2 Weeks Progress on our Forever Property 

"Two weeks in the books, rest of our life to go." I love it! Your excitement is palpable. Congratulations on this new chapter in your lives. I look forward to regular updates as you transform the property into the Bates forever-home. Peace!!

Would be a good idea to keep a can of spray paint (preferably a can of inverted marking paint) on the tractor as you progress so that you can mark out those holes and other stuff that needs to be addressed later, without having to search.

This is a great time in your life to do this when you are young, I just turned 70 but still very active. No way I could attempt this now. It will be something you will look back for years to come. Happy for you and your family!

Use your tractors 3 point uplift and a chain to pull small trees out by the root. Get the 3 point in contact with the tree, drop the chain and wrap over the tree and dropped chain until you have 5 wraps and lift.

wow you got a lot done and wish you both the best. I am 55 and could not imagine taking on such a huge task but dreams are what keeps us going and getting out of bed lol. you and some others have inspired me to leave my job of 20 plus years and become a full time wood worker from home and I know its going to be tough but with God help and my family we will be just fine. Jay thanks for the videos and a words of encouragement so keep the videos coming.

From what you have shown, your property looks amazing. The best part is that you both get to shape the land as you want. You sound the happiest you have been for like forever. Good luck to you and your family.

I really appreciate that you're not burning the cut brush like most people, but instead grinding. Allowing that carbon to stay in the earth rather than releasing all of it into the atmosphere is a great choice.

Wow. First of all, I have been following your journey since the small apartment shop. It has been a real pleasure learning from you. You cannot imagine how many woodworking projects I have made with your guidance including the awesome Jay Bates classic miter station. I have never made any comments on youtube on any video at all, but this new phase in your life it is just overwhelming me with joy to see the incredible dream you are building. I always wanted to do exactly this, but unfortunately I went the route of the 9-5 horrible almost 40 years of desk work and just never made the big jump, so I am living the experience through you and loving every nanosecond of it. I wish you the best and I am looking forward to your next video. P.S. As soon as you update your map/sketch with all this progress please please share it with us. Greetings from Rochester Hills Michigan (yeah, I know, I have driven through Livonia many times hehehe).

Congratulations.. I can hear the excitement in your voices.. So happy for you guys… Thanks for taking us along with you and sharing your Dreams.. Can’t wait for more.. Cheers

So much progress already. It’s exciting to watch. Horses??? That’s going to be an amazing place to ride horses. You guys are going to have so much fun.

So happy for you and your family, Jay. Love watching your progress!

I love hearing the passion, enthusiasm. and drive in your voice (and your yellow hand LOL). This is going to be a fun journey to watch. Enjoy it with your family.

been there done that and it is fun hard work. I recommend putting wood chips on your path not to the side of your trails. Leave the stumps 2ft height and push them over with the bulldozer and pull them up. then trench one side of paths for drainage and then use the excess to fill your stump holes.

great update, congrats on the progress you've made so far - and yes, there's a lot of cleaning up to do but you have a pretty good machine to allow you to get stuck into it. Looks like you got the right dirt guy too, he's making great progress

You guys are on a fabulous adventure. I wish your family all the best and look forward to the future updates.

Exciting Jay! And I can hear it all in your voice.

Look into a flail mower over a rotary cutter. A good one like a Baumalight with the hammer cutters can double as a light duty mulcher.

Lookin good. All the hard work will pay off

Looking great 👍

I look forward to regular updates as you transform yall property I love it! . This is going to be a fun journey For All

So excited for you and your family! In no way will I ever do anything remotely close to this but your excitement is freaking contagious!!!! Love the fact that it is a family affair... and family that works together stays together---why? because then everyone has ownership and sweat equity. AND that is a lot of sweat equity thus far (more to come) oh and the fact that it's the deep south and summer and high humidity hasn't hit yet... ugh! I don't envy that part of it or the eventual snake(s). Be well and be safe-remember just like in the shop when you hurry or get distracted bad stuff happens (remember the band saw and the Van Halen)... be safe and stay focused.

Loving every minute of it 😊

Looking great. You are still at the point of tremendous visual progress from day to day and week to week. Remember how much you are doing when the visual progress slows down. The work does not. The visual reward does.

Inspiration! Very impressive. Beautiful piece of land.

That was a great Sunday afternoon watching the start of your familys dream come true. I am excited to see more of this. Best wishes from Germany!

Have you looked into a skid steer with a forestry mulcher attachment? You would be amazed how much you can clear with one. Clears small trees/brush and grinds stumps all in one package. I did 10 acres of thick woods in a couple days. We had the skid steer already and just had to find an equipment rental that had one.

I love seeing someone going after what they want in life! I am starting my woodworking business myself and trying to get it off the ground. I will be watching more of these videos!

So fun listening to you and your wife's excitement at this adventure. Keep the updates coming.

Jay, get a grapple bucket for your tractor. With it you can pick up those piles of brush and move them to a spot and burn what you don't end up chipping. I got one for my tractor and it's great! I pull up to a big bunch of multi-flora rose and pull the whole thing out. No getting scratched up trying to cut it down!

There's nothing more satisfying to the soul as walking your own property. We have 10 acres, and then the subdivisions came all around us, right up to our fences. When I get down about that, I remember... I have 10 (unrestricted) acres to walk, farm animals, chickens, and my own eggs, and they are HOA and can't even have chickens for eggs. I sit in my little screen house and smile. ❤

You guys sure did hit the ground running. I'm enjoying watching the progress. Thanks for sharing

Magnificent piece of land!

It's amazing how much dirt work can get done with a skilled operator of and excavator or dozer. When picking your house site, do keep in mind that it will need to be a suitable spot for your septic system.

So much fun for the rest of your life. I hope you do God Bless

Living the dream!

Brush cutter for the tractor would make short work of those tress, plus you will need one in the future to maintain those trails. I've done what you are doing (with the chainsaw method) and getting a brush cutter was a game changer.

I love this and your excitement is contagious. Very excited for you and glad to be tagging along.

Beautiful dream come true! ❤️

this is such a fantastic series, thanks for sharing

Mark the hole and stumps with utility flags. They will likely get covered over time, and you may miss them.

get some orange spray paint and mark your stumps and holes as you make/find them, so you can find them all later to fix them.

Really starting to look good Jay, even though you have a long way to go. Y'all are living a dream of a life time, make the most of it and enjoy it to the max.

Congratulations! on the new property Jay! You and the family are off to a great start :) Thanks for sharing the update with us!💖👍😎JP

Nice land.

Awsome! ProTip.......Diamond drum mulcher for a skid steer machine..... (hire it out)

Love the trails

Very exciting stuff! Happy for you and not jealous at all. LOL

Have you priced renting a Bobcat with a mulching attachment on the front? That would make quick work of building trails without having to come back with your chipper...

Doing the same thing on some acreage we just bought. Not quite as big as yours but still fun and exciting! Good luck man, it’s going to be fun to follow along!

So happy for you and your family jay!

Much respect and love to you Brother and your family! Excited to see your journey on your channel!

Awesome to watch… there is another guy I follow The Essential Craftsman on RU-vid … you’re like a young version of him… you would enjoy his work and skills…. As I think he would admire yours.

Congrats on the progress. I’d assume you are going to put a gravel driveway down. If so, beware of the pine cones and needles when it comes to maintaining your driveway.

Looks beautiful!

I would go so far to put a sign saying, “this is your turn around area” just after the gate and even dump gravel into that area. The gravel may let you have less visits from strangers needed to be pulled out.

Happy for you and to your family to have your dream land❤😊 Good luck Jake ❤😊

We did this at my parents place 1 mile walking train well maintained over the years.

All those brush piles are incredibly easy to deal with. Can of gas and a match LOL

Great progress. ❤

Wonderful place it gona be very nice when finished

Get a piranha tooth bar for your front end loader and you can literally just push those little trees out of the ground without any of the hard labor. Another option is the Brush Grubber for bigger ones (up to 4"). Not affiliated just love the ones i have for my Branson tractor.

So happy for you. Looks just perfect. Your going to have a wonderful life on that property. I also saw your "acre plan video". I am sure you have a great plan that will make this logical for me, but would it not be better to have the shop not visible from the house? There is always something happening around a shop. Deliverys, pallets, equipment and so on. If the shop is on it's own lot, it will also make it easier to expand if needed in the future. Sry for my bad English. Best regards from Norway.

Amazing progress. Can't wait for more. Maybe I've missed it but are you going to talk about your timeline? When you expect to have the groundbreaking of the shop or house, etc?

Don’t throw the chips in the driveway, throw them in the woods. They’ll break down and make good soil but if their under your driveway they’ll make sink holes

May I suggest a DR walk behind brush cutter? I have the 26” Pro version and it makes brush clean up amazingly easy.

Will you be drilling a well, or are their utilities on the road? Loving the excitement in your voice. Great to see these updates.

Get some one in there with a forestry mulcher instead of a dozer.

Where do I send my application to be adopted? I promise I won't eat much..... Man, I am envious. Keep us posted.

Let's go

Need a gas pump halfway down that drive!!

so happy for you. property looks way cool. are you putting stone down on the driveway or paving it?

Couple questions holes from rabbit dens? Why not use the mulching on trail path?

A cheap 60 inch brush hog from Tractor Supply would handle 95% of that brush, I’ve done it myself.

Jay, you have a great piece of property there and I hope everything goes well . One question, do you have any concern that all that fresh cut brush may turn into a Fire Hazard as summer comes on?

Save some work and rent a pto mounted Fecon mulcher for your tractor. Your back will thank you.

Jay my wife just bought the same pair of boots she has on 😂

can you blow the chips onto the pathway to mulch it? would that help with mud issue?

Cool

Another things I’ve seen is guys running land clearing businesses with goats…. You would be amazed how fast 100-200 goats could clear abunch of that undergrowth.

have you been looking into utilities Jay? given your love for the views I'm assuming you're not gonna want over head lines on the property

Have you costed getting electricity and water to the house site. Another utuber had to pay $50,000 to get his electric to his site although had a fair distance to go, also he had to dig his own trench and lay conduit

How long before you just buy your own excavator?

👍

Any dangerous snakes around there? Just thinking of the safety of you and your family when spending so much time outdoors.

👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻

If you ever get the opportunity, buy five more acres and you’ll be bigger than vatican city.

OK, I'll say it again. you need a bush hog young man.

A little past due

Human will build them self to armageddon🥲

G'day mate, You and the girls have been doing a fantastic job in just 2 weeks. So much different from Starkville..😉🦘