What I've been doing the past couple months... now 2 years...

[kentucky yeti]

Last year I bought a 50-acre farm about a mile from me.  I grew up fishing in the pond there, and exploring the creek that runs through the farm.  And a little hunting went on too.  It is 34 tendable acres and 16 acres of woods.  So, we began the process of pre-retirement planning.  I'd like to put a house at the back of the place.  That requires a 1400+ foot driveway.  Baby steps started Friday.

Untitled by kentuckyyeti, on Flickr

Started the driveway cutting with my new-to-me tractor I bought a week ago.  Sold my Ford 4000 SU and bought a newer, more comfy tractor with a front end loader like I always wanted:

Untitled by kentuckyyeti, on Flickr

Untitled by kentuckyyeti, on Flickr


Untitled by kentuckyyeti, on Flickr

My foot for reference LOL  this JD has 36" pads.  It dang near floats on loose and wet ground.

Untitled by kentuckyyeti, on Flickr

Bringing my red gravel/clay rock for the base- one triaxle and one semi dump trailer load at a time

Untitled by kentuckyyeti, on Flickr

Untitled by kentuckyyeti, on Flickr

Untitled by kentuckyyeti, on Flickr

This is where we hope to build and live out our lives.  I've already broke a garden spot and planted a few fruit trees (had to put steel posts and fence around them to keep the deer from destroying them).  You can barely see the neighbor's house ( that is in the previous pics) in this picture

Untitled by kentuckyyeti, on Flickr

This is from the NW corner of the property.  If you look past the second outcropping of trees that come into the field, you can see a small round green mound of dirt and weeds.  That is now gone as the driveway went right through that spot.  AND, if you look closely at the first outcropping of trees, you can see a tom turkey at the edge of the field.

turkey2 by kentuckyyeti, on Flickr

Mama and 4 half-grown coons

Untitled by kentuckyyeti, on Flickr

[Jack]

Congratulations Mike, you sure got your work cut out for you but very exciting. Not many people are able to plan their retirement this way, very happy for you and will follow alone your progress.

[FormTA]

That is totally awesome. But that doesn't look like downsizing to me.... I only live on 6 acres and there is more than enough work for me now!

Congratulations, it looks lovely!

[roadking77]

x2 and 3. Looks like you have plenty to keep you busy for the next couple of years. When you first posted pics of your new tractor and mentioned the long drive you were putting in, my first thought was 'hes gonna need a bigger tractor'. But I see you have that taken care.

[Motleyfan]

Looks like you carved out your little slice of heaven Mike.  Congratulations.

[RamblerRacer]

Congratulations,

Looks like the start of a new life after already living one.
Good luck on your new adventure

JT

[72projectbird]

Im jealous!  lol

Looks like you're making great progress.

[5th T/A]

Congratulations Mike,

Wishing you much happiness and good health with your new place. With that much real estate that new tractor should get plenty of use.

When you mentioned 1400 foot driveway I thought a quarter mile is 1320 feet, really puts the length into perspective. Then I thought you could do accelerations runs on your driveway and not worry about breaking any laws.

Enjoy!

[kentucky yeti]

x2 and 3. Looks like you have plenty to keep you busy for the next couple of years. When you first posted pics of your new tractor and mentioned the long drive you were putting in, my first thought was 'hes gonna need a bigger tractor'. But I see you have that taken care.

Here's what I disked the place up with.  Big enough?    Thank goodness for nice neighbors that farm for a living 

Untitled by kentuckyyeti, on Flickr

Untitled by kentuckyyeti, on Flickr

[kentucky yeti]

Got me a  little JD 350 with a clamshell bucket.  It needs new hydraulic hoses before I can work it hard.  The old ones are leaking bad.

Untitled by kentuckyyeti, on Flickr

[roadking77]

Nice machines. Theres an Amish right up the road from me that makes hydraulic lines. Last ones he did for me were about 1/2 of what Case wanted. Some larger trucking co.s make them in house as well. If you have someone like that in your area.

[firebirdparts]

Looks like a little slice of heaven.  And flat.  That guy with the disc is not appalachian farming.

[Dreamn2]

Looking good Mike!

[critter]

Party at Yeti's house.

[rkellerjr]

Wow, congrats Mike, looks like we could have some car shows on that lot

[Jack]

Okay Mike now that TAC is up, we all are expecting a big update.

[kentucky yeti]

All the rain here (over 8 inches total so far) means no dirt work.  I bought a 700 Polaris.





And managed to get the 40’ culvert installed at the road

[LeighP]

That’s a heck of a retirement plan. Are you going to work the property, or lease it to a neighbour?
I sure hope all that work you put into your current place comes back to you in extra value when you sell and move. Good luck with it, Mike.

[kentucky yeti]

That’s a heck of a retirement plan. Are you going to work the property, or lease it to a neighbour?
I sure hope all that work you put into your current place comes back to you in extra value when you sell and move. Good luck with it, Mike.

Leigh. I'm not sure yet.  I may end up sowing it down and pasturing it.  Fence it and get a few cows.  Rent a few acres out to the horse-raising neighbor across from me.
As for my place- I hope it does ok too.  The house and 5 acres, the 28x82 insulated, wired, LP gas plumbed, and plumbed-for-water garage, and the fruit trees/blueberries/blackberries/grapevines will hopefully appeal to someone.

[roadking77]

Nice Polaris, I do work for a guy that has a couple on his 'farm'. He would drive into town a few miles on that thing. I was surprised at how fast it would go.

[kentucky yeti]

Working on the place clearing brush.  I see these guys every afternoon.  There are 4 decent bucks in this pic.  There are at least 3 6 points or smaller besides these gentlemen.  And most afternoons I see at least 16 does in their own group on the north side of the property

[FormTA]

You have an interesting version of retirement.... most slow down, you, you speed up!

[kentucky yeti]

You have an interesting version of retirement.... most slow down, you, you speed up!

I don’t know but I’ve been told… you never slow down, you never grow old.  The late Tom Petty


Anyway- it ain’t work if you enjoy it lol

Just trying to prepare for (hopefully) a 2022 retirement.

[Jack]

Anyway- it ain’t work if you enjoy it lol

That's the key.

[tajoe]

Working on the place clearing brush.  I see these guys every afternoon.  There are 4 decent bucks in this pic.  There are at least 3 6 points or smaller besides these gentlemen.  And most afternoons I see at least 16 does in their own group on the north side of the property

Hey! Do I see Bambis mother in there?

[kentucky yeti]

A major setback after work this afternoon.  Had a little fire.  I've  been working on my future retirement (maybe retirement, but getting doubtful as the bills increase and the budget disappears) piece of land for a while.  Most of the driveway is in.  I had some brush to clear, and the rotary mower will take down and grind up trees up to 4" diameter.  I'm not sure what happened.  The smell of burning rubber, then seeing smoke exiting behind the machine, was the first clue. Got it out of the woods (barely) and emptied the fire extinguisher, then all the water bottles.  It almost worked, but then popped back up and I had nothing else.  It quickly hit the fuel line, I suppose.  It really began burning.  It is totalled, but I did manage to get the brush mower hooked to a chain and used my truck to yank it away from the Bobcat.  81 turbocharged horsepower. Gone.  No idea if it is covered under the farm policy until tomorrow.

Untitled by kentuckyyeti, on Flickr

Untitled by kentuckyyeti, on Flickr

[5th T/A]

Wow Mike, I am so sorry to see this. I hope insurance takes care of it and glad (I assume) no one was injured.

[tajoe]

Well, it was a valiant effort Mike. Not much more you (or anyone else) could've done. It's too bad you lost a great piece of machinery, but like mentioned above, things could've been a whole lot worse. At least you can replace that. Good luck with the ins.

[Jack]

So sorry to see this hopefully insurance will cover it.

[roadking77]

OH WOW!! Thats horrible.  Glad you saved the mower at least. Hope you have luck with your insurance. Looks like it was a pretty good machine. Not cheap to replace.

[Jack]

Any word from the insurance company?

[kentucky yeti]

Any word from the insurance company?

No one contacted me back to come out today.

[kentucky yeti]

Any word from the insurance company?

No bueno.  Insurance said that it should have been specifically named in my policy, as well as the tractor, track loader, side-by-side, etc...  I assumed the farm/ranch policy covered equipment automatically.  No one ever once told me they needed a specific list.  Total loss.  Sold it today for scrap metal price.

[tajoe]

Insurance company's are some of the worst businesses out there. You pay them your whole life, and when you put in a claim, (1 time), they find excuses not to pay, or drop you if they have to.  They always find a loop hole to cover themselves. It's their job. Sorry again for your loss.

[Jack]

I'm very sorry to hear Mike, I was hoping for a different outcome.

[roadking77]

That stinks. Yes, you think you are covered then all of the sudden......... I am in the review process with my agent currently as my policies come up for renewal in Sept. I havent looked at things for about 5 years. Time to sit down and talk and see where things stand. Mikes situation is a good example for everyone to at least check in with their agent every couple of years. Most of us, me included just send in the payment when the bill is due.

[Jack]

More important to check if you made improvements,  including building decks or garages... me included, the policy will go up but thats life.

[LeighP]

darn, Mike.....that’s really bad news....both the loss and the insurance.
Best ask them what else needs to be “specifically listed”.
I hope you can find another one.......

[ryeguy2006a]

Sorry to hear Mike... Glad to hear that you made it out safely though. Really a shame about the insurance. They can be less than helpful most of the time.

[nas t eh]

darn, Mike.....that’s really bad news....both the loss and the insurance.
Best ask them what else needs to be “specifically listed”.
I hope you can find another one.......

x2

And a cautionary tale for all of us, there are often other items/possessions that an insurance company may or will deny or that have limits on a standard home owners policy. You often don’t find out till making a claim, that unless it is disclosed before hand(and then they may ask for a premium) certain items will not be covered.

Eg. Mechanics tools(especially if you earn money with them), jewelry, bicycles all might have much lower limits than you would expect.
It’s worth asking your agent/ broker what needs separate coverage and documenting what you have, make a video record of your tools and any expensive items.