This is the beginning of our TWO YEAR and counting journey to restore a once beautiful 80 acres property to the beautiful place it once was.
I wanted to film our progress and get better at video editing, so I figured we would share with everyone, in case anyone else finds this as interesting as I do.
We're still cleaning the property, clearing brush, working on buildings, and getting the house in a livable condition.
Our goal is to be Living On 80 Acres full time soon and is the motivation for us to keep working hard on this land.
If you like tractors, mowers, chainsaws, equipment maintenance, repairs, fun and family then please subscribe!
Horses need heating and cooling and pads for the stalls .the tackroom and feed and vet supplies Minera. L blocks salt blocks and other supplies for the horses.
We have 5 goats and 2 sheep right now. We plan to keep adding more, MANY more, but we are new to having them and didn't want to get in over our heads. Thanks!
Just happened across your channel today, I must say for me to sit and watch 2 hours worth of videos says that I am enjoying your channel so I have subscribed. I watched the one video where you did a complete service on the Kioti tractor. I would like to make 1 suggestion if I may, it is a suggestion and nothing you are doing incorrect. I am 66years old and back in tho 70’s when I learned to work on semi’s I was taught to always jack up the front axle when lubing the king pins, that way you would not build up pressure on the seals and blow them out, this way the pins, bushing, and bearings would retain grease longer. Again it is just a suggestion and not saying you were doing anything wrong. Thank you for keeping this old man entertained.
Im cleanig out fence rows right now. I rented a mini x. Cause thats what everyone suggested. It was slow going. Found and old backhoe for sale up the road. Bought it and have never thought about the mini again. I put the front bucket on the ground and go. Find something big. Turn around and dig it out. Backhoe has been so much faster than the mini x. Edit. I building cattle pastures tho. So im taking brush and everything. To the dirt. Pushing it in piles and burning it.
@@livingon80 It does. And you can push some pretty big trees down with just the front bucket. Push high. Get it leaning. And get that bucket under them roots. When you put your fence back up. Check with your state. Some states have requirements for livestock fence. I'm using barbed wire for cattle. And my states requirements is 5 strands.
I used to move mine around in a fence like that every summer. A couple summers ago. I said screw it. And just opened the gate and let em go. They are like chickens. They go out in the morning. Graze the woods and grass all day. And go right back in their pen at night.
That would be so nice to be able to trust them to do that! Did you have some kind of perimeter fence? If not, how did you keep them away from neighbors plants and predators?
@@livingon80 my neighbors are pretty far off. I'm kinda lucky in that. But they don't wander very far at all. I do have a perimeter fence. But I have most of it down replacing it. And the goats pretty much rule the yard. They'll get in with my cows and bully them. I've have an older doe that beats up on my dogs every chance she gets. I do lock em in the pen at night. But like I said. When the sun starts going down they go right in there. I just go close the gate. And open it back up the next morning. They prefer the bushes and wooded areas. I have alot of that.
You are 100% right. Especially the Johnson grass, it shoots up like nothing I've ever seen. Sometimes I will mow to keep things from getting to a seed head, but I have so much to mow here, I start early (September). We've had a big drought too so things have kinda stunted on growth (until it rains). Thanks!
We did finally manage to get it out. I have some clips of getting it out but didn't film too much because it was fairly dangerous and needed my full attention. It was definitely a chore! Brad, (our friend that you watched get the backhoe unstuck) and I ended up using the mini excavator to dig it out. It now looks like an excavation site, but its out and there was no damage. These models of Bobcats are built like a tank! 😁
A flail mower would definitely be nice, especially if it was 8'. We do have a forrestry mulcher that we use on the Bobcat track loader but its teeth arent as small as a flail mower so it doesnt mulch grass as well. There's a few spots on the property where I may try the Bobcat with forrestry mulcher instead of a bushhog for comparison and make a video. Thanks for watching and the suggestion on the flail mower!
Beautiful Healthy Doe…Make sure you have informed Law Enforcement ( Police and Game Wardens ) of your property and their Boundaries…Put up ( POSTED SIGNS ) around your land ….There are Hunters around who say they don’t see any posted signs and didn’t know about the land…Take Photos of any Tree Stands or Ladder Stands on your property…Better yet..Let the Game Warden walk the land with you too… Know their name…Get their phone number Send them Christmas Cards..Be-friend them …You’ll be better off! Plus you have two Beautiful Kids to care for… Many Blessings!!
Someone did have a deer stand on the property when we got it and it's still there. I should probably put a trail cam there to see if someone is using it. Good idea on the POSTED signs. Thanks and take care!
Got hooked on your channel….Family doing what they love to do…I’d love to see. Christmas done up on your property for people to come and see!! Hate to see the goats so far from the house though
Barn from the 1840’s to 1860’s…possibly used for tobacco drying and corn storage..Open slat for air circulation … Also the other areas for mules to be housed and fed…
You could take the barn down and save the wood for other building and projects…Possibly build another smaller building on part of the pad…S mallet build for equipment storage
Nice i love a whole day of cutting once it's mowed down it looks a lot bigger and saving those hickory trees is a good call nature loves that and it gives the real young grass and clover to grow and the deer probably thank you for that. Larry
Agreed, being on the tractor is very relaxing and I dont mind a full day on it either as long as I'm not getting stung! I'm hoping those hickory trees will grow to make shade for the pastured animals someday. There were also a lot of locust trees growing together in a patch. I kept the few that were nice and straight. Take care!
The reason we’re using the bushhog instead of relying on our animals is that we only have 5 goats and 2 sheep, which isn't enough to keep up with this pasture. Additionally, there are toxic plants like milkweed and Johnson grass that need to be removed first to keep our animals safe. Thanks for watching and understanding!
I sure do. The fawns are big enough this time of year to get out of the way. I try my best to avoid wildlife but sometimes it does unfortunately happen, but turtles are the only ones that I know I have hit before.
That's terrible! I have read all about how Johnsongrass can produce cyanide after a drought or when it's stressed but never knew how much of it to believe. Just like some people online say oak leaves/cherry leaves will harm goats and then another person says their goats eat them all the time. I'm glad you said this though because we have a TON of Johnsongrass as you can see in the video. Thank you for the info! Greatly appreciated, take care!
The ticks were really bad in the spring, then I didn't see any for a while until just a couple weeks ago. Rubber boots seems to be the best way for for me to keep them off me. Every time I find one on me, I had tennis shoes on.
Sometimes it's sad to cut trees but they can also cause safety issues, try to replant trees species that you like or can bring reward to your home like pecans, hickory mayhaws etc the wildlife and grandchildren will thank you
I try to keep as many trees as possible but yes, sometimes if a Gum is growing right on top of an Oak, the Gum has to go. There are still several rows of pecan and black walnut trees all over the property because at one time it was a tree nursery. Thank you for watching!
Love your channel and all of the big toys you use to wrangle the land into cleared, useable space. Only have one suggestion. I really enjoy listening to the machinery you work with, but, the music just detracts from these sounds. It just feels more like I am right there working with you without the music. What you do is very interesting and worthwhile. It is exciting to let my imagination wander into the possibilities of what you can do with your beautiful land. I am a seventy two year old woman who, at one time, did just what you are doing now. Kudos to you and your beautiful family. You will never regret all your arduous work.👍😊
I appreciate your feedback! I'm editing a video now about bushhogging some old pastures and I just removed the music that was playing while I am bushhogging based off your feedback. Hopefully that will be better. Thanks!
Hi, for first timer on the mini you are doing very well. I don't think the mini is the right 'tool' for this job, when you do use it for this type I’ll suggest you place the vegetation on the side that you can chop it letter and the non on the other side, to save some time to separate all before chopping, for the vines the hydraulic thumb is perfect to pull it towards you and then to the side. Don't ever drive where you can't see or sure it is safe the mini can flip, to use the bucket to pull, turn and support. I'm sure you'll enjoy working with the mini as i was, have fun and be careful. looking forward for some more new projects of yours.
