Buying forest land, implementing solar

I wish I could just throw the money around the way you do. Buying vehicles, staying in hotels. I build a camera rig around a $500 camera that sure looks like something you could shoot 'Star Wars' with. Actors tend to not act very hard if they don't take your camera seriously, unlike anyone else on the set it shows instantly when that actors are giving their best 62% or whatever. My fellow TV professionals let their jaws drop at the sight of it. I sent a pic to a relative who immediately Bellyaches about her two kind of old truck and jeep and (Sigh) and 'Dunno how long either will last.' (Oh no more than a decade each im sure, as well as being 'Old and icky' the whole time.) Of course $1,000 I spend on something for work is money I should have given to her to support her lavish lifestyle. I should get pictures of her house and all the THINGS and where the money goes so she can't also get a new car. She and her husband both work, etc.

If I sold my house and moved to a cheaper part of the country I could probably hold out without steady work until social security but probably couldn't work at all except at Walmart. If I'm gonna stay here I'll need to think of something. But just your little adventure would be putting some spice in my dreary life if I was doing it.

How long will it take for you to set up shop?

Bluto you mentioned you've traveled with the armed forces before and have lived on both coasts. Making the trip you did by yourself was still probably a neat adventure and you must be so excited to be down there.

My experience in TX was completely in the north. I was 'stranded' in amarillo for over a week. For an 'easterner' with no travelling experience it was really wild to go out west by myself, eventually to the desert of the desert before breaking down in the middle of nowhere. I finally got a tow to the closest 'large' city which was amarillo, but neither my att or verizon phones had service where I broke down. That night drive in the tow truck from around tucumcari NM to amarillo with the lightning in the distance was really unique too. I remember how long it took to get to that relatively small city after it's lights appeared on the horizon. Wide open spaces. I'll always try to remember a girl named Megan from that city, and exploring the local neighborhood on my then non-ebike to pass the time.

So anyway, texas is awesome and glad you made the trip well. Check the starter solenoid, after checking battery connections. (shorting the starter and/or tapping the solenoid with key@ start position are quick tests/fixes). Also a manual is good. I found the FSM for my 04 minivan (that coincidentally I bought when stranded in amarillo lol) online in pdf format, for free. It's like 2000 pages.

Thanks for your earlier reply, that makes sense. For my fund limitations, I just put land quantity over wintertime temp and proximity to any specific major 'hub' I guess. Otherwise I'd actually probably be trying out europe or the east before considering a stay in this country . . .

So did you actually close on your land then? Since you've made it down there, I (for one) am expecting a few pictures of your slice of pie!! Unless, unleeeeeesssss, the picture of that property with the rough car collection and little 'stronghold' are. . . . ?? :lol:

Today, I'm going to be loading/unloading equipment in order to start working on the property, and I'm going to be working on it. Anyway, yesterday, I was just so glad to finally get the minivan all the way down to Houston. It was getting rather expensive having to rent 12-passenger vans to ferry my goods and getting a uhaul with auto-transport to make the drive, in addition to immediately buying another car [hoping to delay that purchase by a few months]. Those kinds of expenses meant I was quickly entering survival mode, but now that I'm down here, I can continue on with the original plan and if something bad does happen, it shouldn't be as financially limiting. Anyway, I'm staying at hotels because they're relatively affordable ($60/night including tax.) and it's intended to be short-term. I'm planning on clearing out at least enough of the forest to set up 'base camp' which to work from [I'm assuming I will have to clear out something], and I plan on doing that as quickly as practical . Anyway, I'm only affording it because I'm using my 'nest egg', lol. Also, record sales helps a little bit, but I'll obviously have to get working on those orders rather sooner than I might want to... lol

The original rental price for the van was $340 for 2 days, but since I returned it after 1 day, it was only $170. I know, a bit steep for a vehicle, but it was the airport which was the only place open in Dallas at the time [And the supplemental insurance is required for 'commercial vehicles', which this 12 passenger van was, which adds another $40/day.]; Any, I had already paid for a hotel down in Houston, and I had an appointment with the storage unit the day after. Yep, so that helped bring down the predicted 'blow' to my finances, especially when the van started.

Anyway, yesterday, we discovered [Another bloke stopped to help] the battery was turning the motor. I've just looked up with these parts are and what they do, and I can confirm the solenoid worked (Closes the circuit to drive current through the starter motor) and the starter motor worked (turns the belt that drives the crankshaft) because the belt was moving and turning the crankshaft. Maybe the internal resistance was too high to provide enough current to drive the spark plugs? I'd hate to think the spark plug gap is getting too large, and that a relatively small increase in internal resistance would prevent spark... checking out the sparkplugs on the minivan is no piece of cake, lol, and repair shops charge accordingly. I swear the quotes I've seen have a "PITA" fee built in, up and above the hourly rate.

I had another theory based on the guy's diagnosis of faulty fuel pump [He assumed there was spark]. There was gunk in the tank from sitting around a while [looking at this guy's vehicle history and mileage (118,000 miles for a year 2000, it had obviously sat for sometime at one point.), and it slowly but surely clogged the fuel filter on the fuel pump, and I would have to replace the fuel filter and ideally clean out the fuel tank. I base this off the seller claiming he replaced the fuel pump, suggesting he had also experienced a similar issue, and he obviously didn't drop and clean out the fuel tank. [it seems standard to clean out fuel lines, clean the injectors, clean the fuel tank if a vehicle has been sitting a while and, for some strange reason, won't start. Something about ethanol gumming up or something.... never seen it personally, can't confirm anything]

https://www.cargurus.com/Cars/Discussion-c3622_ds37217 - It seems a few people have had issues with clogged fuel filters preventing the start of the vehicle, so this seems entirely realistic since I know the minivan had likely been sitting for a year or several. And this thread, http://advrider.com/index.php?threads/best-way-to-clean-old-gas-sludge-from-a-gas-tank.842406/ , tells me how to clean out fuel tank. (Take it to a radiator shop and have it steamed out(?)).

Maybe I'll get some seafoam, add it to the gas, and hope for some good luck, lol. https://seafoamsales.com/how-to-add-sea-foam-motor-treatment-to-gasoline-ethanol-and-diesel-fuels/

Engine cranks but won't start. Intermittent problems are hard to figure out. Charge the battery. Cause is no fuel, no electricity/spark, or no air. Don't remove the gas tank. Please no seafoam!

Test don't guess. Get a service manual.

Some cars have a button. Fuel pump shut off switch.
https://www.google.com/#q=fuel+pump+shut+off+switch

Good luck with the move!

Okay, the vehicle was running until I got to target, then it suddenly wouldn't start again. For being intermittent, this seems to becoming consistent enough to be diagnosable.

Took it to a mechanic and they're going to do the diagnostics. They apparently are going to check belt speeds and measure fuel pressure. Oh, so much for me to learn.

Then, if nothing conclusive, drop the fuel tank and check the fuel pump. [fuel tank is nearly full]

So
no fuel -> bad fuel pump or clogged fuel filter (other possibilities, bad wire to the fuel pump; he fed power to the fuel pump and it worked fine. replace wire -> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UgmNoUvGeeI)[Fuel pump was just replaced 3 weeks ago, similar to this guy's situation. I didn't actually start really driving until the start of the trip, so it was effectively running for about 6 days before a problem...
no spark -> bad sparkplugs or bad ignition coil; check the distributor cap for issues.
no air -> ECG valve is flooding the intake with exhaust (But, that wouldn't prevent it from starting)
sensor problems are also possible. [Coolant temperature sensor prevented a car from starting on youtube.]

Soon enough, I'll have to start fulfilling orders from the hotel... >.<

Lucky enough for me, it broke down in an area with several auto repair shops and auto parts stores nearby, so it wasn't really hard for me to get help. I wonder what I will have to do to repair it in the upcoming days... (The guy I was talking to sounded hesitant in getting it repaired there; apparently they're booked. Might have to buy some jacks from the nearby auto parts store and do the repairs myself in the parking lot, lol.)

Anyway, the run to the auto parts store this morning was unusually enjoyable. The weather is like /perfect/ running weather, just feels like the way it's supposed to feel like. Anyway, as to bugs, I haven't really noticed huge issues here. They exist, don't get me wrong, but it's not like it's /significantly/ worse than other places in America. Definitely manageable.

I will confirm, houston's pedestrian lights don't work. Not that I woud've expected them too (Not a lot of pedestrians outside of downtown), not a lot of pedestrians in general, in both Dallas and Houston. I'm guessing most would-be pedestrians already know how futile it is, sidewalks are lacking, and speeds are anywhere from 40-55 mph around the city. The stores are /too/ far away. [Except for the particular area I happened to break down in, lucky me.]

If no fuel pressure, test the fuel pump with a 12V tester. If it runs, test the wires.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AI4LOB7jj3I - possible camshaft position or crankshaft position sensor error. Found no a12V feed to the camshaft sensor, so he wired in a connection from 12v to it and it worked. [Another broken wire]

I'm thinking a broken wire is fairly realistic. Pump was replaced 3 weeks ago, or about 6 days total of driving, and I'm assuming it "failed again" [it's not pumping], but it's intermittent which is not uncharacteristic of an internally broken wire. A broken fuel pump would seem exceedingly unlikely. Lucky for me, I have wires, and a soldering station handy. Hooah, I kind of know what to test now and how to fix.

How to test spark [youtube]9UyxRc2lCvk[/youtube]; apparently can check spark plugs and the ignition coil with that little voltage tester tool.
of

I feel so lucky, after 3 hours of watching these "Cranks but doesn't start" videos, i feel like an expert.

Apparently the fuel pump fuse can be labeled ECM-A or similar on the vehicle. Testing the relay is as easy as switching with known working relays.

I think I'm going to organize my thoughts here, to make testing and fixing fast and efficient.

Cranks but no start
----------------------

FUEL
---------------
electrical:12v->fuel pump fuse->fuel pump relay->fuel pump
mechanical:fuel tank->fuel pump->fuel filter->fuel injectors

Possibilities -
Popped fuel pump fuse [steady] (Look at fuse or test for open)
Broken fuel pump relay [steady] (Switch with known working relay)
Broken wire to the fuel pump [steady or intermittent] (Reading correct voltages?)
bad fuel pump [steady or intermittent] (Test the fuel pump with an independent voltage source.
clogged fuel filter [steady or intermittent] (?)
bad fuel injectors [steady] (Don't know if injectors would prevent engine start; decreasing engine performance would be first noticed symptom of failing injectors) (?)
Fuel pump shutoff or Inertia Switch activated [steady] (Reset the switch)
ors.
(I may have to cutoff the bottom of the back of the van to expose the fuel pump and its connectors.)
(Chevy astro van does not have an inertia switch or fuel pump cutoff switch. http://www.diyforums.net/where-is-fuel-pump-reset-on-2000-astro-van.-1006028.html)

http://forum.e46fanatics.com/showthread.php?t=945465

Clogged fuel filter symptoms

I would say you still have a pump that is going bad, and a filter that is getting to the point of being fully clogged.
I had several episodes like this, that occured with increasing frequency, until I changed the fuel filter. I would have a no start episode, followed by days or even weeks of the car running perfectly. It would also do a no start, or a very hard and lengthy start process, only to start perfectly fine after sitting overnight.
I would advise you to change the fuel filter, which will cure most of the issues, as it did with mine.
It was actually 2 months later when my fuel pump died. And actually, the day it died, it was low on gas. I added some gas, and it started right up. But, I was not going to trust it any more, so I changed it on the spot. It has been about 4 weeks now, with no issues, so I am fairly confident in saying the issue is fixed.
But, if I were you, I would take this as a warning sign of problems that will occur again very soon, and replace your fuel filter, and fuel pump.

Click to expand...

SPARK (Good NO SPARK diagnostic video->[youtube]XyYH49QGtoU[/youtube])
-------------------
Ignition Coil->Distributor->spark plug wires->spark plugs

Possibilities-
Broken ignition coil [steady] (Test ignition coil with spark measure tool)
Broken sparkplug wires[steady or intermittent] (rare, I assume?) (Test sparkplug wires with spark measure tool
Broken sparkplugs [steady] (Look at the sparkplugs, measure spark gap.)

(All require removal of the 'dog house' on the front)

SENSORS (known issues)
------------------
sensor types: camshaft, crankshaft, coolant temperature sensor
Possibilities
-Bad sensor [steady] (Replace with working sensor)
-Broekn wire to the sensor [steady or intermittent] (Test to see if sensor has correct input voltages)

AIR
----------------------
No known issues that would prevent starting, except for blocked airflow(airfilter, etc.).


Wow, this is pretty comprehensive. http://www.aa1car.com/library/car_wont_start.htm

If only I knew where the different parts were (i.e., where's the fuel rail on the minivan?).

Fuel line is inside the doghouse with the two metal pipes going into the engine. Looks like it has a shraeder valve. (Easy fuel pressure test)
Throttle body and injectors are inside the metal housing that the fuel lines connects into.
Fuel pump is just below the deck, ontop of the fuel tank. Cutting a hole through the floor can access it from inside the vehicle without dropping the tank.
Fuel filter is .... where?.... under the vehicle near the driver/passenger side? It's under the driver's seat below the minivan.

I'm seeing why GM put the distributor cap and fuel intake inside the doghouse instead of under the hood. Though inconvenient to access (Need to remove drivers seat), it allows the owner to read the gauges/test-equipment from inside the vehicle when starting the van.

chevy astro fuel lines and throttle body -> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yQyGfXOJoes (Chevy Astro CPI Fuel Injector Install)

Fuel filter replacement interval is every 50,000 miles on average. Very possible that needs to be replaced - it can cause a bad fuel pump by overworking it.
Fuel pressure specs are 50 psi min, 56-66 psi normal.

I just booked a hotel close to the shop, so that it might help expedite diagnosis/repairs. I have a feeling I might be doing them... Also got a rental SUV for today, to facilitate the removal of the big unnecessary items in the van (ferry them to the storage unit) to help get access to the fuel pump location through the floor. (I also needed to remove them anyway) It's quite nice how the hotel, auto rental place, repair shop, auto part stores, groceries, etc. are in that one little area. Should help facilitate getting things done in a timely manner. And, that's important; when it comes to hotels, time is money. I bought this property precisely so I wouldn't be wasting money on having a place to sleep. And, I intended staying in Houston's hotels for 3 days (Enough time I thought to get the property set up for temporary encampment), not weeks.

https://www.yahoo.com/beauty/thriving-raw-eggs-worlds-oldest-person-marks-117th-134043804.html - Look, another person who lived to a really old age off raw eggs. Not only does it not cause increased blood sugar levels (It actually strongly suppresses it when consumed with carbs), it provides the essential nutrients for survival (Designed to nourish the yolk with essential nutrients necessary to live/thrive.) and probably more importantly, the live enzymes in the albumin are a powerful antibacterial keeping the digestive system clean from bacterial invaders (Obviously intended to protect the yolk from the same bacterial invaders; the egg knows what's going on in this world, who the true enemy is). These bacterial invaders are probably responsible for much of the traditional 'old age' diseases, which this lady has adroitly avoided. I don't know if bacteria has any relationship to cancer; wouldn't surprise me if it did, since viruses are definitely associated with certain cancers, but then again, it might be totally unrelated.

So, I'm driving around Houston just like nearly everyone else, and I noticed I easily racked up 200 miles today going to 3 different places. Wow! This place knows how to age vehicles. On the flip side, I also noticed the abundance of trees and forests EVERYWHERE in houston (At least in the north side). According to California, when NoX mixes in with the emissions of trees, it produces ozone which is a known carcinogen. I started then to speculate on Houston's cancer rates and how it compares to other cities, and WHAM...


http://www.chron.com/news/health/article/18-Houston-ZIPs-see-rise-in-lung-cancer-rates-1886530.php

Of all the types of cancer, lung cancer was by far the most frequently found to be elevated. The registry detected higher rates of lung cancer in 24 ZIP codes — or 77 percent of all the ZIP codes with elevated levels.

Click to expand...

Suspicion confirmed. I earlier speculated that the higher cancer rates in Houston were due to the refineries, but it's obviously not that now that I'm actually in the area. It's all the excessive driving and all the trees everywhere. [It might be more about the excessive driving than the trees.]

Anyway, I checked out the property today. I remember someone telling me that some forests he's OK with and others give him that GTFO feeling, and I thought he was being kind of ridiculous. In all the forests around Spokane, none have ever been /close/ to giving me a GFTO feeling, so I thought this guy was just sensitive or something. Yeah, well, my mind changed today, lol. Walked up to my property, checked it out, went back to the car and left, and I noticed I was driving unusually fast for the road conditions of the area and my entire left hand was going numb. Not even questionably "My left first 4 fingers", it definitely included the pinky. Obviously, I just got that GTFO feeling. lol

(I'm debating the etiology of the left hand numb feeling. I was suspecting possible heart issue, but right lobe ischemia is definitely possible since it's been kind of hurting today.)

I think it's just because the forest is too close to the road, there's literally only a 5 foot clearing between the branches on this road. I have a feeling if the road was a little more "OPEN", it wouldn't be nearly as claustrophobia inducing [I wasn't feeling that sense of panic coming in AFAIK].

Anyway, I'm wondering if I should cut down the saplings with my brush axe or pull the suckers out. I guess pulling the suckers out would look more palatable (So, I guess I /should/ do that), but I've also seen the opposite in other neighborhoods. It just seems like it be more fun to whack at the trees, then to tie a chain to them and pull them out with the van.

Anyway, I noticed an abundance of smaller younger trees in areas, and larger well established trees in other areas. It became apparent to me that fire had ravished this land at one time, in different areas, and this was the new growth I was seeing. In addition to the seeming lack of Houston's humidity in this area, and I remembered that 'burn ban' on the county web pages, I'm guessing these forests tend to be prone to fire every so often. (Maybe once every 15-100 years)

I also noticed the forest itself wasn't thick enough to provide natural privacy unless I was willing to create a 100 foot buffer, and it was pretty easy to walk through, so I then realized depending on the forest for privacy wasn't practical. I'll obviously have to use a privacy fence or some such for that purpose.

Nearby neighbor looked like they cared about their appearance (They maintained the property in terms of paint and lawn care.), and they had 2 small dogs and some chickens. Which was my kind of thinking, too, so I see we're probably more similar than different. I.e., likely not a Mexican.

So, I'm thinking, I'll tear down all the trees and create a pond towards the front (I want a blue appearance to the pond, so I'll probably line the pond with something appropriate.), surrounded by palm trees (They seem to do well in this area), and then everything else behind it.

I actually haven't really decided yet. My original plan was based on an assumption of the thickness of the forest, which was obviously wrong. So, I'll have to create a new tenable plan.

I remember hearing machines going on in the background. Hmmm... Is there an industrial operation going on in this area? It just didn't seem like that kind of area looking at the satellite images. Perhaps it was one of the neighbors using a woodchipper.

Bugs don't seem to be an issue. Not even mosquitos, really. Perhaps it's just not the rainy season. Houston is supposed to be one of the worst areas for bugs in america, but I don't think that's true just 20 miles north of it. It's also not nearly as humid feeling 20 miles north of it. Feels surprisingly dry, or maybe that's just today. The cold is definitely more noticeable 20 miles north of it this time of year, then at the center. While the center is closer to the ocean, I also suspect the high concentration of CO2 and ozone has an affect on local temperatures. (My van is telling me it's 60 here, today.)

Immediate plan is to clear out the front row trees 10 feet (Not my property, part of the road, needs to be cleared anyway with the rest of the road.) and the other trees in the road area (Widen it a bit, at least chop off some branches, ideally, remove the trees), and create a space for the RV. Then tomorrow night should be my last night at a hotel (or second to last night), and I'll be shopping the next day for an RV(Will probably bleach and paint over the mold.).

It's interesting, I remember seeing an image on Bing Maps of someone with a crude corrugated steel fence and a heart symbol on it, and they had a car and running RV. I was going through the area today and saw no such person. Interesting... I wonder where they went? Or maybe I wasn't looking in the right area.

Van got fixed today. Apparently a clogged fuel filter. Since the pump was brand new, it's doubtful it failed, and the issue was probably just the filter, but they replaced both anyway. Hmmm... Had they replaced just the filter, they wouldn't have to drop the fuel tank, and it would have been a lot less expensive. That's what I would've done, anyways; replace the fuel filter, check fuel pressure; looks good, it's fixed! Problem was with the fuel filter. Anyway, I personally think the issue might be with the fueling up of the van. The 'auto shut off feature' on the gas pump doesn't work properly with this van for some reason, and so I just latch the spring on to the edge, compress it, and start pumping. Anyway, it stops eventually, but it obviously fills up way past the 'full mark', because I can drive 100 miles and it'll still be pegged past the "F" mark on the fuel gauge. I think it's getting too much gas into it, which might be sucking up some dirt or some such towards the top of the tank that normally doesn't get touched. The other theory is sludge in the tank, I think I'll inspect the tank when the fuel gets low next time.

swbluto said:

. . . .none have ever been /close/ to giving me a GFTO feeling, so I thought this guy was just sensitive or something. Yeah, well, my mind changed today, lol. . .I think it's just because the forest is too close to the road. . . .

Click to expand...

Dude, perhaps you'll find it easy to understand the feelings I have of needing to escape my house. This is your first time owning property, right? What's the term of the loan? Very easy to understand why the lot gives you that feeling, with or without a dank forest on it.

Or maybe the Blair Witch is in there.

The issue, I think, is that the road was 5 feet wide between the trees. You could be walking down the road, and I guarantee a few branches would hit you if you didn't carefully avoid them. So, it was more of a walking path than a "road", despite the fact it had two tracks. The fact it was so 'closed in' is what I think gave me the creeps. Predators lurking behind the brush watching me with their beady eyes feeling, just a couple feet away, probably.

It could also be the fact I'm essentially on a dead end, effectively, so I'm essentially 'trapped' in there with all the unsavory characters (I didn't actually think they were that unsavory, but there are people there, no less, and I'm not sure they're the type that want to say hi.). You'd be amazed what kind of effects a trapped feeling can have on people (And, if true, that would suck; not very easy to remedy quickly); given a certain state of development (Think, literally, a hare-brain or bird-brain level of development seen in certain brain damaged people.), it can trigger a diabetic crisis that will cause the body to essentially commit seppuku and the muscles will waste away as the muscle fibers and fats rapidly gets converted into blood sugar, skyrocketing to organ killing levels. Doesn't normally happen to most people, but it can happen to birds and rabbits when caught, spoiling the meat (muscle wastes away).

But, I'm assuming it's just because the road feels too closed in. So, that's what I'll be addressing today. Widening the road upto to my property, to make way for the incoming vehicles.

Pictures?

Pictures of road. Pictures of land as seen from road.

Is there a sign with address? House number? If no that should be your first project. Important for ambulance to find you if something goes wrong. Have you found property border markers? Important that you don't build a house on someone else's land.

Is there electricity, water, sewer, natural gas?

Don't rip out all vegetation because all you will get is mud and erosion. I would start with a driveway. Do some research on stone and gravel. Usually big stones go down first with smaller stones on top. Local building inspector is a good source of information on the correct way to build a driveway in the area that you at. Lots to go wrong with stone driveways done wrong. Crushed concrete might be a option? I like crusher run on top for a low cost finished driveway.
https://www.google.com/#q=crusher+run

I like a used truck box for a storage shed. Go to a truck junk yard to look at truck boxes. Junk yard will deliver on a flat bed. To move the box around I have rented round roller moving logs. About 4 inch diameter.


Fix the second GTFO first paragraph. A girl friend might help with that? Do the girls in Texas wear cowboy hats?

Looking back, it was probably because I was so far away from my vehicle, lol. It was a rental, so I didn't feel like risking scratching against the tree branches BUT with my vehicle, I DON'T CARE! lol So, my vehicle was close this time today and I didn't feel scared, lol. I did some work today, mainly cutting down trees and removing thorny vines and this white hardwood of some sort. The loppers made quick work of most of the 'trees' except the largest ones. Anyway, Got about 20 feet past the property line today (Turns out there's an additional 20 feet of tree'd area in front of my property, so that is a bonus.) and going to make another 20 feet tomorrow and dig up the roots. Found that I was missing a good weed whip. Bunch of small leafy things adorning the forest floor, making is somewhat uncomfortable walking around in with this side of the USA being tick country and all, but just too small to take care of with a brush axe. Didn't notice any ticks. I bought some peremthrin and applied to my clothes. I will be unmitigated tomorrow.

Seems there's a gully of some sort to the left and right of the road, just in front of my property line. It appears to be purposely put there when they made the road, and it appears to channel water seeing how utterly soft the soil was. I'm not sure what to do with it. Do I need to install a culvert? Can I just level it off? Or can I construct a bridge over it? I don't know who would know, lol. I need to see the building restrictions soon enough because the utter lack of /just/ RVs while being popular in other parts of the county seems foreboding. Counties with true lack of restrictions seem to have RVs everywhere, so it's surprising to find them practically completely lacking in this area, especially with these apparently custom structures that look absolutely pisspoor in comparison. Why would they choose a structure like that over an RV wouldn't make sense (Maintained RVs, in terms of washing it and keeping the paint looking good, look way better than some structures I saw.), unless there was restrictions. Personally, I'm not scared of restrictions, because who's going to sue me? I have a good defense: A texas licensed realtor told me I could. So, I'm not scared at all of the restrictions. But, it still would be nice to know because I was told "UNRESTRICTED!!!".

Oh, and... the area is pretty quiet. And, the train traffic is pretty rare and the horn isn't loud at all in my area (At least not compared to that ONE HOTEL in Witcha Falls, TX, lol. That was awful.). It's actually somewhat nostalgic in a way, harkening back to the days of old. Has a distant trailing quality about it.

I was just imagining the worst of this area in terms of train noise and bugs, but nothing like that seems to be the case, which is quite cool. Just a neat little forest in a quiet area. You can hear barking dogs in the distance sometimes.

I think I'm going to go back about 40 feet from my property line (60 feet of woods, total), and then go WIDE OPEN with the rest of it. Let start up a farm! I'm predicting about... 110'x75' possible, or about 8000 square feet. It will, however, take many days clearing most of it. I noticed there were many public vegetable/fruit patches in the area, telling me this area is pretty good for growing such things.

I got to chop down two larger trees today. Cuts were wide, but trees still fell in the intended direction. I first look up from the base of the tree to see which way the tree leaned, starting making the notch in the direction of its lean, and made the backcut just a little higher and eventually, TIMBER! I didn't feel threatened at all. But, then again, these weren't the giant redwoods I was dealing with, either. There's actually two relatively large trees on the very left of the property that I'm just avoiding, lol. I don't want to cut those down just yet, that looks kind of scary, lol. (Actually, it just looks like the least friendly location for a driveway in terms of work/risk.)

And, no, Texan girls do not wear cowboy hats. I have noticed, however... that there seems to be more kind of "odd" Texas girls than West Coast girls. Same with the guys, but I'm noticing the girls more, lol.

Looking at the hotel prices for tomorrow (Friday) [Seeing none within 30 miles of my property being less than $80], I'm thinking tomorrow might be a great day for camping. I just need to find a laundry mat for washing the gasoline out my sleeping bag/blanket/etc. And... what do you know... all the laundromats are 50 miles away. Maybe that's not happening. I guess I just have to lower my standards [accept a hotel location closer to the highway].

So... should I apply gravel before parking the RV? I mean, will not doing so cause significant irreparable damage to the ground in a way that will doom the property? Or, can I just apply it later? I really want to get out of hotels sooner rather than later. It's wasting my money and my gas.

swbluto said:

It was a rental, so I didn't feel like risking scratching against the tree branches BUT with my vehicle, I DON'T CARE!

Click to expand...

That's how I feel about my truck. The Mustang is the ballet dancer, the Silverado is the linebacker.

It occurs to me I haven't heard you mention the water situation. are you supposed to dig a well? You might WANT the contents of that gully when it rains. One thing you can do is put a pipe, maybe sonotube or clay, in the gully to keep the flow open and pile dirt over to drive on. I'll warn you that whatever you do, THEY will know.

Is the ground soft where you want to park the RV? Are you going to put it up on blocks? Real concerns are for getting stuck. Material of choice on the dirt in Texas is Caliche.

Dauntless said:

It occurs to me I haven't heard you mention the water situation. are you supposed to dig a well? You might WANT the contents of that gully when it rains. One thing you can do is put a pipe, maybe sonotube or clay, in the gully to keep the flow open and pile dirt over to drive on. I'll warn you that whatever you do, THEY will know.

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I did see a culvert guideline/application somewhere onetime. Maybe that applies here.

Is the ground soft where you want to park the RV? Are you going to put it up on blocks? Real concerns are for getting stuck. Material of choice on the dirt in Texas is Caliche.

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It is definitely soft. I'm thinking blocks would be wise, seems like cinder blocks are the trend here.

OK, the property is ready for receiving! Just got to fill in some ditches with dirt, buy and get the sucker in, and I'm ready to kickstart operations and cutting down the rest of the forest (Which, by my estimation, will take a long time to do by hand, lol. I can definitely see that I would not want to do this using totally manual tools on a 1+ acre property. The hardest part, really, is getting the stumps out. But, I was pretty efficient. Just dig, dig then CHOP, CHOP, CHOP, CHOP, CHOP, etc. and finally the thing was cut off, and then bury the rest of the roots.) My property actually has quite a few HUMONGO trees on it that I'm just a bit afraid of chopping down, so I'm thinking about leaving those ones up for now, lol. And, I plan for the first 40 feet of the property to be wooded (The "road"/ditch is an extra 20 feet of woods.).

Anyway, got a copy of the building restrictions. And, lol, my plans are so against code, it's kind of ridiculous. But, looking at the 'spirit' of the document and the current structures in the area, I really doubt code is in effect. It definitely doesn't have that "planned subdivision" feel with the variety of fixtures(toilets, lamps, etc.) and toys(trikes, etc.) and general trash thrown in random undeveloped lots, highly visible from the road. (Saw a coca cola can dated back to 2011 in my lot, today.)

The wording of the agreement was "If 3/4ths of the current owners agree to continue this agreement, it shall extend until 1999, and so on for every 10 years.". Looking at the current property who generally don't seem like the type that want to be bound to exacting standards typical of planned subdivisions, that seems HIGHLY suspect. It's interesting, too, seeing the contrasts. There's a number of upstanding folks who generally take good care of their property and maintain an upstanding appearance, while neighbors who are polar opposites are juxtaposed right next door, and that's a pretty common theme throughout this area. You get everyone across the socioeconomic spectrum who find "NO RESTRICTIONS/LOW-TAXES" equally appealing.

Anyway, the view of the inner forest from my property looks... yeah... pretty damn awesome. Seeing these gentle looking trees with these thin green streamers everywhere hanging from the branches, and seeing a forest of these things, yeah... looks like something you would see... in... I don't know... something really picturesque. But, it's only visible from inside the forest; it's definitely not visible from the road.

Anyway, I'm going to cut a trail back about 20-30 feet from the current front lot, then clearcut the entire area behind it to make way for a vegetable/fruit patch. I think I might get an electric chainsaw soon enough, though chopping down trees is the least of the work. Most of the work is in removing vines, thin saplings, removing stumps, cleaning up fallen branches, raking up needles/leaves and the like. And, yes, I think it's pretty darn awesome there's trees with leaves on my property. Getting out of the pine-needle-infestation known as Spokane was like the best thing I did, lol.

Anyway, I could hear the chainsaws and other machines going on that's pretty typical of housing development in the area. Seems like the area is developing, it's hard not to see why. Two pretty awesome cities are only 20 minutes away and there's a number of cool stores closer by. (Water/Mail/Gas is just 2 miles away) "The lake" is just 20 minutes away, almost all highway.

Boy a whole acre+, where in the world did I get 1/4 out if it?

Good luck, your gonna need it.

Dan

DAND214 said:

Boy a whole acre+, where in the world did I get 1/4 out if it?

Good luck, your gonna need it.

Dan

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Lol. It is .25 acres, I was just saying that using hand tools on a 1 or more acres of forested property would be ridiculous. It took about 12 manhours to clear about 20'x40' of property, and that doesn't include breaking up and tilling the soil, filling in ditches, leveling the ground, etc.

Entire property is 75'x150, so that would take about 168 manhours to clear by hand. At 6 hours a day, that's about 28 days.

swbluto said:

DAND214 said:

Boy a whole acre+, where in the world did I get 1/4 out if it?

Good luck, your gonna need it.

Dan

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Lol. It is .25 acres, I was just saying that using hand tools on a 1 or more acres of forested property would be ridiculous. It took about 12 manhours to clear about 20'x40' of property, and that doesn't include breaking up and tilling the soil, filling in ditches, leveling the ground, etc.

Entire property is 75'x150, so that would take about 168 manhours to clear by hand. At 6 hours a day, that's about 28 days.

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Thank Bluto for the reply. I thought I was reading another post or something.
That's a lot of work. Just taking down 1 tree in my back yard took all ady with help. Cut down, cut up and hauled away, about 6 hours and the guys are tree people?

Dan

DAND214 said:

swbluto said:

DAND214 said:

Boy a whole acre+, where in the world did I get 1/4 out if it?

Good luck, your gonna need it.

Dan

Click to expand...

Lol. It is .25 acres, I was just saying that using hand tools on a 1 or more acres of forested property would be ridiculous. It took about 12 manhours to clear about 20'x40' of property, and that doesn't include breaking up and tilling the soil, filling in ditches, leveling the ground, etc.

Entire property is 75'x150, so that would take about 168 manhours to clear by hand. At 6 hours a day, that's about 28 days.

Click to expand...

Thank Bluto for the reply. I thought I was reading another post or something.
That's a lot of work. Just taking down 1 tree in my back yard took all ady with help. Cut down, cut up and hauled away, about 6 hours and the guys are tree people?

Dan

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Yeah, it definitely depends on what kind of tree it is and how large it is. That will determine how wide/deep a hole you'll be digging to expose the roots -> how much time it takes. My new method for removing the tree stump was just digging low enough to get below ground and instead of ferreting out all of the roots, cutting them and extracting the stump; I'd aim low (below the ground line) and cut the tree above it off with the hatchet and bury the remainder. The hardwoods on my property definitely took a long time to yield, but they yielded eventually.

The method probably won't be suitable for vegetable patch land. (Have to break up and till the soil, buried roots will likely get in the way, though I could ignore them, I'm guessing.)

What I know about building codes. Owned a bunch of houses. I am the guy who don't maintain the exteriors as good as the code says I should. Really just suffering from too many houses. Here is what happens if something fall into non-compliance. First ya get a letter. If ya fail to correct the violation the court starts. One of my many court experiences. Problem is pealing paint. Judge is adding up all kinds of fines and punishments for all the time that the paint was peeling. I asked what does that all add up to? Judge calculates for a few minutes then says "60 years in jail". Now I am thinking if I spend 60 years in jail, when I get out, would the paint still be pealing or would it all fall off? I said "I need a lawyer". What I really needed was not a lawyer but a painter.

I learn about construction from the people I hire. Very knowledgeable plumber/excavator/soil expert once said - "Top Soil is Gold" Hows the soil in Texas? What color? Plants in a forest die and decompose and create good soil. This good soil is on top, hence the name top soil. SAVE the good soil. All those plants you cutting down. SAVE them too. Please see compost Find a out of the way place and pile up all the brush. In a few years it will decompose.

If there is a ditch next to the road, get some advise from the building inspector on how to deal with that. Also call the before you dig phone number to locate underground stuff.
Riveted Galvanized Corrugated Steel Pipe

When I am in a new place and I want to find good contractors here is what I do. Call any contractor and ask where do you buy? [fill in material for project at hand] Example - Where do you buy Galvanized Corrugated Steel Pipe? Call the pipe supply place and ask - Who is a good contractor to install some Galvanized Corrugated Steel Pipe?

Ok, well, I've done what I've could to secure an RV in a timely manner but I've exhausted all avenues so plan B is going into effect as a temporary measure. Park the vehicle on the 'driveway', create the trail now along with a minimum area for the greenhouse, erect the greenhouse and setup operations. Sleeping in the van until an RV can be secured. This plan will go into effect tomorrow. Now how will I secure the greenhouse overnight? A dog isn't an option at the moment, too busy with setup and all that. When moving, it'll be easy enough loading the contents of the greenhouse into the van ontop of the bed for secured storage; the greenhouse itself won't be secured - I'm just hoping no one goes through the effort to steal a greenhouse. :lol:

Re "Sleeping in the van"
Join a health club or YMCA so you have a place to shower. Be clean.

I'm finding it hard to find an RV here because the Houston area is climate friendly to RVs and so is the local political culture (You see lots of nice looking RV parks everywhere throughout the city), and it seems like the minimum wage workers here have long realized it, so it's a pretty popular living option. The walmart employee I was talking to told me he lived in such a park and recommended the the propane heater that he used; if he was living in such a park and it's not like I picked him because he "looked like the type", he just happened to be nearby, I have a feeling LOTS of people are living in a such a park here and that's why it's so hard to find an RV for less than $2000 here, of any year/quality/etc.; And this guy was in his 40s, I bought property and looking for such a thing in my 20s, I hope I'm out of it by the time I get to my 40s.

Okay, thinking through the temporary measures.

I have a tent, a van and a greenhouse.

Sleeping in the van would be best because it's 1) Quieter and 2) More heat insulated.

For overnight storage, the tent would be best. Less visible and would be thieves would most likely leave the tent alone assuming people sleeping in it overnight.

For daily operations, the tent is possible and I would prefer sitting at the table in the greenhouse while on the computer. Easy heating the greenhouse, too.

Thinking about eventually securing the premises with a fence like the other guys here. One of those temporary "Work fences" would work well, but those cost a lot of money, so I'm thinking a couple of T-posts and a tall gaming fence would work.

When leaving the premises, load all the assets besides the greenhouse and table ontop of the bed. Break down and load the tent.

Secured storage would be desirable. RV could be useful for this.

So, I need:

A folding chair or similar.
A heater, preferably with 'low heat' settings. (4000 btu is a waste of energy)
Possibly new blanket (Smell the original, does it smell of gas?)

Tomorrow is setup (can't execute because of no internet availability until I get my mifi device monday.), the day after is execution of the business.

You know... he said I could stop by monday for the RV. Why am I setting things up if I'm only going to tear them down? Meh, I guess I could spend tomorrow making more room for the greenhouse. Clearing trees and digging up roots specifically for the greenhouse, also beginning clearing a trail. I'll probably still leave the assets in the tent overnight. I guess I'll be getting down to business when the RV comes and I get my mifi, seems to be all converging on Monday. So... tonight... is my last night in a hotel? I'm not very sure if I want to try sleeping in the van if it's only one night.