You know, you really ought to have a nice new pick up truck to pull that tractor...

You are correct, I should.
But it isn't going to happen.
It's about 20 miles from my home to the hunting property. And paved secondary/country roads all the way except the last mile or so which is dirt.
I can't justify the initial cost of the new pickup, or ownership expenses for the limited number of times I need to get the tractor to the property. The Jeep is a Rubicon with Dana 44 heavy duty 4.10 ratio axles, manual transmission, heavy duty cooling system.
There are a few hills between here and there where I wish the Jeep had more power, but overall the Jeep tows the tractor without issues. Besides, anyone that doesn't like the speed I drive up those big hills is welcome to pass! And the Jeep doesn't have a payment booklet...

This message has been edited. Last edited by: cee_Kamp,

I so want one, but the price...

Last year at the beginning of spring we decided to do a cabin. We started accumulating appliances/cabinets/sink/furniture.
The cabinets came from Lowe's, scratch & dent units for cheap.
Sink was free. Appliances were free.
Granite slabs under/behind wood stove cost $110. I saw those granite slabs in a front yard here in town for sale.
We looked at many cabins/builders/options and finally chose the 2 story. It's built locally with the lower floor fully assembled and the components for the upper floor & roof piled on top of the lower floor for reduced height when being delivered.

It was delivered on a fancy trailer, (hydraulic tilt, height, and jog capability towed by a GM heavy duty diesel pickup with flat bed) set up and leveled in a afternoon. The second day a five man crew assembled the upper floor and installed the water/vapor membrane and metal roof.

The cabin was delivered as an empty shell.
All the exterior trim is Trex (composite) and the exterior sheathing has a 50 year warranty with a hard facing that is impervious to wood boring bees. Windows are vinyl and double pane low e glass. Door is fiberglass and has double deadbolts.
Big window on the upper floor is the egress point for upstairs in case of fire.

The cabin was on site July 28th last year (6 week lead time) and we began our interior projects soon after.

We hired a local electrician to install the circuit breaker box, buried entrance cable in conduit, meter board, and the coordination of both electrical inspections.

We did all the trenching and backfilling with the Kubota ourselves.
This also reduced the cost of the electrician significantly.

Dealing with the power company was the worst part of the whole job. The original electrical pole wasn't tall enough for installing our new transformer so they took practically forever getting a new pole installed. The 4800 Volt lines running across the open field was already existing. I eventually emailed the CEO/President of the power company and got the process moving.

I finished the digging between the meter board and the new pole in mid December. It only took a couple days after the new pole was in the ground to finish the entrance cable/conduit between the meter board and the transformer.

We did all the interior wiring ourselves.
Including the 240 Volt/50 Amp circuit for the electric stove.
The cabin has a 200 Amp/240 Volt service with 30 slots in the breaker box.

I installed a plug on the meter board for hooking up a large Honda 7800 watt/240 volt generator and we ran the cabin on that big generator during the late summer/fall and the beginning of hunting season while we WAITED for the power company to install the new pole and transformer. During construction we used a small Honda 2000 watt suitcase generator for power and lights.

The electrician was the only person we had to hire, we did everything else personally or with family/neighbor assistance.

The cabin shell was about $12K delivered and set up.

The electrician was about $3K.

Interior wiring/lighting was about $1K in materials.

All interior wiring is metal cased for protection against chewing rodents.

Chimney components (triple wall and double wall) was about $3K and we did the install.

The cabin sits on 7 pressure treated 6" x 6" timbers that are 14' long. We did the crushed stone pad ourselves with the Kubota and had 25 cubic yards of crusher run stone delivered in a big 10 wheeler dump truck owned by a neighbor.

Eventually we will install running water but for now we haul about 20 gallons for a weekend cabin visit

We stayed at the cabin last weekend and moved some interior stuff around to maximize interior space.
And put a TV upstairs on a wall mount.
The downstairs TV got hooked up to a Walmart clearance priced ($20) interior powered/amplified TV antenna.
It mounts to an upstairs window and now we get 5 channels of digital over-the-air TV. (for news & weather)
Both TV's have BluRay players hooked up as well. As of now, NO internet or cell phone signal.
We also installed a new color LCD weather station.
We may install a land line phone with shitty 15 Mbps DSL internet but that's $50 per month. (the only choice other than satellite)

It's a wonderful place to get away for a weekend!

If anyone wants more details on the money end of the cabin install, send me an email.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: cee_Kamp,

FYI: The cabin is 14' x 28' outside dimensions.
The covered porch is 6 ft.
So downstairs is 14' x 22' outside dimensions.

The 1st floor inside under the plywood floor is spray foamed when it was built and the 2nd floor where it overhangs the porch is also spray foamed.

Some newer photos in no particular order/timeline.

IMG_20200126_124045045_HDR by cee_Kamp 32ACP, on Flickr

IMG_20200126_124028305_HDR by cee_Kamp 32ACP, on Flickr

IMG_20200126_121421803 by cee_Kamp 32ACP, on Flickr

IMG_20200126_115338943 by cee_Kamp 32ACP, on Flickr

IMG_20200126_113933618_HDR by cee_Kamp 32ACP, on Flickr

IMG_20200126_113921157 by cee_Kamp 32ACP, on Flickr

IMG_20200126_113901675 by cee_Kamp 32ACP, on Flickr

IMG_20191102_145022750 by cee_Kamp 32ACP, on Flickr

IMG_20191102_145008578 by cee_Kamp 32ACP, on Flickr

IMG_20191102_144946982 by cee_Kamp 32ACP, on Flickr
IMG_20191102_144941695 by cee_Kamp 32ACP, on Flickr

IMG_20191102_144935995 by cee_Kamp 32ACP, on Flickr

IMG_20191027_152948407 by cee_Kamp 32ACP, on Flickr

IMG_20190730_095453555 by cee_Kamp 32ACP, on Flickr

IMG_20190729_161652535_HDR by cee_Kamp 32ACP, on Flickr

IMG_20190729_161637648_HDR by cee_Kamp 32ACP, on Flickr

The bulldog doesn't like change.
It was a blistering hot day when the builder was setting the cabin on the pressure treated timbers and leveling it up. Helga climbed up on the porch before they had even finished setting up and leveling and claimed the cabin and porch as hers.
So that is why we call the place "Helga's Dog House".

IMG_20190729_161810897_HDR by cee_Kamp 32ACP, on Flickr

IMG_20190729_161736599_HDR by cee_Kamp 32ACP, on Flickr

IMG_20190811_075440408 by cee_Kamp 32ACP, on Flickr

What are you going to use for flooring?

Immediately after delivery, we sealed the plywood floors with a good sealer.
So to answer your question, no idea yet.

So understanding that all things are relative, about how big a pile of wood is required to cover a 24 hour period in the NY winter woods? How long does your wood collection time take?

If you look at the first photo on this page, you can see the remainder of the wood pile.
It's one pickup truck load stacked on two standard hardwood pallets. That load has lasted all of the hunting seasons and into the new year. There is enough remaining for several more weekend visits. I expect that just keeping the ATV trails cleared of limbs/trees will keep us supplied in firewood forever.
As for the time, in the past we just cut whatever fell across the trail and moved it off the trail.
Now it will get hauled near the cabin, sawed, split, and stacked.

Love my orange mule. I don't have a climate controlled cab w/ sauna & hot tub like Paul does but I get a lot of work done with it.

quote:

Originally posted by mark_a:
Love my orange mule. I don't have a climate controlled cab w/ sauna & hot tub like Paul does but I get a lot of work done with it.

It is good to be King.

Some new photos.
Finally got the electric heat installed.
4000 watts total, two eight foot sections of 240 volt baseboard heat, 2000 watts per unit.

It's nice having the electric heat, for spring/summer/fall mornings and evenings when the wood heat would drive you out of the cabin.
Also my Insurance company would not issue a "Homeowners" type policy for the cabin with the wood heat being the only heat source. That's a non-issue now.

We added a second "stick" of LED track lighting on the first floor ceiling also.

We took down 3 large trees that will get used for firewood. They were in the way of the view from the cabin porch. The remainder of the next few years of firewood will all be from naturally occurring blowdowns.

I did some mowing earlier this week.
The woods are turning lush & green.
We cut a roadway into the edge of the woods for gaining backhoe access to the nearby natural spring.
Providing running water for non-freezing outside temperatures at the cabin is on the to-do list for the summer!

I'm going to sink a new plastic garbage can into the spring site and add a submersible pump in the garbage can with the garden hose and heavy gauge extension cord running to the cabin directly on the ground. GFI outlet outside for the pump power and a connection outside for the garden hose coming from the pump.

Because the cabin isn't heated in winter when we aren't there we aren't bothering with running water in the winter.

I am becoming disenchanted with hauling 20 gallons of potable water for a weekend cabin visits.

And a "Thank You" shout-out to Member old rugged cross for the suggestion for the "Big Kahuna" Shower system!

https://bigkahunashowers.com/


IMG_20200523_181917792 by cee_Kamp 32ACP, on Flickr

IMG_20200524_090522298 by cee_Kamp 32ACP, on Flickr

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Oooooo - Armor-Flex!

I just shitcanned about a hundred feet of that stuff. Cleaning up for an older couple (he used to be an electrician) and didn't see me needing it and he said "Nobody uses that stuff any more" so I threw it in the metal dumpster. Scrap prices being what they are, wasn't worth saving.

Cabin looks good! I'd love to have me a little "pout house" like that off in the woods.

PHPaul,
With the COVID thing going on, it sure has been nice having someplace to go on the weekends.

With all the excavation/trenching going on over the last year, and all the rocks I've removed from the field where the cabin is located, (lessens rotary cutter/bush hog impacts) I had just dumped all the rocks over the bank into the woods.

The last time I was there with the Kubota, I realized that I needed all those rocks that I had dumped over the bank.
We installed a new driveway into the field with metal gates on well casing posts in preparation for the cabin install.

New driveway.

IMG_20181009_111643546_HDR by cee_Kamp 32ACP, on Flickr

I closed off the old driveway entrance with a cable between a couple trees.
But soon realized the old driveway really needed a mountain of boulders to stop vehicle traffic.

Wow, cabin looks very good.
I like your tractor too.

I sold my tractor loader and delivered it last Friday.
Have looked at two at a dealership. Wrote up a couple deals and plan to buy a new one.
Plan on a loader, grader and tiller.
I am torn about getting turf tires as my old one had those and I liked them. I gave my tiller to the guy who bought my tractor and loader.
I also want a canopy. I had one on the old tractor.

Tractor with a loader is a great thing to have.

Any hooks welded to the bucket yet? Grab hooks for chain are great. At least one, better two. Use to lift and carry loads, pull stuff up, out, down.

My bucket also works as a portable, adjustable scaffold. Have learned to climb into the bucket at any level. Drive up to the job, lift to height, put on the brake, shut it down. Get the work done. Move on to next job. This works great trimming limbs from low hanging limbs along a lane.

If people are shopping, my suggestion would be to find an older, gas powered tractor, maybe 30-35 hp. My John Deere 1020 is a perfect example. Built around 1965, it is simple to work on, reliable and relatively economical to buy. A good middle price for such a tractor is in the 5k range. At that it should be running, have reasonable tires and leak very little hydraulic fluid. Loader, when lifted, should not do much “leaking down” - showing cylinders in need of rebuilding.

35hp sound too big? It used to be considered a “medium” size, utility tractor. Pretty small by today’s standards. It weighs about 3 tons. On 6 acres with trees a yard and a garden it is indispensable. Not a week goes by that work doesn’t get done with that tractor.

Your mileage might vary -

Where did you get the tires from?

quote:

Originally posted by Aquabird:

I also want a canopy.

If'n ya weren't so darn lazy, you'd just get down and P next to the tractor.

Years ago, I saw a guy up at the top of Corkscrew Pass in Colorado. He'd modified his rollbar to form an "O". Then he just used old hammock material to form a sling up top. For lunch, he and the wife climbed up and had a comfortable place.

I saw it and scavenged a pool cover from a swimming pool shop to do the same thing on my Jeep. Its good to have a wife that sews.