[gwpoky]

Good points Mac, pretty much went like you said, I ended up only using the WD for baling what we don’t put up loose and picking a little corn, it is now parked in the back of the shed I do not even want to fight with motors in the winter like you said “the horses start every time.” We plow all our snow, feed, and skid logs with our teams, they need something to do so they don’t get too soft by spring. I need to remember two steps foreword and sometimes one back still means your moving ahead. Take care.

[gwpoky]

Would be very interested, great idea.

[gwpoky]

We sell the majority of our meat through our CSA which is a monthly delivery, so we have meat on hand all the time, more this time of year than in the spring/summer. Having all our “eggs” in one basket does concern me we are currently running five chest freezers I am not sure ,from an energy standpoint, if it makes sense to go to a walk in?

Thanks again

[gwpoky]

Very neat, thank you

[gwpoky]

Kenneth, do you have any more pics of that plow on the Pioneer forecart? That looked neat and much safer than the JD I have. looked like good weather and allot of fun. Thanks for sharing.

[gwpoky]

Bill, I very much agree with your statements above. Are farm is fairly “portable” as farm as infrastructure goes and for the rest we try to be as flexible as we can. I was talking with my brother, who is also looking for land, and we where thinking we should pool our resources which would allow us to purchase a larger tract, usually less $/acre, then we could “split it” on paper. We are looking into this option I am not sure how it would work out on the finance end most banks do not have much of an imagination to get something like this done.

[gwpoky]

When raised on grass, ruminants are one of the most sustainable forms of food we have.

[gwpoky]

Looking at pannalized Kit homes, seem very stout and affordable?

[gwpoky]

Many good ideas here, I was wondering if any of you have ever built an A frame, and what you though bought cost vs. houses of different types? I also have a friend that works for Cleary Building and he is going to put together a few ideas, I have heard allot of good things about these “Pole Building” homes, any thoughts?

[gwpoky]

That is exactly where I am coming from Carl. I know no one is an island, but not having to relay on a big percentage of your life sustaining needs to outside forces is, I believe, best. Rachael and I are staring to get things written down and plan where we go from here.

Thank you,

[gwpoky]

Just a quick note: We just watch a program about peak oil, if that doesn’t make you think working draft animals is good idea I’m not sure what would. With that in mind, we currently produce 2/3 of our feed with our teams and purchase the rest, we strive to be as sustainable as possible and purchasing off farm feed produce exclusively with petrolatum moves in the wrong direction for us. From a home energy stand point we currently burn wood pellets and would like to move towards “unprocessed”, but we do not own enough woods for that to be sustainable into the future which is another reason to move elswhere. Still the question is could we sell our place and not loose our butt.

Just some comments

Thanks again for all your input, I greatly respect and appreciate it.

[gwpoky]

I have some good friends that live in Brussels “Door County” I get over that way every once and awhile.

[gwpoky]

Welcome Eli,

Where about are you in WI, we are in Beldenville which is about 20 miles south of Hudson.

[gwpoky]

Interesting, why not just put it up loose and store it that way? seems like allot of extra work….but I do not have any kids 🙂 I guess for traveling feed it would be handy. Very interesting though, if there is the will there is the way. Thanks for sharing.

[gwpoky]

Very neat videos, thanks for sharing. I would Love to know more about that ground drive cart, how it was made, getting it balanced and about how much it would cost to build, looking to save some money to buy an I&J but that is a little ways off and currently out of the budget. Thanks again I love seeing what everyone is up to.

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