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Moving back to NM
http://www.lostjeeps.com/forum/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=27&t=51602
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Author:  dieselenthusiast [ Sun Mar 27, 2011 9:50 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Moving back to NM

Sarah and I have been looking for the perfect property to build our home on. We already own 2 properties, but we decided that we wanted to build in the meadow area with fewer ponderosa pines. We like to garden, have fruit trees, and maybe raise a few alpaca. Our other properties have awesome views, but they are located on steeper terrain with more rocks.

We thought that designing our home would be the last tough decision making process; however, we found that trying to decide on a “location” to build was equally as tough. There’s so much to consider when buying property at this elevation. We started 10 months ago looking at each property. We didn’t want to make our final decision until we could see what the properties and roads looked like during all 4 seasons. There are some properties that are hard to get to during the winter/monsoon months. There are some properties that are hard to get my truck and trailers to. And lastly, there are some properties that are in the shade a big part of the day due to being in the shadows of the mesa’s and Mountain ranges. Since we plan to rely on solar, those things are important to consider. Lastly, we wanted to witch each property to get a good feel for water availability.

Today, we made an offer on the property that we agreed on. The seller accepted the offer and we sign papers on Wednesday. I’ll post up picks of the new property next week.

I now have two properties for sale if anyone is interested! :mrgreen:

Author:  kskj [ Sun Mar 27, 2011 10:14 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Moving back to NM

Congratulations Rhett.Can't wait to see the pictures. 8)

Author:  MtnLuvr [ Mon Apr 04, 2011 11:03 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Moving back to NM

dieselenthusiast wrote:
....Today, we made an offer on the property that we agreed on. The seller accepted the offer and we sign papers on Wednesday....
Congrats. That is great. :BANANA:


dieselenthusiast wrote:
...I’ll post up picks of the new property next week....
We'll be anxious to see them....

Author:  dieselenthusiast [ Sun Apr 24, 2011 12:27 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Moving back to NM

Here are a few pics of the property. The back views are of the red and white rock "mesa" that lines the ranch. The frontside of the property has views of the Cibola National Forest (Zuni Mountain Range). These pictures were taken before I cut about 40 ponderosa pines to thin them out and significantly open the views.

Okay, so in this photo you can slightly see the Zuni Mountain Range.

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This pic is taken at the back of the property. All power lines are ran at the back of each property (at no cost). All phone lines are ran at the front of each property (at no cost). The top of the red/rock mesa is the National Forest.

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Property boundaries are pretty much from electric pole to electric pole.

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There's a lot of blue grama grass which is a very high protein grass for Elk, Mule Deer, and my future Alpaca.

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Author:  Diggerfreek [ Sun Apr 24, 2011 12:43 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Moving back to NM

Nice! Can't wait to see your house completed!

Author:  kskj [ Sun Apr 24, 2011 2:01 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Moving back to NM

Nice Rhett, can't wait to see it in person.

Author:  dieselenthusiast [ Sun Apr 24, 2011 12:22 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Moving back to NM

Diggerfreek wrote:
Nice! Can't wait to see your house completed!


I’m afraid that you’re going to be waiting for a long time, lol……. I’m land rich and money poor. :mrgreen:

Author:  dieselenthusiast [ Sun Apr 24, 2011 12:25 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Moving back to NM

kskj wrote:
Nice Rhett, can't wait to see it in person.


It wont be long my friend. I cut a lot of trees yesterday, so the property looks like a lumberjack went to town.

Author:  dieselenthusiast [ Sun Apr 24, 2011 12:40 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Moving back to NM

We painted the hives a light adobe color to match the area. Since we let the honeybee hobby farm go in Kansas, we're now having to start over (which is expensive). Since we need to put money towards drilling a well, we're going to start off with 4 hives this year and hope to double that number next year. The last time we lived here, we were able to harvest approximately 75 lbs of honey from each hive and leave the rest for the bees to safely winter from. We never lost a hive when we lived here before, so I’m hoping that we're as successful this time around. Our goal is to make a small business out of beekeeping.

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Author:  dieselenthusiast [ Sat Jun 18, 2011 12:33 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Moving back to NM

We've been cutting lots of trees and clearing the property.

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We needed an easy method to transport firewood and the brush to various places. We have a community burn pile about 1 mile down the road. We decide to buy a trailer for this purpose. I might sell the firewood to help pay for other projects. Or, I may keep it for myself in hopes that we will be building in two years.

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Author:  dieselenthusiast [ Sat Jun 18, 2011 1:23 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Moving back to NM

We picked up the honeybees. Each hive came in a box called a (nuc).

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Each nuc came with 4 frames with built-out comb honey and one sugar/water feeder. Each hive should have a young healthy queen and a few pounds of bees.

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Here’s what a typical frame looks like.

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Here’s a close up view of the frame. I held the frames while my wife was looking for the queen. The white wax cappings on the left side of the frame is capped honey. The brown cappings in the middle of the frame is called brood. Brood is bee food with a bee larvae underneath.

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Author:  Sir Sam [ Sat Jun 18, 2011 3:33 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Moving back to NM

Needs more pics of BEES!

Author:  MtnLuvr [ Mon Jun 27, 2011 9:12 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Moving back to NM

8)

Author:  bugnout [ Mon Jun 27, 2011 11:31 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Moving back to NM

Man Ive always wanted to get into bee keeping. Congratulations Rhett on the new land, keep us posted.

My wife and I have a small piece of property on a lake waaaaay up north, almost 46 degrees north in Wisconsin. We are planning on building a 4 season house this fall while the rates are so low.

I've seen lots of bees up there. What do bees do in the winter? Do they hibernate or stay active in the Hive?

Author:  dieselenthusiast [ Tue Jun 28, 2011 12:07 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Moving back to NM

bugnout wrote:
Man Ive always wanted to get into bee keeping.


It's never too late. Prepare this summer and you will be ready for next spring. I can help you get started.

bugnout wrote:
Congratulations Rhett on the new land, keep us posted.


Thanks! We aren't moving as fast as we would like, but I'll definitely keep you posted.

bugnout wrote:
My wife and I have a small piece of property on a lake waaaaay up north, almost 46 degrees north in Wisconsin. We are planning on building a 4 season house this fall while the rates are so low.


Very nice! Is your home going to be a retirement home or a second getaway home?

bugnout wrote:
I've seen lots of bees up there. What do bees do in the winter? Do they hibernate or stay active in the Hive?


Bees stay active in the hive throughout the winter months and usually come out about once per week for a cleansing flight. We leave 2 hive bodies (large bee boxes) full of honey for the bees to feed off of. Whatever the bees produce in excess during the honey flow is what we harvest. At this elevation, I usually harvest about 75 lbs of honey from each hive.

Author:  bugnout [ Tue Jun 28, 2011 9:27 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Moving back to NM

Thanks, Wont be able to start this year. I think I need to buy some additional land first. My neighbors at the lake wouldn't be very happy if I kept them on the small lot I have now. Off water land is very cheap up here so I'm hoping to find 5-10 acres nearby. You will be the first person I call when I get ready to start. :D

Its going to be our home base for retirement. We plan on spending 60% of our time up there Jun - Dec. The rest of the time we hope to travel, preferably in warmer climes.

Author:  dieselenthusiast [ Sat Jul 16, 2011 4:55 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Moving back to NM

When clearing select trees on the property, I noticed that I had a tree that was a little too close to the power line. It wasn’t in the power line but it had limbs growing close to it. I’d rather cut a tree than be responsible for a future power outage, so I got out the chainsaw and assessed the tree to be sure it would fall away from the power line. Most ponderosa pines grow straight up, but this pine was leaning towards the power line.

I’m no lumberjack, but I’ve had a chainsaw in my hand ever since I was 12 years old. I wasn’t sure if I could notch the tree enough to compensate for the lean, so I got out two logging chains and tied the chain to a nearby pine that you see in the photo. Sure enough, as soon as I cut the notch, the tree started leaning more towards the power line until the chain went tight. At this point I knew that I was potentially screwed if I didn’t do something pretty quick. Keep in mind, my wife is standing there giving me the evil eye. :shock:

I knew the logging chains could hold the weight, and I was fairly confident that my rigging job would hold together; although, I always plan for the worse case scenario. Anyway, I immediately thought about the winch. I got the Jeep and drove where I thought I’d be free from the tree fall. I had a tree saver strap in my off-road gear bag. I placed the strap as high on the tree as possible, spooled out the line, and latched the hook. We put the Jeep in neutral, applied the brakes, and let the Warn M8000 do the work. The M8000 spools fairly quick for this application, so I tapped the button on the remote and slowly leaned the tree back the other way until it gracefully came tumbling down. I looked up to make sure the wife was smiling, then I knew I was in the good. :mrgreen:

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Author:  dieselenthusiast [ Sun Jul 17, 2011 1:56 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Moving back to NM

As you can see, we’ve tried to salvage as much firewood as we can out of the trees that have been cut.

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Author:  USAFCOP [ Sun Jul 17, 2011 2:46 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Moving back to NM

you sure been busy


So when the trails getting made? :lol:

Author:  MtnLuvr [ Sun Jul 17, 2011 6:39 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Moving back to NM

dieselenthusiast wrote:
When clearing select trees on the property, I noticed that I had a tree that was a little too close to the power line. It wasn’t in the power line but it had limbs growing close to it. I’d rather cut a tree than be responsible for a future power outage, so I got out the chainsaw and assessed the tree to be sure it would fall away from the power line. Most ponderosa pines grow straight up, but this pine was leaning towards the power line.

I’m no lumberjack, but I’ve had a chainsaw in my hand ever since I was 12 years old. I wasn’t sure if I could notch the tree enough to compensate for the lean, so I got out two logging chains and tied the chain to a nearby pine that you see in the photo. Sure enough, as soon as I cut the notch, the tree started leaning more towards the power line until the chain went tight. At this point I knew that I was potentially screwed if I didn’t do something pretty quick. Keep in mind, my wife is standing there giving me the evil eye. :shock:

I knew the logging chains could hold the weight, and I was fairly confident that my rigging job would hold together; although, I always plan for the worse case scenario. Anyway, I immediately thought about the winch. I got the Jeep and drove where I thought I’d be free from the tree fall. I had a tree saver strap in my off-road gear bag. I placed the strap as high on the tree as possible, spooled out the line, and latched the hook. We put the Jeep in neutral, applied the brakes, and let the Warn M8000 do the work. The M8000 spools fairly quick for this application, so I tapped the button on the remote and slowly leaned the tree back the other way until it gracefully came tumbling down. I looked up to make sure the wife was smiling, then I knew I was in the good. :mrgreen:

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....

Nice use of the winch (and nice story). I actually thought I was going to use my winch for something somewhat similiar this weekend, but it didn't pan out that way.

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