Going off the grid, our family story.

[Flyinbowtie]

For an update on the pond, yes. That's only one piece of the work in progress. I still have a bunch more content, I haven't even told the story of making a rookie mistake which ended up with a hole in the water line 298 feet down in the ground.

I worked for a water well drilling company for 2 years before going to the cop shop full time. The owner was one of the first in this area to use modern air drills, that IR rig looked very familiar to me. So let me pull my 30 odd year old experience file open with my old brain and take a stab at it.
Looked like you were using poly flex pipe to hang the pump, we hated that stuff. Anything deeper than 60 ft. and we used Schedule 40 PVC,(and sometimes 80, depending on the depth of the hang and the size of the pump) and glued threaded ends to each section, or we wouldn't hang the pump. The flex pipe would split longitudinally when subjected to the torque of the pump starting. If the flex pipe has been improved that is a good thing.
Me, I'd still be hanging that big ass pump you bought on threaded PVC. Pain in the ass but doesn't fail. Just one old guys opinion.There are three wells on our place, I hung the pumps on all three of them. Moms is hanging at 200, the other two are hanging at 100
My Mom's has been in the ground since 1980.
Pioneer Pumps used to be the best, I hear they are not anymore.
The other thing I noticed was the lack of torque arrestors on the pipe. If your pump is hanging at 275 ft. I'd put two on it.
These devices clamp onto the well pipe and push out against the sides of the hole or casing, and keep it from twisting when the pump starts. Think about what that electric motor does when it starts hanging on the end of a 250 ft. pipe...

I could be wrong, probably are, but it is fun to wake up the brain cells and speculate...

You built a cool set up for pulling the poly...but just thought I''d share...

 

[wash11]

Why not a vinyl or rubber liner for the pond?

If built correctly, a clay lined pond will last generations. There is also an added benefit of the minerals Bentonite clay brings to the pond for fish and aquatic life requiring little to no additional inputs to keep healthy. It's more work to do up front but there are less worries down the road. A liner will have to be replaced at some point which kills an ecosystem you spend 20 years trying to build.

 

[shenanigans]

I worked for a water well drilling company for 2 years before going to the cop shop full time. The owner was one of the first in this area to use modern air drills, that IR rig looked very familiar to me. So let me pull my 30 odd year old experience file open with my old brain and take a stab at it.
Looked like you were using poly flex pipe to hang the pump, we hated that stuff. Anything deeper than 60 ft. and we used Schedule 40 PVC,(and sometimes 80, depending on the depth of the hang and the size of the pump) and glued threaded ends to each section, or we wouldn't hang the pump. The flex pipe would split longitudinally when subjected to the torque of the pump starting. If the flex pipe has been improved that is a good thing.
Me, I'd still be hanging that big ass pump you bought on threaded PVC. Pain in the ass but doesn't fail. Just one old guys opinion.There are three wells on our place, I hung the pumps on all three of them. Moms is hanging at 200, the other two are hanging at 100
My Mom's has been in the ground since 1980.
Pioneer Pumps used to be the best, I hear they are not anymore.
The other thing I noticed was the lack of torque arrestors on the pipe. If your pump is hanging at 275 ft. I'd put two on it.
These devices clamp onto the well pipe and push out against the sides of the hole or casing, and keep it from twisting when the pump starts. Think about what that electric motor does when it starts hanging on the end of a 250 ft. pipe...

I could be wrong, probably are, but it is fun to wake up the brain cells and speculate...

You built a cool set up for pulling the poly...but just thought I''d share...

Well drillers in this area won't use poly pipe on anything over 70-80 feet. In the southern part of Wisconsin, it's not uncommon for a residential water well to be 7-800 feet. Those get hung on iron pipe. For depths greater than 80' they use schedule 80 pvc.

 

[Flyinbowtie]

Well drillers in this area won't use poly pipe on anything over 70-80 feet. In the southern part of Wisconsin, it's not uncommon for a residential water well to be 7-800 feet. Those get hung on iron pipe. For depths greater than 80' they use schedule 80 pvc.

Iron, huh? wow.

I pulled a couple of pumps that had been hung on galvanizedpipe, after a few years in the water that was the nastiest stuff you can imagine. If we knew it was galvinzed we were pulling we'd just take the S-80 with us. No way I could ever put that stuff in the ground on a water system for domestic use...

Back to the topic at hand...

 

[shenanigans]

Yes, galvanized. The term is used interchangeably here. Isn't this an awesome read?

 

[wash11]

dam impressive ...:thumbsup
curious how is your water rights handled in Az? pretty familiar in rural Nv and S.Utah. just the cost of water would be ridiculous in Nv.


I really appreciate the time into the thread, got the land/water/power/building.. its just a huge leap...congrats on going for it!!

This is where contacting ADWR (Arizona Department of Water Resources) was a big help. The original plan had surface runoff as a partial way to fill and maintain the pond level. Although that requires a lot more dirt work to direct and filter sediment before it hits the pond, it just seemed like a good way to go. Come to find out, that falls under "surface water rights" and requires the ADWR to get involved. There is a permit process, neighbors have a period of time to object if they think you might be taking water they might use etc. It's absolutely doable, just some hoops. No neighbor would complain as we have flash flooding in every wash below us during the monsoon season. Anyone trying to slow that down is helping everyone.

I asked about building the pond off contour so no runoff would go in and pump from my well. As long as you pump less than 35 gallons per minute you are fine. I told her I had a 6 gpm solar pump and she tried not to laugh. So ADWR gave the thumbs up to the new design idea and off we went as we are outside any Active Management Areas. At the county level, we filed for and were granted a agricultural exemption for the property which alleviates us from the hassle and expense of permitting projects like these as long as it is agriculture related. It's not hard to show that the entire purpose of the pond is for agriculture, especially when you factor in livestock will be given access as a stock tank if and when we have to leave for any extended length of time.


Arizona and Mohave County are very supportive of agriculture and rural endeavors. I have heard what people in California and Nevada have to go through and it does not sound pleasant.

 

[FlatNv]

Thanks wash...I see consulting in your future LOL...the time and planning you have into this is impressive on its own:thumbsup

 

[wash11]

I worked for a water well drilling company for 2 years before going to the cop shop full time. The owner was one of the first in this area to use modern air drills, that IR rig looked very familiar to me. So let me pull my 30 odd year old experience file open with my old brain and take a stab at it.
Looked like you were using poly flex pipe to hang the pump, we hated that stuff. Anything deeper than 60 ft. and we used Schedule 40 PVC,(and sometimes 80, depending on the depth of the hang and the size of the pump) and glued threaded ends to each section, or we wouldn't hang the pump. The flex pipe would split longitudinally when subjected to the torque of the pump starting. If the flex pipe has been improved that is a good thing.
Me, I'd still be hanging that big ass pump you bought on threaded PVC. Pain in the ass but doesn't fail. Just one old guys opinion.There are three wells on our place, I hung the pumps on all three of them. Moms is hanging at 200, the other two are hanging at 100
My Mom's has been in the ground since 1980.
Pioneer Pumps used to be the best, I hear they are not anymore.
The other thing I noticed was the lack of torque arrestors on the pipe. If your pump is hanging at 275 ft. I'd put two on it.
These devices clamp onto the well pipe and push out against the sides of the hole or casing, and keep it from twisting when the pump starts. Think about what that electric motor does when it starts hanging on the end of a 250 ft. pipe...

I could be wrong, probably are, but it is fun to wake up the brain cells and speculate...

You built a cool set up for pulling the poly...but just thought I''d share...

It will be interesting to see how well it holds up over time. Talking with the pump manufacturer, they gave me the specs on how far up to tape the tubing and gave me tips on how to be sure the safety rope was holding some of the weight. It is a relatively low power pump and they claim that twist isn't an issue with that pump but to be safe, tape as one unit so any twist is spread out over the length of the tubing.

One of the pump guys I bought parts from said firmly, "We don't like that stuff". I asked why and his wife piped up from behind, "Because guys like you are able to set pumps yourself without a boom truck!"

If at some point I start to have troubles with it, I'll for sure share what I learned.

 

[Flyinbowtie]

Here is an example of the clamp I am talking about. Cool stuff for a rancher on this website too.

http://deanbennett.com/pipe-tools.htm

The one we had worked fine on S40-80 PVC.

 

[blacksockdown]

Pad 2. If you have never watched a big dozer rip solid rock before, put that on your to do list. Deliciously violent.

On big jobs.I got up close when D9s would dig my test pits when i was a soils guy.Awesome/powerful machines.Rip like a mofo too...

 

[Stainless]

Hey Wash, do you have a device to check the water level in your well?

 

[MissB]

Subscribed! Great thread, super interesting and amazing to see this all unfold!!! I was sad to get to the end.... looking forward to the rest!

 

[prosthogod]

I don't think you covered the most important questions. What is the elk and deer herd like, and what unit do we put in for?

 

[rivermobster]

3 months with no cell phone, no crap food and sleeping sundown to sun up kinda resets a guy. I wrapped that project up feeling better than I had in years.

I just can't stop thinking about this...

It's the feeling I get when I'm out hiking for a week or so, but spending three months at it? Fuck Joel. Like I said, I can't stop thinking about it...

 

[Loony Toon]

Cerbat Excavation. Do you know Keith Walker?

 

[STV_Keith]

Big thanks to you for taking the time to document what many of us could only dream of doing. Quick question about this picture...what's the wooden structure in the top, right corner? Not covered yet but yours or a neighbors or what?

 

[wash11]

Big thanks to you for taking the time to document what many of us could only dream of doing. Quick question about this picture...what's the wooden structure in the top, right corner? Not covered yet but yours or a neighbors or what?

That is my neighbors place. Typically we don't see it but you're sitting pretty high in that loader. Good eye:thumbsup

 

[boatnam2]

Awesome story! I wish we could get the progress pic to show again.

 

[Flying_Lavey]

This is awesome!! I think if I were in this situation and had to decide what to do for a house, I'd probably have to go with a new manufactured home on a permanent foundation. There are a bunch of companies that make some crazy nice ones now that you would have no idea were manufactured.

 

[Taboma]

This is awesome!! I think if I were in this situation and had to decide what to do for a house, I'd probably have to go with a new manufactured home on a permanent foundation. There are a bunch of companies that make some crazy nice ones now that you would have no idea were manufactured.

I agree and exactly what we keep tossing back and forth for our little slice of heaven. But, at least out in more rural AZ a couple of years ago, with construction still slow, it seemed stick built was less expensive and offered better long term value. Seemed despite the period of recession, the price of manufactured homes kept climbing. Not sure now, how they compare. I'm just not finding manufactured homes that are more of a mountain home style.

So I'm going to continue to enjoy this thread and wait with great anticipation for the chapter on ranch housing solutions

I will admit to being more than curious where the hell he's been sleeping all these hard working months, hell years

I raised the prospect with my wife about camping out on our property, but after hearing that the local rancher bagged a big cat on our property after it killed a calf, camping is OUT :yikes

I might just have to pick up an older motorhome or perhaps rent one for a long weekend

 

[wash11]

This is awesome!! I think if I were in this situation and had to decide what to do for a house, I'd probably have to go with a new manufactured home on a permanent foundation. There are a bunch of companies that make some crazy nice ones now that you would have no idea were manufactured.

I have always wanted to build my own house even though I have no real construction experience. It should prove to be quite the entertaining shit show for you guys.
We spent a bunch of time designing our very simple house. Cost was a factor as we refuse to mortgage the property. It'll be a stretch but in the end it will be all ours. It's a passive solar design to stay cool in the summer and warm in the winter, a bit more complicated than that but that's the basic idea. With only one bedroom it allows the room sizes to mimic a larger house even though it is only 1300sq feet so we can still entertain like we are used to. Staying small allows us to focus more on quality materials as well since this is the home we hope to grow old in. Anyone notice the staircase behind the bookcase leading to Amy's root cellar? No sense in wasting wall space

 

[CampbellCarl]

Great house plans! I'd try to work a laundry sink into the laundry room somehow...

And I'm not sure why but emergency exiting is bothering me... I see just one door.

 

[DILLIGAF]

Awesome thread!

 

[wash11]

I will admit to being more than curious where the hell he's been sleeping all these hard working months, hell years

This is where the frugal part comes in. Our 28' 5th wheel came from a tow yard as a wrecked impound. The bedroom wall had been peeled open when it hit something. Unfortunately, it stayed open to the elements long enough through the broken window to do some water damage.

We tore out the entire bedroom and re-framed then covered with the tackiest mobile home wall board home depot had in stock. All the appliances worked and other than replacing the circuit board and thermostat for the water heater has been pretty trouble free. Total investment not including labor to make it livable was less than $2100. It's been home away from home for 2 years and has allowed us to spend our money on the property instead of a fancy place to stay.

Here we are trying to level it with one of our work trucks as we wiped out the rear jacks dragging it up the road that we have since repaired.




Some hardware store Plexiglas was much cheaper than trying to find a replacement window and frame. The silicon dried while my super trick brace held it in place.

 

[wash11]

Over time I collected a bunch of used solar stuff and put it all together with a 1500 watt inverter (also used). It's been over a year since we've run a generator. I'm still under $3000 in to the whole thing with these upgrades.

 

[wash11]

Great house plans! I'd try to work a laundry sink into the laundry room somehow...

And I'm not sure why but emergency exiting is bothering me... I see just one door.

One entry door to the East into mud room, large slider facing South and exit to the West from downstairs root cellar.

 

[025]

I worked for a water well drilling company for 2 years before going to the cop shop full time. The owner was one of the first in this area to use modern air drills, that IR rig looked very familiar to me. So let me pull my 30 odd year old experience file open with my old brain and take a stab at it.
Looked like you were using poly flex pipe to hang the pump, we hated that stuff. Anything deeper than 60 ft. and we used Schedule 40 PVC,(and sometimes 80, depending on the depth of the hang and the size of the pump) and glued threaded ends to each section, or we wouldn't hang the pump. The flex pipe would split longitudinally when subjected to the torque of the pump starting. If the flex pipe has been improved that is a good thing.
Me, I'd still be hanging that big ass pump you bought on threaded PVC. Pain in the ass but doesn't fail. Just one old guys opinion.There are three wells on our place, I hung the pumps on all three of them. Moms is hanging at 200, the other two are hanging at 100
My Mom's has been in the ground since 1980.
Pioneer Pumps used to be the best, I hear they are not anymore.
The other thing I noticed was the lack of torque arrestors on the pipe. If your pump is hanging at 275 ft. I'd put two on it.
These devices clamp onto the well pipe and push out against the sides of the hole or casing, and keep it from twisting when the pump starts. Think about what that electric motor does when it starts hanging on the end of a 250 ft. pipe...

I could be wrong, probably are, but it is fun to wake up the brain cells and speculate...

You built a cool set up for pulling the poly...but just thought I''d share...

In the 80's/early 90's, if that's era you mean, there was a different poly than what is used now. It was thinner. It had and still has a high failure rate. Some of it was sort of green instead of black. Hopefully the new stuff holds up better.

 

[wash11]

We didn't know the first thing about gardening when we started this deal. It looked interesting enough and I always loved getting fresh produce from other peoples gardens as the taste was out of this world compared to what we get from the grocery stores. (If you have not figured it out by now, I love food. Good food that is.)

Knowing that we wanted to be self sufficient years down the line we figured we needed to learn how to grow some grub. We also figured that if we could learn to grow things in a tough environment like Havasu, growing in a place that has topsoil and rain should be a piece of cake.

The kids and I went to Home Depot for some lumber and screws, plus some Bonnie garden starters and spent a day putting beds together. It's been kind of an adventure for sure. Sun, heat, wind, cold, birds and mice all tried kicking our asses the first year. We stuck with it and reached some mild success. Amy and I both enrolled in the Master Gardener course at Mohave Community College going into the second year as we really wanted better results from our efforts. Once we had a good understanding of soil and composting, things turned around for us. Over time we learned how to start from heirloom seeds and later, how to save seeds from the stronger plants in the garden.

We're actually pretty bad at getting pics from the garden even though we are in it every day. I hope to be better at it this next year. It's pretty dynamic, always something different going in. You really start to pay attention to seasons and weather doing this.

 

[Stainless]

I like that digital pump controller. That will give you some heads up if the motor starts to fail. I didn't know poly could be used for discharge piping either. Definitely takes you away from needing a boom truck to remove pump.

 

[wash11]

Next up was learning how to preserve what we were growing. In addition to the garden we were buying in bulk from Bountiful Baskets weekly. $25 buys more organic produce than one family can realistically eat in a week. They have bulk, seasonal add ons as well. Great for making jams and jellys of which Amy is now an absolute pro at. Once canned this stuff can sit in the pantry for years with no change in taste or quality, without refrigeration.
We cook A LOT. Not just for our family, we love entertaining. Buying in bulk like this allowed us to dial back expenses as planned but we didn't have to give up the entertaining we like to do.
We ended up with 150lbs of Tomatoes at give away prices and since we do so many sauces and chilis this was a huge money saving opportunity. Amy estimated we spent between $400 and $500 per year on canned tomatoes for all her recipes. This lasted us a bit over a year and only took a few days before and after work to process. The money saved bought and paid for everything we needed to get started canning and then some.

We do canning as kind of a date night, cocktails and all. Goes way faster with two people.

I don't really recommend cutting your teeth on 150lbs of anything by the way





We started hitting "you pick" orchards while traveling and pay pennies on the dollar for organic apples and pears. Kind of cool to meet the people growing this stuff. Even at the low price the farmer ends up with more money in his pocket when you buy direct like this. Amy turns Honey Crisp apples into the best apple sauce ever, no sugar added and the pie filling is incredible.




Add on from Bountiful Basket turned to jam.



A neighbor up there grows Concord grapes to make wine with. I traded 10 pounds for a quart of our honey and have enough grape jelly to last 2 years.


More add ons from Bountiful Basket turned to Jam.


Each picture below is a typical haul from a weekly basket:

 

[Squirtsfar]

Holly crap this thread is amazing! Thanks for taking the time to share. You and your wife are truly amazing people. :thumbsup

 

[mjc]

When I retire my wife will be needing compost like that

 

[boatnam2]

Is everyone else seeing pics? Maybe it's just my computer.

 

[Stainless]

[SUP][/SUP]

Is everyone else seeing pics? Maybe it's just my computer.

No, I cannot see on computer either but I can on Tapatalk. Even on tapatalk they disappear sometimes.

 

[wsuwrhr]

Is everyone else seeing pics? Maybe it's just my computer.

[SUP][/SUP]
No, I cannot see on computer either but I can on Tapatalk. Even on tapatalk they disappear sometimes.

Works fine for me, bitches!!!

 

[Stainless]

Works fine for me, bitches!!!

Its strange, I went back to beginning of thread and photos are there, but towards end they don't show up on my PC.

 

[OldSchoolBoats]

I can see everything just fine.

 

[underpressure]

You should make this into one those reality TV shows, it's that good!

 

[OutCole'd]

You should make this into one those reality TV shows, it's that good!

X2! That would be awesome, each episode could have been another project. I would watch this over most the other crap on TV.:thumbsup

 

[boatnam2]

Must be something with log in names, 3 different pc's i get nothing. I cancelling my membership dues!

 

[TLAW719]

Next up was learning how to preserve what we were growing. In addition to the garden we were buying in bulk from Bountiful Baskets weekly. $25 buys more organic produce than one family can realistically eat in a week. They have bulk, seasonal add ons as well. Great for making jams and jellys of which Amy is now an absolute pro at. Once canned this stuff can sit in the pantry for years with no change in taste or quality, without refrigeration.
We cook A LOT. Not just for our family, we love entertaining. Buying in bulk like this allowed us to dial back expenses as planned but we didn't have to give up the entertaining we like to do.
We ended up with 150lbs of Tomatoes at give away prices and since we do so many sauces and chilis this was a huge money saving opportunity. Amy estimated we spent between $400 and $500 per year on canned tomatoes for all her recipes. This lasted us a bit over a year and only took a few days before and after work to process. The money saved bought and paid for everything we needed to get started canning and then some.

We do canning as kind of a date night, cocktails and all. Goes way faster with two people.

I don't really recommend cutting your teeth on 150lbs of anything by the way





We started hitting "you pick" orchards while traveling and pay pennies on the dollar for organic apples and pears. Kind of cool to meet the people growing this stuff. Even at the low price the farmer ends up with more money in his pocket when you buy direct like this. Amy turns Honey Crisp apples into the best apple sauce ever, no sugar added and the pie filling is incredible.




Add on from Bountiful Basket turned to jam.



A neighbor up there grows Concord grapes to make wine with. I traded 10 pounds for a quart of our honey and have enough grape jelly to last 2 years.


More add ons from Bountiful Basket turned to Jam.


Each picture below is a typical haul from a weekly basket:

This is awesome. I need to find a program like this with the food here in SoCal.

 

[Scott E]

I can see everything just fine.

Same here.

 

[rivermobster]

Pics look incredible here. I'm hungry now! 👍

 

[TPC]

Worth considering when they come available.
They've put a lot of development testing into them:

http://icewind.is/en/

 

[X-rated]

OK.....if no one else is gonna say it, I will, nice tomatoes!!!

 

[ryanshaw07]

Great read!! Thank you

 

[blacksockdown]

Stunningly unique and overwhelmingly interesting project thread.One of the best ive ever read...

 

[Crackerbox]

What an awesome journey you are on. Thank you for sharing. I sell real estate in the land of preppers and I can honestly say I've never seen anyone do it as "right" as you are. Very impressive.

 

[TITTIES AND BEER]

Hey Mods can we pin this thread at the top so I/we don't have to go looking for it ? :cool

 

[Joe mama]

Not to many women out there these days that can turn an apple into apple sauce, a grape into jam, a tomato into sauce etc. your a lucky man!!!!! Thanks for the story..