Ranchito clean up

[rsewill]

Cleaning up after somebody has trashed a place is no fun. There's a place near to me where a guy decided he was going to build a teepee house with a metal frame. He got the skeleton built (no foundation, just dirt) and then I think he lost his job as a welder and had no welding truck or equipment to use that belonged to somebody else. In the meantime, he hauled in hundreds of old truck tires and used cinder blocks from some building demolition.

Then, his son took over the place about the time Katrina hit the Gulf coast. He hauled FEMA trailers with somebody else's truck and bought one of his own to "fix up." Well, his fixer-upper is still parked at his place just off the ROW and so is an old 1-ton truck with a rat's nest camper. He also brought in an old school bus and converted it to living quarters. For water, he hauled big plastic barrels and put them on the hillside above the bus with plastic line plumbing water down to the bus. When his girlfriend an her daughter left, he stayed there about two more months and we haven't seen him since. So, all the junk his father brought in and all the junk he brought in are still there, but nobody has even been around there for the last year that I know of.

A cousin lives on the place next door and isn't much better. I call him Chainsaw Bob because he built his shack using a chainsaw to cut lumber since he had no electricity. His shack looks just as you'd expect. I think junk collecting runs deeply in the genes of their family.:laughing: Some day that property will sell and it will be a huge job for someone to clean up all the mess, especially since the area is on a hillside covered with rocks and postoak woods.

Makes you wish for good zoning laws.

 

[jinman]

Makes you wish for good zoning laws.

Zoning laws are no good if not enforced. I'd be happy for the county to enforce public health statutes, but no law is worth a hill of beans if there is nobody to enforce it. In these rural areas, you make your environment by buying up land and keeping the junkers at arms length. Don't get me wrong, I have some junk of my own, but it's mostly out of sight and I'm working to eliminate it. I recently got some large rip-rap hauled for my new ponds. When I was giving the hauler directions, he said, "Oh yeah! I've been on that road. Where are you located from the guy with all the junk spread out all over his place?" I had to tell him I was just past that guy. It's terrible to have folks identify you by how far you are from the local junker.

 

[jimmyj]

Very interesting post, I just saw it for the first time today. Really nice place and great looking family you have there. Your labor of love will certainly be worth it.

Regarding Jinman's neighbor. We have a guy up the road we call "Redneck Ron". He has so much junk on his place you can see it from sattelite pictures. No kidding. I bet there are over 50 junked cars, at least 400 tires, dozens of appliances, you name it. When scrap was up a while back he sold out 120 tons of metal and you couldn't hardly tell. Luckily his place has a ridge across it and his junk is behind the ridge so you don't really see it from the highway.

 

[Traxx]

Little something in the tank, I want to know what it is and how to kill it. Right now it is not all the way around so I don't want to let it get there. Drug some out with a stick and it is some slick stuff. Any help would be appreciated.

 

[foreman Etexas]

Little something in the tank, I want to know what it is and how to kill it. Right now it is not all the way around so I don't want to let it get there. Drug some out with a stick and it is some slick stuff. Any help would be appreciated.

Looks like some photos of the porta-john at work:laughing:

 

[Traxx]

It does. But it don't smell like bubblegum.

 

[greasemonkeyok]

Looks like normal pond scum that grows in stagnant water.

 

[Western]

Looks like regular pond algae or "moss", I dont know the particulars, or it's name, but it is very common here. You can find it in almost any standing water, even water troughs. I have even seen it on concrete that has a constant source of standing water.

 

[Bill 55]

Filimentious Algae. Tractor Supply sells an algicide that will pretty well kill it off. They also sell Aquashade to darken the water to keep it from growing.Neither are cheap but work well.I am working on my second gallon of the Aquashade so far this year. No ice cover and an early bright spring are hard on clear water ponds.Just follow the instructions on the bottle and you should be able to clear it up.

 

[treman]

Looks like a nice place and it is always nice to have someone clean up a mess that was left by irresponsible people. I have the luxury of my neighbor being the guy known for miles around. he owns 25 acres of what was once a nursery across the street and bought the house barns and 4 acres next to me. its terrible to see a nice homestead get turned to garbage as he slowly spreads his crap over it all. I just hope he is gone before/if we ever decided to move. good luck and keep the posts coming.