Time

Lately I've been more pre-occupied with the concept of time and my own aging. In many ways having kids makes you think about your own mortality. It's not something I enjoy thinking about, realizing that life is passing me by and that I very well may be halfway through it. This is a very unpleasant thought and my body gets very tense at the mere notion that the blip of my existence is whizzing by so quickly. It is so unpleasant to consider that I think I will not continue to expound on it.

Time also comes into play often with the ranch. Carly and I have a really great vision of what the property can become. We've done so much in the 3.5 years that we've been here, and have accomplished so many things, but the list of projects that lies ahead and continues to grow in way that at times seems daunting. The property boasts so many great assets, but they hadn't been properly cared for in the 15 years before we moved onto the ranch. For example, the chicken coop was a really well built structure, but it needed a total refurbishment that took me a year to complete. And there are a bunch of other structures that need the same. It's about an even split between trying to keep the existing things in good condition and trying to add new aspects to the property.

At the beginning of the year we renovated the ancillary house which was way overdue for some upgrades. I did a majority of work on that myself with the help of some tradesmen we know. We're now living there while we renovate the main ranch house. That work is being done by a GC, but it still is generating projects for me like building the outdoor kitchen for the beer fridge and flattop. Once the house is done then it'll be time to focus on the landscaping, where we have big plans for a garden, bike grotto, greenhouse and tool shed. Those alone are a few years worth of projects.

But the truth is that I love doing it, and I love seeing it come together as part of our vision. I have no problem investing my time, sweat and money into this ranch. I'm building on the progress made by Carly's father and grandfather. If I can make progress on making this ranch a better place for my kids, I think that would make my blip of an existence might be worth it.

The Three Most Useful Tools to Have on the Ranch

This is my 4th year living on our ranch, and being on acreage definitely has it's perks and challenges. There is always work to be done on a ranch and the scale of things along with the ample storage opportunities make owning the right tools a must. In the last 4 years I've found these three tools to be absolutely essential to maintaining our ranch.

The tractor in all her glory.

1) The Tractor. Simply put, I don't think we could maintain the ranch without a utility tractor with a front-end loader. I don't even use the tractor to work our ag land, but it's just so useful for so many jobs. Just this last week I've used the tractor to: haul branches to the burn pile, move concrete pavers to a spot where I'm putting a path in, remove the sod/dirt where said path would go. Combine that with the implements like the box blade and the auger, the tractor is the most expensive but also the most necessary piece of equipment on the ranch.

2) The chainsaw. We have about 50 trees on the ranch, which means a large amount of tree trimming and deadfall. We also have a wood fireplace so I spend considerable time cutting up wood for firewood, and it simply wouldn't be possible with our chainsaw. When we first moved here we had a very old electric chainsaw and a crappy Poulon Pro that barely ran. I quickly went out and bought a 50cc Stihl Farm Boss that is a fantastic tool for the ranch and a smaller polesaw that can pretty much do everything I need.

3) The utility trailer. Our first few years on the ranch we relied on just having our ranch truck to haul things. But like most trucks you can't fit a 4x8 sheet or other large items in the bed, and getting things up into the bed can be a pain. After a year it became clear that we needed something bigger. I got a 10x5 utility trailer with a fold down ramp and have use it so much more than I imagined. At first I thought it would be used just to haul materials and take dump runs (which happens at least one a month). But it's been super useful for a variety of other tasks as well. I've used it to pick up furniture and vanities saving myself big money in delivery fees. When I needed to get some sand from the local rock yard for the paver project, the trailer made it super easy to haul and then unload. 

Honorable mention tools:
1) Zero Turn Mower - A must for mowing around the trees in the orchard
2) Paint sprayer
3) Power Washer
4) Pit in the garage - a must have for doing your own oil changes and general vehicle maintenance
5) Wagons - I use wagons all the time to move tools and materials between the buildings. I'm not hauling around 5 gallon buckets of paint!

Tools I'd like to have:
1) Trencher. I'm often thinking about running water or power to various part of the ranch but without a trencher it's a bit of a pain. I think I could get an implement for the tractor to make this job much easier. In the long run I think a trencher would be a worthwhile investment.
2) Wood splitter - I currently rent one which means I need to process and stack 2 cords in one day which is an absolute killer of a day. With a splitter I could spread that job out across a few months, but they're so expensive compared to how often I'd use it.
3) Bucket truck - It'd be nice to have a cherry picker, boom lift or bucket truck to do high work in. It'd be nice to be able to trim tall branches, string lights, repair barn rafters, or literally pick cherries in a bucket. I see these come up at auctions all the time, but they are still pretty expensive. Someday though it could be a really useful tool.