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03-06-2008, 06:44 AM
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What would you do?
I need some frugal opinions. My DH and I just bought a six-acre hobby farm after renting for 6 years. We will need to purchase both a lawn mower and something to plow the driveway with. (it is about 500 feet long) What frugal ways would you folks go about getting these items? My DH wants to buy an old pick-up with a plow on it, but I think there are cheaper ways we can about it for the time being. I'd rather use our money for fixing up the house rather than buying a farm truck.
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03-06-2008, 07:46 AM
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Get a riding lawn mower with a snow plow attachment
there is someone in our neighborhood with one, and that looks like fun.
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03-08-2008, 08:10 AM
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It's a question of priorities. Is the hobby farm to be your main residence? Does the house need fixing up to make it livable, or just to make it nice and comfortable? Is the house going to deteriorate if you don't tend to it right away?
Do you need to work the farm to have some income from it? Do you have to be able to get out of that 500 foot driveway every day to go to jobs, or have you perhaps retired and only care to clear the driveway once or twice a week? There might be someone to hire locally to do the plowing and/or mowing. Is the mown area pasture so that you can trade hay for the service of cutting it? Or that you could sell or barter f you cut it yourself? Perhaps you could trade hay for a couple of driveway plowings a year. Will you need hay or silage for your own animals? Do you need just a little lawn for which a push mower will do and then leave the rest as pasture? Will you have animals to graze, or want to let out the acres for grazing? Um, when I grew up we had a little 3 acre pasture which, believe it or not, we sometimes cut by hand--yep, even in the latter quarter of the 20th century. Great exercise and we kids were ignorant enough to think it was fun. But nowadays the grim reaper scythes cost as much as a small mower anyhow. Grass whips are cheaper. But manual labor is an option. The equipment you need surely depends on your plans and lifestyle. But I'm thinking you are calling the place a hobby farm for a reason. It does take some kind of tools and equipment to keep up with it.
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03-09-2008, 12:18 PM
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Will you have day jobs? Thanks for indulging my envy and questions...
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Did you learn something from me? Learn even more at my blog: Sunk Costs Are Irrelevant
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03-10-2008, 06:55 AM
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My husband is 30 and I am 25. I just graduated grad school and work as a soil scientist for an environmental firm, DH is a machinist. We want to work the farm. (we both grew up in agricultural communities and want to live that lifestyle). We are planning on raising alpacas, chickens, guinea fowl, and having a garden. We are hoping that the alpacas provide some extra income, perhaps pay for the farm through their sale and tax write-offs. We've always wanted to own a farm, so we waited and saved until we had a down payment to afford one. Thankfully for us, we found the perfect place, and it had already been on the market for 2 years. The seller was ready to deal down on price quite a bit!
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03-10-2008, 06:59 AM
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These are all good ideas. We have been talking about the ideas you suggested this weekend. Luckily for us, we were poking around out in the barn this weekend and found a riding lawnmower! DH thinks he might be able to get it working. It isn't much but it would get us through for awhile.
There are certainly some strange things out in that barn. So far we have found a 2 person kayak, a lawnmower, several old school desks, and a complete microscope kit. About the plow, we have decided to either look for an old, cheap ATV with a plow attachment or, if we don't find one by next winter, hire someone to do the plowing.
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03-11-2008, 08:02 PM
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03-12-2008, 08:15 PM
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We live on a five acre hobby farm and had the same questions years ago. The best option we found was to buy an ATV with a plow attachment. Works great in WI winters and is alot of fun to use. They are great all year on a small farm. For the lawn we use a riding lawn tractor and that also pulls around a trailer in the field and garden. Now we are downsizing and selling the farm and all the equipment - maybe we could help you out. It is truly a great way of life and wonderful way to raise a family.
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03-13-2008, 09:04 AM
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Alpaca - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
For the rest of you who are like me and was like "What the heck is an Alpaca?" 
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03-14-2008, 08:53 PM
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 Especially from our family when we told them our plan. Now they are used to it and think it is a really neat idea.
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03-14-2008, 08:54 PM
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Are you selling your atv? When is WI are you from?
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03-15-2008, 06:13 AM
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Yes we are. We would like to sell both ATV's, plow attachment and trailer as a package. We also have lots of other hobby farm items to sell - small trailer for a lawn tractor or ATV, drag and disc harrow for the ATV, hand tools, feed pans, chicken feed and water equipment, beef and hog show equipment, etc. We live near Wausau. Email me if you are interested.
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03-17-2008, 07:30 AM
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03-19-2008, 12:39 PM
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Did you learn something from me? Learn even more at my blog: Sunk Costs Are Irrelevant
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