Liam Cook

Oh, also wondering what you guys thought about BCS Tractors instead of a rider mower or legit monster tractor.. They seem to have many uses, and lots of modules.

R Scott wrote:...look at an F-250. I made the mistake of buying a half ton and then moving to a farm. It will work, but a heavy-duty truck will last a lot longer hauling stuff on fire roads. Long bed.
...

I actually just found a 1994 F-250 with 74k miles for $6k.. might be old but if it looks good and mostly rust-free that might work (I could actually get money on trade-in and put that towards land or w/e)! thanks for the advise!

John Wolfram wrote:It's not a homestead, but at my orchard just about everything has taken twice as long as I had hoped and cost twice as much. Before you become tied to a particular area you may want to consider trying to get a one or two year position that will let you save up a nest egg for your homestead. For example, a year or two in North Dakota might let you save enough to buy land outright and get you through a year or two without any income from your land.

My uncle owns a cabin in NH, so was perhaps considering moving there if it's vacant and getting a job so I can look at land in the area. I wasn't going to do something like an orchard probably, just use trees for lumber or firewood for profit (though on my home site I might set up a couple apple trees). I am hoping it will only take about $10-15k to get started as far as tools and equipment, I certainly hope it doesn't cost $30k!

Thanks for the replies, it's helping my research quite a bit!

Hello everyone, just found this forum and there seem to be many knowledgeable people here, so I thought I would ask some questions. Fair warning - big post!

First a little history on me: I'm 28, have lived all over the east coast (currently in KY), and have become disinterested in city life and living with rent or jobs where it seems like you are just treading water, and want to make a change. I've been researching the idea of going out into the wilderness, building my own home, and attempting to become self-sufficient. At the moment, it would be safe to say that I have very little to nothing as far as tools or equipment to make this change, but one thing I have in abundance is time. I figure if over the next 2 years or so I focus on obtaining items or property, I could get myself into a great place.. if I do it right. Luckily I have managed to stay totally debt free, and am single so I can put all of my resources to one thing without worrying about the family side of stuff. I work, but like most people my age make very little money, and have no savings.. but the kind of lifestyle I am hoping for won't cost much (I hope!)

So far my plan is thus:
- Get a truck (looking at Ford F150)
- Get tools like wood working, general tools, farming implements
- Find land (more on this later)
- Move on out there, build a house, hunt/grow food, live a nice life.

I have a bit of carpentry skills, but am sorely lacking in many areas (hunting, gardening) which I will be training myself how to do over the next few years. I want to live in the northeast US, probably looking most closely at New Hampshire right now.

Land Questions:
- Best place to put down roots? (VT, NH, Maine are top pics)
- Close enough for power/internet, far enough for peace/quiet
- Possibility of splitting owned land (smaller acreage near a town for house + garden, larger plot of forested area for lumber + hunting further away)
- What to look for (water, soil, sunlight, wind, etc.)
- What taxes, regulations, bureaucratic nonsense to look out for
- Family has a house near North Conway, NH. so possibly getting a smaller plot near there, and larger forested area in Coos county?

Equipment Questions: I hope to make most of my income off of wood, either firewood or milled lumber off my land..
- Vehicle (looking to trade in my car for F150 atm, would be net cost of around $2k)
- Temporary living while I build home (just a campsite? or get a trailer or something?)
- Tips on things needed to build home
- Chainsaw milling like This good idea or bad idea?
- Solar or wind.. worth it?
- If no town water/sewer, what to do? I know there are compost toilets and rain cisterns and such.. will that be enough?
- How much of a garden is needed to feed 1 person (will hunt also) or possibly more if I get married or w/e in the future, and what tools are needed?

Other Q's:
- What can I do in the meantime to train my skills? (will be making a garden and learning to hunt)
- Anything glaringly obvious I overlooked?
- Idea of how to get started, specifically pertaining to the fact that I will be getting a plot w/o house (cheaper) and building one.. which will take time.

For the near future I mostly need advise on what type of truck to get, as I'd be building my own home, and hopefully milling my own lumber (and may need to haul it a ways) I figured a larger-ish truck would be nice. I was looking at the F150 because my car should trade in for 7.5-8k, and if you look at like 10 year old F150's (4x4, towing setup) they can be around 8-10k, so I wouldn't be down much. I also want to buy everything I need before looking for land because that way I can use them, get comfortable with them, and then move out to the land sooner. I do have an old trailer of my dad's that he was going to get rid of, so at least I'll have that to haul stuff.

I am aware that it's a rather large post, but I've been researching quite a bit, and any advise I could get would be more than welcome. NH seems lovely and the taxes low, and the homesteading or more rural lifestyle strikes a chord in my heart as a perfect way to live. Ideally one plot of land with power/cable would be the best fit, but I was wondering your thoughts on getting 2 pieces of land and hauling wood back and forth instead as far as whether it seems like a good idea or not.

Thanks in advance!