We Bought An ABANDONED HOMESTEAD! 

It doesn´t have to be a fancy car rescue and driving X miles for me every week. Some cleanup timelapse of this property or storytime by the cleanup-fire with Derek. All fine with me. Glad to be a part of this journey.

I grew up across the road. The Flyes had a beautiful two story farmhouse near the fenced field where the drive way is. It was sad when the house burned. If you want to speak with the daughter, let me know! We are still in contact. We all spent a lot of days playing and exploring! Very excited to watch you transform the land. Mrs. Ridley

Derek, word of advice. I'm 76 and I have been playing with cars for a whole lot of years. I have been married for just over 50 years. My advice would be for you to finish the Jeep before all else. Jamie deserves it, she has made it clear she is looking forward to have some fun driving it. Her request should be stronger than Victors bark. He should understand!

Glad to see Derek doing well, no one else on the tube deserves respect like Derek and family

Couldn't happen to a nicer, hard working family. Congratulations!

Love how casual lil grip says 'ive hot wired alot of stuff" 😂😂😂👌

I laughed at your statement of of “not being busy enough.” I’m an airline Captain, and I go from flying planes to hitting the ground running on my off days trying to catch up with the list of things to do. I have 8 project cars, and I don’t get the time to do much with them. I love watching your content as it helps keep my dreams alive of getting to work on my own stuff. You’re a husband and a dad, and I’m just a husband. Kids are on the agenda, but what scares me the most is not getting to finish my projects. Lol. Anyways, I salute you for all you do buddy; cheers!

51-52 8N, just like mine! Side distributor makes life so much easier. Before you go trying to start it, you'll need to prime the oil system by pulling the 15/16" plug out of the front timing cover, then pour a couple cups of oil into it. They have a tendency to lose prime and not build oil pressure if they're stored for a long time. Super fun machines to use and very simple to fix. I'd be happy to help with whatever other info you need. Good luck, guys!

The best part of this whole gig is the boys working with their Dad, who is always teaching them. Like me father said to me, 'This might not be fun right now but you will appreciate this in the future' . How right he was. Congrats on the purchase, looking forward to all the fun.

The barn exterior was constructed that way purposely. Air flow. Corn will rot real bad with no air. Plus animals poop. Pew. The white insulators on the horse barn are for fence. Keeps the horse from scratching on the tin roof. The brown insulators are power. They still did that in the 60s for sure. 1800s youd see dowel pin construction. Beams will be flat on ome side, round on the other. Square nails are after the wood dowels. Round nails are newest. Really neat, you guys are dreamers and so am I! ❤

Love how Derek thinks about the boys and their future. Derek building an empire for those kids. So awesome

Derek, you should take a small screwdriver and poke around the beams and posts especially by grade. If it's rock solid your early 1900's lumber is like iron compared to today's hybrid pine. I would save the structure in that case. If you can push the screwdriver in and make it stick demolish it. If some is soft, some is hard it's your call. That old nominal lumber is probably oak. Good luck, stay humble. Maybe we'll cross paths one day.

You’ve been restoring “barn finds” now you found the whole dang barn ! Way to go Derrick ! Happy for you !!

I'd run a metal detector around the properties to see if there are any jars of silver from the 30's in the ground. It happens.

I’m loving the wholesomeness of what you’re doing. Keeping history alive but also thinking about your kids. Keep at it, the world needs more of this.

Quite a score! You're 100% correct, not making land anymore, no better investment for the future. As long as it's reasonably sound, fix the roof, just a roof saves so much. You got SO much potential there, congrats!

That tractor is an 8N not a 9N, as evidenced by the distributor and 4 speed trans. 9N's had a 3 speed trans and the distributor bolted directly to the timing cover with the coil attached directly to the distributor. Also, most, if not all, Sherman over/under drives were actually three speed units. Find neutral (between under drive and over drive), then wiggle the lever out about a half inch and push or pull into direct drive.

I love how Jessica still genuinely laughs at Derek's goofy jokes. LOVE it. Keep it up fellers and fellettes!

I bought a house in NC in 1985, built in 1925 and never remodeled, and it had the original "knob and tube" wiring. So I'd say, your "new" barns wiring is circa 1920's.

Those post, and ball electric knobs were used in barns into the 1970's. You'll most likely find a penny under each of those screw in fusses. Call a Lincoln fire brigade fuss, because they usually help to overload a circuit and burn the place down.

Little Grip: "We hotwire alot of stuff." Proof he's being raised right.

That old 8N will be easier to revive than most of your projects. Useful for years to come.

Awesome! You can never have too much land The best part in this video is at 14:06 when Bentley frees up that old lawn mower engine and it didn’t recoil and Derek laughs. Great video Congratulations Derek and Jessica on your awesome purchase

Hello Derek and family, I have been an electrician for almost 40 years, the wiring in the barn looks to be from the early 1950's . I always enjoy all your videos, keep them coming. Good luck to you and family on your new property!

You might think about getting yourself a drone. You can see so many things from a few hundred feet that you can’t from the ground, with infinitely more detail than Google Earth. And I’d get one sophisticated enough to fly waypoints, so you can fly those same points over time to show your progress as you fix up the property. Also good for checking gutters and roofs of existing structures, not to mention a useful skill your boys might profit from in the future.

I love “ Vice Grip Lodge” videos

Dereck, that slat wall very well could be for a corn crib. Grandpa’s was air gapped like that so the corn could dry.

What a great American family. In this day and age of turmoil I’m glad to see people like this still exist, god bless merika from your Canadian friends

Derek and Jessica made a good investment with this property. Lot's of potential here for Rusty Acre storage and fix up the barn and store your tractors in. This is going to be a huge task organizing and separating the tin and wood. Thank you for keeping the developers out! Looking forward to follow up videos VGG.

Just thinking about all the work in store for your family makes me tired. But then at 75 years old, I have earned the right to be exhausted just looking at work. 15 years as an over-the-road household goods mover with Mayflower and 8 years of residential construction I can say I have put in my time of hard work.

New viewer here, love the positive attitude and family involvement- proper parenting 101! Keep it up!

🏁 I live here in Tennessee and I can bring that old barn back in shapefor you! Done construction all my life. And I really love old structures! If you would like to dress that old barn up like you want to take her to prom give me a holler!!🏁

Weald of Kent born and raised and it staggers me every time how much rural Tennessee looks like rural Kent. Rolling hills, smallish fields divided with hedges, even the same light.

The ammonia in the floor will accelerate body rot on the old cars. After the floor is scooped it needs neutralized somehow.

You won't need to tear it down. The bones are good, so you can just repair what's there and add on to complete it. You very well may be able to coat the metal roof instead of replacing it as long as there are no rust perforations. I'm sure local woodworkers would love to talk to you about all that lumber. That stuff could finish up beautifully and make some gorgeous furniture

Congrats! Yes, sorry for the young couple that lost the property 😢 bittersweet

Oh man, that's so awesome. My wife and I lived in a subdivision in a city of 75,000 and two years ago up and moved to 6 acres in a township that average 43 people a square mile. Our property had been vacant for 5 years before the house was renovated, and they left all the work to be done on the property itself. Those first looks around to see what you've got... those are the most exciting. Good for you guys.

Always a great day when I wake up to Derek and Jessica doin' a new project 👍🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸

Why buy an abandoned Homestead in beautiful Tennessee ? Why WOULDNT you ?? It's always smart to buy real estate, period. Congratulations to you and your family Derrick, you've worked incredibly hard to get where you are and you guys deserve all the good things that come from that. Continued success to you!

You should find a metal detecting club/individuals to sweep your property for tresure/relics.

God bless, Fella and Fellete....you are sure reaping what you sowed 🙏

From the bottom of my heart, I’m really happy that y’all got that place. God bless you and your family. God is good.

I really respect your character, your humility, your honesty. You're true to your passion! You have a good heart and believe in what you do! Push on D!

You guys are awesome parents I'm 28 lost a son but when I do have kids I look at you as inspiration Derek and just wanna thank you for all your hard work and just everything you do hope to meet you!

Bentley, a feller can buy a key for that Cub Cadet at his local hardware store. I would make sure that the engine isn't locked up. Check the oil before trying to start it with some liquid encouragement down her yap, then listen for undesirable noises. Check the fluid in the transmission before taking it for a rip. Good luck young man!!!

Would love to see lots of videos of the new property getting fixed up. Great job Derek you and your family really deserve it.

Thurston Flye lived there years ago and his housed burned around 2000.

Lots of crafters would pay good money for that old barn board - so much character. If it were my barn, I'd be looking to tear it down, recycle as much as possible and get something structurally sound. Gotta keep everyone safe when working on all the current and future car rescues! Congrats on the new property - you guys work hard and you deserve it!

I've said this before, but you know a guy's getting big when he's sponsored by a day of the week. I live in East Tennessee. Being by the mountains is great, but it's getting overcrowded and expensive. I've always loved visiting middle and west Tennessee, especially when I was a kid and had family living in Gallatin, Columbia and Lewisburg. I love how wide open it feels in middle and west Tennessee when you get out into the country. We have rural spaces where I live, but in minutes you're stuck in traffic with the people going into Knoxville.

The walls with the wood planks are from 1900 to like 1940’s, the wood size changed in 1964 to modern wood sizes, but that barn looks like it was repair many different periods.

Good for you guys! Congratulations on your new homestead. Best way to raise your family. Good stuff ! Love you guys and God bless y'all

A country boy can survive is so true. Farm kids are so much more in touch with reality . I grew up (at least spent my youth) on a North Dakota farm and would not trade the experience for anything. Great acreage for my fellow Nodiaks, The Vise Grip family.

Derek, great looking property! Just a word of advice, advise the boys about carefully picking up boards, pieces of tin, ect. as these are prime places for copperhead snakes in the South in the spring time. Be Careful! Good luck with your new property.

I love seeing old buildings fixed up. Hope this can be a series!

I've been a mechanic since I was 13 years old. I've been a diesel mechanic now for 25 years, learned everything from my grandfather and father, then went to UTI to see what they knew. Anyways, we have tons in common and I hope to meet you one day. I'm very happy for you and your family and continue to wish you the best in your journeys! I love watching everything you do! Keep up the great work sir!

We like it...take us along as you clean it up and sort through everything and make decisions on what to do with the buildings and materials. It's a cool property with a lot of history and nostalgia...a lot of us who watch VGG like history, heritage, antiques, old machinery, carpentry and so on...and people like Derek, Jessica and their sons doing stuff like that, it's good ol' get 'er done being an American in the country stuff, salt of the Earth.

Absolutely Beautiful place. You can't beat living in the country. Peaceful, quiet, spacious and Thank You Derek for saving this place from oblivion. God Bless You and all of your Family and Friends. I hope that you all have a Blessed and Superfantastic day.

I'm really excited to see this property transform. A beautiful place. So much opportunity. Keep that barn. Reenforce where needed. Put a new roof and enclose it for all your power equipment, mowers, tractors, implements, etc. A real gem Derek and family.

Thank you for sharing guys. With all the absolute craziness that’s going on in this country these days, it’s so refreshing to see you guys doing well. Your strong family is soo encouraging, really, honestly. Thank you.

I love exploration of old places like these, investigating little things that tell the history of a place. There's just something fun about exploring the effects of time on the stuff people have built, and how much of their story remains in it after they're gone from it. This was fun, and I look forward to seeing more!

Perfect time to get in touch with the Barnwood Builder guys. They will tell you all about that barn and how to fix it up.

I'm not a car guy, exactly, but have loved your channels. Main reason why is I absolutely LOVE restoration videos, be they homes, toys, old gear, cars, etc. And I love watching homesteading videos, exploring old places, and construction. So watching your journey with this will be awesome, regardless! Keep up all the good work

Congratulations....wish you and your family many happy memories in your new home. Happy for you guys

Wow! So happy for your family. What a great adventure you will get to share together.

Good for you guys. You dove head first into what your passionate about and came out on top and yet still maintain your humble roots. You’re not like most guys on RU-vid that make it. You stay true to yourself and your family. It’s a honour to get to watch the videos you share.

Definitely do a will it run tractor episode! Get the other implements and you can farm the whole place with that tractor. And you should do some episodes of planting corn etc. The tractor barn you should patch up, or if you decide to take it down then look at building codes you might want to keep one wall standing as a remodel project and save on the permit encumbrances. Perhaps turn that tractor shed (I see a corn crib) could be an AirBNB Barn-do-minium! ... those floor lifts and holes are woodchucks. There is likely a whole army of them dug in for battle around those buildings.

Totally here for seeing this place come alive! Is it weird that I'm super interested in seeing how Sunday does at bringing that lawn back to life?

Looks like beautiful property! I like how your family is all in! Well done you guys!!! Look forward to seeing the progress on ya'lls new adventure!

I love Vice Grip Lodge!

I’m a home inspector in NH. The white porcelain knobs you see are part of “Knob & Tube” wiring typically found in homes built from 1880-1930ish. Congratulations to you all on the acquisition!

You guys just Bought an ABSOLUTE AWESOME FARM!!!!!! LOVE IT 👍🙏

Nice family you folks are blessed dont sweat the small stuff I lost so many of my family and just telling you enjoy each day together. Good Luck

I am with your son, get the stuff cleared off the ground and get out there with the metal detector...especially around the home sites. Also...I love that old barn lumber, I have built a lot of tables and such for gifts with lumber like that from our area. It is wonderful stuff.

Just so a feller knows that should be a sherman combi transmission based on the shifter...so its both a step up and step down...gives you 12 total gears to grind. handle forward is low range...back is high and for normal...put it in the neutral (middle) and it pulls out a tad from the case and then back and it does no change to the ford gears, its a pass thru.

Definitely salvage that barn. The main structure is still good. That taller part may have to come down, but the rest of it is good for equipment storage; tractors, Mules, etc. Salvage any structure on that property; each one is a piece of history, and will serve a useful purpose.

Shoutout from South Africa. You are truly blessed my friend. Love both Channels!! Definitely the only place to go for comedy and car/home content. Much love and best wishes!!!

My new favorite series, You understand, dirt in your blood. Growing up with this land, the boys will get it too. The work they put into it, along with the improvements they help with, will build some great character in all of them. What is that investment worth? The hay field is a great idea. Some income to pay the taxes, but more importantly, the farmer mows your property, keeping the weeds and small trees down. I can see the wee mechanics doing videos of repairing the mowers and flipping them for a profit. Smart investment, Big guy and the brains, Jessica.

From what I see, tear down the one end of barn that is partially down already and rebuild the good side, fix roof, add siding, you have enough of materials to do this. That would make a great old storage shed for tractors and equipment. What about the other property you got last year and was mowing?

This is exactly the kind of stuff we love to see. Much better than some shiny new stuff and the other things people buy when their yousetubes take off. Very nice, Bieri family and Thankyou for sharing!

Hello Jessica and Derek. That Ford tractor I am pretty sure is an 8N. The rear rims and axle clearly indicate that, both the 9N and the 2N has a different rim. The first 8N had the same looking engine as the 9N and 2N, but I think it was sometime in 1950 they changed the distributor from front mounted to side mounted, and also moved the generator over to the left side of the engine. Your tractor also has a "tractormeter" or what Ford called the tachometer. That also came on the later 8N tractors. And the transmission was upgraded from 3 to 4 speed, and the hydraulics got position control, and not only the old draft control on the 9N and 2N. The position control is really a convenient upgrade.

Damn Derek,you know you've made it to the big leagues when both commercials during your video is one of your O'Riley commercials.

8n, 9n has the big bolt pattern on the rear wheels.

Wow. This was great to watch. Makes me wonder how long it's going to take to whip the new property into shape. I'll keep watching all your families channels to see what happens. All my best to you and yours.

As a long term subscriber and fan of your channel from downunder, I am so excited for this new chapter! Looks so amazingly pretty! Congratulations to you and your family…. 🗜️🔧🛠️

The bones of the main part of that barn look ok, but the additions will probably need to go. Definitely hold onto that vintage lumber if it's in good shape. I love exploring old barns. Lots of good stuff in there.

Nice, I hope we get to see some of the work you will be doing. Thanks VGG family you are all great. 👍👍

Color me envious! I wquld love to have done what you are setting out to do. Best of luck and by all means, keep us updated on what you do and what you find out regarding the history of your farm.

Place looks amazing! Very Happy for yall, you are earning it. Thanks for the ride!

Absolutely beautiful land! I love old homesteads. I see many family memories being created. Derek you guys definitely deserve it! Best three channels on RU-vid.

I see nothing but potential in this property it’s got a nice little pond, a hell of a view, the nice old ford tractor, homes, and plenty of memories to be made. Keep up the good work Derek excited to see more on this property this channel never stops improving.

Hey Derek, We attended the April 5, 2024 Freedom Factory 500. Before the beginning the race I said to my wife that I’m rooting for you and obviously Cleetus McFarland. You are a very good Ford Crown Victoria driver!!! I wish I knew that you had a tent set up. Would have enjoyed meeting you and buying some merchandise if you were selling. I know that this really isn’t the forum to post this. But, I hope you see it.

Derrick im.sure the people appreciated you two being so thoughtful the unfortunate does happen. Many many blessings on your families new property brother

Like the song says....buy dirt. Epic investment you got there. Go plant an orchard for your grandkids asap.

Congrats! First, access what part of the barn is savable and what is too far gone. Then, stabilize the structure with the spare lumber. Third, repair the roof. Then clean out the interior...preferably with a skid steer. Good luck!!

Wow...good for you and your family....happy for you all...land is great...coming with equipment even better.

Man is living a dream. Staying to his roots saving where he can. Scrapping it all together. Thanks for sharing!!

Looks like a diy polebarn extension, add-ons to an older structure of auction goer who enjoyed hearing "all to go". Nice little Ford with a couple attachments! Lots of compost! Way to go!

Im so honored you and your family took us along today . Love you all so much !

Love how excited you guys are! I'm so excited for y'all! What an amazing once in a lifetime score!!

Great addition. Enjoy watching. Military retired so I thank you for your support. Regular viewer from Nashville.