Well the wife and I have been looking to get out of Colorado Springs and onto land with water.    We were first looking at Montana, but it seems like that was a popular place as of late so the cost was above what we were willing to do.  

 

As we expanded our search east we found a place in northern MN, about 20 miles from where I grew up, for sale on the bank of the Rainy River.   

 

Our current house is going on the market today and May 1 is the move in date for MN.  

 

For just a few bucks more than we are selling here, 1130 sq ft 1/16 acre in the middle of town, we got onto 80 acres on the river.  Thankfully my job follows me so I dont have to worry about that.

 

My wife's plans are to open up a small air b and b type thing geared towards families with childern with special needs.  We are thinking 3ish cabins, a dock.  A couple horses and a barn with a hobby farm thing going on.  

 

You should have some Bald Eagles up there to, we've got enough of them down here.

Also:

Great horned Owls

Hawks

Gray wolves

Coyotes

Black bear

Moose

Deer up to our ears

Grouse 

Wild Turkey

Red Fox

Beaver

 

Of all of them, the worst thing to run into is a pissed off bull moose, those things can be nasty.

 

Mark

 

 

 

On 3/11/2021 at 7:00 AM, Mopar1973Man said:

Ahhh... That's nothing...

• Wild Turkey
• Mountain Lion / Cougar
• Bobcats
• Turkey Vulture
• Black and Brown Bear
• Raccoon
• Fox
• Elk
• Deer
• Badger
• Porcupine

Yup I've got plenty walking through my yard at all hours. Really spooky to get home and walking in the dark to the back side man door to open the garage. Then to have a buck snort snot all over you and turn and just barely see the outline of a fair sized buck backing off. Hence why my daily wear includes a belt with my multitool and my Maglite LED flash light. Way too many time have animals closer to me than I thought in the dark.

It highly unlikely you have brown bears (aka Grizzly or ursus arctos) around the house, most likely just a brown colored Black Bear (ursus americanus). From what I recall something like 90% of the Black Bears on Idaho are brown, but they aren’t called brown bears unless they are a Grizzly. 
 

There have been confirmed, but fairly rare, sightings of grizzly’s NE of Riggins in unit 14, but closer to the Elk City side of the unit. 
 

If you do happen to have a confirmed grizzly sighting near your house you should report it to IDFG. 
 

Don’t forget coyotes, wolves, and tourists on your list 

 

 

 

As far as spring we’re having some beautiful days down here, but still cold in the morning. It was 13° Friday morning and 16° yesterday. Today is warmer at 22°. At least it’s pushing 60° in the afternoons. 
 

Edited March 14, 20214 yr by AH64ID

We accidentally snuck up on a Grizzly once. It gets the adrenalin and heart pumping real good. We were lucky, we startled that bear so bad he ran away but stopped 30 feet away, stood up and turned around and we both looked at each other. Man, what a big head, very tall. He looked very bewildered. Don't think he ever had a human get that close. I very slowly turned around and walked away. I did this move so slow and relaxed, sort of like sending body language I was not afraid and acted so relaxed making an effort to express that he was an everyday thing . I even walked with baby steps but not over doing it. He never came after me and my wife was already up a steel stairway far ahead of me.

we have an eagles nest on our property line actually.  

 

No brown bear aka grizzly's to be found so far   

 

 

Small rant about living away from a semi major city.  It is REALLY hard to buy a tractor.    Doesn't seem like anyone wants to talk over the phone about getting one ordered in, and it is a 3 hour drive to the closest kubota dealer, 3 hours from a massey dealer, 4 hours from a new holland, and the green deere in town they want WAY too much for.

 

ugh,  all I want is a tractor

Edited March 15, 20214 yr by Me78569

Yup, they paint it green for a reason. People up here love them, but there's some serious sticker shock! The red stuff (International) is usually cheaper and does the same job. Unless you want new, keep an eye one the auctions, Craigs list usually kind of high.

 

Mark

 

going with new to avoid other peoples issues,  I know the off the lot loss, but that is worth it to me since APR offers are 0% right now.     

 

Leaning towards Massey now, but we will see what happens.  

Edited March 15, 20214 yr by Me78569

I'm guessing you already tried International Falls, Bemidji is probably the closest you'll find a dealership.

 

Mark

yep, and orange is about the same price as green, but keep in mind no matter what color you get you better have a dealer that you can trust, even if its a little farther out, they pretty much own you, at least until the warranty runs out,

 

New tractors are nice, they are meant to be a lifetime investment, just make sure you get one big enough for your purpose and maybe a size or two bigger for future upgrades, I do like my 28 year old Kubota, even though I run her hard sometimes, I wished I had  few  more ponies under the hood, I just keep it maintained and I'm sure I can see many more good years, I really do enjoy the smell of black diesel smoke and fresh plowed dirt in the morning

I have been looking for awhile for a used one that meets my wants but the price on them is too high to justify the hours on them generally.  

 

long term investment.  i think 50-60hp will do pretty much anything I will ever need + more around here.

I've rented a few different ones with a hoe on back and the Kabota had more power in the hydralics. I'm glad your going new as I've seen others get the shaft in repairs. The front bucket on the Deere seemed a bit weak at times. Not bad but sometimes you could see it twist a little. 

Kubota is my 2nd chice, but $ for $ the massey is better on paper.

A lot of people go with those... seem to do just fine.

 

I need a tiller to do a bigger vegetable garden. I have a south facing slope, gets sun most of the day in spite of all the woods.

15 hours ago, Me78569 said:

 

 

long term investment.  i think 50-60hp will do pretty much anything I will ever need + more around here.

That’s a lot of tractor, are you going to get a trailer to transport that beast 

already have a twin axle 24' gooseneck with 8k axles  

I think the trick to avoiding "other people's problems" is just patience, but that's way easier to do where I am versus a sparsely populated region.  Of course, also more competition for the good buys.  I bought a used Deere 2150 a couple of years back, it's in the 45-50HP range.  The tach didn't work right, but was otherwise very well taken care of, and was a trade-in unit for someone that just wanted more modern bells and whistles (AKA more stuff to break).  My dad's 5210 has the cab with radio and A/C, bucket, front wheel assist, the Cadillac to us! Bought used, but he was selective.  It, too, was someone that just wanted bigger or fancier.  The old 2040 is like a 1978 model, I think.  Babied its whole life, but lots of hours.  The older two were made in Mannheim, Germany, the 5210 in Augusta, Georgia.  All about the same size tractor.

I worked at a Kubota dealership one summer, and I own a little 24 HP version that I bought cheap BECAUSE it was someone else's problem - dude didn't know his glow plugs weren't wired up!  Of course, then it constantly overheats so I put on a new water pump and have radiator flushed, then pull the head and find it's trash.  I'm very open to replacing it before it breaks hard; at this point I can sell it and still make a decent profit.  Parts are just stupid expensive and limited aftermarket support.

found what I think is a nice tractor at a dealer south of me by a bit.  Kioti RX7320, loader no cab for $34000.   little bigger than what I was looking at, but still small enough for what I need.   

 

Been reading on Kioti and they seem good.   lots of good reviews and the typical bad ones.   only issue I have is the dealer is ~6 hours away or ~3 hours in canada.   

is the exchange rate favorable? Also can you get across the border with the Virus panic going on?

can't get across now.  

 

pulled the trigger on it at the dealer that is 5 hours away according to google.  

24 minutes ago, Me78569 said:

can't get across now.  

 

pulled the trigger on it at the dealer that is 5 hours away according to google.  

Time to go on a road trip driving a truck you love, to get a tractor you will love, man I'm jealous, good for you 

27 minutes ago, Dieselfuture said:

Time to go on a road trip driving a truck you love, to get a tractor you will love, man I'm jealous, good for you 

i'll share the monthly payment with you if you want  

 

 

thanks I am excited, bucket list for life item #3 is own a tractor, so in a few short years I'll own it