Wanted to LOVE this thing - But I Hate It + Future Cabin Plans

We've posted countless videos of us cutting down dead pines, and thinning the woods at our off-grid cabin. You've seen us burn pile after piles of brush - spending hours doing so. Many of you have suggested over the years, that we invest in a wood chipped. So we did just that. A used one we found on Facebook Marketplace, and we're going to give it a try at the cabin this week and see how it performs.
We'll also discuss with you future plans we have on upgrades we want to make to the cabin, including adding a more convenient source of water for our showers and washing dishes. At some point in our lives, it's going to be too difficult to haul up 5 gallon buckets of water from the river down below.
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Mailing Address:

That 1870's Homestead
P.O. Box 179
Newport, MI 48166
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✅ Connect with Us 🐐
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Please note that some of the links above are affiliate links - at no additional cost to you. We will earn a commission if you decide to make a purchase, after clicking through the links. ♥ Todd & Rachel
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00:00 Welcome
01:47 My New Chipper!
05:37 Milwaukee Battery Powered Chainsaw
07:02 Water Situation at the Cabin
11:29 Showering with Poisoned Water
14:35 I wanted to Love this but I Hate it
18:02 Peaceful Cabin

[MynewTennesseeHome]

I've been living 100% off rain catchment for five years. I have a 350 gal inground cistern plumbed underground to a shallow well pump under the cabin. I use a Berkey for my drinking water. I have two IBC's, several 55 gal barrels. I place rain catching containers in every area of use off every possible rain shed. I cover or paint black above ground storage and any open top(livestock) I use mosqitio dunks. I love my ckean clear rain water.

[dorisoconnell]

When I saw you pushing the the wood into the machine, It was Definitely need a self feeding chipper. Thank God you still have hands & arms.

[jharvey]

Off Grid with Doug and Stacy, they use only rain water and have a great system of filtration as well as black tanks.

[k.p.]

Hey Kids.. 😆😆ya know the rain water gets into the river? So yeah, that would be the smart route. Ya know Doug and Stacy live like that. AND YOU GUYS watch Ariel and Eric too? 😁😁 I love those kids! Ms. Rachael.. I a Cub chipper WITH the automatic feed and guess what?...I was laughing when you were talking about your dreams. We bought a brand new one, and it works exactly the same, branches stuck it's horrible. The wheelbarrow of chips we got was no were near worth it. Blew my free mulch dream right out of the water. Love the hummingbird footage. 😊

[deesmith]

Hi from Australia. It’s very normal for people in rural areas to solely rely on tanks which hold collected rainwater (we do). It is filtered before being fed into the tank and then filtered again before being fed into the house. The water is extremely clean and free of bacteria. We have 2 x 5, 000 gallon tanks (one is mainly reserved for emergencies, like fire-fighting. Don’t be afraid of this option.

[SB_McCollum]

Do NOT stick your arm in that feed - EVER. *STOP THAT.* NEVER AGAIN. Use another piece of wood to shove things down, DO NOT SHOVE IT DOWN BY HAND. It's a habit you will regret.

[jartotable]

Rain water would be my go to. If this may be a bug out for whatever reason and you have a scenario that you can't bring in water, for whatever reason, then stored rain water would be essential and the filters are incredible. Better than tap water.

[chiclet]

Rachel, you have inspired me to let go of coloring my hair. You are are such a natural beauty. I adore watching the active love you two share living and loving everyday. Thank you both for being you! ❤❤❤

[countrymousesfarmhouse]

The forest is looking so neat . ❤Almost every house in Australia catches uses rainwater, a simple filtration system and we would all rather drink that than town water or bore water. I've never been sick once with rainwater . Thank you for sharing lovelies ❤

[sherry]

Omg, I had to close my eyes every time Todd stuck his hand down that chute! Yes, please get rid of that scary beast. I always find out too late, "you get what you pay for". If what you want/need costs more, go for it. Will save you time and headaches in the long run, as you know. Your property looks beautiful!

[KC-ooyk]

The last scene with the light coming through, the trees, feeder, and hummingbird... fantastic!

[nomir]

A self feeding feature on a chipper is a must! Makes all the difference.

[lindakrause]

Hi. I'm in a wheelchair for 2 years now and the bed a year before that. I cannot tell you how much I miss the work you two are doing right now. I LOVE working hard and getting physically exhausted. My prayer is to someday get back outside to work again! I pray you two will enjoy it while you can.

[dawnshipley]

What if you had a well dug nearer the house and installed a hand pump? It wouldn't be running water but it would stop the up hill trip. 😃

[rg]

I catch rainwater in an IBC tote. You can take the two bars off the top, turn it over and lift the cage off. Then paint it with spray paint made to stick to plastic. I used a bas coat of olive green and made a camouflage pattern with brown and black paint. No algae.

[jamiemagrichJamiescrafttable]

We have rain water collection at our off grid cabin and a ibc tote covered with a black cover built for that we use a pump from a sprayer and a battery pump out of ibc thru filters and into a tank from a rv in the bathroom it them has a pump there and a on demand hot water tank and it works fabulous we do not use to spicket from the bottom so we don't have to worry about it freezing and reacking the valve we pump from the top . it work fabulous.

[jenniferrush]

My parents use a pump. And pump it up hill. U could pump it up to a tank and filter it as it goes in and out.

[melwhitworth]

Ok so I’m still dumb founded that Americans rarely use rain catchment. I’m Aussie we all or most use rain catchment water. We use tanks with mesh to stop debris and mosquitoes and frogs from hatching in there. A pump to run water or to suck it up from somewhere. You can get filters to add so u can drink it freely. But if your showering no need really. I’d suggest a solar shower so you don’t have to waste sources in heating your water for a shower. Seriously consider rain catchment. If done right it works amazingly.

[katieclark]

I live in Australia and if you are out of a town or city, everyone uses rain water. We have bore (I think you would call it well water) for cattle troughs and the garden, and rainwater for the house, both drinking and showering. We have no city water at all. We run a filtration system that is fantastic and we have lived like this for over 20 years without any illness. We filter leaves off the roof prior to it entering the tank, and then have a dual filtration system between the house pump and the house. It means we are not restricted when water restrictions occur as we store about 125 000 gallons of water and can still have showers etc when those in towns are restricted. Also best water I have ever tasted, its soft and has no salty or chemical flavour!

[bjkandrews]

Off Grid with Doug and Stacy and Simple Living Alaska both have off grid water systems that might be helpful