Moving Choice - Gravel Road

[Z-Michigan]

PO Box isn't convenient for us. Our mailbox is a molded plastic type. We have a zillion rocks here and the mailbox is held in place by piling rocks against it. It's easy to knock over, but goes back in place in 1-2 minutes with no damage. I have definitely heard about all the unbreakable designs but I also hear about owner liability if your unbreakable mailbox damages a vehicle (most likely a county snow plow, from the 5th hand stories I've heard). Don't know if that's true or not, but despite the temptation I haven't followed that path. Someday I intend to invent a swinging mailbox that will swing around and clobber any car whose occupants hit the aimpoint for "mailbox baseball".

Our dirt road is a county highway on 1-mile spacing. We have people going anywhere from 20 to 55mph on it, with the occasional idiot doing over 65mph. I like being 900' back from the road.

 

[Spanky1000]

Everyone Thanks for the most helpful information, thoughts, and insight. Will have to think the decision through but the benefit of the additional acreage and need to return to a a bigger tractor again will be weighing on the plus side. We usually keep a full size 4wd pickup for the hauling/towing needs that the lovely wife uses for her transportation vehicle. When it snows now (on paved home site) she usually puts the erans on hold and stays at home, so I could use the full side 4WD truck on the bad days. The teens and I use midsize typically front wheel drive vehicles that will likely have a few days in the winter that will require waiting for the sometimes snow drift to be cleared.


Thanks again for the wealth of information.


Wayne

 

[JazzDad]

You don't have to own an SUV or truck. I still own a 4 door sedan. Of course, the gas tank has been dented in so many times by rocks the tires kick up, that it holds about 15% less gas than when it was new.

 

[zzvyb6]

I live on a 1 mile gravel road in SE Michigan (Livingston county) and have never had a problem with the road. If you can afford a phone, you can call the road commission if it gets a little bumpy. They chloride the road in anticipation of dust. I run my white and black cars on it, even drag the boat down it twice a week. Never got stuck in winter. Never sure how you get stuck on a road anyways. Best situation is where school busses run on it because the little kiddies like a smooth trip. This means that the road commission grades and plows it every other day. Now my gravel driveway can get a bit dusty but that's another story. A landscape rake and some water softener salt is all it takes to calm down that situation. My suggestion is to keep the 10 acres foremost in your mind. They stopped making open space land a long time ago. Buying 10 acres in a city will get you taxed out of the league. Maybe pristine living conditions really don'y make sense anyways. Now you can have a dog or two that will enjoy a real hunting adventure instead of their pathetic 50 by 70' backyard. Bird watching will consist of more than feeding English sparrows, and the only people who come onto our property know they are welcome there because a sign says something very very clearly to that effect. Best situation is where you can't even see your neighbors. And if by chance your land is zoned 'agricultural' enjoy the reduced taxes, grow some weeds, buy a real tractor instead of a "lawn mower" and tease the angry Assessment department at township hall.

 

[Mackinac Joe]

Wayne,

I live in Central Michigan and lived on a gravel, private drive for 11 years.

In addition to agreeing with most everything that others have posted, I will add the following:

1. If the gravel road is a private drive (not maintained by gov't), this could affect your ability to get a mortgage or refinance down the road. Check it out with a bank.

2. If the gravel road is a private drive, it may affect your ability to obtain building permits for your property. It could also affect your ability to sell part of all of your property. This happened to us -- the township passed an ordinance prohibiting building permits (for homes) on private drives. We may have been able to challenge it legally, but it was easier in the end to move.

3. Check to see if homeowners insurance will cover you or charge extra. They may be concerned that emergency vehicles' access would be limited.

4. I reiterate what others have said: your cars will always be dirty and make sure the house is set far from the road to avoid some of the dust.

5. Any plants (bushes, some trees) you put near the road as a barrier may have a tough time due to the constant covering of dust on their leaves.

6. I saw an innovate "mailbox baseball" solution once. My dad's renter sunk an 8" concrete-filled pipe to hold the mailbox. The mailbox was actually a mailbox within a mailbox. He got one of those great big mailboxes boxes and put the regular little mailbox right inside it, and filled the space between the two with concrete. When you opened the door on the big box, you were presented with a concrete ring encircling the door for the little box. I think the vandals actually respected this setup! I never saw any more damage to that mailbox for about five years!

All in all, the privacy usually gained from a gravel road is worth the cost, at least to me. For identical homes and property, I would choose the gravel location any day.

Joe

 

[randy41]

Best situation is where school busses run on it because the little kiddies like a smooth trip.

the kids on my bus prefer the bumps...the more the better.

 

[KaiB]

Consider the dust a point of pride thing.

Nothing says rural better than mud or dust on your vehicles. Sooner or later, your dressing style will change, your ulcer will go away and you'll start eating chicken fried steaks without guilt.

Hopefully, your neck will aquire a shade of red and you'll understand "rool" as an entire package.

 

[jimg]

Consider the dust a point of pride thing.

Nothing says rural better than mud or dust on your vehicles. Sooner or later, your dressing style will change, your ulcer will go away and you'll start eating chicken fried steaks without guilt.

Hopefully, your neck will aquire a shade of red and you'll understand "rool" as an entire package.

 

[Toiyabe]

The further you live down a gravel road, the faster you will want to drive: It's OK driving at 20 mph for 100 yards, but painful to do that for 8 miles (which is my drive). So the beating your vehicle takes from the extra mileage will be compounded by the extra speed you'll probably end up driving at. At some point a car just won't be able to take it for very long. I'd also be wary of car-based SUVs.

I gave up on washing my truck years ago. I hose the big chunks off, but it never gets clean. At the office there's little piles of dirt in the space I park in from when the mud drips out of my wheel wells. For some reason nobody else wants to park there. Occasionally I see kids trying to write "Wash Me" in the dirt on my truck, but they can't - the dirt is kinda baked on. I guess I could take better care of it, but life's short and I just don't care what my truck looks like.

How well the gravel road works for you will depend a lot on the local highway department. You should ask your potential neighbors, but realize that opinions differ greatly on what is acceptable.

 

[3RRL]

Hi Spanky,
I wanted to add that our road is a dirt road and our neighbor's is gravel. As far as his cars and my cars, they both get dirty a lot faster than our residential home of course. His gravel road stays in better shape than mine, but then again he does not have a tractor and I maintain mine... so mine is actually smoother than his. During the Summer, mine is a lot dustier than his though. And after the rains, it is muddy. But then that affords me seat time too. Another thing I noticed is his road is a lot noisier than mine. I can hear him pull in and out and he is 1500' away.