Jackson Bradley

Ned Harr wrote:Therefore I want to know specifically what makes RVs such a no-no from a purchasing standpoint. I'm not afraid of fixing stuff or replacing stuff in a house or in a car--is an RV that much different from either? What's the big problem?

We traveled full time and still live in the RV full time on our property. It's been over 5 years. We started out traveling with our friends who we are still in touch with. In their first four years, they were on their 3rd RV. Major issues covered under warranty for the most part but not good.

Due to what I read beforehand about RV's, and some of the experiences our friends were having when we were making the decision to full time for a while, I decided to pay more for quality.

The 3 biggest issues with most Rv's are roof/window leaks, condensation/mold, and frame issues.

Frame issues - Find an RV with a high CCC rating. CCC = Cargo Carrying Capacity. This tells you how far away from the weight limit of the axles you are. Basically, how much stuff you can bring with you. Don't max it out and go to the scales once in a while. Simple thing to do that most people are not doing. Our CCC is 4800#'s which we could never get close to. This is due to having a toy hauler that we have no toys to haul except kids toys. However, I have seen toy haulers with a low CCC so you still have to check it out. Not maxing out the CCC is not a guarantee but will lead to fewer or no frame issues from what I have seen.

Condensation/Mold - Use a dehumidifier if you are not in an arid environment. Pretty simple.

Roof/window leaks - Leads to mold, water damage, etc. This is where they can become difficult. If it takes some time for the leak to be discovered, you can be in trouble and need to replace the roof membrane, framing, insulation, etc. These problems are not anything you cannot overcome but as mentioned already, RV construction is not conventional. I would say in order of repair ease it would be Conventional home, Mobile home, RV. Very doable and I would not let that stop you from trying it out. Inspect and seal your roof once or twice a year.



After 5 years of being in ours full time, I have had to make some repairs. Plumbing is pretty normal minus the toilet. Ours has a braided plastic line and plastic fittings that I change out to Pex and brass fittings as leaks occur. Standard kitchen sink, standard bathroom sink, standard shower minus the trap. Plumbing pipe is ABS and is supposed to be more flexible and handle the category 5 earthquake that happens anytime you take your RV on the road. I had some ABS traps leak and replaced them with PVC and it has been fine. I'd probably change them all to PVC as I have issues but have not had many. Our shower has a Hepvo shower trap. I have to take it off and clean it out about once a quarter. The toilet has a seal that needs lubricated with silicone grease and changed every few years. Not a big deal. Wear a rubber glove if you want when you lube it or change it.

For the electrical, there can be some nuance. The receptacles are mobile home style due to needing to be more shallow than a standard work box. I have not needed to replace any but have added a few. There is the nuance with having some appliances and other items DC powered and some AC powered and some are a combination. Also, you will probably have or end up with solar and an inverter. I would say the main issue with electrical will be the campground supply. I hardwired a quality surge protector/monitor after the 2 year mark. I went to push our 50 amp plug into a power pole and the box shorted out. I opened the box up to look and the grounding conductor was sticking out about an inch past the terminal connection and shorted.

For the mechanical, it is straight forward. Akin to portable heating and cooling devices. I hard wired a couple of wall mounted space heater for times when we have electricity.  The hot water heater in ours is electric/propane. It has an anode rod that needs to be replaced just like a full sized one. I had to replace the top half of the AC unit. It was under warranty and I did it myself. Besides carrying it up onto the roof off of a ladder, it was easy.

I guess I don't really see what the big deal is except it will have more maintenance required than your conventional home.

As far as a financial no-no I think my buddy we traveled with said it best when he said; If you want to appreciate vehicle depreciation, buy an RV. This is not always true and depends on the market but it was a funny saying.

Since we knew we wanted quality and good resale value, not the cheapest price, it limited the manufacturers. After seeing all the issues our friends had, it was a no brainer for us. The up front cost is 40%-50% more. Ours has a resale value at about what we paid for it. Not many do.

We narrowed it down to Oliver trailer and ATC toy haulers. I am 6' tall so the Oliver was not for us. ATC uses no wood in the construction. All aluminum and composite materials. Even if we have a leak, I just have to address the leak and won't need to fix any framing. Even the cabinets are aluminum. You get what you pay for is not always a true saying, especially nowadays but buying the ATC has been worth the upfront investment. I would not change a thing.

I say all that to say that if you search for a quality product, you'll have a more pleasant experience. If you buy the cheapest model forest river RV available, it may be painful over time depending on usage.

Tough question to quantify due to personalities.

I had to run into town today to fill up a gas can due to a power outage at my home. I have turkey eggs in my incubator and they are for a buddy of mine so I had it plugged into the generator. Not that I would not have done that for myself but I really would like a good hatch rate for him. They started hatching this morning.

On the way to town, I was behind someone driving 15 under the limit the whole time. Fine with me, not in a hurry and I don't mind driving slow. The other people behind me however.....

On the way back, traffic was backed up into the 2nd light in town (only 2 each direction) and because I could not cross the intersection without blocking it due to the amount of backed up cars, I stopped and waved a guy trying to turn left across my lane through. The person behind me could not see over my big truck and laid on the horn. Providence would have it that he was turning left at the next light and I was going straight and it was red. We stopped next to each other and I got out of my truck and had a quick discussion with this person ha ha.

So during the short 10 min ride to town and the 10 min ride back:

I enjoyed driving slow behind someone driving slow and was stress free. Some of the people behind me, not so much. Evidenced by their unsuccessful attempts to pass in town.
I enjoyed the ride back until the guy laid on the horn over something out of my control and directed the horn at me.
I got stressed out and exited my vehicle to discuss the situation with the person blowing the horn.

Ergo, I had polar opposite experiences in a 20 min period. All due to me and my personality and my stress levels were very different in that short period of time.

I say all that to say that sometimes these things may be out of your hands. My first work boss told me that if I do not love what I do, I should do something else and he said he'd help me find that something else. It has been a mantra of mine since then and I've passed that saying along many times and helped others find things they love to do.

Maybe today evidenced that I need to go to town less or not hatch my buddies eggs for him.

I think weeding or mowing, for me, is a great activity that has no stress and is such a change from my day to day responsibilities. I would say those things are absolutely a form of stress free meditation.

***Edit to add that Egotism was my issue. If only everyone drove as well as I do then we wouldn't have any issues. Egotism, seems to me, to be a lot of the root of stress.

I use the "top down" fire method 95% of the time. That may be called the "fireplace fire" on the illustration.

Works great for just about any situation.

Timothy Norton wrote:For those who keep layers, how do you manage your flock to achieve your egg productions goals?

I've considered adding new generations of hens annually or biannually but I don't have a basis for making that determination.

Do you just raise a flock of hens until they live out their natural lives, do you butcher your oldest hens or maybe something else?

Our egg production goals are home based for our family of 8 and 2 neighbors. I like to have 22-25 hens laying to achieve this.

Due to having a dual purpose flock, my selection process is ongoing as I try to keep the larger hens and a larger rooster or two for meat and egg production. There are other selection criteria along with that but the gist is to select the best from my dual purpose flock and keep the 22-25 hens and 1-2 roosters in addition to tractoring broilers a few times a year.

I use plastic leg bands to identify different generations and genetics. As we go through the broiler season and selections get made out of the new generations, I'll cull or sell or give away some older hens. The rooster culling is an ongoing thing because we have a very hard time getting along with each other once they get to be older.

I prefer to sell or give the older hens away. Sometimes they have only been laying for 12-18 months and need to go because of the ongoing selection process. I really dislike processing hens after point of lay.

I did separate flocks for eggs and meat but it became unnecessary once we got our selection process going and it is much easier to manage one flock. You can select from one flock and incubate eggs from your own selections. From what I have seen as far as hatchery chicks, they appear to be selecting more for egg production than meat unless it is a dedicated meat bird like the Cornish X or rangers.

I say all that to say if all I wanted was eggs, I'd get white leghorns and hatch eggs to replace them every 2 years ,after point of lay.

I will also note that some friends of ours handle this question through the dreaded "chicken math" which we've been fortunate to avoid so far.  

Edy Ki wrote:
I would really appreciate hearing how I can feed my 40 rabbits without buying so much pellets. It is too expensive and with the fuel crisis there may be scarcity. How do you feed them?

There are a lot of really good threads on here like this one:   https://permies.com/t/180997/pellet-free-meat-rabbits

It is labor intensive compared to working a job for an hour and buying X amount of pellets but you don't have to do it all at once. I keep 4 does and 2 bucks for breeders and during the breeding season here, I end up with more than 40 at various stages of growing out.

You have to select for breeders that like to eat the things you give them. They will eat it no matter what if they are hungry but the enthusiastic ones put on more weight. Hay and silage are helpful during winter depending on your climate. You can plan your breeding season around the times of the year that have the most food available and get back down to your breeders only when that time is over.

I let some areas of the yard grow the grass up to a foot or two and hand cut it to feed. I also feed blackberry and raspberry canes that are plentiful here. I also am getting close to 200 comfrey plants and they eat all I can grow as well as the chickens eat it. Oregano, basil, most any garden trimmings. You can free feed a good hay all of the time if available and desired.

Comfrey is the main food for ours out of that list.

My observation from butchering various animals is that deer are leaner than rabbits as a percent of total body weight. I think a lot of folks have and do subsist off of deer meat but I am not sure about the health outcomes. I think the hunter gatherer peoples probably ate a very lean diet and here we are so I suppose it may be fine for most folks.

Here are my opinions and while we have been raising rabbits and eating them for a few years, I only have our experience to share.

The rabbit is very easy to feed without store bough inputs. You can select breeders that have more fat, grow well from what you feed them, breed well, etc. Typically a rabbit litter will display similar characteristics. When you start butchering, you can size up fat content and keep some breeders from that litter if you notice them having a lot of fat.

I have found that the older the rabbit is before you butcher, the more fat they have. 12 weeks verses 16 weeks for example. Of course this may eat into feed efficiency but if you can feed them from your land, it is not much of a concern.

I think at this point I have tried every rabbit butchering and cooking method that I could find. I have found to retain the most fat and use the animal in what I feel is the best way, I have arrived at a permanent method.

I do this: https://permies.com/t/283537/Deboning-Rabbit and save all of the bones for broth. I save all of the fat trimmings, edible organs, and grind it all up with the boneless meat in my grinder. It yields a higher fat content and is very versatile.

The poll results are interesting to me by way of "animals" being an option. We live in a rural area and have folks with all manner of animals in a 10 mile radius. Cows, goats, sheep, pigs. My neighbor 2 houses down rotational grazes 50 sheep on 60 acres. He bushhogs about 4x a year. I asked him why and he said there are things the sheep do not eat and if he does not bush hog, the grazing areas will continue to have more and more of these undesirables. Same comments from my neighbors with cows, goats and pigs.

We have 2.5 acres that I mow and bag with a 2 wheel tractor and 38" mowing deck. 2 wheel tractor was not a poll option...

It takes 3.5 hours to do the whole thing counting emptying the bagger. About 2 months per year I mow every week, otherwise I just hit the fast growing spots and from Nov to Mar, no mowing at all.

Why I really have a great attitude about it is because all of the clippings that I bag go toward a specific purpose. Chicken coop, composting them with wood chips, mulch for garden beds, cover for humanure piles, etc. Also, mowing grass is about the easiest and most mindless thing I do in a given week and I genuinely love the time to be in deep thought for hours at a time.

I have not excluded finding another use for some of these mowed areas but I am not actively pursuing other uses due to the tremendous benefit of that great source of compost material!

Blake Lenoir wrote:Could perennial onions such as walking and others work?

The walking onions are fantastic. In our climate, they are great 11 months of the year and would still be edible the one cold month we have if need be. They are very versatile and basically fool proof.  

I would rank them #2 after #1 Comfrey. Kale would be #3.

paul wheaton wrote: I get the impression that there is huge concern for people that are currently not growing food.  I feel like I have been trying to persuade people to grow their own food for decades, so I want to direct those people to all the stuff I have shared over the last couple of decades.  I do feel the best stuff is my most recent "automatic backyard food pump."

I share that concern due to the learning curve involved in growing your own food and meat. Some people, who do not garden, think it is as simple as going out in your yard and planting seeds and getting a couple of chickens.

Not even taking into account soil preparation, mulching, composting, you have to take a year (or more) to figure out what does well in your location and what your willing to baby that needs extra attention. You have to figure out what you like to eat or take the time to adjust your palate to what you can grow in your area.

For animals, a breeding program is very helpful unless you happen to get some excellent breeders to start with. Selecting rabbits to breed based on size, good mothering, litter sizes, and that they eat the fresh stuff you give them. The plan does not need to be formal or written down. Just mental notes about which rabbit does and likes this and that.

If you are raising non commercial chicken breeds, selecting for size is very helpful. Seeing how much of your livestock you can feed from your land. We know if chicken feed became unavailable, we need to cull down to about half of our flock number and then could keep them alive.

I am sure folks here can multiply examples.

I am saying these things as an encouragement, not a discouragement. The learning curve is a lot of fun and very satisfying to solve a piece of the puzzle every so often and try new things.

But the learning curve does exist and the encouragement from us would be to start now. Even if it is only a balcony or a suburban yard.

This deboning method is an absolute gamechanger!

It was quite a learning curve but I have the times down now. Not near as fast as the video but not bad and it is worth the extra time. It took about a dozen rabbits to really understand the video and all that is happening in the 5 minutes.

I processed some today and weighed them through the process to see how it works out. I weighed 2 grow outs:

5.5# each live weight
3# dressed (no head, guts, fur)
2.25# boneless

Mileage varies on how the ratios play out due to how you select your breeders. I prefer a stiff boning knife. I have a few that are semi-flexible but used the most rigid one and it did the best. The bones and little bit of remaining meat go to make broth.

If you've been underwhelmed with cooking options for whole or parted out meat rabbits, this is the solution.

Also, deboning the entire carcass at once yields more meat than deboning pieces. Pretty amazing.