Property Development

[Green Acres Homestead]

A maple sap gathering and boil. It funny what you learn along the way.

 

[two_bit_score]

Here in Texas, most of us think of Montana as the extreme North, and where it's too cold to live. Then there is Canada, an entire Country even farther North. It's just amazing to me how you guys deal with winter up there!!!

I never understood how they dealt with the wind chill in Oklahoma!

 

[lman]

I never understood how they dealt with the wind chill in Oklahoma!

One summer I had to go to Houston. It seemed like it was still 90 at midnight. I never understood how them Texans could handle the heat. I'll pass.

 

[Green Acres Homestead]

I never understood how they dealt with the wind chill in Oklahoma!

I was going to say the same thing about you heat. Don’t get me wrong. There are days that

Here in Texas, most of us think of Montana as the extreme North, and where it's too cold to live. Then there is Canada, an entire Country even farther North. It's just amazing to me how you guys deal with winter up there!!!

I was going to say the same thing about your heat. Don’t get me wrong. There are days that the climate is very painful and the older I get the more painful it becomes. I don’t mind cold and dry. -30 c I’m good but -5 and damp or even just at freezing and damp and raining is what I don’t like. Getting wet with the wind howling then flash freezing with a drop in temp even kills our deer and other animals. It’s brutal.

 

[Carl_NH]

Ray.

I feel the same - as I don't mind -5* F (-20C) dry cold is tolerable with crunchy snow cover, but a 30* F - 2C damp, cold wet ground and rain is worse.

We're just starting to get warmer weather here on the NH coast now after a cold spring - buds are starting to show, but it was 40* F yesterday with wind off the ocean and damp makes it feel much colder.

 

[two_bit_score]

One summer I had to go to Houston. It seemed like it was still 90 at midnight. I never understood how them Texans could handle the heat. I'll pass.

We can have some hot weather. But we have Air Conditioning and cold beer.

I like our winters. It can get cold and nasty. But only for a few days every 100 years or so.

 

[two_bit_score]

I was going to say the same thing about you heat. Don’t get me wrong. There are days that

I was going to say the same thing about your heat. Don’t get me wrong. There are days that the climate is very painful and the older I get the more painful it becomes. I don’t mind cold and dry. -30 c I’m good but -5 and damp or even just at freezing and damp and raining is what I don’t like. Getting wet with the wind howling then flash freezing with a drop in temp even kills our deer and other animals. It’s brutal.

Warm coats last forever down here. I wear a winter coat about 10 times during most winters.

 

[Green Acres Homestead]

If you burn up all the wood on your land what will you do if elect and natural gas are unavailable?

Kidding just a little bit.

It is a real issue and a lot of people can’t change their circumstance.

We have been lucky to have options of reliable electrical power + wood burning stove at the main house but not a huge supply of our own wood.

Second place has plenty of wood but no WBFP or stove (at least not yet anyway) but has reliable electric power (so far) and very reliable natural gas.

But these places are 5 hours apart.

Man a year ago that was funny. Today the prices are high and there is no guarantee for any energy. Crazy.

 

[Green Acres Homestead]

I can't believe it has almost 7 months since I posted. Since my last post the weather here in east coast Canada has incredible with the exception of a hurricane Fiona. Many days are spent putting in roads, trying to be a farmer and trying to be more self reliant. It all doesn't always work out like I planned but for the most part I have been enjoying my now rural life in East Coast Canada. With the oil prices I have been busy harvesting firewood because I can't afford $6000 a year to heat my house; that's if even I can get oil. Crazy times. So I have been working trying to become more self reliant. So kinda as a catch up what I have been up to here is a video.,

 

[Green Acres Homestead]

A few years ago I lost power for a week from a winter Ice Storm. At that time, my only way to heat my house was from electricity. Once Summer hit, I bought and installed a wood stove and started cutting and storing firewood. Now my house is only heated from firewood. I feel sorry for everyone that is relying on electricity or natural gas, or oil to heat their homes. If you can get it, what will it cost?

I know this is an older posting but I just started returning to this forum. Man I bet you are some glad you went with wood now. I know here in East Coast Canada the price of oil is about $2.20 a litre. About $10 a gallon. It will cost us about $6000 to heat our house this year if even if we can get it. I know there are places in Europe that they are now allow to turn their heat up past 68 degrees. Man we are living in a different world and it happened very quickly. Good luck and hope everything is working out for you with your wood heat.

 

[Carl_NH]

Morning Ray,

Thanks for sharing the update on your project and road development. Land clearing takes time and there's another couple here on TBN doing a similar project in Calais Maine 26 acres building an off-grid cabin you might find an interesting read too. Moving and need to buy a new TLB next year.

Do you need to finish the road before you start your cabin build? Then what is your plan on the build - stick built etc? Do you have power access on the property too? I know that can get spendy to run poles!

On heating oil, it's running $6 USD/gal here now, we pre-bought at $4 this year so feel fortunate and supplement with wood and mini-splits and 7,2 KW solar. Electricity here has nearly doubled to .35$ a KWH from last year due to cost of fuel too.

 

[Green Acres Homestead]

Morning Ray,

Thanks for sharing the update on your project and road development. Land clearing takes time and there's another couple here on TBN doing a similar project in Calais Maine 26 acres building an off-grid cabin you might find an interesting read too. Moving and need to buy a new TLB next year.

Do you need to finish the road before you start your cabin build? Then what is your plan on the build - stick built etc? Do you have power access on the property too? I know that can get spendy to run poles!

On heating oil, it's running $6 USD/gal here now, we pre-bought at $4 this year so feel fortunate and supplement with wood and mini-splits and 7,2 KW solar. Electricity here has nearly doubled to .35$ a KWH from last year due to cost of fuel too.

Thanks for the reference to the other interesting posts.

To answer your questions I don’t really have to finish the road but the original thought was a log home or cord wood. Putting the road in gave me access to some decent wood for the cabin. It may or may not be enough wood but when making the roads I uncovered a lot of big flat rocks so now I’m thinking part rocks part cordwood. I have been procrastinating the cabin way to long. We have a house so the cabin wasn’t a need but sometimes I wish it was because it would be done by now.

Power is not far away but i don’t want it. With power comes a wife with a tv and that defies the purpose. Lol. I will use a generator, solar and wood stove. Kind off self reliant and peace and quite is the train of thought. You would think a simple goal of peace and quite would be easy but it seems very hard to find the time I need to get it done.

The energy prices is bad. You done well with your energy decision.

Thanks for your comment.

 

[Carl_NH]

Building foundation with rocks is a good plan but takes time and work to accomplish. Getting a footer likely at least 3' down with a crushed stone base is a minimum for frost in your area I would think.

Doing this with rocks and one person with your BH is not easy as you need to shim each one level as you build the foundation but is doable. Then chink and backfill with stone and cement to level. But as you dig up rocks you would be able to build over a few months - or stockpile the rocks at the site then place them.

Do you have enough larger trees 6" plus to build the cabin walls or have them milled square? Might be easier to use PT on top of stone then stick build your walls - for a 24x24 cabin would not take a lot of lumber.

Looks like an interesting project for sure!

 

[Green Acres Homestead]

Building foundation with rocks is a good plan but takes time and work to accomplish. Getting a footer likely at least 3' down with a crushed stone base is a minimum for frost in your area I would think.

Doing this with rocks and one person with your BH is not easy as you need to shim each one level as you build the foundation but is doable. Then chink and backfill with stone and cement to level. But as you dig up rocks you would be able to build over a few months - or stockpile the rocks at the site then place them.

Do you have enough larger trees 6" plus to build the cabin walls or have them milled square? Might be easier to use PT on top of stone then stick build your walls - for a 24x24 cabin would not take a lot of lumber.

Looks like an interesting project for sure!

I think you might be right. I am flip flopping back and forth. We had an Asian bark beatle kill most of the good trees on our property so I got to thinking maybe a cord wood style or rock and cordwood combo.

One of my next step is what you suggested. Stock pile the big rocks and get the ready. My newphew is great with building with stone. I’m a bit concern for safety when dealing with 1000 maybe 1500 pound rocks.

 

[Green Acres Homestead]

Beautiful property and looking forward to following your project. Want to get up Cape Breton area way one day - closest I've been is Amherst NS.

Just a little ways farther to gods country.

 

[Green Acres Homestead]

About a month ago hurricane Fiona wreaked havoc on East Coast Canada. Right where we are located we didn't fair out to bad. We lost power for a week and we had some blow downs. I have it all cleaned up now. Thanks Hurricane Fiona for the firewood but now I need a wood shed. I needed a shelter for tractor implements anyway so I decided I would make one building to shelter the wood and tractor implements.

I wish I could be starting the cabin but I need the wood/equipment shelter now. I am quickly running out of good weather so I scuffed off and levelled an area for the wood/equipment shelter.

 

[Green Acres Homestead]

oops . this is a test for some technicial difficulty I am having.

 

[Carl_NH]

Great video - thank you - beautiful spot to for a cabin on the water. I guess the "utility/woodshed" is going where you cleaned up the trees and rocks?

Also its really pretty interesting watching you on the BH and FEL feels like i am running it as I do the same.

Anyway, winter is coming fast and if you can get the posts/frame up you can make a temp shelter/top with a tarp for the winter. Here's a pic of my 16x20 temp shelter for the oak and pine I milled for a screen porch next year.

 

[Green Acres Homestead]

Great video - thank you - beautiful spot to for a cabin on the water. I guess the "utility/woodshed" is going where you cleaned up the trees and rocks?

Also its really pretty interesting watching you on the BH and FEL feels like i am running it as I do the same.

Anyway, winter is coming fast and if you can get the posts/frame up you can make a temp shelter/top with a tarp for the winter. Here's a pic of my 16x20 temp shelter for the oak and pine I milled for a screen porch next year.

Yep. a temp shelter is what I was thinking but more importantly I love your wood shed build. Sounds like you are a man after my own heart. Do you have more pics of your property?

 

[Carl_NH]

Here are some pics - we're on the "shelf ledge" of glacial till and ledge on the coast of NH about 1/4 mile as the crow flies to water. That's our 24x36 barn.