projects and stuff

I've been trying to put off specific projects until after the land is officially closed. I thought that would be yesterday, but it seems like paperwork needs a few days to ferment.

My brother found a trac hoe that is the right size and has a Sepp Holzer wrist. $20,000. My brother has great mechanicing skills, so it seems like a smart thing. Only .... you know ... $20,000 is a helluva lot when we are still trying to pull together the funds for basecamp.

At the same time, $20,000 seems way too cheap. There has to be something wrong with it.

But, I have to admit: the first projects are: perimeter berm; restore creek and build ponds; test wofati; bigger wofati; hugelkultur; sun scoop berms; site commitments with a berm; my ideas for an outdoor lemon tree require earthworks ....

That is about what an older machine goes for. Yeah, there could be a lot about to go wrong. But probably stuff you will never need to do because you won't run it enough or can run it slower because you don't have a deadline.

The wrist is REALLY rare--been looking for one for years around here and never seen a single one.

I wish I could find one of these (with a wrist) at a good price: http://youtu.be/TENTtkb3xkc

One of the jobs I need to do is pond minor dredging and it would be so much easier with a machine like this--normal mini-ex doesn't have enough reach to get down the bank, let alone into the water; and a big trackhoe would tear up too much stuff just getting there.

Paul,

I'm curious about your lemon tree project. Is the problem for your area simply temperature dependent? Sunlight? I'd love to find a way to do an outdoor lemon tree in the central midwest, but I don't see it happening. My backup plan is to make friends with a welder and build a large greenhouse (my dream is 1.5 stories )

K. Johnson,
Your post was moved to a new topic.

I'm not sure if this will work for your excavating projects, but they are usually less expensive and are very capable machines. The bucket and arm rotate 360 degrees and extend and retract.

http://www.keaslersjunk.com/GradeAllG660.html

****I know nothing about that particular machine, am just using it for an example.

Here's a youtube of a guy playing on one, look at about 4:00 to really see what they are about.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cp5PV-pstzs