Wednesday, May 17, 2023

 Another one of those "Hi there, we are at your RV park, we don't see an office anywhere, do you have anything available for tonight?".  

Lol. What if I didn't? I thought but didn't say. You would have shown up for nothing.  It's amazing how many people have done this, just show up and hope, I guess, there is something available instead of calling ahead.  Well no matter, took her payment over the phone and looked at this motorcoach on the camera.

Wow!  Between that fancy motorcoach and the new looking 4 door, full sized bed dodge ram they were pulling behind it, they must have 300 grand worth of moving parts there.  They didn't fuss about the lot rent, didn't even question it, I just told them the price and it didn't phase them.  

Well, I've slept really good for many nights in a row, so it was not so much fun last night being awake half the night.  I don't know what time I really fell asleep, somewhere around 5 am I think. Of course, now it is late in the day, my version of it anyway, being 9:30 and just getting started.  There isn't any reason for me to force myself out of bed after a night like that, I'll sleep in as long as sleep will continue. 

I got the rest of the mowing done yesterday - which reminds me, writing down the dates. West side - 5/15, east side - 5/16.  

I'm going to go look at harrows today at tractor supply.  They're the only ones in town that sell them and likely anywhere nearby. Beyond that you can buy them online, but the shipping would be ridiculous since it's an all solid metal setup.  The driveway is in bad shape. All the rains have created runners across it where the water is draining and numerous potholes, some of them large.  

I was reading about how to deal with potholes in dirt driveways, for I have tried this in the past in another setting with bad results.  You fill in the pothole but a week later it's just a pothole again.  So the video I was watching made perfect sense:  the walls of the pothole get very rigid.  You can't just fill the holes in, you need to dig up around the holes and break up the stiff, packed dirt.  Otherwise, the dirt or gravel you put in there just bounces right back out every time a vehicle passes over it and walahh. You have a giant pothole again.

I want to deal with it, it's getting bad and I need a solution that doesn't cost a fortune.  A 4 foot wide harrow is around $300.  From what I've seen, for added digging effect, people will put weights on top of the harrow to force the spines to dig down into the dirt better. I intend on pulling it behind my ATV which has a ball hitch on it.  

These are the types of things that make people unhappy.  Some people will complain if there's even a few bumps in the road, but potholes? Now, I could get the shovel out there and dig it up and I may well do that as well.  I think it needs both. Dig it up and then drag the harrow over it as many times as needed.  I know, a harrow is expensive but what else am I to do?  A grader - which is the best option - isn't even rented at the local rental place and any place that does rent them the price is astronomical.  Hiring someone to come out and do it, the same effect.  

It is a risk, buying a harrow and not being completely sure if it will work.  I'm just not willing to pay for a service every time the driveway gets bad - we're talking at least a thousand dollars.  I did look on both Craigslist and Facebook Marketplace - people them for sale for even more money than a brand new one.

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Not a very long day work wise.  I did some stuff over at the property and I went and looked at a harrow at Tractor supply, but nothing like I would have accomplished if I had been well rested. The harrow at Tractor supply, seeing it in person, was nothing near what the price tag suggest it's worth at $376. There is no way I was going to take a risk on that thing.  I spent quite a bit of time looking at different attachments and settled on a thing that has rippers - spikes - that stick into the ground and tear it up as you move along.  Bulldozers have rippers on them as well, they are always mounted to the rear of the machine and they simply tear up the hardened ground.

If it works as the video shows it does, I can tear up the driveway in certain spots. Just got back and forth with those rippers until it's all torn up several inches deep and then just run over it and compact it. I will likely still have to dig out the potholes, but after I dig them out and use those rippers over those areas, it should completely smooth it out. 

This is not a permanent answer.  It is, however, something I can use over and over until/if/when I am better financial situation to be able to do something more permanent.  Mostly, that would be having about 6 inches deep worth of gravel dumped all the way down the driveway and a dozer to spread it.  I think I determined it would take 15, 15 ton truckloads to do the entire length of the driveway, probably around 8 or 9 truckloads to get up to the entrance to the park.  With the price of gravel now high, just 8 truckloads is $6,000 which doesn't include having it spread. 

You can figure another $1,500 to $2,000 to pay for a bulldozer and operator to come out.  So, 8 grand to fix the driveway. Yeah, I don't have that kind of money to spare right now.  I will just hope this attachment will work - it's made to be pulled by ATV's or even a pickup.  My SUV could pull it as well, but it would be easier on the 4 wheeler.  If the attachment works, I can probably expect to have to do it every couple of months during the rainy season.  

It's an answer and at only $207 and from what I saw it doing on the video, I'm willing to take the chance that it will work. 

The tent camper never showed. She texted me on and off today, but she was way behind her driving schedule and finally succumbed to the fact that she wouldn't be able to make it today and therefore, would stop on her way back. From where, I don't know, but coming up from Houston so heading north somewhere.  I haven't had much luck with tent campers even after running a free Facebook ad. And we're talking cheap, I think I have it listed at $8 per night.  Oh well.  I haven't really spent a lot of time with it.  My park is at 4 empty spaces and soon enough, probably more.  

If it goes on too long, I will be tempted to lower the rates once again to get people in there.  I'll give it a week tho. I had some people on the hook yesterday, but they broke free from it when they found something much closer to their workplace. I don't blame them, but they had a very  nice 5th wheel and sounded like great people.  Oh well. My other option is to buy a travel trailer, clean it up and rent it out.  I've read a lot of negative and positive about doing that, I'm really undecided. I've received a lot of calls about it tho.  Do you rent the campers too? No, but I'm thinking about it.

I just don't want to buy a piece of junk.  I don't want a project, either.  As with everything else, even old trailers are going for a mint. They aren't worth anything near what the people are asking for them. I have lowballed several of them to no avail.  They think they can sell them for 2, 3 even 4 times their value.  Good luck. It's really a risk tho to rent one out.  I am responsible for everything working and they - the tenant that rents it - could be decent folk or could be not so great and tear the thing up.  If I do get one, I would want inspection rights to come in and take a look at everything.  Legal? Don't know by force. By volunteering, however, in writing, yes it's legal. They will authorize and inspection or they won't get the unit.  And I don't know how much I would charge.  At least $550, maybe more.  Rentals in the entire region for anything are high.  

I'm just going to keep looking at the Marketplace. Sooner or later, someone who has money and doesn't really care about getting a lot out of the sale of one will post on there.  That's basically what the riding mower was about, the man clearly had money and clearly didn't care about the price.  He just wanted it gone. I think the Lord was involved in that one, it was sitting out there all day and no one ever saw it until I showed up and then all of a sudden there were several people pulling up?  Thank you Jesus! That's what I will say about that. I mean, for $150 and the way that thing runs? I got a steal of a deal!

Plus it's a larger motor for one of those things at 21 cc's.  

Anyway, it's getting near bedtime and I am hoping that I will get some sleep tonight. I'd like to dig out under that shed and get this vanity drain over and done with.  

Oh! That dog pooping everywhere. The older couple sent a pic - the thing had pooped right in front of their door! She was pissed.  She said to not do anything about it, but look what that damned dog of theirs did!  I replied I really have no choice, I need to address them. She said no, you need the money. 

I don't discuss my finances with anyone over there, but apparently they understand that without that park full or near full, I ain't paying the bills and being able to give myself a paycheck of any size. They did help run a park somewhere else for quite while in their past.  They're really nice people.  

Well, time to get offa here. 












 Friday late-morning Typical morning when there is no work.  It was, I should say, until the new guy called.  "There's nothing wron...