David Manley

Hi Tim a bit more on the shed

Hi Tim some more photos of the converted shed showing the lime, oxide for color and bonding liquid that was used to waterproof the outside, and the wood burning oven that doubles as a water heater. We have enjoyed a number of great roasts from this oven.

Hi Tim I see our stories are very similar except I took a second bond on our house to buy the farm. Absa still had me hanging on a string for many months before the bond was registered, and to add insult to injury charged me more than their initial quote. Attached is some photos of the shed converted by our Cotter Roy. The cost of the conversion came to about R15000 ($1500) of which about R6000 was for ready mix concrete for the floor. Doing the floor was the only additional labour other than occasional friends. 90%of the work was done by Roy himself. The existing floor mainly made up of rocks had to be dug out as it was not level and the door frame was already too low to have the floor raised, as we needed to put down DPC below the slab

I will try to post some pix

Hi Tim
We currently have 68 hectare on 2 title deeds. we have consolidated and then subdivided the property so as to be able to keep a 20 hectare section we want, and be able to sell the other at a later stage.
The Farm is 35Km from town and 45 from where we live, on a 6 hectare small holding which was out of town when we bought but now boarders on a housing estate.
Some thought on clearing the wattle and mistakes I have made. The farm was effectively unused for more than 10 years when I bought it and the Black Wattle had taken over, I let somebody cut firewood and they stacked the brances on the land in piles. I did not want to burn so left the piles. The wattle now came up like grass and is 3m high in 2 years. I am unable to get in with a wheeled tractor because of the risk of puntures from stumps left in the land. What I believe I should have done was originally remove some of the trees in the thickly wooded areas and planted in between the remaining trees then ringbarked the remaining wattle and let them die in place, after what I had planted had established itself . This is not my idea but Shane of Terra Khaya in the Hogsback, and it seems to be working for him.
I have been using a Stihl 50cc brush cutter with a tugsten tipped circular saw blade to cut down trees up to about 100mm in Dia. It works really well as long as the blade only touches the wood. The blades are about R80 from the local Agri supply store. I have a number of chain saws but my favourite is an Stihl MS 250 I think still on special at R4000, punted as an ocasional user saw, but it is very light and more than powerful enough to cut any but the very biggest wattle on the property. I have hired a crawler to push fire breaks and found the saw very usefull in cutting down the trees into about 6 m lenghts ahead of the tractor otherwise they stack up in front on the blade and catch on the trees still standing next to the firebreak wasting time that I have to pay for.
I will try to put up some photos over the weekend
Dave

Hi Tim
Currently I have somebody living on the farm who has converted the 4mX9m shed into a very comfortable house. I think this was the original farm house, built mainly of stone and mud. The house is heated by a woodburning stove, and after various experiments on solar heating for his water has settled for a pipe inside an outside oven he built, which heats a tank of water on the roof by convection. Lights are from LED's powered by a small battery and charged from a 30+ year old BP solar panel I had. He has a small garden fully enclosed which supply his vegies, as we have baboons monkeys bush pigs as well as other wildlife on the property. He only has chickens at the moment but the intention is to get milk goats as well. We are entirely off the grid although there is an ESCOM pole I can connect to at great cost. We collect water off the roof and pump from the perennial river that flows through the property. The baboons are a real problem, probably because their natural enemies the leopards have been killed off by the farmers over the years, so there is no control of their ever increasing numbers. Last year I put a 2m high electric fence arround a big plum tree but they managed to get to the tree anyway. If you disturb nature you pay the price eventually.
When I find out how I will post some photos
Dave

Hi Timothy
We have a similar project on the go just outside Mossel Bay in the foothills of the Outeniqua mountains, and will be following your progress with interest. As I clear the wattle, a neighbouring farmer keeps the land clear and uses it for grazing until I can take over permanently. I have 9 more paychecks to go before I join the Fun employed at age 65. Currently the weekends are just too short.