Renovating an Abandoned Resort: Part 9 

Suggestion: have a top down map in the corner of the video with the building highlighted that you're showing so we have some context to the property.

You've GOT to put up a game camera on that pond to see what animals show up to drink the water! I'm really excited to see how that new water source changes the landscape.

That pond looks like it might be a fantastic breeding ground for mosquitoes if the water stays still. A big enough fountain in the center could circulate all the water to help keep the pests from breeding and would also look super awesome! Like I said, "BIG ENOUGH" is the key phrase. Keep on living the dream man. Love the series.

Thanks to Matt and others, this place IS coming back to life! Suggestion on the dump truck.....save the pretty flowered tree and make a planter out of the bed of truck. It shall be a piece of art and conversational piece😊

You need to do lillypads an hiacinths in the pond- it will filter the water naturally without chemicals. Make it it’s own biome!

As a wedding videographer: Make sure that when you’re rebuilding the venue for weddings to think of filming and photos. It’s such easy marketing if you use good high refresh rate LED lighting with good colour balance etc. The venue will absolutely shine in the couple’s photos and videos and that will get you more couples. Plus the vendors will love working the venue. Soooo many venues don’t consult with DJs photographers or videographers before they open and shooting at places like that isn’t always the best. If your wood is too dark and red the flash will bounce off and be hard to set white balance. Plan to have areas to do the ceremony if it gets rained out, plan to have a good area/podium for the speeches at the reception etc.. soooo many things you can do to make it look good in the free advertising that is the wedding albums and video

If you plan to have wedding there, get doors for the truck and us it as a photo site. You must have multiple photo sites for weddings. Don't waste old stuff, figure out how to use it.

Linc gave Matt the Mere look when he offered him $1 to jump. 😂😂

Definitely need a bubbler of some sorts to prevent the watering hole from becoming a mosquito spawner

I’m not sure if you thought about this yet but you could totally make a paintball course somewhere on the Ranch and use some of the old vehicles as props like that dump truck.

A time lapse of the pond filling would have been great to watch! And some night time lapse to track the nightlife around this pond just like BamaBass does.

In the early 90's, I worked at Howell Nature Center in Michigan, we had animals, lodging, a climbing wall, and a high ropes obstacle course and a low ropes course. We had schools (elementary, middle, and high school), businesses, and random groups come and do team building exercises and personal tests to help build communication and motivation. Loved working for them. Their still around today. I had to get certified to be an instructor for the wall and obstacle course. Those 2x4 beams were typically used for a trust exercise. After doing it once, we'd then have them team up with a partner and blindfold one in order to work together as a team to cross the beam. Most people would be surprised would could happen when you have to put trust in someone. You've already found this out with a great partner in Mara...kudos. I watched you since buying the mansion, this is a long project for you guys but have faith. You definitely need more separate units to rent. Lots of potential though.

That oak room was definitely used for people getting ready for their wedding!

Matt: can I get another car? Mere: no Matt: can we get an abandoned ranch? Mere: ok fine Matt: OH NOOOOOO...there's a dozen cars on the abandoned ranch...what ever will we doooo

You've been blessed. Your bringing a vision back to the Ranch. Without a vision things/people perish. One day at a time. Enjoy watching your vision unfold. What's special is including your son today with you. Your a good dad. Stay focused and faithful.

This guy started out as a vet who loved shooting pew pews and look at him go, big love from australia Matt ❤️

I can’t imagine the Holden Bros not wanting that International.

Use those old trucks for a paint ball battle field, and get some others as well .

Once that pond is full, and you get it settled down, you should stock it up with fish. Once you open the ranch you can charge people to fish, and charge them by the pound for the fish they catch. I worked at a campground in northern Georgia that did that, and they had a lot of people who would come to fish, and picnic around the pond.

you should've totally left that yellow old truck there for aesthetics it looks so cool, plus when you finish renovating everything this truck is a reminder or a memory of what this resort was.

If the pond doesn’t hold water , bentonite clay is your best bet, cheapest and best way to seal a pond ! Love this series!

Create a paint ball range and use the junk vehicles and that dump truck in it. Like, remove glass and dangerous poky things, but you could repurpose the junk for like a post-apocalyptic wasteland themed paint ball area as part of the resort.

Use the big snatch block and trailer that you got for the dumpsters to move the old dump truck. Lay a couple long 4x4's down on the trailer to help it slide and not damage the trailer

Brother, seeing you goof off with your son at the end made this even better. That made what you said about it getting life back even more true. This place is going to be amazing

The oak room could be a honeymoon suite. Party down stairs then head upstairs afterwards.

Matt you should totally keep the international and embrace the tree growing through it and turn it into a huge planter for the property. It will look cool and keep some of the old history at the new resort

It would be cool if you drag the yellow dump truck to the front gate of the ranch for decoration because it looks cool with the flower bush coming out of the hood

When he said he was leaving the dead ram in the ladies room, my first thought was Heather would love it 😂😂

In my opinion the retro dump truck is beautiful with all the flowers growing out of it! It would be a nice decoration near the entrance to the property.

That dump truck would look so cool at the entrance or as yard art

Matt: I'm a veterinarian! Also Matt: If there's a body in here I'm going to freak out!!!

Them: "If it's smashed up we can take it." Matt: "Yeah it's smashed up" 🙃😁 💀💀💀😂😂😂

Once the pond is full with water and it lures the sheep in you should stock it with fish so they can keep the algae down plus you could fish the pond or just swim with the fish it would be a nice multi use pond.

If you just want to get rid of the dump truck instead of selling it, you can call tow companies and have them tow it off your property as an abandoned vehicle. That tow company can then apply for a salvage title and sell it to a scrap guy for a few hundred bucks. If you are trying to sell it, you'll need a title. Good luck Matt!!

Use the well pump to run an interesting water feature. A small waterfall or a brook leading into the lake would be both soothing and entertaining.

You might want to look into that slide on deck I recommended to you earlier, for the gooseneck trailer frame you got with your trash boxes; not only is it big enough, it is strong enough to carry that IH Lodestar, as well as other large heavy junk you will be dealing with. Also, it would be exactly right for moving the backhoe itself, not a small thought- it is the construction equivalent of the old military P 38 can opener. And a get your working dump trailer out on site- park it close to areas being cleared, load it with "combustibles" and move and dump them at pre spotted burn points. You have a lot you will want to burn, not haul to the dump. On the "big ball room building"; your first floor prognosis is pretty good; but there is a lot of lumber in those end buildings that is still sound and pretty straight- you have a great set up to dismantle it, denail the worthwhile lumber, salvage the plumbing fixtures, furnaces and all of the saunas you can to use in the rebuild,. Use the larger slab after you clear it to store and keep the "remainders". The rooms upstairs were likely an office- the little kitchen is facility for admin staff, I'm betting. That building was among the last structures built on your new property; the big center looks salvable and would likely be a good "barracks hall" for future fatigue parties as well as the office could make a good admin center going forward- and you need one, with filing cabinets, a desk, and that jazz; you aren't merely "mowing a lawn". PS; I was just reminded that big military 6x6s also came as power dump trucks- if you could find the bed and lift with the PTO gear for your five ton truck, you would have a winner. See the Holden Bros on that one!

You should put a trail camera over the water tank now and see what's coming in to use it

Hey Matt, you should look into getting prefab cabins out there, not expensive as renovating whole buildings and keeps the nature asthetics with log cabins. PLUS we’ll get to go there sooner!! Love these series

I'm loving this!!! Can't wait to see if a pond has filled up 🤦🤣🤣

That’s brilliant the stock pond filling up….the animals will love it…

You gotta either rebuilt the dump truck or make some yard art at the gates cause it’s too awesome to scrap

You know, the dump truck being a diesel, might just start. Clean out the inside and a check of the hydraulics. It just might work as a farm truck

You did that Dodge dirty, man. Crushed at least $700 worth of parts in the glass, taillights, and those turbine wheels…. At least spare the old Binder, yeah? Given the age (1962-1971), it’s probably a 5.7L (V345) gasoline or possibly a D150 or D170 9L diesel. There’s a really slim chance it was a Detroit Diesel 6V53, which in itself is worth a bit, and even if seized, the blower is worth a few bucks alone - it’s a roots-type blower and is the grandaddy to the supercharger, and still sought after by hot rod builders. Would go great on a 318 or 360 Dodge engine, for instance… yes, I’ll buy the blower if it’s under that Loadstar’s hood.

That yellow truck is perfect as a lawn ornament for plants I think you should leave it as is, maybe paint it up

Rebuild the end rooms. One as a commercial kitchen for catering booked events, and the other as dressing rooms for couples to get ready for their wedding ceremony and reception.

You should have Aquascape come out and help you guys!!! Greg Wittstock the Pond Guy!!!

You could do a collaboration with the Pond Guy. They'll build a beautiful, natural looking swim, or fish pond that recycles the water constantly to keep it fresh.

Put the skid steer on one side and the backhoe on the other, lift it and back a trailer under it. Easy peasy lemon squeezy. You got this Matt.

My recommendation is that you should soon (before any major renovations) get your electrical company To inspect and repair all of their old infrastructure like power lines and transformers as they are likely not maintained or upgraded to modern standards. I’ve seen that some of the power lines look pretty rough so to prevent any fires or problems, get that system checked out.

Designate an area of the ranch for your boneyard. Something tells me this won't be the last vehicle you can't get rid of. LOL

Yo, this is the very best episode you've ever made... Cheers to that little man you got, Matt.

Caliche or limestone's base ingredient is calcium carbonate which has a very high ph. Congrats amigo, you will have a really clean pond with low levels of that green slimy stuff. I would love to swim in it.

Matt is every grown up man's inner child realised.

“If it’s smashed up we can take it” Matt: challenged accepted 😂😂😂

It’s fancier it’s open air….. love ❤the optimism 😂😂 Matt and his eternal search for a dead body. 😂😂😂 such a boy.

Dump truck - planter! Dump truck - strip it to frame, make it relatively kid safe - cool climbing, pretend play crazy kid’s playground piece! Growing up in Blytheville, Arkansas one of our favorite places to play in Walker Park was a 1920’s (best guess) stripped down fire truck.

I'm just waiting for Matt to open one of the scary doors and it's just Mere inside who scolds Matt about not knocking.

I think you need Heavy D/Diesel brothers to come on down and do some cleaning up with you, would be a fun collab

You have a trumpet vine which bees and hummingbirds love growing out of your truck. And its good to have for the animals. Use to be all along the fence lines in eastern Ky when i was a little girl but for the last 30 years you rarely see them now.

18:53 damn that Sauna is the same size you have in an average 1 bedroom apartment in Finland. In fact, I think my first small 450sqft 1 bedroom apartment had a bigger sauna.

That upstairs living area could have been an onsite General Mangers living space. Worked in the hotel industry in my younger years and they all had on site GM living quarters and they were pretty much oddly built like that.

It's great seeing all the RU-vidrs bringing all these abandoned buildings and racetracks and ranches and everything back to life again , Thank you all

The old dump truck needs to stay and be a permanent historical landmark on the resort! Don’t remove the bush either just keep it as is 😂💯

You have to put a clay liner in that pond. The bedrock will not hold water unless you have a natural spring that could maintain a full level.

I can envision a video about 10 years from now titled "Dredging sheep poop out of the stock pond."

I love those moments when Matt is having fun with his little buddy Link, one big kid with his apprentice showing him how it's done!

I would love it if you could get that Loadstar running. You wouldn't even need to make it pretty. You could Mad max it out with gullwing doors made of pipe or L-steel. Spray it black, silver and gold (just cans, no shopwork) and it would be DOPE AF. A workhorse, fully fitting as a worthy steed, of the Demolition Ranch!

The dump truck looks so festive with the trumpet vine on top. Yard Art!

That international would be An amazing rebuild for Holden bros

Matt please please Keep the international loadstar as yard art. Put a beehive near it since its so popular with the birds and bees, Get yourself a little flohive and start making your own honey.

You could turn the dump truck into a bee/butterfly sanctuary. Put in some hives. Plant more bee-friendly flowers. Make it a thing that benefits nature instead of just a wreck.

Thats the biggest dumptruck planter I've ever seen ! 😂

Yellow truck, definitely yard art! You could keep the trumpet vine trimmed or it might stay like like that if the roots don't grow out an then it would cover the whole truck. Love that truck. Keep it

Put those fishies into the pond, along with the various other buckets around the property. That could attract some interesting birds like egrets and herons if they fly through Texas. I can see this area being a wildlife photographer's dream, and I've been practicing photo capturing birds in flight.

You should reach out to BamaBass or Aquascape about getting the pond into shape. Good luck Matt, keep the videos coming. This is going to be a great series!

an OffTheRanch and Alveus Sanctuary collab would be awesome

Matt: If the well turns off they have no water. River: What am I chopped liver?

The man is makin a 1950s style Dude Ranch, love it

You should keep the yellow loader and put it near the horses/animals when you get them and let nature continue her work in reclaiming it. You could put some soil in the back of it and sow some wild flowers. Keep it as a nod to its past and fun for visitors to find little remnants of the past around the grounds.

406 Garage and Casey LaDelle might have some interest in a collab on the International. 406 Garage specializes in everything International and his friend Casey is a heavy recovery expert with a large rollback and experience transporting large vehicles.

Honestly, make the dump truck an art piece on property! People love taking pictures next to old things like that! Just repaint with a neat texas theme, could easily put tables around or a sign, or even more flowers and bushes. There is an old Truck on Braun that the owners cleaned up and made it a cool photo spot. OR use some area of the property as a paintball field, that would be cool to use the old truck and other old things for it.

I hope you closed the doors and windows to the “Oak Room” because, now that it is unblocked, I’m sure the goats would love to have a new rest room. Also, you should consider setting up an RC car track (either racing or crawling or both). If no one ever uses it, they are easy enough to flatten out and use it for something else.

We need a livestream of that pond filling up.... So oddly satisfying to watch

So glad you do such frequent long videos 😍😍

I can hear Scott droolin’ over those folding tables.

I dont know why, but seeing the pond getting filled up just put a big smile on my face. Especially with the little montage at the end.

Every little thing you do is one step closer to something wonderful! I can’t wait to see one of the usable buildings brought back to pristine condition, with all their glory!

I grew up on Toledo Bend in Louisiana, on the border of Texas. Man, I would find a valley and play with water. I would take a stick, and just make the water flow better. It was my childhood

Someone needs to hide plastic skeletons in random closets and rooms for Matt to find on video.... Without telling him. 😈

Loving these videos Matt. Can you please start showing a map with interactive areas when you go to new buildings and areas so we can all get an idea of it all too. Keep up the good work

Matt, what would make a good Demoranch video is you shoot in the houses you want to demolish to see what rounds penetrate more real world scenario

Hitting a wrench with a shovel. A true renaissance man.

“If is smashed up we could take it”. Matt: hold my beer!

Fun fact about abandoned places: There's always christmas decoration.... And a chair just chillin'

You need a Telehandler for your Ranch. Have a look at Heavy D , what he can do with that thing! You'll thank me!

Love that you added the quote next to it to remind you everything is going to be okay. My new desktop background.

I love even when your busy working hard you take the time to enjoy the little things like bumble bees and humming birds! I've been a fan for a long time and never commented but that really hit me in this time of my life. Keep it up! You are such an inspiration to me and I'm sure so many others.

I really love watching Matt rebuilding “The Last Resort”.

I legit applauded when you got the truck onto the trailer 👏

The room above the ball room could be a bride prep room.