Author Topic: New Land Acquisition  (Read 4304 times)

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richhagen

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New Land Acquisition
« on: April 13, 2015, 09:32:45 AM »
Last week I closed on 18 acres about 40 miles outside of St. Louis, on the Illinois side.  There is no power to the property, however there is a pole near one corner of it, I think the wires to that pole actually cross the corner of my parcel.   It is all trees.  there is a sliver of creek on one corner, and the rest is all hills, the start of a ridge between drainage into that creek.  The land is currently zoned for agriculture.  The purpose for the purchase was to put up a storage building and maybe try my hand at growing some things.  Toward that end I may clear a bit of the land for crops, however most will remain forest.  In this diary I plan to document what improvements I manage for that property.  Currently I am only at the planning stage. 

My current thoughts are as follows.  First, I will need to redo an area where I can pull in off of the road as the drainage does not appear to be that good.  There  is a corrugated galvanized steel tube along the ditch with dirt on it currently, but this corresponds with a low spot where there is run off and hence some erosion.  I will need to redo this area and plan to pour a concrete pad for parking.  Currently I plan to put up a small utility building of poured concrete on one side of the parking pad to store a few implements and ultimately put an initial small power system.  vandalism and theft at an unattended property in these parts is a real concern, so I am currently thinking of building the structure out of poured concrete with ample rebar, and to put a single door entry and a steel door and frame with another steel plate door with a protected padlock to secure it.  It will need to be tall enough so that a couple of solar panels are out of sight, mind and out of easy reach on the top of it.    Once this is done, I plan to build a larger structure with a workshop to process any agricultural products from the property as well as store some excess equipment. 

Some of my coworkers seem to think that I will have a 'deer problem' on the property and have volunteered their services to remove a few of them.  I am not much of a hunter of four legged game, so I will probably let one to a few come down in hunting season and try their luck. 

Other than that, I am going to try and inventory the valuable timber on the property and initiate some type of forest management to enhance the economic value of the timber way down the road in the future.
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Bruce S

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Re: New Land Acquisition
« Reply #1 on: April 13, 2015, 01:06:53 PM »
Rich;
Nice looking plot you have there!
I would have offered to assist with culling the herd, but I'm sure you've had more offers than there is a herd :).
Let me know if I can assist with planning stage NiCds my new supplier types are "A" sized and 4Ahr.
You know them as 7.2Vdc 800Mhz radio batteries :->.
I can also assist with raising the barn when that day comes the mind ain't what is used to be , but the back is still solid.
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thirteen

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Re: New Land Acquisition
« Reply #2 on: April 13, 2015, 01:29:47 PM »
Maybe take a quick look at forest management for a tax break if you manage your forest they maybe require you to plant certain trees in the future for that region. A person used to get a state tax break and a federal tax break several years ago on their  forest management. Bees might be a good idea to have. Look into the history of the land and maybe find a old structure there and use a metal detector for a fun excursion.  If there is one look for a well you may have to fill it in for safety reasons or develop it. Best of luck with the new property.
 Just a few ideas. 13
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Frank S

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Re: New Land Acquisition
« Reply #3 on: April 13, 2015, 05:26:06 PM »
when you start your inventory catalog of the current timber do so by creating a series of smaller mapped & numbered grids try to use some sort of semi permanent land marks but avoid attaching anything to the trees since what ever is placed or marked on them will be over grown or cause scars.
 Also if any of the trees show evidence of large burls make a special category to list these as burls often have more value than the amount of timber in the tree.
 A friend of mine in the pacific Northwest felled dead tree for fire wood, that he thought was a deformed old growth tree. It turned out to have been a pair of western ceders that had  grown around an alder, the stump turned out to be worth many thousands. 
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aerotron

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Re: New Land Acquisition
« Reply #4 on: April 13, 2015, 06:26:52 PM »
Consider building a storage shed in the local tradition, with material from a nearby building centre.  Buy all your implements at yard sales and second hand stores so when they might go missing, you won't be crying. I remember when my father bought some rural land, somehow the idea of managing a woodlot led him to allow responsible forestry scouts to mark with paint the irresponsible trees as and incentive to sign a contract with them. I had a laugh when I noticed that there wouldn't be any large old crooked hollow rotten trees left...only the same small single stemmed pole looking trees...zzzzzz....boring...no perchs for birds to land, or hollow limbs for bats or rotten branches for fungi....no no, just sterile monotony!

thirteen

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Re: New Land Acquisition
« Reply #5 on: April 14, 2015, 12:09:55 PM »
aerotron;
I have three of the old trees on my property and they are filled with holes and I get to watch the bates and a few birds live in them. There is a pair of hawks that made one of them their nesting place.  Nature has a pretty good balance for everything. We seem to think we can do better but in most cases we do not manage things that well. 4 inches of snow this morning thank goodness for my warm fire. I'll be able to make sure the wood burns correctly and make a batch of cookies. My elk roast is in the Dutch Oven on top of my heating stove. Lunch about 1:30. 13
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SparWeb

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Re: New Land Acquisition
« Reply #6 on: April 14, 2015, 02:56:53 PM »
Welcome to the country, Rich.
Is this a new sub-division?
Do you have neighbours that do the same kind of forest management that you're considering, or are they clearing their lots?
Might pick up some "what works, what doesn't" tips.
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richhagen

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Re: New Land Acquisition
« Reply #7 on: April 15, 2015, 02:20:13 PM »
Well, there are no immediate neighbors.  There are quite a few homes down the road on the southeastern edge.  The land is tilled for annual crops, corn and soybeans mostly, if it is flat enough, a bit of the hills are pastures, but most are forested like my little plot.  I am not planning to replant the forest, just possibly add a few higher value timber trees here and there.  I am not planning to move there any time soon as I have a few years before I can leave for a pension yet.  I am planning to head down there next week to put in a concrete pad for parking while I am there. and maybe plot out a first utility building. 
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12AX7

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Re: New Land Acquisition
« Reply #8 on: April 16, 2015, 12:10:22 AM »
Sounds like a good time to invest in a small sawmill...

kitestrings

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Re: New Land Acquisition
« Reply #9 on: April 16, 2015, 01:52:50 PM »
Congrat's Rich.  It's a satisfying feeling, even with the complexity/challenges of what to do next, how to do it well.  I always worry that despite having a management plan, and good intentions, down the road someone will discover we've down the wrong thing(s).  Not for lack of trying though.  Enjoy.

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richhagen

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Re: New Land Acquisition
« Reply #10 on: April 19, 2015, 03:11:48 AM »
I am thinking of a workshop with a small sawmill down the road.  I could probably have a bit of fun with that.  I am wondering if I will look back on what I do in the future and think if I made the best decisions, but I have to do something.  It should be a bit of adventure. 
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