Looks awesome! Love the color difference. Great use of otherwise dead trees etc. You both do great work! Using the proper equipment always makes good sense & helps to accomplish the goal!
My wife and I recently purchased some land with timber as well. There is a fair amount of downed timber and this is what I was planning on doing to create some trails and clean up the timber.
Sorry, I am a month behind on TH-cam videos. Just wanted to say Hi from Minnesota, and that I really am enjoying this build series you two have started! Thank you for being specific about all of the building, permitting, and planning details, it's very helpful to me. I am helping my folks get some ideas for their wooded property, and having your vlog as a visual helps them see potential project ideas. I watched Eamon & Bec's Canadian series, and they renovated a cabin, but failed to involve their city in the permitting department, and got reported to the authorities for just building steps, decks, docks, installing windows, etc without permission or an engineer to oversee safety. In contrast, you two are realistic, and taking the proper steps. Now that things are opening up some, I hope Diana has been able to get home to visit family. The pandemic really has made us shift our ideas of the future, but I think in a lot of good ways. As far as the wood chips, I did that on my property, and enjoyed the results. They did, as you said, decompose after a year, but I'm all for using what you already have, to get started, and you did have a lot of wood chips! It completely makes sense, because it's not permanent, and as you experience winter, snow removal issues, and managing growth, runoff, mud, and muck, you might change your mind as far as exactly where you want the various access paths to be. First, focus on being functional, and second, be aware of everything natural, as you are, and see where the wasps go, where the chipmunks dig holes, where the deer like to walk (and potentially munch on your future landscaping). Have you been watching Simple Living Alaska? They have some great experience adding gravel to their driveway, so they have space to manage snow, a garden, greenhouse, they bought a sawmill and use there trees on their property to build 2 nice lean-to pavilions for garage space, and have even had a failed root cellar which flooded (so they filled it in and shifted plans). Anyway, it's so cool, Matt, that you will just be a Brit and go outside even in the rain. I learned, when I worked in the Lake District years ago, that you just put on your waterproof trousers, wellies, and carry on with whatever outdoor things need to be done. Carry a thermos of hot tea, and make the best of the weather. It's so funny, in the US, we cancel things when it rains, lol. I'm still enjoying working on my solar system, I'm so glad you did that breakout session for the virtual RTR last summer, and that I found your channel. Take care!
Hi Brenda! Thank you for the thoughtful message and I'm glad you are enjoying this series. I (Diana) have been watching Eamon & Bec's channel as well, and it is unfortunate that they didn't think of building permits, but I think many people don't even think about that when they are just doing a remodel. I have seen some Simple Living Alaska videos, including about their root cellar. I especially enjoyed their videos about birch sapwood harvesting because that's something I remember doing while growing up in Latvia. I sure want to try that in Vermont too :)
@@AdventurousWay Hi Diana, yes, birch tapping would be fun to try. My parents have some birch trees. We've tapped 🍁 maple trees, as well. When I was 3 years old, my grandpa and I picked up some helicopter seeds (maple) on a walk to the park in Minneapolis. We planted them in small cups, and the next year we transplanted the sapling to my parents lake, where I am inspired to start with a wood chip path, like you two started with. This summer I hung a hammock on my maple, and looked out over the peaceful lake. You should consider planting a tree next year! You can watch it grow over the years :)
I have done this with our property and found that when we put down a layer every year for about three years we had something that lasted quite a bit longer without weed encroachment and it you put larger branches and smaller trunks along the edges it will hold the chips in place. We’ve been doing this for 5 years now and it still looks great. Holes and ruts are easily fixed by just adding more chips as needed.
Not too much , it’s comfortable and reaches a level of firmness as it settles and converts to soil that I find very consistent, just don’t eat the mushrooms. We continue to use this throughout our farm, we’ve never regretted it.
Yes the wood chips make a lovely addition. They should make walking much more comfortable and perhaps give ticks fewer chances to get to you. Once the actual road is in, your container arrives & is lockable, a wheelbarrow will be a very helpful addition to your tools shed. It's such a beautiful area!
@@AdventurousWay checkout the ones from LL Bean. They are wood and have two wheels. Not sure if they still make them, but they lasted longer than any regular wheelbarrow I've ever had.
Looking good! I look forward to seeing how your experiment with the chips works out. In regards to clearing the new driveway thru the woods, you might want to look into getting a brush cutting blade for your trimmer. I looks like a big 3 point throwing star. You can clear everything up to about a half inch with it. The string trimmer works well on your ferns but not so much on bigger stuff. I have a Stihl FS85 and it gets used quite a bit with the brush cutting blade on there 80% of the time. The string head I only use around structures. Just a thought.
The string trimmer we bought supports universal attachments, so we could buy, for example, a Ryobi brush cutter and connect it to the power head of the string trimmer. The only reason I didn't was because I was nervous about hitting rocks we couldn't see in all the undergrowth but in hindsight I think we'd have been fine. Lesson learned for next time - great tip!
Yes we do! We plan to use the stones to build a wall where the previous entrance opening was and if there are leftovers maybe add some along the driveway entrance curving in.
Trail is looking good! Gotta love those tractors making life a tad bit easier. Do you have a box blade or rake for it? Might help save your back a bit when spreading material in the future. Looks like a fun adventure getting things setup at the home base. - Shane
We were just saying yesterday how invaluable the tractor is already proving to be! Before we bought it we drew up a shortlist of all the things we thought it would be able to help us with, but we knew that there'd be loads more things we hadn't even thought of. We've used it for lots of things already where renting equipment just wouldn't be worth it, but since the tractor is just sitting there we put it to use! We don't have a box blade or rake, but we can rent one easily enough. We'll probably use something like that (and probably a brush hog too) when we're ready to clear the rest of the trails properly, but for this short section a bit of sweat equity was enough this time.
For getting the RV on the land, or having the house built? We don't really have a target date for either, but aspirationally our plan was to see if we could get the RV on the land before winter this year, then work on the house next year. At this point, it's probably unlikely that we'll get the RV on site this year, and if so, we'll pick that up in spring. We're not really trying to work to any rigid timeline.
@@AdventurousWay I was thinking house. Depending upon how much work you do yourself, I estimate 1 1/2 years until the house is ready. That's if you hustle. 😉
I think that estimate is probably fair to optimistic, lol! We'd rather take our time, do things properly and build a house we love than rush to hit some artificially imposed deadline. Once we get the RV on the property with all utilities hooked up, we'll be perfectly comfortable so no need to rush.
Haha, I was being plagued by them while recording that video; didn't even notice that one until I saw the video afterwards! Fortunately once I got my helmet on and started moving on the tractor, they didn't bug me any more.
Looks awesome! Love the color difference. Great use of otherwise dead trees etc. You both do great work! Using the proper equipment always makes good sense & helps to accomplish the goal!
Thank you Tina!
I love the way the trail turned out.
Me too! and can't wait for more of our trails to look like that.
My wife and I recently purchased some land with timber as well. There is a fair amount of downed timber and this is what I was planning on doing to create some trails and clean up the timber.
Congratulations on your purchase!
Yes! The driveway cometh.
Yes! Can't wait!
Sorry, I am a month behind on TH-cam videos. Just wanted to say Hi from Minnesota, and that I really am enjoying this build series you two have started! Thank you for being specific about all of the building, permitting, and planning details, it's very helpful to me. I am helping my folks get some ideas for their wooded property, and having your vlog as a visual helps them see potential project ideas. I watched Eamon & Bec's Canadian series, and they renovated a cabin, but failed to involve their city in the permitting department, and got reported to the authorities for just building steps, decks, docks, installing windows, etc without permission or an engineer to oversee safety. In contrast, you two are realistic, and taking the proper steps. Now that things are opening up some, I hope Diana has been able to get home to visit family. The pandemic really has made us shift our ideas of the future, but I think in a lot of good ways.
As far as the wood chips, I did that on my property, and enjoyed the results. They did, as you said, decompose after a year, but I'm all for using what you already have, to get started, and you did have a lot of wood chips! It completely makes sense, because it's not permanent, and as you experience winter, snow removal issues, and managing growth, runoff, mud, and muck, you might change your mind as far as exactly where you want the various access paths to be. First, focus on being functional, and second, be aware of everything natural, as you are, and see where the wasps go, where the chipmunks dig holes, where the deer like to walk (and potentially munch on your future landscaping).
Have you been watching Simple Living Alaska? They have some great experience adding gravel to their driveway, so they have space to manage snow, a garden, greenhouse, they bought a sawmill and use there trees on their property to build 2 nice lean-to pavilions for garage space, and have even had a failed root cellar which flooded (so they filled it in and shifted plans).
Anyway, it's so cool, Matt, that you will just be a Brit and go outside even in the rain. I learned, when I worked in the Lake District years ago, that you just put on your waterproof trousers, wellies, and carry on with whatever outdoor things need to be done. Carry a thermos of hot tea, and make the best of the weather. It's so funny, in the US, we cancel things when it rains, lol.
I'm still enjoying working on my solar system, I'm so glad you did that breakout session for the virtual RTR last summer, and that I found your channel. Take care!
Hi Brenda! Thank you for the thoughtful message and I'm glad you are enjoying this series. I (Diana) have been watching Eamon & Bec's channel as well, and it is unfortunate that they didn't think of building permits, but I think many people don't even think about that when they are just doing a remodel.
I have seen some Simple Living Alaska videos, including about their root cellar. I especially enjoyed their videos about birch sapwood harvesting because that's something I remember doing while growing up in Latvia. I sure want to try that in Vermont too :)
@@AdventurousWay Hi Diana, yes, birch tapping would be fun to try. My parents have some birch trees. We've tapped 🍁 maple trees, as well. When I was 3 years old, my grandpa and I picked up some helicopter seeds (maple) on a walk to the park in Minneapolis. We planted them in small cups, and the next year we transplanted the sapling to my parents lake, where I am inspired to start with a wood chip path, like you two started with. This summer I hung a hammock on my maple, and looked out over the peaceful lake. You should consider planting a tree next year! You can watch it grow over the years :)
I have done this with our property and found that when we put down a layer every year for about three years we had something that lasted quite a bit longer without weed encroachment and it you put larger branches and smaller trunks along the edges it will hold the chips in place. We’ve been doing this for 5 years now and it still looks great. Holes and ruts are easily fixed by just adding more chips as needed.
how is it to walk on? has it gotten too soft and spongy over the years.
Not too much , it’s comfortable and reaches a level of firmness as it settles and converts to soil that I find very consistent, just don’t eat the mushrooms. We continue to use this throughout our farm, we’ve never regretted it.
Yes the wood chips make a lovely addition. They should make walking much more comfortable and perhaps give ticks fewer chances to get to you. Once the actual road is in, your container arrives & is lockable, a wheelbarrow will be a very helpful addition to your tools shed. It's such a beautiful area!
Thank you, glad you agree :-) a wheelbarrow will definitely be in our future!
@@AdventurousWay checkout the ones from LL Bean. They are wood and have two wheels. Not sure if they still make them, but they lasted longer than any regular wheelbarrow I've ever had.
These kinda videos are satisfying 👍
Looks great guys!!!
Thank you!
It looks so very nice!!!
Thanks Joyce! It was a bit of an experiment so we'll have to see how it holds up, but we think it looks wonderful :-)
Looking good! I look forward to seeing how your experiment with the chips works out. In regards to clearing the new driveway thru the woods, you might want to look into getting a brush cutting blade for your trimmer. I looks like a big 3 point throwing star. You can clear everything up to about a half inch with it. The string trimmer works well on your ferns but not so much on bigger stuff. I have a Stihl FS85 and it gets used quite a bit with the brush cutting blade on there 80% of the time. The string head I only use around structures. Just a thought.
The string trimmer we bought supports universal attachments, so we could buy, for example, a Ryobi brush cutter and connect it to the power head of the string trimmer. The only reason I didn't was because I was nervous about hitting rocks we couldn't see in all the undergrowth but in hindsight I think we'd have been fine. Lesson learned for next time - great tip!
I hope you plan on saving /rebuilding your stonewall !! Doing such great work
Yes we do! We plan to use the stones to build a wall where the previous entrance opening was and if there are leftovers maybe add some along the driveway entrance curving in.
looks nice! some cardboard on the ground before you put wood chips down would kill the vegetaton better. how do the chips look now!?
❤️🤍💙 THANKS FOR SHARING ❤️🤍💙
Trail is looking good! Gotta love those tractors making life a tad bit easier. Do you have a box blade or rake for it? Might help save your back a bit when spreading material in the future. Looks like a fun adventure getting things setup at the home base. - Shane
We were just saying yesterday how invaluable the tractor is already proving to be! Before we bought it we drew up a shortlist of all the things we thought it would be able to help us with, but we knew that there'd be loads more things we hadn't even thought of. We've used it for lots of things already where renting equipment just wouldn't be worth it, but since the tractor is just sitting there we put it to use!
We don't have a box blade or rake, but we can rent one easily enough. We'll probably use something like that (and probably a brush hog too) when we're ready to clear the rest of the trails properly, but for this short section a bit of sweat equity was enough this time.
What is your projected move-in date?
For getting the RV on the land, or having the house built? We don't really have a target date for either, but aspirationally our plan was to see if we could get the RV on the land before winter this year, then work on the house next year. At this point, it's probably unlikely that we'll get the RV on site this year, and if so, we'll pick that up in spring. We're not really trying to work to any rigid timeline.
@@AdventurousWay I was thinking house. Depending upon how much work you do yourself, I estimate 1 1/2 years until the house is ready. That's if you hustle. 😉
I think that estimate is probably fair to optimistic, lol! We'd rather take our time, do things properly and build a house we love than rush to hit some artificially imposed deadline. Once we get the RV on the property with all utilities hooked up, we'll be perfectly comfortable so no need to rush.
why dont you rent a brush hog for the tracktor and clear that out alot faster
That was our thinking originally, but since we are only spreading woodchips on a short length of trail, it wasn't worth it.
Spread the chips on your driveway.
Our new driveway is going in soon and will be built with a much more robust base to stand up to long term vehicular traffic.
Oh my that mosquito on your forehead.
Haha, I was being plagued by them while recording that video; didn't even notice that one until I saw the video afterwards! Fortunately once I got my helmet on and started moving on the tractor, they didn't bug me any more.