The trailer was not winterized at some time and as a result both sides had major leaks from pipes that were busted from freezing. The plumbing in place was a mix of iron and copper pipes.

The cheapest and easiest way to go would be CPVC. From my experiences with that plumbing material in an old house that was plumbed with CPVC it was not a route I wanted to go. It is fragile and when it freezes it will split along the entire length.

Of all the materials out there for plumbing PEX comes the closest in my opinion to perfect. It’s fast and easy, it lasts longer than many other materials, and the best thing is it can freeze and not bust. I have seen PEX pipe freeze over and over with no damage, that is something other materials cannot compete with. The drawback to PEX is the expense, for what we were doing it was the most expensive option. I do firmly believe in the saying do it once and do it right. I eventually talked myself into going with PEX.

All the old pipes were removed and we ran PEX in its place. Another advantage of PEX is the pipes can come in different colors. We used red and blue to distinguish hot water lines from cold. I had never worked with PEX before but it didn’t take long to get the hang of it. When you get used to working with PEX it is faster than just about anything else. They make metal and plastic braces so you can go around corners without any fittings, just bend the pipe into the brace and the brace will hold it in a 90 degree bend. The fewer fittings you have the less the chance of a failure.

With the plumbing done we were able to move in just before Christmas and begin 2011 on our new property. Freezing weather was right behind us and ground work could not be continued as the ground froze solid in what was one of the worst winters I have ever seen.

The blizzard that happened in 2011 was the most snowfall I have seen at one time. Maybe it wasn’t big for people living in the north, but for Missouri it was a lot with 15″ of snow falling at one time. Luckily we had the tractor moved to the new property and were able to dig out to the road. One drawback to living in the country is the country roads are the last to be cleared, but at least the county does clear them when it is done with the main roads.

The gravel road to our place had drifts which were to big for me to clear with my little tractor. The worst drift was right past our driveway. One of our neighbors used his bulldozer to clear a path to the highway, but it was still deep enough that only a truck could make it out. We had to wait a couple days till the county made it our way.

When we had the trailer in we began work on getting all the utilities ran to it and connected. Water was already at the office, so we planned on running water from there to the trailer. The office is a metal building on a concrete slab foundation. Our first attempt at getting water was to find the main water line coming into the office. We dug four foot down by the back of the office where the water line comes in through the slab. We started started digging further out when we didn’t hit it. After going three feet or so in each direction and digging a little deeper we gave up. Luckily there was a frost proof spigot by one corner of the shop and we trenched over to it to get our water. Either the line coming into the office is really deep, or it comes into the office from a different route, either way I didn’t feel like digging a moat all the way around the office.

While we had a trench we laid several pipes to transfer water from future cisterns at the office and shops. We also ran several telephone lines, LAN cable, speaker cable and other cables at this time while we had a trench. Never let a good trench go to waste.

The trencher we bought dug a 6″ +/- wide trench and could go a little over three feet deep. It was a hydraulically powered walk behind unit. It saved a lot of work, but was a pain trying to run a straight trench with. While trenching it would start to curve and you would have to bring the trencher up and realign. The resulting trench had to be widened by hand in areas so you could fit the sewer pipe into the trench straight.

During trenching the engine on the trencher blew a head gasket. Not the end of the world if you know what engine you are dealing with but we had no idea. The engine was a 8-10hp air cooled engine buried under hydraulic hoses and a solid frame. We finally found the data plate on the side with about an inch clearance between it and the frame of the trencher. Pulling the engine was not necessary for replacing the head gasket luckily, but it took a lot to clean up the data plate so that it could be read with flashlights and mirrors on sticks.

It was getting late in the year and we were flirting with freezing weather. Freezing weather will turn an easy to shovel pile of sand for bedding the pipes into a solid rock that takes a pick to get into manageable size chunks.

Through luck and sheer determination we finished the trenching in December. Our work was far from done, but we were close to being able to move in and take a break. It was not to be though, as we turned on the water to the trailer it flowed everywhere but where it was needed.

Buying a property was only step one. There wasn’t a house on the property only an office and shops. To move to the new property we would have to get a domicile on the place.

When we bought the property it was a collaboration of myself and my two brothers. One brother was going to live on the place as soon as we had a place to live. The other brother was going to live there when he retired from the military which was a couple decades away. He has since went a different route leaving the property shared with only one brother.

So in the meantime we needed a place for my family and my brother. We considered a lot of options, a cabin, a travel trailer, the office and a mobile home. We decided the best option was an old mobile home. We were going to build a house eventually, but we wanted to live on the property until that time and not have to wait til the house was completed.

Mobile homes can be very expensive and as cheap as free. I wanted one that was ready to be lived in or one needing a minor amount of work. I had no desire to buy a new mobile home as we were only needing to use it until we got the house built.

We looked at several mobile homes before we found the one we liked in Iowa on Ebay. It was a late 70’s duplex, a trailer that is divided into two completely separate one bedroom homes that don’t share any utilities. The trailer was divided in half with each half having its own bathroom, living room, bedroom and kitchen. The halves were mirror images of each other. We drove up to look at the trailer and it was very well cared for. It was perfect for us.

The current owners used the trailer the same way we intended to. They were two brothers who had bought a property and moved the trailer there to use while building a house. The house was built and they no longer needed the trailer.

The problem came when we tried to find someone to move it to our place. Because it had to cross state lines it required a special mover. We called anyone we could find to get a quote. We narrowed it down to three with prices ranging from $1,500-$5,000.

While trying to solve the transportation problem the auction for the trailer ended on Ebay with no bids. We were not going to buy it until we were sure we would be able to move it. A couple weeks after the listing had ended I was contacted by the sellers and they offered it at half the original asking price. So we took a chance that we could get it moved and bought it.

We had to buy tires and get the trailer ready to go from its current location. The trailer also came completely furnished, it even had dishes. We had to secure everything inside for the move, and we trucked the AC unit and other items back to our place on the return trip.

We eventually found a good company to work with that also had the lowest bid, so we hired them. We had a lot of work to do fast. My brother took leave from his job and I shut my business down to devote all our time to the property.

We decided to place the trailer on the west end of the centered gravel turn around. We saved the prime location for the future house. We had 300’+ to get to the lagoon and 200′ to the nearest source of electricity and water for the trailer.

We looked into renting a trencher and to hiring the work done. Both were very expensive. So we bought a used trencher for the same amount that the local rental company had wanted to rent a trencher for. We got a good deal and could actually make a profit if we decided to sell it in the future.

We poured piers to rest the trailer frame on. We leveled the ground under the trailer to make any work under it easier in the future. We worked hard and we still had work to be done when the trailer arrived.

The trailer was moved down to our place without a hitch. We still lacked having the utilities ready, but at least the piers were ready.

I have added several books to the free book page.

I need a good starting point here so I will begin with our move to the new property in the fall of 2010. I have always been interested in older technology and farming. Before we moved we had less than six rolling acres to work with. A big reason I was in favor of moving was the opportunity to acquire more land. I was also ready for the true freedom of being outside the city limits as we were currently inside the limits of a small town.

We looked at land in the entire state of Missouri, but the most desired area for us was around our current location in northern Missouri or possibly the KC area. I didn’t want to be too close to KC, but a location closer wouldn’t be bad. Any county with a high population or to close to KC, Columbia or St. Louis wouldn’t be considered. There were many considerations but my main list of requirements at the time were:

1. More than 5 acres of tillable ground with good soil.
2. Water and power at the site.
3. Reasonable in price so that I could pay it off in less than eight years.
4. To not be so remote that my wife has a long drive to work.
5. Not be directly on a major highway.

We looked for about a year. My requirements lowered the available choices by a lot. Bare land can be had at a good price in Missouri, but that price will not be such a good deal when you add the cost of supplying your own utilities or getting them ran to your land.

We settled on 20 acres just south of Macon Missouri. The new homestead was about 12 miles from our old place making the move easier. The land had some drawbacks as all places do, but the location is perfect for us. My wife would have an easy commute to either Macon or Moberly.

Our place in its former life was home to an Independent Stave Company sawmill.

And therein came its largest drawback, the large pile of sawdust in the middle of our property. There were also logs scattered throughout the fields as well as the occasional piece of machinery. While brush hogging I was on constant lookout with one foot on the clutch and the other on the brakes in case I came upon an obstacle.

The place was very run down. I am not sure when the sawmill quit operation, but by the time we bought the place it was rough. The bright side was the potential. The layout was a long drive with all the buildings around a center graveled turn around area in the middle of the property. Three buildings remained, the newer office, and two large shops.

Power was very abundant, we have our own power line coming into the property with three phase power that used to run all the sawmills equipment. Literally enough power to run a factory. The place had county water ran to the office as well as phone service. Sewer was provided by a lagoon.

The property had a very productive pond and the fields were a mix of grasses that were a little overgrown with trees.

I am starting this site to share my experiences with starting a small family farm and our families work towards greater self sufficiency. I have a lot planned for this year, A huge garden, planting an acre of black oil sunflowers, building a living fence along my property line as well as plenty of other goals.

Other items that I may not get to this year are a bio gas processor, a grey water pond and a cistern. As you can tell there is a lot on my plate. I will share what I learn along the way.

-Joseph