permanent living in remote areas ... Pros/Cons?

Started by hnash53, November 30, 2007, 04:03:53 PM

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MaineRhino

This is what I use in the winter. Very dependable, and a cab with heater is also available.
It is a Yamaha Rhino.


peternap

You got me thumping on the table and watching that part of Jeremiah Johnson again during supper.  Robert Redford's delivery of that line is spectacular.  It comes off like  "I'd rather be attacked, one by one, by all the Indians in the world then go back to a town."

You also touch on what has spoiled rural living.  People move to a rural/remote area and almost immediately they muse... "you know how few of the roads are paved?".....  "you realize police response time is terrible and the fire department is nearly useless?".....  "We need a trauma center." ....  '"Do you know how far we are from a decent cardiologist?"


Amen, Amen, A M E N

BTW, it was really John Johnson. I have no idea why they decided on calling him Jemimah in the movie. If you can find it (I have a copy) of the book "The Crow Killer" it is what the movie was based on and was written  based on interviews with Del Gue.

The characters were mixed up in the movie. The crazy lady was really Hatchet Jacks wife and he didn't die frozen to a tree....he just got tired of being married.

Johnson did go to a town at the end of his life where he became town marshall.

Great Reading.

Glenn, 50 was right with 54 being common after several barrel freshings. 30 (and I assume they mean .36) was like a 22 rimfire. Even in the East where there were no Grizzly's, .40 was The norm.
These here is God's finest scupturings! And there ain't no laws for the brave ones! And there ain't no asylums for the crazy ones! And there ain't no churches, except for this right here!


MountainDon

... A Rhino with tracks. Pretty cool. Do you switch back to wheels when the snow is gone, or is this used just for snow. I've seen the kits for ATV's as well.

Here's a source..
http://www.mattracks.com/snowcoach_information.htm
Just because something has been done and has not failed, doesn't mean it is good design.

MaineRhino

Yes, wheels in the summer and fall.  This thing is a beast with the tracks on.... Yes, it can and does get stuck. That's why we carry a shovel and cooler when we go out.  These are the TJD tracks.

glenn kangiser

Looks similar to my  Bush Hog.  I have a winch for it.  I guess it's not like you could tie up to a bunch of snow and drag yourself out though.
"Always work from the general to the specific." J. Raabe

Glenn's Underground Cabin  http://countryplans.com/smf/index.php?topic=151.0

Please put your area in your sig line so we can assist with location specific answers.


hnash53

Hey thanks for all the great comments and info provided to my original question.

The Yamaha Rhino and Mattracks look good.

Planning, timing, and preparation seem like they will be the best things to do in my case.

Any more comments on snow vehicles will be appreciated.

Thanks, again.

Hal

hnash53


glenn kangiser

I think I only have this one showing the dump bed tipped up or another similar.  Winch is on the front but is also wired to switch to the back.  Advertising video for it shows it pulling 21000 lbs. on the flat.

"Always work from the general to the specific." J. Raabe

Glenn's Underground Cabin  http://countryplans.com/smf/index.php?topic=151.0

Please put your area in your sig line so we can assist with location specific answers.

hnash53

Oh, I thought you were using it as a snow vehicle.


glenn kangiser

No - I have a snow plow for it but will use it with the tires.
"Always work from the general to the specific." J. Raabe

Glenn's Underground Cabin  http://countryplans.com/smf/index.php?topic=151.0

Please put your area in your sig line so we can assist with location specific answers.

Redoverfarm

Glenn how often do you get snow and how much in CA where you are.  Here now it is 21F, high wind and blowing snow. Pred is 1-3" overnight.  Not real good as far as the construction goes.  If I would have had about one more good week I could have had it sealed up and worked inside.  No insulation yet but a wood stove would have taken the chill off and been nice to back up to.

glenn kangiser

We get snow about 2 or 3 times a year - usually a foot or less.  Last year we had about 9 or 10  inches once and it hung around for several days.  Not too bad - usually need to plow once or twice.  I used the tractor 2 years ago -- Bobcat last year -- and will use the bush Hog this year if I get the plow put on -- should only take a couple hours or less the first time then just a few minutes after brackets etc are there.

I have about a mile and a quarter to plow.

That's plenty of snow for me.:)
"Always work from the general to the specific." J. Raabe

Glenn's Underground Cabin  http://countryplans.com/smf/index.php?topic=151.0

Please put your area in your sig line so we can assist with location specific answers.

Erin

As the one who really brought up medical care, I feel the need to point out I wasn't talking about getting your Prozac script refilled or any other imagined or minor ailment. 

I'm talking about things like being 100 miles from a hospital when you fall out of the hay loft and break your leg (my husband was 9 when it happened).
Or just as far when you fall off the corral fence and break your collar bone (my father in law) and having to ride in the back of the pickup the entire way so you can stay horizontal. 
Or having a lodged kidney stone threatening renal failure and being 160 miles from a hospital equipped to deal with it. 
Or dying of a heart attack that probably could have been stopped had you been an hour closer to basic medical care. 

You can pooh-pooh all you want guys.  Or talk about how tough you are. 
But accidents happen and emergencies should have a contingency plan. [noidea'
The wise woman builds her own house... Proverbs 14:1

MountainDon

Erin, those are precisely the type of thing that came to my mind, when I mentioned "the availability of health care facilities".

Yes, where to live a personal choice. How remote to locate your residence is a personal choice. I'm not advocating that everyone should live within 1 few minutes of a hospital or paramedic assistance. It's simply a part of the equation, and I believe it becomes a greater part of the equation when there are children involved. It also becomes an important part of the decision when one of the 2 people involved is not so hot on the idea.

Long drives to a medical facility can be agonizing for the patient with a broken or badly infected something or other at the best of times. But it's not that concern that would worry me as much as the problems that winter may cast your way. Below zero temperatures, high winds, earlier loss of daylight and deeply drifted snow can make a relatively uneventful spring/summer/fall drive a winter nightmare.

OMMV

Just because something has been done and has not failed, doesn't mean it is good design.


ScottA

Most places I have been now have helicopter ambulance service. If you have access to a phone help may not be as far away as you think. A good friend of mine had a heart attack while working on his ranch. He felt it comming on and was able to get the phone in time. They had him in the ER in 45 minutes and the chopper had paramedics on board just like an ambulance. He was 65 miles from the hospital.

Scott

Erin

QuoteMost places I have been now have helicopter ambulance service.
Not where I live.  Helicopters are still the domain of the "big" hospitals.  The ones that you're flown out to.
We had a neighbor fracture his pelvis two years ago at branding.  They brought a helicopter in from a bigger hospital about 150 miles away.  Not only was there the time it took to fly the distance, but more importantly was the time it took to guide it in, since they were in a remote location.  And that was a nice, spring day. 
Like I said, the distance isn't what should be the concern here, especially in light of the fact that he's only talking 20 miles from a town of about 5000.  (By Nebraska standards, that's downright urban;) )  The concern should be the weather/snow accumulation and how much more difficult that's going to make things.

QuoteHow remote to locate your residence is a personal choice.
Don, I agree completely.  As mentioned, I've lived in some pretty remote areas myself. But you would never hear me pooh-pooh the very real issue of accessibility to basic medical care.  And that's what concerned me. 
The wise woman builds her own house... Proverbs 14:1

MountainDon

Just because something has been done and has not failed, doesn't mean it is good design.

desdawg

Sorry, didn't mean to step on anyone's toes. I was just voicing my opinion. Medical worrying just doesn't take a priority for me. Probably because I haven't ever needed to worry with it. I even had health insurance at one time. Complete total waste of money in my case. When I think of the projects I could have financed with that money............ d*
I have done so much with so little for so long that today I can do almost anything with absolutely nothing.

hnash53

Desdawg said:  "I even had health insurance at one time. Complete total waste of money in my case. When I think of the projects I could have financed with that money............  "

I'm glad you said what you did. [cool]

Some people think it is totally idiotic to not have health insurance.

Maybe I'm opening a can of worms that really isn't for countryplans.com, but I'd like to ask:

How long has the thing called "health/medical insurance" been around?  Has it been around for 50 years?  A hundred years?

Another question:  How many people on the planet have health/medical insurance?

And another:  If health/medical insurance has only been around for maybe a century or so, didn't we do OK before there ever was any?

MountainDon

Well, for one thing, if you go back a hundred years and more, many of us alive today would have already died. Some of our mothers would have died along with us during or shortly after giving birth.

I am not one who buys much insurance. We have some on the vehicles. We have home owner insurance. We have health insurance. We do not have life insurance anymore. We do not buy extended service warranties ever. We won't get into the needs for business insurance.

In 2006 the hospital and related bills for 2 non accident health issues that hit me in May and June, totaled $64,000. I paid very little of that out of my pocket. That's an outrageous amount of money and a subject for a different rant. I'm sort of glad I had the insurance. But that's just me. The older ya' get the more likely you might need it. OMMV.
Just because something has been done and has not failed, doesn't mean it is good design.


desdawg

Insurance is expensive, medical care is expensive. The two are related. Employer provided insurance has caused many people to seek medical attention for things that wasn't really required. I have a sniffle and I have insurance therefore I better go to the doctor. This kind of thing has driven the cost so high many can't afford it.
Then you have the doctors with triple booked appointments who don't have time to get to the root of the problem. So they just write precscriptions to address the symptoms without ever treating the disease. So you may walk in waiving your insurance card and not get what was needed anyway. But hey, it is all billable and they have to make their Mercedes payment.  :(
Not having insurance is a roll of the dice. I guess I will deal with it as I do most things, one day at a time.
I have done so much with so little for so long that today I can do almost anything with absolutely nothing.

Erin

QuoteThe two are related. Employer provided insurance has caused many people to seek medical attention for things that wasn't really required.
I agree.  And it does make things more expensive for the unisured and even those of us who are insured but have to have high deductibles.

QuoteComplete total waste of money in my case. When I think of the projects I could have financed with that money...
And I can't help but think of the one time we didn't have insurance. 
My husband, at the time extremely active, healthy and 20-something, decided that was the time for his appedix to bite the dust. 
Our final bill was $9G.  It took us six years to get it paid off.  :-\ On the other hand, the year my kidney stones caused so many problems was also the year I had our first baby.  It was a $35,000 year for various medical institutions in Nebraska and South Dakota.  The difference was we were insured this time.  (Self-pay, of course)  We paid a grand total of $1500.

I completely agree that our health insurance industry is a direct cause of our high medical costs.  However, I'm not willing to risk bankruptcy in the hopes that our more recent good luck continues to hold out.


Again, I agree with Don.  We insure for the basic, but necessaries.
The wise woman builds her own house... Proverbs 14:1

peternap

Our final bill was $9G. 

You got off easy Erin. Mine was around 26K...and that was for less than 8 hours in the hospital. I checked myself out as soon as I came to. >:(
These here is God's finest scupturings! And there ain't no laws for the brave ones! And there ain't no asylums for the crazy ones! And there ain't no churches, except for this right here!

Erin

Keep in mind, that was ten years ago, and it hadn't ruptured yet.  And health care costs (as well as insurance premiums) have gone up exponentially in that time frame... :-\
The wise woman builds her own house... Proverbs 14:1

tanya

One reason I am so safety focused is because I don't like to go tothe ER or any doctor.  Common sense says if you get a sniffle start in quick withthe herb teas and lots of water.  Yeah you might break an arm or whatever but that can also happen on a camping trip.  If you know full well that you have a long long way to go to medical care you might just want to watch your step.  We have a standing rule around here since the kids have been small if they take chances on thier bikes, snowboards or whatver and get hurt I am damn well selling their gear to pay the medical bill.  If they get hurt during regular activities then OK I will pay but if they are taking jumps or not being safe they realize the consequences too.  My friends on the other hand, those with medical insurance and medicaid simply see these things as part of life.  Safety first is my motto.  As far as antibiotics...well my youngest son is allergic to every single one on the market, I took so many for my kidneys over the years I am immune to thier benefits but not their drawbacks.   So everybody has different things to consider when looking for a place to live but remember that up until 50 yerars ago medical care was a luxury not a neccessity and in most parts of the world it still is.   IF I had to say there was one thing I absolutely had to have to be interested in buying land it would be readily accessible water.  Water is a neccessity, everything else is a luxury. 
Peresrverance, persistance and passion, keys to the good life.