My New Land "Raptor Ridge"

[JR]

I have been looking on/off for several years in the Reno area for land. I need to get out of Ca and all the things they keep doing and telling me I can do. Taxes and cost of living is another reason. I retired a few years back and this has been something I wanted for a long time.

My parameters are 2-3 hours driving time so day trips or working weekends don't kill me. Reasonable 12 month access and no HOA. No dirt plots or on a main road.

Dirt is going for nothing, like 5k for 20 acres, nicer lots are going for 1-2k/acre+, real nice is like buying in Ca, nuts and they had HOAs!

Talked to several real estate agents who pointed me to the Palomino Valley area north of Sparks. I had been looking around Carson/Mindenville/Dayton, but prices were nuts and much of it was dirt! The area looked OK about 20 min north of Sparks. Plus it had all the shopping you could want within 20 minutes driving.

I had set my mind to 20+ acres and started searching al the land sites. Most lots were around 40 acres. Some were way out and way up high, others were low in the valley but over priced since it was "horse" land. Several caught my eye, but you really don't know until you look.

I searched and found about 10 lots to look at this weekend and was not thrilled by any. They were OK, but either to far our, up high or had terrible access.
This was my second time up there feeling it out. Talked to a couple owners up there that loved it, asked about wells and the POA (basically a road maint. agreement)

While up on 1 of the higher lots I looked down and saw an area that looked pretty nice. I figured what the heck, lets go look. Saw a few lots with real estate signs, but most were lots right on the road or with houses (out of budget) and I drove a "for sale by owner sign" and thought what the heck. Called and asked about the lot. It was 52 acres for just under 2K per. He tells me where it is and I go up. About 10 minutes later he shows up points out where it really is and has the maps to go with it, lot right next store was just purchased.

So with that I walked around really seeing what it was. With what I had seen I really liked this. Rolling mountain area desert with plenty of vegetation, no real trees though. Power right to the edge and the road stopped there too. Couple houses on the next ridge with good roads and the road ends at power poll.

Called the guy back, we met, I made an cash offer and cut a deal well under the 2K per acre. Left a small deposit and and supposed to sign in a week.

52 Acres, power, no water or septic. Only real issue is water which I will haul in for awhile. Wells I am told are going 600 ft to the tune of 20-30k. Septic I can do.

Now a day later and I still fell really good about it. Washoe has some great mapping with dead on lat/long GPS. Kids and wife like the info too, win/win 

Couldn't get far back enough for full pics but here are some teasers. Look at Sparks, Pyramid Lake, hwy 445 and 443, place and X over that and you are close. Well as close I will put here 

[JR]

On the above pics, first is the faded sign that caught my eye and the road up to the area. Very good road but maybe not for cars in weather.

2nd is the end on the road. Prop goes right from the right edge to just under the peak, 1/4 mile.

3rd is road going in and the guy working the lot next store. (there is a bobcat in there)

[rpar86]

To me, being from the PNW, that looks like a barren wasteland! Congrats on the purchase JR. Wife and I hope to find some land sometime in the next few years.


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[JR]

Yep, if your used to that it does. It is not always the land, it what you get because of it.

[Bigdave_185]

Looks good!!  How much elevation change does your place have?


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[Bob Smith]

JR, if you don't mind a well a ways from the homesite,  I bet someone just might find water a lot closer to surface than 600 ft.

[cruizng]

Congrats on finding your dream... :) Looks good to me. Should have enough room for a nice range set up! Nice alternative to Cali. 

[Flyin6]

As I have (correctly??) stated before. I think a man needs his own land. Not a postage stamp lot with nosy neighbors, but land devoid of a lot of development. Like being married to a good woman, it grounds you. (Get it: Grounds You ;-)

[stlaser]

Cool JR, for those of us who are used to tree covered ground an overview of future plans / improvements you can share for the property would be helpful to visualize.

[Flyin6]

Cool JR, for those of us who are used to tree covered ground an overview of future plans / improvements you can share for the property would be helpful to visualize.

I think I'd plant something more than six feet tall, and park beneath it.

[KensAuto]

Looks like a guy could bury a couple containers into the side of that hill yander.

[stlaser]

Looks like a guy could bury a couple containers into the side of that hill yander.

Not everyone has your issues and is looking for a place to bury H....

[JR]

Looks like a guy could bury a couple containers into the side of that hill yander.

Easily, a million things are going through my head.

This is the view that I like for what I build. Plus it is behind a knoll so you don't see the 2 other houses in the area.

Dave, it varies around 150ft right there. High point is just below the peak (north corner) in pics. It really drops over the west ridge to a nice run off.

Once the water is figured out, lots of trees. Allowed 1800gl a day, but they don't monitor.

Oh, there is always room for throw away politicians,,,,,,,,,,,,,

[TexasRedNeck]

congrats JR.  Shipping containers are a great way to get started.  Just dont bury them. Knucklehead Ken!  The sides cave in when buried unless radically reinforced costing $$$

[OldKooT]

Nice score JR... just haul in water it's not really that big of a deal to do. Just need a water trailer and some equipment and a little discipline with use and your golden....oh and a source of water LoL Many people do it in the mountains, it's just part of life.

I fill a uncles 1500 gal water trailer for him all the time....he has been hauling water for 40 years. He gets it home plugs it into the home, and it works slick and simple. He fills his "home tank" in the basement and on with life. I put a flow meter on my homes well, I use about 340 gal every two weeks on average. That,s with 5 women no less....it's all about using it smart and not acting like water is a endless resource. 

[JR]

I saw many vids about how and not bury them.

Starting with 1 at least for equip when not there and the search for a tractor begins.

Suggestions on that. I see lots of Case 580s out here. One guy I talked to just got a Mahindra. I guess green machines are out?


Yep, hauling water sounds good for now. Only issue there is want a few trees that may suck a lot up. Figure a 2500 tank from TSC will be a good start and even a good backup if a well is drilled.

[KensAuto]

Bury might have been the wrong word, fellow knucklehead!
Inset better?
JR, I feel your pain man. Can't stop thinking about Idaho. My trip is in a month and just blew out the main boom on the mini x this weekend.

Nothing like having a clean slate to work with.

[Bob Smith]

Absolutely nothing wrong with  Chinese iron with limited end use.  Burying containers, reinforce in a few places and don't over do the hole they go into. Great purchase JR, take your time and plan it out. 

[TexasRedNeck]

If I had to do over again, I'd go skid steer for sure.  Good used ones arent hard to come by if you know what you are looking for.  I'll rectify that eventually. 

[JR]

Skid steer has come to mind. Don sure gets the use out of his.

Trailer, container and tractor will be first. They all go together.

[Bob Smith]

I guess it all depends on the need at hand Tex. Skid steers defiantly can be used for lots of things, with the right attachments. A front loader with back hoe is also a good tool, and a small track hoe with thumb fills lots of tasks. I would be hard pressed to tell JR which one he needs most.

[TexasRedNeck]

Just speaking from personal experience, YMMV.

[Flyin6]

I saw many vids about how and not bury them.

Starting with 1 at least for equip when not there and the search for a tractor begins.

Suggestions on that. I see lots of Case 580s out here. One guy I talked to just got a Mahindra. I guess green machines are out?


Yep, hauling water sounds good for now. Only issue there is want a few trees that may suck a lot up. Figure a 2500 tank from TSC will be a good start and even a good backup if a well is drilled.

A case 580 is a back hoe
Might not be a bad choice come to think about it

Get a later model, like a 580K if you can. Get 4WD, get extend-a-hoe option which I think gets you 18 feet deep. I ran a 580C years ago. Would tear up lines like nobody's business

Tractors: That Mahindra is OK, Kiote is OK, Kubota is good. I'd stay away from Deere. Plenty of other good brands too. For 50 acres, and knowing you will be putting in roads, that 580 sounds good, if a tractor, I'd shoot for 55-65 horsepower to make sure you have the power to drag a 6' box scraper

[OldKooT]

I'd own a skid steer long before a tractor/loader. I have a old Case 1845 worth maybe 7k$ these days. My wife and I use it constantly, when it's broke (like now) we miss it constantly. It's uses are many...it lifts anything basically within reason, and a few things it shouldn't. It runs a brush hog, post hole digger, it can run the wood splitter, it moves rocks, trees, mulch ya name it. It's planted lawns, built rock gardens, digs holes, mixed cement in the bucket, fixes the driveway....and makes a ok hydraulic ladder for trimming trees even LOL

It also works well for parting out trucks, changing tires, moving trailers.....and once helped hang Christmas lights. 7000+ hours and counting....it owes me nothing in the decade I have owned it and out works the $37k skid loader on the farm anytime dirt work is required....and it's light enough I haul it on the Aluminum car trailer no problem.

I was going to buy my wife a Kubota for yard work and such but she vetoed and prefers the skid steer.

[JR]

Skid steer may be the way to go then. Doing post holes and having a hoe attachment would be great too. Even see small trenchers that will come in handy as I want no wires hanging around.

I think the 580 is way to big for my use. Used to beat the crud out one when I worked on a ranch.

Trailer is a debate too. Something haul the tractor easy and around 16-20 for longer materials. Actual flat bed, no wells sticking up.

Dump trailers are always handy. Plus it can haul a good size tractor and then spread gravel/dirt too. But loading materials can be a pain.

[KensAuto]

I guess I'm the weird one then. I got rid of a wheeled skid steer to get a 50hp compact and only miss it on occasion.
I don't miss trying to find my kidneys after running it a couple hours.

[Farmer Jon]

I will second and third the stay away from small Deere tractors. We had a 6150M. Bigger of the small tractors. Hated that thing. Lots of problems. Hard to operate.

[Atkinsmatt]

On the trailer, I had built a 24 dove tail'.  Had them put on the fenders as removable so I get about 3 extra inches on each side when needed and didn't have to go with a deck over/extra height.  It has stake pockets so I can use side boards if I want.  2 7K axels with brakes.  I liked keeping it a little lower than a deck over.  Around 3700 dollars.

I have a 40 hp Mahindra 4wd with FEL that I use around the farm.  Love it.  I can also see times that the skid steer would be great.  The lesson I learned on the tractor, I am on the second, first was a 28HP, make sure the one you get is big enough or you will work harder as well as live with smaller implements and eventually have to live with it or trade up.  I decided to trade up.

[Bigdave_185]

I found this video very eye opening.  All the talk of skid steer, mini X’s and tractors.  From what I have seen on jobs is this tool still has more versatility. The only thing I see being a possible problem is the sure size.  That’s a big trailer and a lot of weight

https://youtu.be/CbUQFAVRlpE


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[Flyin6]

Yea, I don't know why I didn't mention a skid steer

BY F    A    R  the best and most useful piece of equipment aside from a group of teenagers or mexicans, to have around.

I just absolutely love the small tracked machines, and a blast to operate.

The Kubota unit is great. You could get away with a SVL-75 on 50 acres with a lot of sand.

Rocks will be no problem for a machine like that.

I can't comment on the wheeled skid steers, but I see that they all run less horsepower than the tracked machines.

From my experience you need a goodly amount of weight in the machine to offset it's more than capable loader hydraulics. It needs good traction, and I'd say it needs good ground clearance.

The Caterpillar machines offer a model which has a suspension in the bogie wheels, but I hear it is troublesome. And, you'd think Cat would be the best machine, but it is not. Smaller and cramped, expensive door and reliability. I was looking hard at the 279-289 and especially, the 299 Cat CTL's, but the Kubota blew them away. And Kubota has a two speed transmission. Get going and pop a switch and it lurches forward and gets up to I think, 7.4 mph. May not sound like much, but sit in a bobcat for a half mile ride to the job and you'll see what I mean.

Pull into the grub pile in low then curl back and lift, then reverse out, thur, then hit high range and rocket away to dump.

[OldKooT]

Kens point on kidney abuse isn't wrong, that said a decent suspension seat eliminates a lot of that. I like the older Case because your feet aren't required to run it. This allows you to plant yourself pretty well and fend off the bouncing around.

I run 25psi in my tires unless moving something extremely heavy, and that also makes a huge difference.

[KensAuto]

I would recommend tracks if the soil in that area is soft, or sandy. I buried the skidsteer trying to clean up my sandy yard on 3 occasions. My truck had issues trying to pull it out by myself, because the hydro driven tires don't freewheel..
..but...needless to say, I don't have near as much experience as Norm, or Don...just throwing out a different view point.
I also do a bunch of roading in the tractor (16mph) going to my brother's, neighbor's, and my buddies ranch. Can't see where you would need to do that on your property tho. (I dislike loading on a trailer and chaining down)

If money is a consideration, the attachments for a class 1 3-point are mucho cheaper than for a skid steer, but a skid steer has mucho more hydro power than a compact.

[OldKooT]

Yeah Ken I think depends on the sand.... some is very loose and tracks would be better...some is fairly compact and wheels would be fine....wouldn't take much to test it and see with a pickup.

[Bear9350]

I prefer hydraulic foot pedals over the handles for boom lift and tilt.  Works better in my opinion for jobs where you are doing a lot of bucket manipulation while in transport.  The best operator controls for a skid steer in my opinion are the t-post style where one hand is forward/ reverse and you twist the t-handle to turn.  The other hand is boom lift forward and back, and twist for tilt.  We had that on one of the Gehls on the farm and it was great.

Skid steers can certainly be handy but they do have their limitations.  Wheeled versions aren't great for traction.  They are pretty easy to get stuck.  That said, depending on the attachment type you can generally use the hydraulics to push yourself out, as long as you thought ahead and didn't back yourself into a corner.  Also, because of the way skid steers are setup with the exit over the bucket, some lifting operations need 2 people where you might be able to just do it yourself with a FEL.  With the FEL you can place the loader at whatever height you want and exit, not the case with a skid steer.  Basically all the way up or all the way down.

[JR]

Soil is a sandy/dirt mix. I had no issue walking around for some time out there (actually the best I have moved around in several years, 40 lbs lost help)

I love all the input guys. I have operated a couple skids and regular backhoes, which I am leaning towards. 4x is a must and the BH gives me a little suspension and a little more versatility I believe (correct me?) because of the 3 point options. Trenching, drilling and lifting things. Budget is a concern, but 20k is not out of the picture, probably 30 for a new package deal.

[stlaser]

Soil is a sandy/dirt mix. I had no issue walking around for some time out there (actually the best I have moved around in several years, 40 lbs lost help)

I love all the input guys. I have operated a couple skids and regular backhoes, which I am leaning towards. 4x is a must and the BH gives me a little suspension and a little more versatility I believe (correct me?) because of the 3 point options. Trenching, drilling and lifting things. Budget is a concern, but 20k is not out of the picture, probably 30 for a new package deal.

I’m with bear, operated multiple skid loaders and owned a gehl for over ten years. Gehl hands down has best controls, Baylee was running it at 7 years old btw

[JR]

Never heard of them before, stuff looks good. I still think a BH will do more of what I want.

I see great deals on them on the east coast. Trailers are 1/2 the price in TX.

[KensAuto]

Backhoes suck in steep terrain , just sayin'...and they're stupid heavy.
.. unless you meant tractor with a backhoe attachment.

[JR]

There are some hill, but nothing I would call steep, YET.

The west side seems to have a nice gully going through it. Access is from the side to, for now.

Going to get a side buy side, but not to break the bank with. Many of you guys own em, what should I stay away from?

[KensAuto]

I have a couple friends that started with several different brands and now we all have Polaris (9) except one guy with a can am.

[JR]

UTV almost needs its own thread with all the ways it could go.

[Bob Smith]

Polaris is a very nice side by side rig. You can get lots of tools for the rear of a tractor/ with back hoe attachment. A small rubber track excavator is a nice tool also.

[cruizng]

I will speak from the very very small end of the spectrum. I have the Kubota BX25D with a FEL, Backhoe and mower deck. It is currently 7 years old and only has around 160 hours on it. Mostly plowing snow. It has a manual thumb for the BH that works great at picking up timbers, rocks, firewood trees, etc.. I have dug out some huge oak stumps but it takes forever. It has quite a bit of power for a tiny machine and works ok for around the house. It also has a 3pt PTO that I have never used. Much smaller than you need for sure but might fill a gap if you need something for tight spaces. Kubota has been solid.

Also I had a Yamaha Rhino 600 UTV for years that worked great. I sold it when I went to the Kubota. The dump bed was really handy for hauling and dumping yard waste. Up here in MN Polaris is king. UTA, ATV and Snowmobiles.

We can do a great job helping you spend your money!

[Flyin6]

There are some hill, but nothing I would call steep, YET.

The west side seems to have a nice gully going through it. Access is from the side to, for now.

Going to get a side buy side, but not to break the bank with. Many of you guys own em, what should I stay away from?

John Deere, as in stay away from
Green paint is more costly to make than mining gold
You simply pay too much for what you get
Polaris or Cam-am are top sellers here in the tuck, but the Yamaha is a capable ridge runner.

[JR]

I know how you fell about JD, but I found a killer deal on an 825i Gator.

Full glass cab, 50hp, 122 hours and protective parts.

A little drive but only $2500

[Bear9350]

I'm going to go ahead and say that I honestly don't think you could go wrong with a Deere, whether it be a compact tractor or a gator.  If you find a unit with the specs you want in the price range you are looking in I honestly believe you would be happy with it.  I might be biased though as the engineers designing those gators sit down the hall from me.
I would check on the legitimacy of that gator though.  Seems way stupid cheap.  There might be a 1 missing from in front of the 2500.

[JR]

I like the specs and reviews for it and believe it is an older model, 2010-2012, price is right, $2500.

Not looking for a race/hunting UTV.

[KensAuto]

That does seem too good to be true tho.

[JR]

They show about 12k new. No year listed, trying to get it now.

Should sign for the land next week, A trailer is no on the list along with the above. Containers are all over starting around $1000.

[Bear9350]

They show about 12k new. No year listed, trying to get it now.

Should sign for the land next week, A trailer is no on the list along with the above. Containers are all over starting around $1000.

Here is a comparable.  1228 miles, 733 hours.  Comes with a plow, but asking $15,000. 

https://www.motorsportsuniverse.com/listing/for-sale/31065645/2014-john-deere-gator-xuv-825i-utility-utility-vehicles?lang=2