Hey everyone! In this episode we finally get our driveway installed! Thanks for watching! Find us on Facebook! / foresttofarm Find us on Twitter! / foresttofarm
Thanks Guys, Just moved to a farmhouse on 40 acres. We will be here 2 years while my husband completes a works assignment. I plan on leaving it better than I found it. Today I tackle the driveway aka the mudway. I have 2 truckloads of stone coming today. Although I’m working on a much smaller scale, I found your road inspiring. Looking forward to more episodes. Keep up the good work.
Thanks for the kind words Annabelle!! Gravel sure makes life easier. Good luck with your project! The mud is killing our progress right now. Keep an eye out in the next few days we plan to post a video for a giveaway when we reach 5000 subscribers. Oh and thanks for watching!! Terry
You guys are Awesome!! I’m watching with my kids and our plan is to be like you guys Father and Sons building their own farm from scratch. Time to find the right piece of land up in Canada 😊
Thank you!! That's awesome! Love hearing stories like that. One of the best things is we will be debt free. We started many years ago saving everything possible. Eating at home most of the time from meals made from scratch. Living off of one income (the lessor) so we could save the other income and for insurance so to speak. If we lost one income from health reasons or lost employment we were used to living on the cheap. People used to tell me years ago to give it up and we would never get ahead. Now some of those same people tell me they wish they had done like we have. Its been a long time coming but worth every minute of it. I knew we were not likely to ever be rich in money but we could be rich in family and we can live a very comfortable life now that we are finally building our dream. The best part is we have our son, his wife and our soon to be grandson living there and us all working together to make it happen. Terry
Great video. One thing I have learned as I begin our farm. Anything you can learn is helpful on the farm. I think the self reliance aspect is one of the great things about farming. So change the serpentine belt and forget the negative comments.
Thanks! I agree. Some people make comments without thinking about the big picture. No matter what you do somebody is going to have a problem with it. The really crazy thing is some people have left the channel because they say we do not post enough videos. They want us to do more work. We run two small businesses and are building this farm. Filming and editing is as much as some people do all day let along all the other stuff we are doing. You just can not please everybody. Thanks for commenting. Terry
I'm in the Sierra Nevada forest, and acquired 31 acres, with about 1/2 of it meadow with tall wheat looking grass, a 3 acre pond and a 1 acre pond with appropriative water rights of 28 acre feet per year. The property was the original gold mining town with 7 saloons, 2 hotels, and all the gold town trappings, I have pictures showing the remaining cemetery and all the building circa 1860s. So, it's pretty cool. I'm a contractor, I have a 9000 excavator, and just ordered a Kubota M7060, and I want to farm it and prep in case of economic failure. I'm ordering I think it will be a Timberking 1600 saw mill for building materials. It's going to be an adventure. I'm looking forward to watching your channel.
Pat that is so awesome! I love everything about your place you just mentioned. I am a huge fan of history. I love gold mining as a recreational hobby of which I have done very little. You have a dream piece of property for someone like us. We have history as well as it was a kings grant in the 1700's and this last 20 acres was still in the same family until we bought it a few years ago. I don't know near what I would like to about our land but hope to gain knowledge in the future. When we get the houses built, shop built and a few other things done Brian and I plan to do a little adventure traveling. Lots of overland vehicle type stuff. If you were ever game we would love to make a possible trip there some day and maybe do an episode on your little piece of heaven if you would be up for something like that. Check us out on facebook and drop us a message if you care. If you do a CZcams or other type of social media coverage of your build/development please let us know! Would love to follow along. Thanks for sharing!! Terry
@@ForestToFarm Yeah, I just bought a minelab gpz 7000 gold detector, an excavator and tractor. Gonna have a blast! I am a contractor, so I got all that end covered, yet, farming and ranching will be a new gig. Sounds like we have similar good luck. I'm also posting vids at @dirtsculptorcom Here's a vide of what I got czcams.com/video/BvhllEv-4zI/video.html
@@ForestToFarm The place burnt down in 1860s, and they moved the town a block away, so this has just been sitting there for 160 years, with exception the the dams being built in the 70s. I was again abandoned in the 90s. Those ponds are filled with bass, bg and perch.
@@homesculptor I have an old but good metal detector. Its a Tesoro Eldorado from about 30 years ago. Man I love getting out and even if its a horse shoe its still fun to find! Brings out the kid in me. Ha, who am I kidding I am an overgrown kid, lol. Back when I had time to gold mine I had a small vile with a few bits of gold dust, typically what you would find here in SC. I came home one day and discovered my wife did me a favor and cleaned my little mining pouch and tools including the vile. I asked what she did with my gold? She said all I saw was some sand in that glass thing of yours and it went down the drain, lol. Its probably still down deep in that septic tank somewhere, lol. Terry
Hello and hope all is well I have to tell you I have purchased 15 building lot in upstate NY. I found your channel at the time you purchased yours. This driveway was spot on and I am finally looking at a 1200’ driveway and had to rewatch to hopefully find a guy this good !!! I have owned the spot for 6 years and the Covid situation has put some Questions on everything for building Love your channel and hope to see some Future movement here also Good luck
Thanks for the kind words and thanks for watching! We hope to get started soon. Covid and a few pother things have set us back but it will not stop us. Terry
*culvert Guy does nice work. Yep a little tractor or a skid steer will be a great add for future maintenance on your property as it progresses and ages.
Thanks. Yes he does awesome work and we could not be happier. Ha, we want a tractor, skid steer and mini ex. Right now we are looking at a B2650 Kubota. That will make a great start. So many uses for a small tractor. Terry
Hope we have as much luck. We have both wanted a tractor for a long time now. Can't wait to put one to work for us. Of course for us at least its not work but rather play, ha ha. Terry
People have told me here in Alabama that it’s necessary to put down #4 (1 1/2 inch clean limestone) first before the crusher run. I believe it’s better to go with 100 percent crusher run on private roads and driveways. You can always buy more in the future if need be.
Dear Brian &Terry, What a great property buried in the woods where one can have some peace & quiet without the noisy neighbours & the drunken bums singing out loud at night. This a most interesting video; I would like to see how you will do the ground work for your house, the types of foundation work, etc, etc, ..... Look forward to seeing your next episode. Best wishes for the festive season & kind regards.
Thanks! We are so looking forward to getting those houses built and then moving in! It just takes a lot of time when you stay as busy as we have as of late. Hope you have a wonderful Christmas with your family! Terry
Thank you very much for your courteous reply. Yes I indeed I am sure that anyone would be mighty keen to move into a new home as fast as possible. The excitement of what lies ahead is going to mean a new life for you two. Your story is not to dissimilar to Jim (TradesmanChannel) except perhaps in your case, it will be on a somewhat larger scale as you have to start from the ground up (no pun intended). I wish the both of you every success in your endeavours & am sure it will be meticulously documented for our viewing pleasures as well educating some of us. Now don't forget that upon my return I will deal with your "Belated Christmas" goodies; I trust you won't be cut up (pun intended!!!). All the best for the season & see you next year. Kind regards.
The gravel is around 12' wide. The area cleared is around 40' to 60' and it varies along the drive. We have hard red clay so i figure they do not use the cloth since its got a good solid bed already. I hear up north where the soil is more fertile and sandy and or loose loaded with organic material they need the cloth because the soil will absorb the gravel pretty quickly. Terry
Thanks! Its a home made tool. I guess it would fall under the name "Rake". We did not fabricate it but rather the skid steer operator did. That thing is amazing. He made the stump bucket as well. Both worked very well. Wish I owned them both! Terry
Hey Jeff, It is crush and run, sometimes called crusher run and a few other names I don't recall at the moment. Its basically gravel screened at around 3/4 " up to 1 1/2 inch I believe for the type we purchased. Once it gets settled its feels like concrete when you walk on it. It is a combination of the gravel and the rock "fines" , a sand like material left over from the crushing processes. The two materials, rock and fines, combine to form a very solid surface once compacted together. We have clay soil here which tends to be hard so hopefully its holds up for us. Using the larger surge stone does give a good base from what I hear but it is a rough ride. WE talked to a few different people about it and some said use a surge base while others said it was overkill for our situation. So far its holding up great and very solid. One of our determining factors in deciding which way to go is we felt like we could maintain a crush and run gravel easier than the larger stone with our tractor and a box blade or land plane. Here is a link to a site telling about crush and run. It explains the qualities of the gravel. Well worth the read. www.braenstone.com/2017/03/crusher-run-uses/ Thanks for commenting, Terry
That depends on where you live, ha ha. Seriously there are several names for it depending on your location. Here they tend to call it "Crusher Run" or "Crush And Run" in my area but there are other names for it as well. Its basically a mix of gravel and the "fines" left over from the rock crushing process. Now you can have varying sizes of gravel in the mix and varying amounts of the fines. The fines look basically like grey sand and are again the particles of rock left over from the rock crushing process. Our mix has roughly 3/4" to 1 1/4" gravel in it. The theory is that the gravel and fines compact together to form a hard surface approximating concrete when settled out over time. It will wash if on a slope and or when water is allowed to flow over it so that is why we put in the ditches. We have no washing away of gravel/fines in our driveway so far so that seems to be working for us. You want to have a slight crown in the center of the gravel area and then have it taper to the sides thus shedding the rain water over to the ditch area where it can be directed away. The crown is formed during the grading process where you basically pile dirt in the center of the driveway and have it taper to each side toward the ditches. We have a 650' drive thus far and need over 100' more to my house and close to that to Brian's house so you want to get the driveway installed correctly from the start or you will be spending the money you saved going cheap early on plus lots more to fix it later when you start having problems. Anything you do early on for a driveway that has to be redone later was a waste of time and money in my opinion if it can practically be done correctly from the start. I am sure sometimes there is no practical choice but to do a rough drive early on. I understand people trying to save a buck here and there and being in a rush to get things done and get moved into their property but a homesteader/farmer has to think in long terms. Unless they are already wealthy money is hard to come by. In the long run your going to have to spend the money either getting the driveway done right the first time or fixing it regularly over time. If you get it right the first time then you can focus on moving forward with your project. If you do a rough job and then it keeps washing out and the gravel keeps washing away requiring more gravel to be brought in not only does that cost money but it takes valuable time away fixing it as well that could be spent doing other needed tasks. We plan to do a video update very soon showing the current condition of our driveway and how it has help up. Most of what I just explained will be covered in that video. You just got a preview, ha ha.Good luck! Terry
I know that you're still in the planning stage for your homes so I will suggest this. 1. Rainater tanks... tanks and tanks everywhere, sheds, harvesting stations, barn, houses, everyhere you can harvest water, why? simple really.... IRRIGATION! and it tastes nice, having that run through your home with a simple pump will reduce headaches when it comes to installing it in the future - you're electricians you can make it happen. 2. Solar, having solar panels on your sheds and barns will reduce cost of the irrigation and usage, it ill somewhat bring the bill down to what you would usually see on 2 homes. 3. build a well - nothing says a grow off like nutrient rich water, pump that through your farm and send samples for analysis to see if it will help with your growing. 4. try to orientate your homes so that most of the larger windows face north south because east and west is where the sun is going to show no mercy, the north side will provide warmth during the winter time and the south will have a nice cool breeze. Watch a series on Josh's House, it's an Australian gardener in Perth that wanted to build an eco friendly home for just slightly more than what it would cost to build a standard home. Saving on energy means... more money in your pocket. using water wisely means, you don't have to think about keeping your plants alive or your kids. Try to go with metal framing, if you do go with metal framing, please do us a favour and ground it... not with the return cable... with a proper grounding stake (too many electricians can't understand the difference between "hot" "return" and "ground" to newbies in the industry... that can kill) No the metal framing won't rust because it's zinc coated... stainless steel, thick coating too so if there's water damage you won't need to reframe. Saves on termites, when the inspector comes by you can show them the brick, concrete and steel.... long term savings, oh and it's 100% recycable,
All good ideas. We are putting in a city water line at first for construction but will be digging a well also. The city water will mostly be used for our workshop where water is wasted. The well will be eventually for gardens and for our home uses. We plan to do solar eventually but for now we will have local power company service. Again it will eventually be hooked to our shop but this way we have the option at any time to go back to the power grid if for some unknown reason we need to. We are all about self sufficiency. Eventually we plan to put in rain water storage tanks. We also plan to have a pond where run off water will be directed to. Then we can pump water from the pond to garden areas when needed. We have a spring fed creek that starts at the back edge of our property. We plan to do a small solar powered pump/battery system that will pump water up from the creek to our pond when the sun is out and providing enough energy. We may run a PVC line from the creek area to the pond and then have a PTO pump that can be powered from our tractor if the pond gets low on water level. I am toying with doing a bio-char producing system that will also heat our house when cold out. It would likely include floor heat pipe with heated liquid flowing through.On cold winter nights we can fire it up and be making usable fertile amendments for the farm while supplementing the heat in our home. Gonna check out Josh's house when I get a chance. Terry
I honestly do not know what he called it but its a type of rake. He made it himself. It is his own design. The guy is a pretty handy with tools fabricating things. Terry
Hey guys, nice video. My wife and I bought our property recently and i have a question, well several, about house location on yours or anyones property. When you chose your spot on your property why did you choose that spot? was it your 1st choice? What influenced your decision on that location for your house? Reason i ask is because my wife and i chose a location on our property for our house. I have called the electric company, well drillers, health department.and septic company to try and make sure the location is buildable and cost effective. is there anything i might be missing?
Great questions! Have the perk test done. Its tells you what soil conditions are where you want to build and what system requirements you will need. Power company here will go 1000' off the road from the nearest power pole for free but you need a 10 foot wide right of way cleared for underground or a 30 foot right of way for over head service. Not sure about the well drillers. Either there is water or not. We walked around our property and looked while it was all forest and we just picked what seemed to be the best location based on our houses (my son and ours) a barn, garden and all the things we hope to do. We want to keep a good bit of forest undisturbed so we set our homes closer to one side of the property leaving more area to the wildlife like the deer and turkey we have. There are some trees there that we really like so we anted to stay clear of them now and in the possible future. We have set our minds on the houses for now. Only focused on them. Then we will start clearing for the barn and other stuff and that could all change. When you get the area you want your house cleared off things can look and feel different than they do when its all forest. Make sure you get your taxes set up properly. You have to ask to get Ag use or other options. Think about where you will need drains if you have hills to go over from the road to the house. Look at the options of the driveway. Think about where the water is going to run. Don't want a driveway that washes out every time there is a downpour. Don't want to drive through a swamp during rainy seasons. I have probably forgot more than I can remember right now but I will try and come back here with more info as it comes to me. Good luck with your project! Hope this helps a little. Terry
Yeah, my biggest worry is the well. where we will be building here in Missouri i've been getting estimates for the area from 400 to 1500 feet. but i was told i could have them come out and there were ways they could give me a pretty good idea on how deep the well would be. I will be doing that this summer. Also the electric company told me the 1st 600' is free with overhead. But nothing is free with underground. Since we are wanting to go 2500' from power, thats a lot. just want to make sure i have all my bases covered and not missing anything before i start clearing that location then find out I missed something and cant build there. I just keep questioning myself.
First off I will address the last thing you said, lol. I have always questioned myself on pretty much everything I do. I think that is a part of success. Your always gonna have failure but if you think things through over and over at least you better your chances of catching yourself in mistakes. I get accused of overthinking things quite often, ha ha. You can investigate local statistics on wells in your area and see what the average depth is to get an idea of what to expect, or at least hope for. Not sure who would have that info but I am pretty sure its available. How much per foot on that power install? Maybe you should consider solar? That's a lot of distance. Probably gonna be costly. Good luck and let us know how you come out! Terry
Forest ToFarm actually the power is probably the cheapest thing if I go with above ground lines. The engineer told me 300.00 per pole, Poles are roughly 300' apart so that comes to about 1.00 per foot. Underground is where it gets expensive. It was 8.00 per foot. If I dig the trench myself it would be 5.00 per foot. The well Would be about 22.00 per foot.
Yeah that overhead power is a lot cheaper than I thought it would be. Solar can be expensive. I guess you could cut a straight path through the woods for the power right of way and cut your expenses? Then that right of way would be a second way out if a tree falls and blocks your drive or you get a big washout. Of course I do not know your terrain, it may not be possible. Terry
Started looking at you videos since the COVID began. My wife and I are are in the beginnings of what you are doing. Was wondering how long the driveway was, and approximately what the price range was for the grading/gravel/pipe. Enjoyed the videos so far.
The drive is 600 approximately. The entire package was around $3600 but he gave us a great deal. I suspect it would cost much more by most contractors. Glad to have you watching! Terry
Ha ha, we need lots of things. Guess its just gonna happen over time. A little here and a little there. We like our box blade but I think a land leveler would be a little better. Check with Travis at Everything Attachments if you ever get serious about buying one. He can steer you in the right direction,. Terry
can I ask what a road like that costs? I need approx 1300- 1500 ft x about 10 ft wide of road/drive way. I really need an idea. But I've got to get that started
Its a bit difficult for me to explain and let me tell you why. Brian, my son and I cleared the 650' area the road is on by hand with chain saws then a skid steer and mini excavator. The work was intermingled with other stuff over several months time. However when we finally hired the guy to grade the drive and put down the gravel the total was $3750 for the gravel and the work. To be honest I think he was just being a good guy and helping us out. Other bids ran anywhere from $9000 to $16,000. Wish I could be more helpful but like I said its a bit complicated. We try to do as much as we can for ourselves and it saves us a lot money. Terry
@@ForestToFarm Thanks for replying. I understand that you've done work too.. that's almost a must these days. Our land is pasture land in texas so no clearing needed, but it's soft and gets muddy in areas. I Was Curious still so your answer helps. The again Any other tips or tricks are welcome.
We have hard clay soil for the most part. Its bad for growing but good for making driveways I guess. Its hard especially after driving on it for the last year or so before the driveway gravel was put down. Not sure how they would handle your situation. Probably need to remove some of the loose soil on top and or put down some larger size gravel an get it packed down either by driving on it and or get one of those big barrel steam roller looking machines to pack it down for you and then you can top it off with finer gravel of your choice. I am no expert but that is what i have seen done in the past. Some concrete companies will either give away or sell at a very cheap rate crushed left over concrete. I hear it makes a good solid base for a driveway. Terry
@@ForestToFarm Your awesome, Thanks for the input of information. It's really appreciated. We didn't expect to have to do a road, the guy that sold us the lot was going to do a shared road with 10+lots. However he started to be a jerk and denying us access to roadway after escrow closing..... so we resorted (forced) to withdrawing our 30 ft wide easement. It's better in the long run but a Huge cost we were not planning on. So any helpful comments are appreciated.
Hey Mike, Glad to have you following. Thanks for the compliment. The attachment on front of the skid steer was actually made by the guy driving it. Its like a land plain but its his own design. He also made the stump bucket that he used to make the ditch for the drain in the driveway. Both home made implements worked amazingly well. He builds custom cars and other stuff. He said he put a tractor engine in a truck he built, lol. People say that things sounds like a tractor. He tells them that's because it is, lol Terry
Forest To Farm he did, it’s an old international truck he chopped and lowered and put on bags. He installed a 4bt Cummins engine and custom built a wood bed. It’s very unique. I actually used to work for this guy he is a genius.
I don't know if he would be ok with us giving the exact amount he charged us, but it was significantly less than the $6,500 we had been quoted by one guy and another had said $8,000-$10,000. We got lucky and caught this guy at the right time and hit it off really well with him. He didn't add any additional cost to the gravel like most do. That saved us nearly $1,000 alone. A lot of these guys will charge you a good bit for delivery, but you can also get it direct from the quarry and generally save up to a couple hundred dollars per truck load (20 tons). And the quarry guys (at least our local one) can spread it about 4" thick by 10' wide for you, but you still have to get it worked and leveled. Some people have it packed with barrel rollers, but we have just been letting it settle naturally and just driving on it. So far it's holding up fine. Hope this helps some. Brian
My wife and I purchased 40 acres in New York, it has a cabin , I’d say around 600 feet from the road. We just closed on the property in late January so we haven’t really done anything on it. It’s been a very long winter in upstate New York. What is the length of your driveway?
Thanks Guys,
Just moved to a farmhouse on 40 acres. We will be here 2 years while my husband completes a works assignment. I plan on leaving it better than I found it. Today I tackle the driveway aka the mudway. I have 2 truckloads of stone coming today. Although I’m working on a much smaller scale, I found your road inspiring. Looking forward to more episodes. Keep up the good work.
Thanks for the kind words Annabelle!! Gravel sure makes life easier. Good luck with your project! The mud is killing our progress right now. Keep an eye out in the next few days we plan to post a video for a giveaway when we reach 5000 subscribers.
Oh and thanks for watching!!
Terry
You guys are Awesome!! I’m watching with my kids and our plan is to be like you guys Father and Sons building their own farm from scratch. Time to find the right piece of land up in Canada 😊
Thank you!! That's awesome! Love hearing stories like that. One of the best things is we will be debt free. We started many years ago saving everything possible. Eating at home most of the time from meals made from scratch. Living off of one income (the lessor) so we could save the other income and for insurance so to speak. If we lost one income from health reasons or lost employment we were used to living on the cheap. People used to tell me years ago to give it up and we would never get ahead. Now some of those same people tell me they wish they had done like we have. Its been a long time coming but worth every minute of it. I knew we were not likely to ever be rich in money but we could be rich in family and we can live a very comfortable life now that we are finally building our dream. The best part is we have our son, his wife and our soon to be grandson living there and us all working together to make it happen.
Terry
At 9:03 when I saw that Topcon, I knew y’all had the right guy. Top notch operator with state of the art equipment.
He did a fine job! We were blessed to be able to get him.
Terry
Great video. One thing I have learned as I begin our farm. Anything you can learn is helpful on the farm. I think the self reliance aspect is one of the great things about farming. So change the serpentine belt and forget the negative comments.
Thanks! I agree. Some people make comments without thinking about the big picture. No matter what you do somebody is going to have a problem with it. The really crazy thing is some people have left the channel because they say we do not post enough videos. They want us to do more work. We run two small businesses and are building this farm. Filming and editing is as much as some people do all day let along all the other stuff we are doing. You just can not please everybody. Thanks for commenting.
Terry
One nice thing about that drag box skid loader attachment...no winrows to rake by hand. One man grading operation.
Its a nice piece of equipment.
Terry
Very nice job on the driveway. Nice attachments for the skid steer.
Thanks!
Terry
You guys found a professional, that was a top notch job from start to finish. You just improved that property value big time.
I agree!! Thanks!!
Terry
I'm in the Sierra Nevada forest, and acquired 31 acres, with about 1/2 of it meadow with tall wheat looking grass, a 3 acre pond and a 1 acre pond with appropriative water rights of 28 acre feet per year. The property was the original gold mining town with 7 saloons, 2 hotels, and all the gold town trappings, I have pictures showing the remaining cemetery and all the building circa 1860s. So, it's pretty cool. I'm a contractor, I have a 9000 excavator, and just ordered a Kubota M7060, and I want to farm it and prep in case of economic failure. I'm ordering I think it will be a Timberking 1600 saw mill for building materials. It's going to be an adventure.
I'm looking forward to watching your channel.
Pat that is so awesome! I love everything about your place you just mentioned. I am a huge fan of history. I love gold mining as a recreational hobby of which I have done very little. You have a dream piece of property for someone like us. We have history as well as it was a kings grant in the 1700's and this last 20 acres was still in the same family until we bought it a few years ago. I don't know near what I would like to about our land but hope to gain knowledge in the future. When we get the houses built, shop built and a few other things done Brian and I plan to do a little adventure traveling. Lots of overland vehicle type stuff. If you were ever game we would love to make a possible trip there some day and maybe do an episode on your little piece of heaven if you would be up for something like that. Check us out on facebook and drop us a message if you care. If you do a CZcams or other type of social media coverage of your build/development please let us know! Would love to follow along. Thanks for sharing!!
Terry
@@ForestToFarm Yeah, I just bought a minelab gpz 7000 gold detector, an excavator and tractor. Gonna have a blast! I am a contractor, so I got all that end covered, yet, farming and ranching will be a new gig. Sounds like we have similar good luck. I'm also posting vids at @dirtsculptorcom Here's a vide of what I got czcams.com/video/BvhllEv-4zI/video.html
@@ForestToFarm The place burnt down in 1860s, and they moved the town a block away, so this has just been sitting there for 160 years, with exception the the dams being built in the 70s. I was again abandoned in the 90s. Those ponds are filled with bass, bg and perch.
@@homesculptor I have an old but good metal detector. Its a Tesoro Eldorado from about 30 years ago. Man I love getting out and even if its a horse shoe its still fun to find! Brings out the kid in me. Ha, who am I kidding I am an overgrown kid, lol. Back when I had time to gold mine I had a small vile with a few bits of gold dust, typically what you would find here in SC. I came home one day and discovered my wife did me a favor and cleaned my little mining pouch and tools including the vile. I asked what she did with my gold? She said all I saw was some sand in that glass thing of yours and it went down the drain, lol. Its probably still down deep in that septic tank somewhere, lol.
Terry
@@ForestToFarm yeah me too. Some kids never grow up
Hello and hope all is well
I have to tell you I have purchased 15 building lot in upstate NY. I found your channel at the time you purchased yours. This driveway was spot on and I am finally looking at a 1200’ driveway and had to rewatch to hopefully find a guy this good !!! I have owned the spot for 6 years and the Covid situation has put some
Questions on everything for building
Love your channel and hope to see some
Future movement here also
Good luck
Thanks for the kind words and thanks for watching!
We hope to get started soon. Covid and a few pother things have set us back but it will not stop us.
Terry
LOVED THIS!
Thanks!
Terry
Everything Attachments has a boxed plain. It'd be mighty handy for driveway leveling.
Yes we hope to get one some time in the future. Thanks. Everything Attachments is awesome!!
I envy people who can imagine and build something like that...kind of like what you're doing.
I agree. And thanks.
Terry
*culvert Guy does nice work. Yep a little tractor or a skid steer will be a great add for future maintenance on your property as it progresses and ages.
Thanks. Yes he does awesome work and we could not be happier. Ha, we want a tractor, skid steer and mini ex. Right now we are looking at a B2650 Kubota. That will make a great start. So many uses for a small tractor.
Terry
I started out with a Kubota BX25D and it has been a workhorse! One $6 repair in 500hours and that was my fault.
Hope we have as much luck. We have both wanted a tractor for a long time now. Can't wait to put one to work for us. Of course for us at least its not work but rather play, ha ha.
Terry
People have told me here in Alabama that it’s necessary to put down #4 (1 1/2 inch clean limestone) first before the crusher run. I believe it’s better to go with 100 percent crusher run on private roads and driveways. You can always buy more in the future if need be.
Its working for us!
Terry
Dear Brian &Terry,
What a great property buried in the woods where one can have some peace & quiet without the noisy neighbours & the drunken bums singing out loud at night. This a most interesting video; I would like to see how you will do the ground work for your house, the types of foundation work, etc, etc, ..... Look forward to seeing your next episode. Best wishes for the festive season & kind regards.
Thanks! We are so looking forward to getting those houses built and then moving in! It just takes a lot of time when you stay as busy as we have as of late. Hope you have a wonderful Christmas with your family!
Terry
Thank you very much for your courteous reply. Yes I indeed I am sure that anyone would be mighty keen to move into a new home as fast as possible. The excitement of what lies ahead is going to mean a new life for you two. Your story is not to dissimilar to Jim (TradesmanChannel) except perhaps in your case, it will be on a somewhat larger scale as you have to start from the ground up (no pun intended). I wish the both of you every success in your endeavours & am sure it will be meticulously documented for our viewing pleasures as well educating some of us. Now don't forget that upon my return I will deal with your "Belated Christmas" goodies; I trust you won't be cut up (pun intended!!!). All the best for the season & see you next year. Kind regards.
Your welcome and thank you. Gonna be some good times ahead. We like Christmas goodies! Off to work!
Terry
That's the spirit. Kind regards.
Big up from England grey bush
Thanks!
Terry
Ok how wide is the cleared area of the drive and width of finished stoned driveway? Also why no geo fabric??
The gravel is around 12' wide. The area cleared is around 40' to 60' and it varies along the drive. We have hard red clay so i figure they do not use the cloth since its got a good solid bed already. I hear up north where the soil is more fertile and sandy and or loose loaded with organic material they need the cloth because the soil will absorb the gravel pretty quickly.
Terry
What kind of attachment are you using for leveling and grading with the track machine and where did you buy it or did you fabricate? Great video!
Thanks! Its a home made tool. I guess it would fall under the name "Rake". We did not fabricate it but rather the skid steer operator did. That thing is amazing. He made the stump bucket as well. Both worked very well. Wish I owned them both!
Terry
It's called a land plane. lots of guys fabricate them, but they are also available commercially.
What type of gravel is that you had put down? Was there a reason they did not need lay down a larger rock base?
Hey Jeff,
It is crush and run, sometimes called crusher run and a few other names I don't recall at the moment. Its basically gravel screened at around 3/4 " up to 1 1/2 inch I believe for the type we purchased. Once it gets settled its feels like concrete when you walk on it. It is a combination of the gravel and the rock "fines" , a sand like material left over from the crushing processes. The two materials, rock and fines, combine to form a very solid surface once compacted together. We have clay soil here which tends to be hard so hopefully its holds up for us. Using the larger surge stone does give a good base from what I hear but it is a rough ride. WE talked to a few different people about it and some said use a surge base while others said it was overkill for our situation. So far its holding up great and very solid.
One of our determining factors in deciding which way to go is we felt like we could maintain a crush and run gravel easier than the larger stone with our tractor and a box blade or land plane.
Here is a link to a site telling about crush and run. It explains the qualities of the gravel. Well worth the read. www.braenstone.com/2017/03/crusher-run-uses/
Thanks for commenting,
Terry
Forest ToFarm thank you very much for the detailed response!!
No problem, glad to help.
Terry
What type of microphones are you guys using? It's really good audio. 👍
Tram TR50. They do an excellent job.
Terry
@@ForestToFarm
Thanks much appreciated!
No problem, glad to help. Brian ran a chain saw and was able to talk clearly at the same time. They do a great job.
Terry
when did Ray Ramano get into excavation?
LOL, I hadn't heard that one in a while. I guess people have forgot about him.
Terry
What's the name of the road dirt, mix I know it's not gravel.
That depends on where you live, ha ha. Seriously there are several names for it depending on your location. Here they tend to call it "Crusher Run" or "Crush And Run" in my area but there are other names for it as well. Its basically a mix of gravel and the "fines" left over from the rock crushing process. Now you can have varying sizes of gravel in the mix and varying amounts of the fines. The fines look basically like grey sand and are again the particles of rock left over from the rock crushing process. Our mix has roughly 3/4" to 1 1/4" gravel in it. The theory is that the gravel and fines compact together to form a hard surface approximating concrete when settled out over time. It will wash if on a slope and or when water is allowed to flow over it so that is why we put in the ditches. We have no washing away of gravel/fines in our driveway so far so that seems to be working for us. You want to have a slight crown in the center of the gravel area and then have it taper to the sides thus shedding the rain water over to the ditch area where it can be directed away. The crown is formed during the grading process where you basically pile dirt in the center of the driveway and have it taper to each side toward the ditches. We have a 650' drive thus far and need over 100' more to my house and close to that to Brian's house so you want to get the driveway installed correctly from the start or you will be spending the money you saved going cheap early on plus lots more to fix it later when you start having problems. Anything you do early on for a driveway that has to be redone later was a waste of time and money in my opinion if it can practically be done correctly from the start. I am sure sometimes there is no practical choice but to do a rough drive early on. I understand people trying to save a buck here and there and being in a rush to get things done and get moved into their property but a homesteader/farmer has to think in long terms. Unless they are already wealthy money is hard to come by. In the long run your going to have to spend the money either getting the driveway done right the first time or fixing it regularly over time. If you get it right the first time then you can focus on moving forward with your project. If you do a rough job and then it keeps washing out and the gravel keeps washing away requiring more gravel to be brought in not only does that cost money but it takes valuable time away fixing it as well that could be spent doing other needed tasks. We plan to do a video update very soon showing the current condition of our driveway and how it has help up. Most of what I just explained will be covered in that video. You just got a preview, ha ha.Good luck!
Terry
Wish I had access to all these attachments!
He has some nice stuff!
I know that you're still in the planning stage for your homes so I will suggest this.
1. Rainater tanks... tanks and tanks everywhere, sheds, harvesting stations, barn, houses, everyhere you can harvest water, why? simple really.... IRRIGATION! and it tastes nice, having that run through your home with a simple pump will reduce headaches when it comes to installing it in the future - you're electricians you can make it happen.
2. Solar, having solar panels on your sheds and barns will reduce cost of the irrigation and usage, it ill somewhat bring the bill down to what you would usually see on 2 homes.
3. build a well - nothing says a grow off like nutrient rich water, pump that through your farm and send samples for analysis to see if it will help with your growing.
4. try to orientate your homes so that most of the larger windows face north south because east and west is where the sun is going to show no mercy, the north side will provide warmth during the winter time and the south will have a nice cool breeze.
Watch a series on Josh's House, it's an Australian gardener in Perth that wanted to build an eco friendly home for just slightly more than what it would cost to build a standard home. Saving on energy means... more money in your pocket. using water wisely means, you don't have to think about keeping your plants alive or your kids.
Try to go with metal framing, if you do go with metal framing, please do us a favour and ground it... not with the return cable... with a proper grounding stake (too many electricians can't understand the difference between "hot" "return" and "ground" to newbies in the industry... that can kill)
No the metal framing won't rust because it's zinc coated... stainless steel, thick coating too so if there's water damage you won't need to reframe.
Saves on termites, when the inspector comes by you can show them the brick, concrete and steel.... long term savings, oh and it's 100% recycable,
All good ideas.
We are putting in a city water line at first for construction but will be digging a well also. The city water will mostly be used for our workshop where water is wasted. The well will be eventually for gardens and for our home uses.
We plan to do solar eventually but for now we will have local power company service. Again it will eventually be hooked to our shop but this way we have the option at any time to go back to the power grid if for some unknown reason we need to.
We are all about self sufficiency.
Eventually we plan to put in rain water storage tanks. We also plan to have a pond where run off water will be directed to. Then we can pump water from the pond to garden areas when needed. We have a spring fed creek that starts at the back edge of our property. We plan to do a small solar powered pump/battery system that will pump water up from the creek to our pond when the sun is out and providing enough energy. We may run a PVC line from the creek area to the pond and then have a PTO pump that can be powered from our tractor if the pond gets low on water level.
I am toying with doing a bio-char producing system that will also heat our house when cold out. It would likely include floor heat pipe with heated liquid flowing through.On cold winter nights we can fire it up and be making usable fertile amendments for the farm while supplementing the heat in our home.
Gonna check out Josh's house when I get a chance.
Terry
Happy fox, we are in central texas.
I'm planning on doing a barndominium (metal), do you have any specific advice us other than the 'ground'?
Thanks
What is that grading attachment you use?
I honestly do not know what he called it but its a type of rake. He made it himself. It is his own design. The guy is a pretty handy with tools fabricating things.
Terry
That guy looks so much like Al Pacino!
Ha ha
That looks like GA in winter.
South Carolina, but close enough!
Terry
Hey guys, nice video. My wife and I bought our property recently and i have a question, well several, about house location on yours or anyones property. When you chose your spot on your property why did you choose that spot? was it your 1st choice? What influenced your decision on that location for your house?
Reason i ask is because my wife and i chose a location on our property for our house. I have called the electric company, well drillers, health department.and septic company to try and make sure the location is buildable and cost effective. is there anything i might be missing?
Great questions!
Have the perk test done. Its tells you what soil conditions are where you want to build and what system requirements you will need.
Power company here will go 1000' off the road from the nearest power pole for free but you need a 10 foot wide right of way cleared for underground or a 30 foot right of way for over head service. Not sure about the well drillers. Either there is water or not.
We walked around our property and looked while it was all forest and we just picked what seemed to be the best location based on our houses (my son and ours) a barn, garden and all the things we hope to do. We want to keep a good bit of forest undisturbed so we set our homes closer to one side of the property leaving more area to the wildlife like the deer and turkey we have. There are some trees there that we really like so we anted to stay clear of them now and in the possible future. We have set our minds on the houses for now. Only focused on them. Then we will start clearing for the barn and other stuff and that could all change. When you get the area you want your house cleared off things can look and feel different than they do when its all forest.
Make sure you get your taxes set up properly. You have to ask to get Ag use or other options.
Think about where you will need drains if you have hills to go over from the road to the house. Look at the options of the driveway. Think about where the water is going to run. Don't want a driveway that washes out every time there is a downpour. Don't want to drive through a swamp during rainy seasons.
I have probably forgot more than I can remember right now but I will try and come back here with more info as it comes to me.
Good luck with your project! Hope this helps a little.
Terry
Yeah, my biggest worry is the well. where we will be building here in Missouri i've been getting estimates for the area from 400 to 1500 feet. but i was told i could have them come out and there were ways they could give me a pretty good idea on how deep the well would be. I will be doing that this summer.
Also the electric company told me the 1st 600' is free with overhead. But nothing is free with underground. Since we are wanting to go 2500' from power, thats a lot.
just want to make sure i have all my bases covered and not missing anything before i start clearing that location then find out I missed something and cant build there.
I just keep questioning myself.
First off I will address the last thing you said, lol. I have always questioned myself on pretty much everything I do. I think that is a part of success. Your always gonna have failure but if you think things through over and over at least you better your chances of catching yourself in mistakes. I get accused of overthinking things quite often, ha ha.
You can investigate local statistics on wells in your area and see what the average depth is to get an idea of what to expect, or at least hope for. Not sure who would have that info but I am pretty sure its available.
How much per foot on that power install? Maybe you should consider solar? That's a lot of distance. Probably gonna be costly.
Good luck and let us know how you come out!
Terry
Forest ToFarm actually the power is probably the cheapest thing if I go with above ground lines. The engineer told me 300.00 per pole, Poles are roughly 300' apart so that comes to about 1.00 per foot.
Underground is where it gets expensive. It was 8.00 per foot. If I dig the trench myself it would be 5.00 per foot.
The well Would be about 22.00 per foot.
Yeah that overhead power is a lot cheaper than I thought it would be. Solar can be expensive.
I guess you could cut a straight path through the woods for the power right of way and cut your expenses? Then that right of way would be a second way out if a tree falls and blocks your drive or you get a big washout. Of course I do not know your terrain, it may not be possible.
Terry
Started looking at you videos since the COVID began. My wife and I are are in the beginnings of what you are doing. Was wondering how long the driveway was, and approximately what the price range was for the grading/gravel/pipe. Enjoyed the videos so far.
The drive is 600 approximately. The entire package was around $3600 but he gave us a great deal. I suspect it would cost much more by most contractors. Glad to have you watching!
Terry
@@ForestToFarm Thanks! Appreciate the info! We are not far from the SC/GA border in GA. Very informative videos.
@@jasonmccook5017 Good luck!
Terry
@@jasonmccook5017 Thanks!
May I ask what state your property is in?
Sure, no problem.
We are actually in a couple of states. State of confusion, state of denial and the state of South Carolina. :)
Terry
I need a scraper plow for my driveway.
Ha ha, we need lots of things. Guess its just gonna happen over time. A little here and a little there. We like our box blade but I think a land leveler would be a little better. Check with Travis at Everything Attachments if you ever get serious about buying one. He can steer you in the right direction,.
Terry
@@ForestToFarm I just use northern supply or tractor supply for the parts that I lose down between the flooring on my deck.
We use tractor supply for the small stuff because they are close by.
Terry
How many truck loads of rock
I believe it was four.
Terry
can I ask what a road like that costs? I need approx 1300- 1500 ft x about 10 ft wide of road/drive way. I really need an idea. But I've got to get that started
Its a bit difficult for me to explain and let me tell you why. Brian, my son and I cleared the 650' area the road is on by hand with chain saws then a skid steer and mini excavator. The work was intermingled with other stuff over several months time. However when we finally hired the guy to grade the drive and put down the gravel the total was $3750 for the gravel and the work. To be honest I think he was just being a good guy and helping us out. Other bids ran anywhere from $9000 to $16,000. Wish I could be more helpful but like I said its a bit complicated. We try to do as much as we can for ourselves and it saves us a lot money.
Terry
@@ForestToFarm
Thanks for replying.
I understand that you've done work too.. that's almost a must these days.
Our land is pasture land in texas so no clearing needed, but it's soft and gets muddy in areas.
I Was Curious still so your answer helps.
The again
Any other tips or tricks are welcome.
We have hard clay soil for the most part. Its bad for growing but good for making driveways I guess. Its hard especially after driving on it for the last year or so before the driveway gravel was put down. Not sure how they would handle your situation. Probably need to remove some of the loose soil on top and or put down some larger size gravel an get it packed down either by driving on it and or get one of those big barrel steam roller looking machines to pack it down for you and then you can top it off with finer gravel of your choice. I am no expert but that is what i have seen done in the past.
Some concrete companies will either give away or sell at a very cheap rate crushed left over concrete. I hear it makes a good solid base for a driveway.
Terry
@@ForestToFarm Your awesome, Thanks for the input of information.
It's really appreciated.
We didn't expect to have to do a road, the guy that sold us the lot was going to do a shared road with 10+lots. However he started to be a jerk and denying us access to roadway
after escrow closing..... so we resorted (forced) to withdrawing our 30 ft wide easement. It's better in the long run but a Huge cost we were not planning on. So any helpful comments are appreciated.
No problem and good luck! Always glad to help where we can.
Terry
great job
Thanks!
Terry
Land plain? Just found your channel...enjoy your videos.
Hey Mike,
Glad to have you following. Thanks for the compliment.
The attachment on front of the skid steer was actually made by the guy driving it. Its like a land plain but its his own design. He also made the stump bucket that he used to make the ditch for the drain in the driveway. Both home made implements worked amazingly well.
He builds custom cars and other stuff. He said he put a tractor engine in a truck he built, lol. People say that things sounds like a tractor. He tells them that's because it is, lol
Terry
Forest To Farm he did, it’s an old international truck he chopped and lowered and put on bags. He installed a 4bt Cummins engine and custom built a wood bed. It’s very unique. I actually used to work for this guy he is a genius.
@@lukeparton2870 Col, thanks for the response.
Terry
That drive will never last, you didn't use flux capacitor treatment on the underlayment.
Ha ha, its holding so far.
Terry
What was the price if you don’t mind saying?
I don't know if he would be ok with us giving the exact amount he charged us, but it was significantly less than the $6,500 we had been quoted by one guy and another had said $8,000-$10,000. We got lucky and caught this guy at the right time and hit it off really well with him. He didn't add any additional cost to the gravel like most do. That saved us nearly $1,000 alone. A lot of these guys will charge you a good bit for delivery, but you can also get it direct from the quarry and generally save up to a couple hundred dollars per truck load (20 tons). And the quarry guys (at least our local one) can spread it about 4" thick by 10' wide for you, but you still have to get it worked and leveled. Some people have it packed with barrel rollers, but we have just been letting it settle naturally and just driving on it. So far it's holding up fine.
Hope this helps some.
Brian
Wow, great response time, I appreciate it. The information was great. You guys are doing a great job. Have a great day
Thanks & you're welcome!
My wife and I purchased 40 acres in New York, it has a cabin , I’d say around 600 feet from the road. We just closed on the property in late January so we haven’t really done anything on it. It’s been a very long winter in upstate New York. What is the length of your driveway?
That's awesome! Ours is currently right at 600 feet long, but will end up being 650+ by the time we get it to the houses.
wate you have a barn on a farm ( forest to farm ) all inclusive.its like repeteing ur self over and over/.
OK
Has anyone ever told you that you look just like UFC fighter Matt Brown?
Not until today. Guess that's not a bad thing, ha ha.