Escape FROM my dream shop
- Thread starter rmack898
- Start date
shortykorte
Well-known member
First off welcome to Florida. Clay County isn’t a bad location, country but not far to Jax and St. Augustine. I read your first several post then jumped to the end. Boy talk about a turn around. Sounds like things are going really well.
Cutting line is not a surveyors favorite job, but is part of the job. He should have known the difficulties and told you up front. Glad you found someone cut your line.
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Cutting line is not a surveyors favorite job, but is part of the job. He should have known the difficulties and told you up front. Glad you found someone cut your line.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
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Boosted1
Well-known member
Wow! You have dove right in and are making good headway.
Congrats.
Congrats.
Thanks for the welcome Shorty.
OK, so now I have a machine that can cut a path through the palmettos. We spend 2 days measuring, cutting, and putting in stakes. 90% of the property is planted pines and we had the county forester come out and develop a "forestry plan" for us. I took this document to the tax office and we now have an AG exemption and are taxed at a much lower rate.
Our plans were to clear just enough land for the house and shop which is less than 1 acre. We want to keep our AG exemption so our grove is 30 years old and needs to be thinned. Being only 10 acres most timber buyers don't want to bother with it. One of the bigger loggers hooked me up with a small scale logger and he agreed to clear the home site and thin the rest. The only problem is that he needs a landing and the only place we can do that is on the opposite side of the property. Now I need to get a permit to put in a culvert and driveway off of the state road. Since my shop is going to be pretty close to Rt 17, I'm going to cut a road straight in off the road and clear a spot for the logger to land the timber. My daughter Islay has named this back road to my shop "Red Neck Road". She told me I drag all the stuff I bring home past the neighbors on Sandhill road.
FL DOT has a permitting process that is done entirely on line and it geared towards large commercial projects, not residential driveways. It took me a few days of cursing at the computer but I finally got my permit application submitted now I just have to wait and see how long it takes to get approved.
Laura flew back to Jersey on Sunday to start packing the house up and getting it ready to go on the market, Trevor can't afford to buy the house and I can't afford to give it to him. With Laura gone I will be spending my weekends at the Grove. So after I dropped her off at the airport I started working on Red Neck Road. The new machine has me spoiled. Suspension seat, air conditioned cab, stereo, and best of all, no sticks and pedals. It took me a few hours of seat time to get used to joy sticks and after my feet learned that they were no longer needed I really enjoy running this machine. So I'm cutting RNR and all of the sudden its raining hydraulic oil. One of the flat face couplers on the brush cutter failed and got stuck in the quick disconnect fitting. I had to walk back to the container and grab some tools, almost a half mile round trip. I got the coupling out and was able to run the machine back to the container. I stole a flat face coupler off of my post hole digger and was back in business.
I don't get done at the ship yard til 5pm so with the time change I won't be able to do any work at the grove on weekdays. I'll just have to give it hell on weekends.
OK, so now I have a machine that can cut a path through the palmettos. We spend 2 days measuring, cutting, and putting in stakes. 90% of the property is planted pines and we had the county forester come out and develop a "forestry plan" for us. I took this document to the tax office and we now have an AG exemption and are taxed at a much lower rate.
Our plans were to clear just enough land for the house and shop which is less than 1 acre. We want to keep our AG exemption so our grove is 30 years old and needs to be thinned. Being only 10 acres most timber buyers don't want to bother with it. One of the bigger loggers hooked me up with a small scale logger and he agreed to clear the home site and thin the rest. The only problem is that he needs a landing and the only place we can do that is on the opposite side of the property. Now I need to get a permit to put in a culvert and driveway off of the state road. Since my shop is going to be pretty close to Rt 17, I'm going to cut a road straight in off the road and clear a spot for the logger to land the timber. My daughter Islay has named this back road to my shop "Red Neck Road". She told me I drag all the stuff I bring home past the neighbors on Sandhill road.
FL DOT has a permitting process that is done entirely on line and it geared towards large commercial projects, not residential driveways. It took me a few days of cursing at the computer but I finally got my permit application submitted now I just have to wait and see how long it takes to get approved.
Laura flew back to Jersey on Sunday to start packing the house up and getting it ready to go on the market, Trevor can't afford to buy the house and I can't afford to give it to him. With Laura gone I will be spending my weekends at the Grove. So after I dropped her off at the airport I started working on Red Neck Road. The new machine has me spoiled. Suspension seat, air conditioned cab, stereo, and best of all, no sticks and pedals. It took me a few hours of seat time to get used to joy sticks and after my feet learned that they were no longer needed I really enjoy running this machine. So I'm cutting RNR and all of the sudden its raining hydraulic oil. One of the flat face couplers on the brush cutter failed and got stuck in the quick disconnect fitting. I had to walk back to the container and grab some tools, almost a half mile round trip. I got the coupling out and was able to run the machine back to the container. I stole a flat face coupler off of my post hole digger and was back in business.
I don't get done at the ship yard til 5pm so with the time change I won't be able to do any work at the grove on weekdays. I'll just have to give it hell on weekends.
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Growlertdi
Well-known member
what a story so far, and what an adventure to come. following.
So I spent this past weekend at the grove working on RNR (Red Neck Road), and the landing for the logger.
The logger told me he needed a space big enough for the skidded to turn around with a load and room to load the log trucks. I cleared a fairly big landing right off of the highway. The new Bobcat was able to push over 10" pine trees and after I cut the stump off the tree I was able to dig out the stump with a little bit of work. I left a line of trees and brush along the highway to conceal RNR which will lead directly to my new shop.
On Sunday I spent the day flagging trees in the area to be clear for my shop. It took way longer than I had thought to get all the trees flagged. I don't want there to be any confusion by the logger in case I am not present when they start clearing. I will flag all the trees in the home site next Saturday.
On my way back to the campground, I stopped on the highway across from where I cut RNR and it is not very visible
The logger told me he needed a space big enough for the skidded to turn around with a load and room to load the log trucks. I cleared a fairly big landing right off of the highway. The new Bobcat was able to push over 10" pine trees and after I cut the stump off the tree I was able to dig out the stump with a little bit of work. I left a line of trees and brush along the highway to conceal RNR which will lead directly to my new shop.
On Sunday I spent the day flagging trees in the area to be clear for my shop. It took way longer than I had thought to get all the trees flagged. I don't want there to be any confusion by the logger in case I am not present when they start clearing. I will flag all the trees in the home site next Saturday.
On my way back to the campground, I stopped on the highway across from where I cut RNR and it is not very visible
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jbmatth
Well-known member
Wow that looks like a ton of work. I had to clear a few acres at our new place by hand and the bobcat would have sure come in handy.
JB
JB
JB,
That clearing took me about 6 hours, I can't immagine doing that by hand. Before we were able to get the property lines cut, I almost went into heat stroke just cutting a line of sight in by hand.
I will be picking up a new hydraulic stump bucket tomorrow, I'm hoping it will make getting the palmetto roots a simple task.
That clearing took me about 6 hours, I can't immagine doing that by hand. Before we were able to get the property lines cut, I almost went into heat stroke just cutting a line of sight in by hand.
I will be picking up a new hydraulic stump bucket tomorrow, I'm hoping it will make getting the palmetto roots a simple task.
jbmatth
Well-known member
It was/is my winter project on the weekends when I don't have to mow, a couple hours here and there and it isn't too bad. I need to keep an eye open for a skid steer though, but they aren't usually in my price range sadly.
JB
JB
I picked up the stump bucket with the thumb last Friday and I spent Saturday getting used to how to make it work best for me.
I was able to clear about 250' of what will become my driveway of palmettos in about 6 hours. I have about 650' more to go. with the long weekend I should be able to get it all done.
I'm still waiting on the state DOT to issue my permit for a culvert and entrance to the landing I cut for the logger. I hope that happens next week.
I was able to clear about 250' of what will become my driveway of palmettos in about 6 hours. I have about 650' more to go. with the long weekend I should be able to get it all done.
I'm still waiting on the state DOT to issue my permit for a culvert and entrance to the landing I cut for the logger. I hope that happens next week.
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rixtrix1
Well-known member
Looks like a ton of work, but well worth it for the space and tax relief! Subscribed
1/2 Cup
Member Emeritus
bulletpruf
Well-known member
Great thread! I'm active military and about to retire as well, but my transition won't be as dramatic -- remaining in place here in San Antonio.
polexican23
Banned
how many times has this been revisited?
but I know it will be much farther south of NJ, east of the Mississippi River, and not in Florida
but I know it will be much farther south of NJ, east of the Mississippi River, and not in Florida
I very Wise man once told me to never surrender my right to change my mind. NE Florida is a completely different place than every place I have visited in south Florida.
I got my permit from the state, and the contractor that I hired to put in the driveway and culvert did a great job and did it right on schedule. Because my driveway was off a state highway, DOT required a concrete apron. The concrete was poured on the 13th, I came up to NJ for Christmas on the 19th, I am going back down south tomorrow and will use the driveway for the first time.
The logger is scheduled to come in and start work in early January. Once he is done I will go in and start pulling stumps and getting the site ready for construction.
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jbmatth
Well-known member
Very nice driveway, looks like they did a great job too.
JB
JB
mybigwarwagon
Well-known member
Drive is looking good.
cbacres
Well-known member
Mac, I'm enjoying your new property thread. Also, welcome to Florida.
The grinder attachment on those machines are great for a needed to be tamed property.
Glad to see you went with a red iron building, hard to beat.
Look forward to watching your build.
Craig
The grinder attachment on those machines are great for a needed to be tamed property.
Glad to see you went with a red iron building, hard to beat.
Look forward to watching your build.
Craig
Thanks JB, it was pricy but I'm very happy with the job they did.
Thanks Willie. It's been 28 days and I'm starting to use it.
Thanks for the welcome Craig.
My wife is still up north getting the house ready for sale, she got 6" of snow today.
Moving forward with much progress this coming week. The logger is mobilizing his equipment tomorrow and Tuesday. Wednesday is felling day, and he should be all loaded out by the end of the week.
As soon as he gets done I will call the electric co-op and have them come out and put in their poles and run my temporary power. I can then start working on pulling stumps and grubbing. I have just about an hour of daylight after work now and the days are getting longer, woo hoo.
I will be signing a contract with the steel building company by the end of the month. Erecting a red iron building almost solo is going to fun.
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I was kind of disappointed yesterday, on my way home from work I stopped at the grove and nothing, nada, zip, zilch.
Today on my way home they were still bringing in equipment. Feller/Buncher, skidder, deck loader. They still have to bring in the limb gate but they should be felling trees and moving them out by lunch time tomorrow. I think I'll take a half day off tomorrow and spend the afternoon watching it all happen.
Today on my way home they were still bringing in equipment. Feller/Buncher, skidder, deck loader. They still have to bring in the limb gate but they should be felling trees and moving them out by lunch time tomorrow. I think I'll take a half day off tomorrow and spend the afternoon watching it all happen.
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mybigwarwagon
Well-known member
Work fascinates me, I could watch it all day long.
cbacres
Well-known member
So how's the progress Mac?
Slowly but surely I'm moving forward. Last Sunday I was making progress on the driveway when I pinched a hydraulic hose on my grapple bucket and it rained 32 oil. I got the new hose yesterday and installed it after work. Today was an early day off work and I got back to work on the driveway. The logger should have finished tonight or will finish tomorrow.
Once he packs up his stuff and leaves, I will have a pretty big mess to clean up. I will have to gather up all the limbs from the harvested pines, and run them through a chipper. It will probably take me all weekend to pile up all the limbs. I want to have one big pile so that I can get everything through the chipper in one day. A 12" chipper is $625 for a one day rental.
Once I get everything all cleaned up, I can flag all the stumps that need to be removed and get an idea of haw big a job that will be and whether I want to find a contractor to do it or do it myself with rental equipment.
I have to fly back up to Jersey next weekend so I lose next weekend but it is starting to stay light longer and I can get an hour and a half of work done after my day job every day so things should start to pick up in pace here in the next few weeks.
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redheelerdog
Well-known member
Howdy Mac, looks like your as busy as rooster in a hen house. When is the red iron action taking place? Are you pouring a pad and all the particulars first?
Very interesting to me to see the ground and forest cover difference from here in Montana. And you, being from Jersey, your probably glad there aint 6" of snow on the ground. Can't get $hit done with that stuff layin around.
Keep up the good work and be safe.
John in Montana
Very interesting to me to see the ground and forest cover difference from here in Montana. And you, being from Jersey, your probably glad there aint 6" of snow on the ground. Can't get $hit done with that stuff layin around.
Keep up the good work and be safe.
John in Montana
John,
I hope to have all the site work for both the house and the shop done by the end of February. I figure to have the concrete slab for the house and shop placed on the same day with one crew in the first week of March.
I have a builder doing the house and I will be doing the shop. I've never erected a red iron building before but I had an erector set when I was a kid. When I get the shop building shell up, I will move my camper on site and start living on my new homestead.
I'll be 60 years old by the time I get this done and while I'm not really a "Car Guy", I'm starting to think that maybe I should be thinking about putting a lift in the new shop. I hate floor jacks and stands but I hate to give up floor space for a lift.
I hope to have all the site work for both the house and the shop done by the end of February. I figure to have the concrete slab for the house and shop placed on the same day with one crew in the first week of March.
I have a builder doing the house and I will be doing the shop. I've never erected a red iron building before but I had an erector set when I was a kid. When I get the shop building shell up, I will move my camper on site and start living on my new homestead.
I'll be 60 years old by the time I get this done and while I'm not really a "Car Guy", I'm starting to think that maybe I should be thinking about putting a lift in the new shop. I hate floor jacks and stands but I hate to give up floor space for a lift.
cbacres
Well-known member
It's shaping up! The pine branches scattered around remind me of our place after the hurricane. I understand the time it takes and we did it by hand.
Is the utility running overhead or can they run the primary underground to a pad mount transformer? Some utilities are flexible and may only charge for the cable if you run the conduit. It'd be worth some extra cost to have it under ground.
One hurricane years ago took out the overhead high voltage to my pole, lines like this are not a priority for them to restore. Just a thought.
It'll be nice to have your trailer on your land
Is the utility running overhead or can they run the primary underground to a pad mount transformer? Some utilities are flexible and may only charge for the cable if you run the conduit. It'd be worth some extra cost to have it under ground.
One hurricane years ago took out the overhead high voltage to my pole, lines like this are not a priority for them to restore. Just a thought.
It'll be nice to have your trailer on your land
redheelerdog
Well-known member
Rockyboy
Member
Thank You for sharing Your Life's story with us, You are living a dream a lot of us wish we could pull off. Good luck, Subscribed.
Ok, so here is the latest update. On the way home from work last week I saw a guy with a small excavator stumping a lot, so I pulled in to talk to him. Turns out he was a NJ transplant 15 years ago and we grew up not far from each other and ran around all the same counts in our youth. Needless to say we hit it off and became instant friends.
He is going to stump my lot for me. Remove all the stumps, roots, and organics. I am going to pay him in cash and he is going to pay me in cash for some fabrication work. We both have to lay out a bunch of cash but in the end it might turn out to be a wash. Keeping it cash instead of barter at this point is a good thing and we all feel comfortable until we get to know each other better.
I have a brand new skid steer with a stump bucket and I was going to rent an excavator to do this myself but by the time I figure the rental cost and tipping fees to haul the stumps away, I'm way ahead of the game by paying someone to do it for me.
In 10 days I should have a lot with 2 building sites ready to go. Now I need to write a check to the steel building company so I can get the stamped prints to pull the permits.
We are only a few weeks away from starting a shop build.
He is going to stump my lot for me. Remove all the stumps, roots, and organics. I am going to pay him in cash and he is going to pay me in cash for some fabrication work. We both have to lay out a bunch of cash but in the end it might turn out to be a wash. Keeping it cash instead of barter at this point is a good thing and we all feel comfortable until we get to know each other better.
I have a brand new skid steer with a stump bucket and I was going to rent an excavator to do this myself but by the time I figure the rental cost and tipping fees to haul the stumps away, I'm way ahead of the game by paying someone to do it for me.
In 10 days I should have a lot with 2 building sites ready to go. Now I need to write a check to the steel building company so I can get the stamped prints to pull the permits.
We are only a few weeks away from starting a shop build.
bulletpruf
Well-known member
You may give up floor space for a lift, but you can also put one car on the lift and park another one under it.
It took a little bit more than 10 calendar days to get my lots cleared of all the stumps but it only took about 3-1/2 actual days of work.
Stumps, roots, Palmettos, everything was grubbed out of the ground and the fire is still burning. I have about 2 more days of burning material and everything should be gone.
Here is a link to the average stump removal on my lots
We took out over 350 stumps.
Now that I have the build sites cleared, we moved the 20' container that is my temporary shop almost 1000'. Pulling with the excavator and pushing with the skid steer we moved it to the opposite corner of the 10 acre lot.
Since my quote for the new shop building is over 6 months old I am going to get a new quote on Monday. We meet with our home builders on March 1st, they have all the revisions done and we should have permits in hand by March 15th. I am going to use the same contractor for my shop slab as my builder uses for the house and have both slabs done on the same day. As soon as I have a slab poured, then the shop build will be priority one.
Stumps, roots, Palmettos, everything was grubbed out of the ground and the fire is still burning. I have about 2 more days of burning material and everything should be gone.
Here is a link to the average stump removal on my lots
Now that I have the build sites cleared, we moved the 20' container that is my temporary shop almost 1000'. Pulling with the excavator and pushing with the skid steer we moved it to the opposite corner of the 10 acre lot.
Since my quote for the new shop building is over 6 months old I am going to get a new quote on Monday. We meet with our home builders on March 1st, they have all the revisions done and we should have permits in hand by March 15th. I am going to use the same contractor for my shop slab as my builder uses for the house and have both slabs done on the same day. As soon as I have a slab poured, then the shop build will be priority one.
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cbacres
Well-known member
Mac, how's it coming along ?
OK, so here's my update.
I went back up to NJ last week and signed a contract with a realtor to sell m house. My wife Laura wanted to make only one move, from NJ to our new house. With us living separated for who knows how long, she changed her mind. We will sell the NJ house and move into a rental here in Fla. until our house is built.
So now with a change in plans we have to change our plans. I think I can fit all of my machines and shop equipment in a 40' container.
Everything is a bunch of "If"s. If the house sells fast I'll have to move my shop down here into a container. If the house takes longer to sell, then I'll have time to get the new shop built and move from one to the other. We just have to see which "If" comes first.
I have an updated quote from the steel building manufacturer and it looks good, I will most likely write them a check this week to get things moving. The site work is moving along nicely and I can honestly say that I think I might have it all done by the end of next week. If only I didn't have to have a day job.
I did however bring some things with me on this last trip up north. I brought my Diesel Samurai, diesel golf cart, Motorcycle, and trailer for the 4- wheeler to haul the garbage to the curb.
I went back up to NJ last week and signed a contract with a realtor to sell m house. My wife Laura wanted to make only one move, from NJ to our new house. With us living separated for who knows how long, she changed her mind. We will sell the NJ house and move into a rental here in Fla. until our house is built.
So now with a change in plans we have to change our plans. I think I can fit all of my machines and shop equipment in a 40' container.
Everything is a bunch of "If"s. If the house sells fast I'll have to move my shop down here into a container. If the house takes longer to sell, then I'll have time to get the new shop built and move from one to the other. We just have to see which "If" comes first.
I have an updated quote from the steel building manufacturer and it looks good, I will most likely write them a check this week to get things moving. The site work is moving along nicely and I can honestly say that I think I might have it all done by the end of next week. If only I didn't have to have a day job.
I did however bring some things with me on this last trip up north. I brought my Diesel Samurai, diesel golf cart, Motorcycle, and trailer for the 4- wheeler to haul the garbage to the curb.
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mybigwarwagon
Well-known member
Diesel Sammi... I can hazard details?
It's a 1.6 NA Acme conversion. I'm running a pre '88 ****** and when I keep my foot out of it and drive it right, I can get about 45 MPG. It can't go much faster than 50 MPH but it makes a great in town daily driver.
When I get settled and the new shop gets built I am going to tear the car down to parade rest and do a frame off resto. I have a soft spot for Sami's, this car is affectionately known as "Sardino".
When I get settled and the new shop gets built I am going to tear the car down to parade rest and do a frame off resto. I have a soft spot for Sami's, this car is affectionately known as "Sardino".
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mike93lx
ALLIANCE MEMBER
Wow, what a thread. Keep it up!
zmotorsports
ALLIANCE MEMBER
Sounds like plans are progressing nicely Mack. Looking forward to the build progress, as I'm sure you are.
mybigwarwagon
Well-known member
I always liked the samis. A buddy of mine had one that was a blast to drive.