Living on acerage

[Gorilla]

So I moved to an acerage and wanted to see how many other people on here live on one too. And if you had any tips.

i.e. What type of riding lawnmower to get
How to shovel the long drive way
Water issues

[88jbody]

for the drive way get a plow on a quad or get a small tractor
or if you have an old 4x4 get a plow for it.

for a mower if it is a really big lawn remeber nothing runs like a deer...

so when are you building the 1/4 mile track?

[Canmorite]

You can get mowers that have switchable decks for grass/removing snow so that you only need one unit instead of two.

Walker mowers makes them, here's an idea of what I'm talking about http://images.google.ca/images?hl=en...-8&sa=N&tab=wi

There are TONS of attachments for them too.

[S4maniac]

I had a John Deere 318. Both the 48" mower and the snowblower attachments. That took care of 2 acres and a pretty long driveway. Took almost 2 hours to mow the entire thing.

The two main things to look into is water (well, co-op, city?) and sewer (septic).

You'd probably end up with a field septic system. Have it checked and pumped once a year and its pretty maintenance free.

Well water around Calgary sucks. If you have the funds, invest in a reverse osmosis system ($6-7k). Otherwise, count on hot water tanks lasting only 3-5 years.

I loved acreage living.

[legendboy]

Where did you move? How much did it set you back?

Man i would love to live on an acerage

[Graham_A_M]

Originally posted by Canmorite
You can get mowers that have switchable decks for grass/removing snow so that you only need one unit instead of two.

Walker mowers makes them, here's an idea of what I'm talking about http://images.google.ca/images?hl=en...a=N&tab=wi

There are TONS of attachments for them too.

Walker is EXCELLENT, but very pricey. A decent 20hp mower will set you back $20k.
I agree with the suggestion, but I think for a value based option I'd check into a small John Deere ride on mower, as with the attachments needed they'd still come up to around half the price of the base cost of a walker itself.

For a professional (lawn) cut, and for how incredibly reliable they are if you have the bucks, sure get a walker but if your minding your dollars, then I'd suggest weighing other options.
Toro, John Deere, and Cub Cadet all have a variety of mowers with excellent options towards accessories.

[2EFNFAST]

Acreage living ftw

Buy a gas powered snow blower for plowing snow. I bought a decent one at home depot for 1000 on sale.

For lawn tractor, try to find an "older" (mid 90s) John Deere - the new ones are crap. I mean, they're okay if you don't mind replacing parts like spindles and shit every few months. They just don't seem to be able to take the abuse - seems you've got to drop a lot of money (e.g., 8-10k) for a solid, reliable unit these days.

The older ones however are awesome. I've got a 95 JD GT275. 48'' deck...it's an unstoppable beast. The transmission had almost no oil in it for the last 5yrs and it ran weekly without any hiccups (I'm surprised it hadn't seized up). My driveline belt looked like this:



and hadn't been changed in 15yrs, and it ran flawlessly. It's so good I've dumped about 600 into it this year refreshing it up to make certain it lasts another 15.

[5000Audi]

when i lived on a farm years back in sask.. we had a honda 4x4 quad with a rear mount lawn mower..also a front blade for the driveways..we had almost a 1/2 km driveway so it took a long time to do haha.. i think a quad with atatchments are better then a JD or any mower.. plus when you want to go have some fun around the land you can.. the atatchments we had were called Quadavator.. Also a good thing to get if your having get togethers n whatnot... get a old push lawn mower.. fill the gas tank with a gas oil mix.then put it off in the corner of the lot and let her run.. the smoke will keep the bugs away..also if your as lucky as we were with our land, we had a nice doug out to go swimming in..haha it was sweet!.. but yeah good luck with the land lots of work to up keep but sooo much better then city living

[scat19]

Originally posted by S4maniac
If you have the funds, invest in a reverse osmosis system ($6-7k). Otherwise, count on hot water tanks lasting only 3-5 years.

I loved acreage living.

I agree in water purifying, but reverse osmosis is junk. Go with water distillation and also buy a water softener. Not a crappy 100 dollar unit that sits on your wall, but the 4 tank, 5 thousand dollar system that works wonders.

[mr2mike]

Originally posted by S4maniac

Well water around Calgary sucks. If you have the funds, invest in a reverse osmosis system ($6-7k). Otherwise, count on hot water tanks lasting only 3-5 years.

Not all well water. Just depends on what water pool you hit when you drilled your well. I've seen people right next door (relatively speaking) have totally different water compositions. If it's got a lot of iron in the water, then yes it could do wonders on your tanks. Go get a water analysis before jumping the gun.

[Canmorite]

Originally posted by Graham_A_M

Walker is EXCELLENT, but very pricey. A decent 20hp mower will set you back $20k.
I agree with the suggestion, but I think for a value based option I'd check into a small John Deere ride on mower, as with the attachments needed they'd still come up to around half the price of the base cost of a walker itself.

but if your minding your dollars...

Agreed, try and find a used walker if you can. Toros and John deere are great too.

[Q-TIP]

Originally posted by scat19


I agree in water purifying, but reverse osmosis is junk. Go with water distillation and also buy a water softener. Not a crappy 100 dollar unit that sits on your wall, but the 4 tank, 5 thousand dollar system that works wonders.

You sir are a retard. Well water around Calgary, specifically if drawn from the Paskapoo aquifer is far softer than anything a water softener can do.

I have lived on an Acreage for 12 years now and can honestly say that the best water system if you are on a well is to install a large cistern in your basement with a high-volume pump and smaller pressure tank. The well slowly fills the cistern so you don't stress the well itself during peak water usage times as the extra storage in the cistern can be easily accessed. Using this system the hot water tanks are 12 years old and still going strong.

I am a hydrogeologist by the way.


Edit* I have a 20hp John Deere Diesel tractor with a front-end loader and PTO snowblower with a 56 inch mower deck, I can cut 4.8 acres of grass in 4 hours and can clear nearly an acre of asphalt in the winter in 1 hour.

[Q-TIP]

Here are some photos of my setup:



The John Deere




The water system.

[sputnik]

Originally posted by Q-TIP

I have lived on an Acreage for 12 years now and can honestly say that the best water system if you are on a well is to install a large cistern in your basement with a high-volume pump and smaller pressure tank. The well slowly fills the cistern so you don't stress the well itself during peak water usage times as the extra storage in the cistern can be easily accessed. Using this system the hot water tanks are 12 years old and still going strong.

My in-laws have a cistern that holds 300 gallons in their basement. By simply aerating the water going into the cistern from the well they have eliminated any H2S smell and always have constant pressure throughout the house.

[mr2mike]

We get our water filters here:

http://www.waterfiltersonline.com/

Anyone know of a better site or location?

Just seemed fitting for this post as everyone here must use them.

[CMW403]

living on an acreage is one of the funnest things u could ever do. grab a cheap ATV and throw a plow on there for the snow, a riding mower is a must. your gonna love acreage life

[4DoorGTZ]

I'd love to live on an acreage, but land within a 1/2hr of the city is very expensive.... All I'd need is 2-5ac and I'd be happy.

[sputnik]

Originally posted by CMW403
living on an acreage is one of the funnest things u could ever do. grab a cheap ATV and throw a plow on there for the snow, a riding mower is a must. your gonna love acreage life

Apparently the education system in rural Alberta needs some attention.