Rich city people who move to the country

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oldsaw

"Been There, Milled That"
Joined
Jul 26, 2004
Messages
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Location
The Land of Fish and Roses
So, I gathered a group of people to go after that "well aged" walnut. They guy's wife had a complete cow. We were making too much noise, making too much of a mess, cutting "valuable logs" into firewood...etc. So much for that one. Some of that stuff was pretty rotten. Anyway, turns out the guy had given no thought as to how the log pile was supposed to disappear, he just wanted it gone, as in no noise, no sawdust, just magically go away.

But, a buddy of mine had a 5 foot long 30" red oak log he said we could mill up, so it wasn't a complete loss. However, my buddy Lester has upped the ante. a 40" walnut and some 20-24" oaks north of KC. We ought to come out fine on that one. He works with the guy who owns the property

Win some, lose some.

Mark
 
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Doesn't that figure!!! I am stuck in the middle of a bunch of them!!! I have a 5.5 acre piece that was given to my wife and I for our wedding 15 years ago. My parents have since sold off the remainder of the 70 acres to a developer. They all knew that I was here when they all bought their houses but the developer had some tricks up his sleeves and made them promises that he couldn't keep.:angry2: He has since died of a heart attack and they are all stuck with me like it or not. There is nothing like a little milling and blocking up firewood on the weekends . :hmm3grin2orange:
 
oldsaw said:
So, I gathered a group of people to go after that "well aged" walnut. They guy's wife had a complete cow. We were making too much noise, making too much of a mess...
Mark
Reminds of these people who move out into a farming area from the city or burbs and then complain about the smell of cow manure they have to endure going down some of "their" roads. They enjoy the milk, meat and poultry from those farms however... clueless.

When I mill a tree in somebodies yard, I always make it a point to try and explain the cold hard facts up front. Noise... if it's recently rained there might be mud from trampling the grass in one small area... fine sawdust that can be raked up but you ain't gonna get it all BECAUSE it's fine sawdust etc etc.
 
Yeah, we were "trampling" her "new" grass too. Any tips on levitating logs to the trailer? He was upset because I wasn't going to mill 4-6" branches and 2to 4 foot long, 12" diameter logs that had been in earth contact for 3-4 years. He thought I had lied to him about milling the logs all together. He got really pi$$y when I told him that there were probably only 10-15 decent saw logs in the pile that hadn't rotted or stained beyond viability for lumber, and even they would be "iffy".

So he was mad because I "lied", and she was mad because we were making a mess and too much noise. Only my first complainer though. I like to stick to redneck people, they have much more realistic expectations.

So you guys know the type. I don't feel too bad about it, I was feeling kind of trapped into a bunch of work for what would all end up to be firewood anyway.

Mark
 
oldsaw said:
He was upset because I wasn't going to mill 4-6" branches and 2to 4 foot long, 12" diameter logs that had been in earth contact for 3-4 years.
Yup, another thing I try and get strait before firing up a saw, once I finally SEE this tree up close, is exactly how much I plan on milling, and thus what I expect to leave as firewood. In most cases I do volunteer to cut up, or help him/her cut up what I'm not milling. I usually even help them move/stack the firewood. Kindof offsets the mess I am making in their yard. But as oldsaw says, some people just have no common sense when it comes to this stuff. Exactly, ask them how THEY would levitate that log out of their yard. (I often get in trouble with my sarcasm... gotta watch that).:jawdrop:
 
amdburner said:
Doesn't that figure!!! I am stuck in the middle of a bunch of them!!! I have a 5.5 acre piece that was given to my wife and I for our wedding 15 years ago. My parents have since sold off the remainder of the 70 acres to a developer. They all knew that I was here when they all bought their houses

That probably didn't do much to help your property taxes though. most places like that end up getting the first guy out eventually due to RE tax increases of 500-700%. know a guy here in the same boat as you. his property taxes have increased from @1K a year to almost $7K year, he can't hold out much longer.....
-Ralph
 
Actually my property taxes made out OK. I am in a double wide (trailer trash times 2!!!) and have these new $300K homes surrounding me. So you can imagine why they are P.O'd. The developer has been working me over since he took control of the property from my parents but no amount of pressure from him was budging me. He started pi%%ing contest with my cousin that owns 10 acres adjacent to the developement over target shooting. He barked up the wrong tree with my cousin and created so much legal stress for himself that he had a heart attack. He is gone now but the BS isn't. My cousin and I have won over a couple members of the developement's association and I am kept abreast of the meetings where I am concerned. They are threatening to come after me because of the "stuff" that I have on my property. It especially erked them when I cleared more trees out, for milling of course, and made things more visible. They were promised "peaceful serenity". Sorry, I was here first is all I have to say.:angry:
 
Funny, I live in the city and have yet to get a complaint about the noise pollution that comes from my 60x80 slice of heaven!!

If I get up early enough I get to see the "working girls" on their way home from the office.
 
I like to stick to redneck people, they have much more realistic expectations. So you guys know the type. I don't feel too bad about it, I was feeling kind of trapped into a bunch of work for what would all end up to be firewood anyway.

:popcorn: WHAT???? How would we know "them type??" :D

Rob
 
A few years back my boss' neighbor tried to have him put out of business on grounds of noise and sight pollution from the mill and fuel wood processor on his land. For some reason she didn't like the mounds of sawdust he has around his property. What I find amazing about the "city folk" is that they come down to the country under the false pretense that it's always all quit and serene. For some reason they don't realize there are people down there trying to make a living. Woodshop got it right, they want all the benefits of our labor without a few minor inconveniences that may come with it. They can think about that the next time they step on their pretty hardwood floors.
 
CaseyForrest,
I always found it interesting to see pics of you milling in your driveway. I was in heaven when I was here alone but my new neighbors do not share the same enthusiasm that I have for chainsaws, firearms, and property rights. All they concern themselves with is property value. They were fully aware of what they were getting into, but, like I stated earlier they were made promises by an individual that thought he could squeeze me out.

Dave
 
amdburner said:
CaseyForrest,
I always found it interesting to see pics of you milling in your driveway. I was in heaven when I was here alone but my new neighbors do not share the same enthusiasm that I have for chainsaws, firearms, and property rights. All they concern themselves with is property value. They were fully aware of what they were getting into, but, like I stated earlier they were made promises by an individual that thought he could squeeze me out.

Dave

Oh, I feel for you!!

I remember planting a few trees along the property line of a dairy farmer because the new sub-division did not like looking at his manure pit, or his barns.

I still get a kick out of driving by there and seeing the White Pines I planted with no branchs as high as the cows can reach. Apparently they like White Pine!!
 
The developer planted 3ft tall scrubby little cedars along my property line to appease the neighbors...... How many years does it take for them to fill out enough to do what he was trying to do? :laugh:
 
amdburner said:
The developer planted 3ft tall scrubby little cedars along my property line to appease the neighbors...... How many years does it take for them to fill out enough to do what he was trying to do? :laugh:

The better question is how big do they need to be before you can productively mill them?
 
CaseyForrest said:
Funny, I live in the city and have yet to get a complaint about the noise pollution that comes from my 60x80 slice of heaven!!
I am as fortunate as casey in this department. I too have a small 50x175 lot, but I am known in the neighborhood as the guy to go to for minor treework or when somebody needs chainsaw work. I mill cants in my driveway all the time with no complaints from neighbors at all. They all benefit from my saws once in a while so it's a win/win situation. Common sense and common courtesy prevails of course, meaning if they have company over, say a picnic or something, I'm not gonna mill wood that day out of respect for them.
 
Guess I am lucky here Delaware, our state has developed a land preservation policy so that we can keep our land as arm land. Even if they develop the land next to me, I still will not have to pay the high taxes for the land and buildings. I will be exempt as long as we leave it in the program. And yes the neighbors moving in from the city are out of luck. We were here first and the land is to be preserved for farm land and farm purposes.
 
lmbeachy said:
Guess I am lucky here Delaware, our state has developed a land preservation policy so that we can keep our land as arm land. Even if they develop the land next to me, I still will not have to pay the high taxes for the land and buildings. I will be exempt as long as we leave it in the program. And yes the neighbors moving in from the city are out of luck. We were here first and the land is to be preserved for farm land and farm purposes.

There is a program like that here in MI as well. County or State Government will pay you to do nothing with your land, leave it as it is. No farming, no development.

Down side is once its in the program, it never comes out, no matter if you sell it to another person. That and you cant do ANYTHING to your own land.
 
In our county we have a "Right to Farm" law. Basically it allows farming or ranching operations to continue even though development (houses and such) is happening nearby. We have the same problem of city people moving to the area because they want to enjoy a rural lifestyle without having any realistic idea of just what goes on out here in the boonies. Its a constant battle to preserve a way of life that we've spent many years creating. In my area we have a 40 acre minimum parcel size and we want to keep it that way.My cows enjoy the peace and quiet.:laugh:
 
There will always be problems wen people move from one place to another and instead to try to adjust to the new environemt, try to change the environment to them.

I had the neighbours from hell for a year, who moved from the country to next door on 800m2 city block with 4 dogs, 2 goats, 6 rabbits, 4 guinea pigs, 20 assorted parrots and an unknown number of cats, not to mention 4 almost human kids and 3 cars not fit for the wreckers yard. The more intersting part was the particular language they all used at the top of their voice. It was a form of pigeon English aided by the repetition of a single auxiliary word every second, made from four letters starting with "F".
 
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