You are rich Jay, maybe not in financial terms but the smile on your face when you talk about this life change that you and your family are going through, clearly shows that your mental state is at a place very few get to experience and that's a richness without equal. Great update, thanks for sharing your journey with us.
You’re wise to keep details to yourself. Don’t be like those airhead “influencers” who reveal every detail of their lives. I think deciding names among your family and especially involving your daughter would create meaningful memories and connection with those details. I’m so happy to see your updates. Exciting. Real. You’re living the life. May God continue to bless you. So cool to see and hear. Forgot to mention, make shop have an RV garage door, very useful for many things.
You really should keep your shop cool. It gets super hot in the South and if you're going to spend an extended amount of time doing work in the shop you should give yourself every advantage you can
I recently bought and moved onto a 64 acre lot and hiking it I'm findind old drainage ditches, boulder lanes, clearings and old big apple trees. Watching this reminds me a lot of my property. From the stories I've been told, they were established 2-3 hundred years ago by settlers. Building their water collection and homesteads. Berries and fruit trees all over, old foundation walls, cisterns. Lots to be discovered. Enjoy your land!
@JayBates, I'm glad to see your hard work pay off. I've been watching since the apartment workshop days. I've witnessed the life changes you have made have a positive impact on you and your happiness. Bought your house, Jay's starting to smile. Adopt your daughter, Jay can't stop smiling. Buy your property, Jay is giddy with happiness! Good on you, brother, from making your life what you want it to be. It's honestly inspiring. Cheers!
Yeah, from someone who has worked on wells and install them, and has 1. If you can get town water DO IT! 1. TOWN WATER DOESN'T USE YOUR ELECTRIC and works if power is out. 2. Maintenance on your plumbing well pump, expansion tank, also takes up space and creates moisture in your basement. 3. I'f your well isn't clean water, hard, soft, sulfur, bacteria etc then you need water treatment tanks, filters, chemicals etc. 4. Go town water, but also do a water catch system for rain water etc for gardening etc.
1. If power is out, a generator can handle a well. That's not a big deal. 2. Maintenance isn't crazy on a well. I'm sure there's always a bad-case situation. I lived with well water for five years on a family property that has been using the same well since the 1970s. Zero work was needed on the well during my time there. 3. I haven't tasted good city water in this state. It all tastes like chemicals. 4. Rainwater harvesting, regardless. Many people use the power going out as a big PRO for city water vs. a well, but nobody mentions the big CON of brown contaminated water from every new city hookup upstream of you. I never went without water while on a well system. We were in our last house for 5 years on city water and had dozens of contaminated water issues when they hooked up a new service upstream and got dirt in the lines. I've filled many brown water bathtubs from city water over the past few years. Still undecided on what route we will go, but I hate city water. Edit: grammar
@JayBates yeah all depends on the area and water quality of town water and well water. Here in my area of NY we have to have 5 treatment tanks, retention tank, chemical Injection, carbon filter etc. But definitely check about testing water in that old well if you can and other areas. If they were commercial working that land who knows if they had fuel leaks, oil leaks etc. We had a company up this way that sprayed the fields with diesel and then burned the vegetation. My grandmother's home we had great well water no filters at all and was pure and tasted great. Even when town water came afterwards they never changed but then 60+ years no issues, rhe well aquifer got polluted from gas station upwards of it and no longer drinkable. You can still run a softner and or carbon backwash filter to town water. Best of luck. Either way always good to test your water atleast once a year.
@@JayBates Have done both and both have their pros and cons but having lived in the county now for 8 years with a well, I have no reoccurring monthly water bill and no reoccurring sewage bill. Of course, if when I have to have the well or septic replaced it will cost but I enjoy not having the monthly bill right now. And you are right about the electric part. We don't lose power much but when we did I just powered up the generator and still had power for the well. Enjoying your videos.
I get no detailed map. Once it's out there you've lost control. But I'm getting a little confused. Maybe a piece of paper: driveway, 2 ac, creek and orchard would help. Thanks for taking us along!
Run fiber to shop. Put the service there. Then run your own line to house. This is what I did. Works great. 750 ft cost me under 500 to run to house. Then set up a mesh system. You can do it.
@@JayBates If you run a 1.5" plastic pipe underground from the garage to your house, you can pull a fiber optic cable through that so you don't have to move your internet service. Instead you can get direct bury fiber optic cable and just put it in a shallow trench between the shop and the house.
@@JayBatesthis is what I was trying to tell you. Put your own fiber between the house and shop to extend your network between the two so you can have it at both.
The rain water idea is a great plan and I just had a new water well and it cost me 10,000 bucks. We had to wait awhile so I harvest the rain water for toilets and our garden. I have a metal roof and the water that comes off is a ton. Good luck with your plans 🎉🎉🎉🎉
Jay, you are truly living the good life and at the end of the day the end results will be well worth the blood, sweat, and tears and "poison ivy". AND, a big caution on the poison ivy that a lot of people don't realize, internal poison ivy from breathing the dust and when you are burning debris, inhaling the smoke. It can damage your lungs for life, be careful my friend. Continue the updates, I always look forward to seeing them. Take care.
I'm excited for you to create wayfinding signs with all of the trail names on them. It'll be fun when you update the map with all of these new trails and then refer to them by their names once you get around to that. Great progress, Bates fam!
I have really enjoyed living vicariously thru your videos. I am way beyond the age where I can do what you are doing and so wish I could or had. Your last bit about big life over big business is what so many today need to learn. I love that you are so excited about creating your vision and are sharing it. I don't think it is a great idea to show all of your maps, but it would be interesting. It would probably be best for just those you trust on your property to know your property. I come from a generation that believes in keeping your private info VERY private. I enjoy what people put out but don't understand the willingness to put out so much personal detail. I also think that a vast majority of people today need to learn about the outdoors and to learn to enjoy it. Keep it up and best of wishes.
Be on the look out for a couple of interestingly shaped saplings to cut, peal and dry for walking sticks. Then you can knock those spider webs down before you walk into them. Just a thought. You certainly have no shortage of saplings lol! Beautiful piece of land!
Yes on city water. You can do a well in the future when finances allow for it. Yes on spray foam insulation and HVAC for the shop. Yes on a 20' deep lean-to. The tours of the trails are very confusing without a map and since you don't want to show the map I'd suggest stopping the trail tours until it's finished and easier to comprehend. Welcome to showering in Arizona. Out here we have the cold water cranked up with just a little bit of hot water and we still have excessively hot showers. And by the way, our annual rainfall is less than 9 inches. Time for some TrueWerks high SPF summer work garments.
I’m a fellow former Michigander, you described very well all of the reasons I would never live in Mississippi. I lived for 3 years just over the line into Louisiana and worked in New Orleans and my brother lives in Mississippi near Poplarville. I find southeast Tennessee to be a good compromise between the north and the south.
I hope we get to see a trail map when you finish discovering all the trails. SE Michigan here, so I get the grand river reference. 😀 great job with all the work.
Thank you for your generosity in sharing all of this, including your words of wisdom, with us. Complacency is poison for the soul. God bless you and your family abundantly. ¡No le aflojes!
I love the trail name raffle idea! I also would suggest thinking about inviting your fans to come help and “extreme home make over” that stuff! Many hands make light work!
Jay, I am so happy for you and the family with this new adventure. If the existing water well is not worth re-entering and restoring, I would recommend plugging it so rain run-off does not enter the aquifer and risk contaminating it with all the organics from the shallow groundwater. You may want to drill a well in the future.
Mate, watching your videos for a very long time: When you just said you‘re „not a big fan of solar“ it reminded me a lot of you saying that you don‘t fancy cnc machining in one of them videos from ages ago…
I know you’re years away from building the house, but I highly recommend watching all of Brent Hull’s stuff on traditional home design. He’s all about building beautifully for the long term. You are putting such incredible and inspiring work into your property … a beautifully designed and long-lasting home is well-deserved, my friend!
Thanks for the recommendation. I'll check out his stuff. We're likely going to go super basic with the design. 40x60 shell with a long front porch along the 60 side. Basic.
You should contact a local university with a geography department that does mapping and remote sensing. It would make a great project for them, and you would end up with some terrific maps. There could already be some info on your property. Amazing property.
I’m so thankful to get to follow your journey here. Been watching for several years. One thing you might consider is using some of your felled trees/brush to create brush piles for wildlife habitat. Sounds a little granola, I know, but check out the info at MSU’s Master Naturalist program on it. Y’all are creating something special there, and I’m happy you’re taking us along for the ride.
You don't have to utilize the insulation in the shop, but INSULATE IT NOW! For the next 20 years you can keep the doors and windows wide open. But someday you'll want that insulation so add it now while it's a lot easier and cheaper to do. Building now with preparation for A/C down the road will feel much more comfortable in 50 years. If you don't need the lean-to now then just build the shop with the preparation for the lean-to that you really want. There will come a time when then time and cash will match the need. But if you feel you need to do it now then go for it. I would think that a map showing th basics (road, clearing, creek) with "these trails are in this corner of the property" could find a decent balance of public information and privacy, but if you're not comfortable with than then we will survive just fine. You're doing great. Thanks for the entertainment, and good luck!!!
On those big hardwoods you want to save, make sure you cut those vines and try to get them out of the canopy. They will eventually kill the trees. Also, can you get someone with a portable sawmill in to your property? All that pine can be sawn into valuable lumber to use for your shop and/or home and save you some money in the future.
Would be interesting to have a historical study done on the property. Might answers some of the questions. What you call the grand river could have been a property line at one time or even a old railroad bed. With 200+ years lots of things have obviously happened. Has the property always been this size was it smaller, was it bigger? Again would be interesting. Love your excitement for what you are doing and what is to come. Only other thing I would like mention is look into Permaculture vs Back to Eden.
Spray foam in my shop was some of the best money I've spent. Heating and cooling can come later, but bite the bullet and insulate that building. You won't regret it.
I have 1800 sq ft shop. I sweat so bad I have to cool it. Got a mini split and did it myself. Check out Signature Solar. They have mini splits you just plug into solar panels. At least it would cool during the bright part of the day. I see you have a BUNCH of comments about solar. I think the people that have it know what it can do. You can do 3 phase if you need it for that ultimate CNC. The all in one units are very simple to install. Might even do it and have grid power too. Not to sell to the power companies just to think “oh, the sun is shining, free to run this or cool that.
You might get by with no heat or air if it's insulated and hopefully well shaded by those trees. Although where you're at you'd no doubt need a kick butt dehumidifier especially for the summer months.
Solar battery disposal isn't a thing. They're economically recyclable. Just want to set that straight. Hail concerns and panel recycling, yeah I get that.
I have solar that I did myself. I can do my own electrical so wiring solar was not a big jump. It has been a fun fun fun project. If I was younger I would go into solar installation. Yeah battery recycling with lead has been done since they first started manufacturing them. With lithium they recover the lithium out of them. We are using more and more lithium globally. You know like cordless tools and go pro batteries. Lithium is too expensive to landfill. Recycling them in Mississippi may not be available. Plus they are coming out with new battery chemistries also. Copper is going to get more expensive over the next few years. All of the big mines are being mined. Smaller mines with poorer copper ore are more expensive to mine. If they did landfill solar panels they will mine the landfill one day for copper.
Looks like a good place to ride some 4 wheelers. That's my most favorite toy I have. Love my polaris 570. That's a dream piece of property you got there. Wow. Loving these videos
I know you don't get the kind of winters we have here in southwestern Ohio but be aware that you can get poison ivy in the winter even if you don't venture into the woods. I once had a rash in the winter as a boy and when my parents took me to the Dr., he informed us that it was poison ivy. My parents insisted there was no way since it was winter, and the ground was covered with snow and that I hadn't been playing in the woods and the Dr. asked if we had a dog. I had gotten contact poison ivy from our dog's fur.
Lots of exciting news for you guys. Possible helpful tip, since I'm guessing you're still "outside" in the camper for a while, I would think that a pretty basic "tent/carport" type structure would SIGNIFICANTLY aid in cooling, since it will take the brunt of the sun and create shade and also provide air movement. Im guessing $100-300 bucks would be well worth it, and will still be useful for the upcoming projects as a covered area.
Shade for the camper right now would be nice. But a carport large enough to cover the camper is a few thousand, not hundred. The camper will go in the shop once the shop is built.
I am really sensitive to poison ivy and if I get it as bad as you have it , I don’t mess around with just creams or ointments, I call the doc and get a prescription for Prednisone. Take as directed and it clears right up. The only side effects I get ,is it can make you hungry but a lot of relief from the ivy crap . Good luck ,really looking forward to your journey 😎
I have a 60x40 shop in the middle of Texas. DO NOT skip getting closed-cell spray foam over the whole shop You will NEVER regret it. Mine was sprayed just over a year ago and was right at $10K.
@@JayBates Oh, trust me, I understand. I just knew that eventually, down the road (still on my docket), I would want to HVAC/Mini-split my shop. Since it effectively was a consistent 105 ° all summer last year inside the shop, I figured, bite the bullet and leave out something else (I decided NOT to purchase a couple of big woodworking items I really wanted), and make the shop upgradeable later; or risk wanting to do the same thing later and having to remove EVERY SINGLE ITEM in my shop to have the insulation blown in before I HVAC'ed it. We have mild winters here in my part of Texas, so heating the shop, since it's well insulated, only takes a propane heater and about 30 minutes, but cooling it is a whole other story. Anyway, just thought I would give you my opinion, since you obviously now live in an environment similar to mine. Can't wait to see the whole building process over the next 2-3, maybe 5+ years. Jealous of the land too. Gorgeous area.
I got poison ivy before, and I used brake clean to spray all over it, and it did a pretty good job removing it. Use with caution because it has hazards using it as well.
Jay, since you’re getting a mill, why don’t you buck those bigger downed trees and stack them to be milled later on? Use the lumber for siding etc. on your property. Eliminates the need to burn them.
Hi Jay, great detailed video. Like a few others, I'm a bit confused on all those trails. I get it about the 'map', I would not like all my Utubers knowing a detailed layout of my 'hidden' paridise. I agree about doing it today and not putting it off till 'tommorow'. None of us knows what's around the 'corner'. Life can change in the blink of an eye. I love what you are doing to your new property. You luckey devil you. Mate, I will be following along with you. it is so interesting. Kind regards, kmdc from Oz 'Down under'.
I’m a home builder in Colorado.. 1500’ of underground electrical service in my area would cost $40-50k (Without excavation). I developed a large property with a couple homes, did overhead service. Roughly 2000’ of service lines, poles and three transformers. We have well over $50k into our service. It’s amazing to me, as a builder, how much prices fluctuate compared to different areas of the country. $15k is a lot of money but it’s CHEAP compared to here!!
I’d check state aerial photography records to see what the property looked like overtime. Takes a little hunting for the right index number for that project but is always enlightening to see what the land looked like 50+years ago. They’re usually on an online database somewhere.
If it were me, I would not pay the city thousands of dollars for the water service just to pay them more every month for the rest of my life! The water catchment system is the way to go. Especially with the amount of rain you get in Mississippi. Good luck 👍
regarding the rainwater option: how might the yearly threat of hurricanes intersect with your water needs during each phase of build up, and will your plan for rainwater infrastructure be able to stand up to what nature promises to bring in the future? Loving this series, and the barely contained excitement! Totally living the dream!
We're too far north to get nasty stuff from hurricanes. Katrina was the only one that did minor damage around here. Tornados are a bigger threat. None of that will have much of an effect on rainwater harvesting.
Funny how different counties have different processes for culverts. In South Mississippi, the land owner buys the first pipe, then the county maintains it.
You can get a much better idea of when the property was last harvested by looking at the historical aerial photographs of the property. Additionally if you look at terrain or topographic maps, particularly those that were created with laser scans you will very likely be able to clearly see where the logging roads and ditches are for the entire property in high detail. All of this is free if you look hard enough. If you need help however feel free to reach out and I'm happy to point you in the right direction.
$17,000.00 doesn’t sound too bad at all for what they are doing. I wanted to upgrade from 200 amp to 400 amp, and it was going to cost a minimum of $18,000.00. Yikes. It’s also against the law in Utah to collect rain water. It belongs to the state.
Making rain water potable it may be about the same price for that equipment vs. running pipe for city water. Also the electric being buried is a lot cheaper then farter north, one guy paid 65K and he installed all the pipe and all 5 connected boxes to get power to his shop up in the north east.
You should go get Google Earth and turn back the time on the aerial photos of your property and see what shows up. Maybe you'll see where all your ditched roads are.
I suggest not showing your detailed map, BUT still raffle tickets for trail naming (then you guys can select the trails to be named.) I’d buy a ticket without knowing the exact trail to be named after me;if I won. I think your true fans and long time subscribers will understand your point of protecting your family, privacy, and property.
Old logging roads? My thoughts on water mirrors the city, collection combo comments. When you build the fiber, I would keep both runs to buildings, you never know when you need fast internet to structures, and when it is in, you can daisy chain them to 1 provider POP. When you start building structures make sure you put in CAT 6 Everywhere! Wireless limits things like cameras to a server, remote devices like locks and can be unreliable at distance. You can go 320' with CAT 6, but I have gone 400 without issue plugged into a good switch. Plus wire speed is much higher than even the best wireless, distance not withstanding. Having done what you are doing I know a few things and how I had to change things. Take some 2 foot re-bar everywhere the utilities cross a road or trail on each side. In 15 or so years when you want to 'a thing' you can just metal detect and find the 'real' wire and not just use from memory or drawing. Street signs sound cool, but gate EVERY entrance to the property with solar power, PTP control to the central server in the house or shop, and cameras. It is the age we live in now. 20' lean-to for sure, I can't tell you how many times I needed 2 more feet on mine, buy once, cry once. You did good on the choice of tractor, a dozer or skid steer, nope, contract that out; what I would get next? The largest auction dump truck I could afford. It's not like you need to leave the property except to dump trash or pick up stone so a cheap one would work. Then when you are done, sell it. As far as skin problems? Find an Avon person or go online and get Skin So Soft oil. Multi use stuff, it works. Bugs hate it. Great work, I look forward to your progress.
We love our solar, but to each their own. Rain water harvesting is great, I wish we could, but get a larger tank than you need, yes it is always more difficult than needed, but it is worth it. Enjoy.
You are doing real good to cost you less than 15k for power that far. my local utility would cost 50k+ and diesel creek here on RU-vid it cost him 50k to go what appears to be shorter than yours so your very lucky
For the internet connection, instead of transferring the service over to the house when its built, just run a CAT6 wire underground alongside the water connection between the two buildings. Fiber is great for distance, but CAT6 can run just as fast up to 100 meters, so all you need is an extra port on the router or switch in the shop, run the line, and connect it to a switch in the house to run all of your wall jacks and WAPs. Also, could you use directional boring to route the city water directly to the clearing without a trench? I've heard that, in certain situations they can be pretty cost competitive now.
@@JayBates good plan. Also, if it's over 100M you can easily buy premade fiber, a couple cheap old Cisco switches and a couple SFP modules to make it work. If it goes that route, feel free to hit me up for any questions you've got. I do this sort of thing for a living
@@JayBates It is what I did and I used the box blade on my tractor to cut a small trench to bury the cable to your point you can do a lot with a tractor!
Have you thought of GPS mapping the areas you have cut through, so that when you're talking about the trails, we can actually see on an insert map exactly what you're talking about & get a better understanding? Ok, at 1hr, you mentioned about not showing detailed maps.
Not sure where you are getting the building from. But know a place where 10 ft wall 40x60 - $15,800 of 12 ft wall 40x60 - $16.600. Wood and metal precut to size. Kit delivered to your door.
