some housework. I planned pon cooking the rest of the day and got liver n onions, swiss steak and and icebox lemon pie done just in time for my hunny to come home and lick the bowl. He brought home a free bumper pull RV that some friends were needing to get rid of ASAP to make room for a new Mobil home that was being delivered. They actually had two, one they lived in and are converting it into a pull trailor and this one that was given to us is an '86 model and used as storage. It needed ALOT of cleaning and will need to rip out the carpet and linoleum floor to replace with hard wood. We already have a bigger gooseneck RV, but this will be for the kids, just in case type of thing. After we get it done, plans are to haul it down to the beach property. Even though it needed some work, just couldnt pass up on the price. So needless to say, my plans changed today, but it already looks and smells so much better!

 

[Mountain trapper]

Somehow boating while it's still cold just dosent seem like fun! Lol. I'd be interested in what kind to of solar system your using.

I was thinking about taking the boat out to a nearby lake on Monday because it's supposed to be nice weather. Except the lake is still covered in ice.

 

[Brent S]

Did the last of my weeding in the garden this morning along with some housework. I planned pon cooking the rest of the day and got liver n onions, swiss steak and and icebox lemon pie done just in time for my hunny to come home and lick the bowl. He brought home a free bumper pull RV that some friends were needing to get rid of ASAP to make room for a new Mobil home that was being delivered. They actually had two, one they lived in and are converting it into a pull trailor and this one that was given to us is an '86 model and used as storage. It needed ALOT of cleaning and will need to rip out the carpet and linoleum floor to replace with hard wood. We already have a bigger gooseneck RV, but this will be for the kids, just in case type of thing. After we get it done, plans are to haul it down to the beach property. Even though it needed some work, just couldnt pass up on the price. So needless to say, my plans changed today, but it already looks and smells so much better!

I need to start taking lessons from you! Free tractor, free camper..... You don't want to know how much my new tractor cost, and I got a really good deal on it too. Not free though.

 

[Dani]

The RV was actually supposed to have been picked up by our friends sister, but she backed out not wanting to drive from Washington state to Texas to pick up and haul back home. Since we helped them out before they moved here, putting in water lines and concrete work before they arrived and then more cement work by building up with dirt and them framing and laying a cement slab for their new home coming. . . We help when someone needs and don't ask for anything in return. . .It's like a favor for a favor thing there. They didn't need and needed it gone so asked us if we would like it. And we took them up. Today went down to son 4's house to do some spreading of a truckload of 60/40 he had hauled in. Turned out that he found a couple old boxes of hardwood flooring in his attic that was leftover from his den. He ended up giving us those so figured we can use them for the RV. Even if we cant find the exact match, it is so common that we can find something close. To make it not so obvious of a floor, just intermingle. . . . Problem solved. We also got to bring home about 2/3 of the 60/40 load that he didn't need. We did some filling in of whole at my mom's house and also smoothed out her neighbors yard to the curb. With water run off, the neighbors was missing anywhere between 8 in - a couple inches to the curb so filled that in too. We will be going to another friends house to pick up some topsoil that he is needing to get rid of from digging out for the slab. I think since we have a skid steer our friends think of us because we can load it up their extra quickly and they will not have to help out by hand. This has just been a really good week for us. . . this is not the norm at all!

 

[jimLE]

i had a bunch of empty pint and quart canning jars sitting lose in a free standing cabinet.also had what canned foods not organized at all,so i got them out,and got um organized.and then placed the empty jars into the empty boxes i ended up with.then ate a jar of chicken soup...now to get everything put away.

 

[Mountain trapper]

Got started on repairing the fence today. From what I saw today it's in better shape then I expected after this winter. Got about a half mile done. Last spring it took a week to get this far. At this rate I should have it all done in a couple of weeks. I'm also starting to take out all of the old cross fencing. I figure there's about 5 miles of old fence to remove.
The wind came up today and started blowing the roof off the pump house. I hate roofing but I guess I'll work that tomorrow.
After several days of digging around the tractor I hooked the winch to it and got it to move a few inches. I guess I have to admit that it's seriously stuck.
The architect says he'll have a working set of house prints done next week. We're still a month away from being able to build, but at least I can get a bid. I'm starting to look for some weaner pigs now and will get some cattle up here around mid May.
The trees are starting to bud out, wildflowers are popping up everywhere and the grass is turning green. And I finally found the bottle of Scotch the dog hid. It was a great day after all.

 

[Dani]

Hunny was out in my girls (milk cows) pasture digging out old hay with the excavator when I got a call saying he was stuck. I go for my little tractor and he's yelling at me that he already got his big boy hooked up. It was on the corner pasture which meant it was an odd angle. Just didn't budge so went outside the front gate and got on the county

right a way. Rocked it back and forth and finally got it unstuck and thank goodness hunny let me use his tractor cause my little one would not have gotten the hob done this go around!

 

[Prepqueen30]

Preppers bookby jim cobbs, something to have a hard copy off .
And a solar charger.

 

[Prepqueen30]

Also practiced making hard tack...

 

[Dani]

Picked green beans, onions, & a couple small zucchini this morn. I had 7 growing on one plant so thought they would make a good breakfast sauteed up with bacon, onion, & garlic. The other will be part of dinner fried. How how I love fresh zucchini. I took the sweet peas out of the freezer that I had blanched to vacuum seal and after blanching all my green beans threw those on cookie sheets to freeze before bagging those too. I only pulled three onions but will go ahead and lay those out to harden off. When I pick the majority of them, after hardening, I'll end up braiding the tops to hang off the shelves in the stockroom. It just feels like a clean house for the rest of the day since I will need to go back into the real working world tomorrow.

 

[SheilaT.]

Got started on repairing the fence today. From what I saw today it's in better shape then I expected after this winter. Got about a half mile done. Last spring it took a week to get this far. At this rate I should have it all done in a couple of weeks. I'm also starting to take out all of the old cross fencing. I figure there's about 5 miles of old fence to remove.
The wind came up today and started blowing the roof off the pump house. I hate roofing but I guess I'll work that tomorrow.
After several days of digging around the tractor I hooked the winch to it and got it to move a few inches. I guess I have to admit that it's seriously stuck.
The architect says he'll have a working set of house prints done next week. We're still a month away from being able to build, but at least I can get a bid. I'm starting to look for some weaner pigs now and will get some cattle up here around mid May.
The trees are starting to bud out, wildflowers are popping up everywhere and the grass is turning green. And I finally found the bottle of Scotch the dog hid. It was a great day after all.

LOL, I told you it would be a nice surpise.

 

[jontte]

got my ghille net made for that hat of mine,can be put on a helmet also,looks kinda ugly,but think it will do its business
will post pics once I take some..

 

[Brent S]

It's rained all day today, so I've been a bum for two,days in a row now. I guess I must have needed some rest. One good thing about prepping though, by working hard most of the time, an occasional day or two off isn't a big deal.

 

[WGregMiller]

Me too. It was fairly cool here today, so that made for a nice break as well.

 

[Brent S]

Me too. It was fairly cool here today, so that made for a nice break as well.

Hopefully the rain will move through overnight here and tomorrow will be a dry start to the new week.

 

[WGregMiller]

Supposed to be cloudy and 60something tomorrow, then 80 Tuesday.... but dry!