Low Budget Ideas, Making Due With What You Find.

[JeepHammer]

I'm a Homesteader (current useage) and working towards sustainability.
If figure if someone drops an A bomb on me, I'll just go out and enjoy the show since I'm 58, disabled & have no wish to live in a 'Mad Max' world...

Since I parted ways with the Marine Corps after 16 years, had serious injuries, owned a duffle full of cloths, a field pack of stuff I'd bought myself, a motorcycle I couldn't ride, and some loose change in my pocket,
I'd start over out where I grew up and understood how the land worked...

I bought 'Cheap' land WAY off the beaten path, so no electric or water service.
The electric company wanted $15,000 for a ground transformer dropped no place but where I wanted to build the house eventually, and wanted to tack $118,000 onto utility bills for the next 20-30 years for poles, wires, etc.
I passed.
No sense in a second mortgage before the first mortgage...

SO!
The first build (besides putting up the tent), was a Privvy.
Shower on one side, outhouse on the other.
Roof drained into rain barrel.
Two plastic barrels painted black to heat in the sun for a shower.
Carrying water is no fun & I highly recommend you spend resources avoiding that particular chore.

This privvy project reminded me of two things right away,
1. I'm not a 20 year old strong as an ox kid anymore,
2. Manual saws, drills, shovels & post hole diggers sucked just as badly as they did when I joined the Marines to get off the damn farm!

I murdered at least a dozen 'Cordless' tool batteries.
The tool kits are cheap on sale, but replacement batteries are expensive, and always dead/dying under field conditions.
Heavy sawing/drilling kills even a fully charged battery in short order...

Staring at the Jeep I traded my motorcycle for, it had a winch & two batteries.
With quick connects (Anderson Connector) one battery became my 'Camp' power and could be plugged right back into the Jeep for charging.
If those batteries/winch would drag a vehicle with no wheels, that's a LOT of stored power in those batteries!

Two batteries with a series adapter (24 Volts) and some DC rods, and I was welding.
I had to learn reversing polarity & rod size to control penetration, but welding capability is CRAZY HANDY to have!

Gutting the 'Cordless' battery I soldered wire to the terminals, battery clamps on the other end, and with a cord on my 'Cordless' tool I was off to the races!
This still works for me since I keep 'Trail' tools in the Jeep, and I have a 'Job/Work' trailer with the crap you need on a homestead/DIY job, screws, bolts & nuts, nails, Staples, ax, shovels, etc in the trailer.
$5 yard sale battery powered tools (minus battery), cord, vehicle battery gets about any job done for cheap,
And if you drop it in the lake, run over it, it gets rained on, no big deal at $5.

We aren't talking contractor or industral grade tools, but we also aren't talking a $250 pricetag either!

As power demands increased, I backed into solar panels to charge batteries.
If the little cheap solar panel about 6"x12" would maintain Jeep batteries, or charge an electric fence charger battery, I figured I would get a few more for the extra batteries...

I found out that bigger panels were MUCH more productive, and much less expensive in the long run, my solar system was born...

Now, nearly 20 years down the road, older weak batteries & panels still do plenty around here.
Weak isn't dead!
Just because they aren't fit to be in a battery string powering the house doesn't mean they are useless...
One or two side by side will still do a LOT of handy things.

Some LED lights and we have yard/area lighting.
In the surrounding fields, infrared LEDs make for extending the range of my night vision, powering motion detectors that alert me something is moving in the fields around us.
An auger & starter motor makes for easy fence post holes.
The golf cart I run around on has solar panels on the sun roof top, it charges itself, or I can plug that battery bank into the house inverter if need be.
The aforementioned electric fence chargers.
High torque electric motor, threaded shaft (all thread) will pry/lift things you couldn't move otherwise without busting a gut.
My first cement mixer was a starter motor, batteries & plastic barrel.
(Harbor Freight wasn't always around)

The cost/availability of little high torque tools & motors makes this about limitless when off the grid.
Every junk vehicle of any kind, riding mower to ATV has a starter motor & switches/relays/solenoids.
Every junk car has starter motor, wiper motor, blower motor, switches & controls.
Power windows, power seats have little gear reduction motors that come in REALLY handy.

And let's not forget about moving water, one of the most miserable & never ending jobs you can do...
You can move a LOT of water with a small pump, and running water keeps momma happy (Happy wife, happy life!).
With inverter you have 110VAC for all those plug in gadgets we have all become fond of, like microwaves, refrigerators & freezers.

All those inexpensive hand grinders for meat & Mills for grain work MUCH easier with a 'Cordless' drill motor attached!
I home can a LOT from a big garden, and if you do that, you know how much easier it is with power processing.

I haven't got the shovel pushing part figured out yet, but I'm working on it


So, what tips/tricks have you run across for little or no dollars?

 

[Itchytriggerfinger]

I don't have any tips but just wanted to say that your setup sounds pretty damn impressive.

 

[churchmouse]

I don't have any tips but just wanted to say that your setup sounds pretty damn impressive.

Dedicated for sure. Impressive.

I have always used my tools/gear to do a lot more than they were intended to do but not to your level.

 

[BOWTIE72]

I'm a Homesteader (current useage) and working towards sustainability.
If figure if someone drops an A bomb on me, I'll just go out and enjoy the show since I'm 58, disabled & have no wish to live in a 'Mad Max' world...

Since I parted ways with the Marine Corps after 16 years, had serious injuries, owned a duffle full of cloths, a field pack of stuff I'd bought myself, a motorcycle I couldn't ride, and some loose change in my pocket,
I'd start over out where I grew up and understood how the land worked...

I bought 'Cheap' land WAY off the beaten path, so no electric or water service.
The electric company wanted $15,000 for a ground transformer dropped no place but where I wanted to build the house eventually, and wanted to tack $118,000 onto utility bills for the next 20-30 years for poles, wires, etc.
I passed.
No sense in a second mortgage before the first mortgage...

SO!
The first build (besides putting up the tent), was a Privvy.
Shower on one side, outhouse on the other.
Roof drained into rain barrel.
Two plastic barrels painted black to heat in the sun for a shower.
Carrying water is no fun & I highly recommend you spend resources avoiding that particular chore.

This privvy project reminded me of two things right away,
1. I'm not a 20 year old strong as an ox kid anymore,
2. Manual saws, drills, shovels & post hole diggers sucked just as badly as they did when I joined the Marines to get off the damn farm!

I murdered at least a dozen 'Cordless' tool batteries.
The tool kits are cheap on sale, but replacement batteries are expensive, and always dead/dying under field conditions.
Heavy sawing/drilling kills even a fully charged battery in short order...

Staring at the Jeep I traded my motorcycle for, it had a winch & two batteries.
With quick connects (Anderson Connector) one battery became my 'Camp' power and could be plugged right back into the Jeep for charging.
If those batteries/winch would drag a vehicle with no wheels, that's a LOT of stored power in those batteries!

Two batteries with a series adapter (24 Volts) and some DC rods, and I was welding.
I had to learn reversing polarity & rod size to control penetration, but welding capability is CRAZY HANDY to have!

Gutting the 'Cordless' battery I soldered wire to the terminals, battery clamps on the other end, and with a cord on my 'Cordless' tool I was off to the races!
This still works for me since I keep 'Trail' tools in the Jeep, and I have a 'Job/Work' trailer with the crap you need on a homestead/DIY job, screws, bolts & nuts, nails, Staples, ax, shovels, etc in the trailer.
$5 yard sale battery powered tools (minus battery), cord, vehicle battery gets about any job done for cheap,
And if you drop it in the lake, run over it, it gets rained on, no big deal at $5.

We aren't talking contractor or industral grade tools, but we also aren't talking a $250 pricetag either!

As power demands increased, I backed into solar panels to charge batteries.
If the little cheap solar panel about 6"x12" would maintain Jeep batteries, or charge an electric fence charger battery, I figured I would get a few more for the extra batteries...

I found out that bigger panels were MUCH more productive, and much less expensive in the long run, my solar system was born...

Now, nearly 20 years down the road, older weak batteries & panels still do plenty around here.
Weak isn't dead!
Just because they aren't fit to be in a battery string powering the house doesn't mean they are useless...
One or two side by side will still do a LOT of handy things.

Some LED lights and we have yard/area lighting.
In the surrounding fields, infrared LEDs make for extending the range of my night vision, powering motion detectors that alert me something is moving in the fields around us.
An auger & starter motor makes for easy fence post holes.
The golf cart I run around on has solar panels on the sun roof top, it charges itself, or I can plug that battery bank into the house inverter if need be.
The aforementioned electric fence chargers.
High torque electric motor, threaded shaft (all thread) will pry/lift things you couldn't move otherwise without busting a gut.
My first cement mixer was a starter motor, batteries & plastic barrel.
(Harbor Freight wasn't always around)

The cost/availability of little high torque tools & motors makes this about limitless when off the grid.
Every junk vehicle of any kind, riding mower to ATV has a starter motor & switches/relays/solenoids.
Every junk car has starter motor, wiper motor, blower motor, switches & controls.
Power windows, power seats have little gear reduction motors that come in REALLY handy.

And let's not forget about moving water, one of the most miserable & never ending jobs you can do...
You can move a LOT of water with a small pump, and running water keeps momma happy (Happy wife, happy life!).
With inverter you have 110VAC for all those plug in gadgets we have all become fond of, like microwaves, refrigerators & freezers.

All those inexpensive hand grinders for meat & Mills for grain work MUCH easier with a 'Cordless' drill motor attached!
I home can a LOT from a big garden, and if you do that, you know how much easier it is with power processing.

I haven't got the shovel pushing part figured out yet, but I'm working on it


So, what tips/tricks have you run across for little or no dollars?

Very good ideas and you seem very resourceful. We plan on doing something similar in the future. I know it is a given but I always collect free unwanted lumber, iron, and other items that may be useful in a shtf scenario. Things like fortification, constructing small sheds, etc these items come in handy. They really take up alot of space though, so I go through them and only keep the best items. You never know when you will need them.

 

[JeepHammer]

All I can recommend is think it through...

Since I don't much concern myself with the 'conspiracy theroy' ideas, I'm more concerned with the current trends that are on an upswing.
Industral pollution of ground water, Im old enough to remember when the EPA was weak/underfunded and rivers caught fire, industral processes dumped so much contamination it reached for MILES underground, and the dirt cought fire, people got gassed in there own homes from pollution coming up in their basements & crawl spaces, not to mention all the medical problems it caused for residents.

With pollution on the rise again, and the alarming trend for farm run off, pharmaceuticals in high concentrations showing up in surface water, I drilled deep well into limestone. It's 'Hard' water, but there is no better natural filter than limestone, and my water shows no chemicals at all.
It's getting much worse with 'Fracking' breaking rock layers and allowing gas, petroleum & fracking compound into the water table.

The mono-genetic & genetically manipulated food crops make for a really bad idea.
GMOs require mass dumping of chemicals (herbicides, pesticides, fungicides etc), and the single gene pool source makes for an easy wipe out of all like crops. One singe harmful plague can wipe out an entire food supply, like the cotton boll did cotton...
Besides, I'm particular, my sweet corn MUST be sweet & tender, not something engineered to ripen at the same time, or have thick enough skin it can be industral machine picked & processed.
Nothing like a 'Tomato' that has leather skin & tases like cardboard...

I specifically picked land in a flood plain. The river floods the lower end of my land almost every year, so no one wants it to build an interstate, bridge, industral complex, etc so I'm safe from 'Imminent Domain'. We recently had a scare with an interstate, it went around us by a wide margin, the expense of building on 'Shifting' land made them move the path.
The 'neighbor' across the lane is a HUGE fish & game wildlife habitat area, so no shortage of game.
Critters don't much care about fences, and they don't carry off your stuff, but you do have to consider the 'Critter' share of fruit tree production... There is enough for both of us, and considering there is meat to be had there in the front yard if you need it, it's all good.

I specifically DO NOT build flashy. No 'McMansion', my stuff looks mostly like rundown junk.
The shop was built from mismatched colors of sheet metal for a reason. (Think 'Partridge Family Bus')
No developer wants to build next to a 'Junk' Yard', and people don't think there is anything worth stealing.
I only have to deal with the occasional, random meth-head looking to steal batteries or aluminum, and he has to find the place first...

The house is nice, the patio is nice, the 'Landscaping' is gardens & fruit trees.
We have virtually no heat signature (earth sheltered), and you can't see the house from the air, or from 3 sides, and with vines/native stone we are virtually invisible to onlookers. Vines provide cover, screen heat signature, and in our case, produce grapes!
Vines die back in the winter to let light/heat into the house via windows.

There are three abandoned roads out of here, grown over with weeds & saplings, but a guy with a small Jeep can get through easily, larger (big pickup/hummve) vehicles won't make it. Trees have been allowed to grow to make choke points, turns way too tight for larger vehicles.

You can't pick the old farm field roads out from the air, google earth doesn't show them, only a couple locals know they ever existed.
All the maintenance needed is take a larger tree here & there out when it gets too big.
The beauty of old river roads, they don't run in straight lines...

This isn't something strategic or tactical, it's just something broken in my head...
I LOVE home canning! I just can't get enough of it.
I've spent YEARS collecting seeds, growing plants, herbs & spices.
Medicinal, functional (for instance, something that catches fire really easily even when wet or repels insects), flavorful, or things that repel intruders, thorns & poison ivy should come to mind...
Sometimes you don't need a gun or a wall to discourage people, an impenetrable thorn ticket keeps people from entering or digging where you don't want them, and it draws zero attention, people just think you are too lazy or busy to mow.

We live in an earth sheltered home, poured concrete done with 14' of glass in the front.
3 sides are impervious to everything but time.
The fourth is facing south/south east (morning sun).
In the winter, the sun mostly heats the place, with a slatted roof over the patio, high summer sun doesn't overeat the place.
With 4-5 feet of dirt on the roof, it's crazy efficient, and the temprature is 58*-72* year round.
Cooking heats it up a little more, but it's always livable, if not entirely comfortable.

I have a field of view about 800 yards to the river, over 1,000 yards in the other directions.
The edge of the patio has large limestone blocks for 'Benches' (free from limestone quarries, a crack or defect in the stone doesn't effect my use in the slightest).
I was over run with coyotes & other varmints when I moved here, fences have 'No trespassing' signs hanging on them, with range from my patio painted on the back facing me.
Between overhanging porch roof, and stones at the edge of patio, my windows are a VERY small target 800-1,000 yards out, and virtually invisible to onlookers.
Visitors don't even realize there is defense built into this place, it's just 'Nice' landscaping to them.

I'm fire, bug, flood & tornado proof, so the insurance company doesn't get their $3,000 or so a year for a place this size.
$3,000 is a substantial sum when talking about improvements & upgrades when you do the work yourself.

I have two buried shipping containers, poured concrete over them, attached to the house, one is all home canned food, the other is mostly food, but has a 'Summer Kitchen' for canning built into the front end.
My wife calls it 'Going Shopping' when she gets food for the week from these.
Sugar is a nitrate, keep it dry and it lasts forever. I buy in bulk.
Salt is essential for home canning & a crap load of other things, I buy in bulk & store.
Free standing shelving away from the wall allows for rotation, new goes on the back, oldest comes off the front of the shelves. Pain free rotation.

The garden provides nearly everything else, and I don't grow from common seeds, it's all 'Heritage' seed stocks, first it tases better, and it doesn't bear/ripen all at once, giving longer time to preserve as much as possible, and it's not the same genetic stock as common field crops, so it's not often vulnerable to common issues with genetically manipulated crops.
Also, I can replant my seeds, no 'Terminator' gene implanted. It's generational.

We don't plant 'Decroative' trees/shrubs, we have fruit trees, they bloom wonderfully in the spring (and they don't have wide/dense enough trunks to be used as cover, the branches aren't thick enough to climb, the canopy doesn't block vision entirely).
Fresh & canned fruit is wonderful.
Since fruit trees bear best when younger, no one thinks a thing about removing one when it gets older & thicker, and no one thinks a thing about pruning out thicker-heavier canopy.

I'm a Marine, I can't help but think about situational/positional awareness, but I'll be damned if I'm going to live in a fighting hole & eat crap!
I just keep busy, sometimes 'Busy' is sitting on the patio, having a cup of coffee & fresh fruit/produce, listening to morning sounds and watching the sun come up...
Shadows will tell you a lot, how the wildlife runs will tell you a lot, watching rain run off will tell you a lot...
Time to think it through.

 

[JeepHammer]

I use cheap 'Cordless' tools and 'Weak' or automotive batteries to power jobs...
Enough about me.

I equate this to the depression & prohibition, farmers couldn't sell crops by the bushel,
So with a still, they sold crops by the gallon

When the fuel pump quits, you hike a gas can up high and use gravity to feed the carb.

Using a sapling for a 'Spring' to get something done.

It's figuring out what to do for yourself with what you have...

Doesn't have to be big, small ideas grow, some small ideas are nearly perfect the way they are...
What have you come up with?

 

[jd4320t]

Wow. Thanks for sharing.

 

[Tactically Fat]

Buried shipping containers?

As in - put the soil right up against the sides and tops?

 

[JeepHammer]

Putting steel, even tin core steel against moisture & acids in the soil isn't a good idea.
Basement coating (type of tar), then foam board insulation, then heavy plastic or rubber intended for underground use.

The good news is there are tons of choices in basement sealer and landscapers have tons of choices in plastic/rubber sheeting.

Instead of a full surround foundation, pillars to support the container, since they are built for stacking, and gravel/drains underneath to lower water table below the container.
Pillars, drains & gravel make it easy, I poured walls but didn't have to, and a concrete slab on top.
Containers are built to support stacks up to 10 high, so supporting the weight of the slab is no issue.
Just support sheet metal roof with braces while cement cures, lumber for supports isn't damaged and is used elsewhere.
Foam board spreads weight out also, so normally you don't even get sags.

The plastic moves water around container, French drains carries it off so the container doesn't flood.
A contractor filled me in on how they did things, it didn't even jam up the doors, which sometimes happens.

French drains also allow for gray water removal, so I could have a summer kitchen without a sewer line.

I'm sure there is better sealer if our have water issues, but tipping the container on it's side, sandblasting and coating thick (recommendation from contractor) keeps moisture from creeping into the wood laminate in the floor.
My gravel/drains/soil stays somewhat damp to very damp, so I undercoated the containers.

This was actually pretty easy, you can tip a container over on old tires to work on the bottom,
When it's upright, the tops/sides are easy, and a local septic tank service set the container on the pillars for $300 each.
The cheapest crane service you will ever find!

I used native stone (fields are full of them) but most people use retaining wall stones to hold back earth cover around entry.
Retaining wall stones are MUCH easier than native stone, they stack, they are properly sized, they have provision for retaining anchors if needed.
I'm on sand, so I needed anchors... What a pain...

Contractor tip, if it's a done instead of a flat top, a layer of water proof clay works to move water under native soil.
I would have had to truck clay in, so I used concrete.
I probably should have tar coated the concrete against future cracks, but I didn't have the money for hot tar, I'm hoping the plastic & basement coating is enough. 13 years down the road, so far, so good...

 

[JeepHammer]

The coal mine left two containers, a 20' & 40'.
My first try was sandbags and I don't recommend it.

I started in a tent, weather forced me into a container left behind I was using for secure storage.
It was impossible to heat or keep cool, so I sand bagged it, the coal mine left behind sandbags used for water control, and a Marine is familiar with sandbags...

It worked as insulation, but they retained moisture, and the critters moved in...

 

[Goodcat]

All these amazing setups and no pics. Pics please!!!

 

[Tactically Fat]

My angle to my above question wasn't related to corrosion resistance. It's about pressure-resistance. If it's a shipping container like meant for a semi-truck or for floating across an ocean - it's designed to be stacked upon. It's not at all designed to have tons and tons of soil pressed upon the sides and top.

https://graywolfsurvival.com/2625/why-you-shouldnt-bury-a-shipping-container-for-a-shtf-bunker/

https://www.offthegridnews.com/extr...ng-containers-are-awful-underground-shelters/

What happens when you bury a shipping container, a cautionary tale. | Prepper-Resources.com - The Ultimate Prepper & Survivalist Blog.

https://risingsbunkers.com/why-othe...a/shipping-containers-make-terrible-shelters/

 

[Icarry2]

An idea for pushing / moving dirt..







Or if you have the means, a future purchase for my homestead..



Kudos to you for all you have accomplished.

 

[JeepHammer]

With bad neck, shoulder, back, hip & both knees, pushing a shovel/digging is difficult for me.
I eventually got a tractor, bucket & back hoe, but in the beginning it was shovels...

Even the lawn mower sized tractor/back hoe is a gift from above!

My angle to my above question wasn't related to corrosion resistance. It's about pressure-resistance. If it's a shipping container like meant for a semi-truck or for floating across an ocean - it's designed to be stacked upon. It's not at all designed to have tons and tons of soil pressed upon the sides and top.

I have to point out the difference between 'Ignorant' & 'Stupid'.
Ignorant means you don't have an education in a particular subject. You can gain that education, I got mine through trial & error doing it wrong, then talked to a contractor that built storm shelters, wine cellar, cold storage shelters, etc.

Stupid is knowing difference, but still screwing it up anyway.

Since shipping containers are built to stack up to 10 high fully loaded, but support from the corners and upright braces, the slab supports the weight of dirt, the container corners support the slab.
Same as stacking.
Since I poured walls, they also support the slab.
Any water that enters cracks gets sheeted off to French drains lowering the water table under the containers.

Pillar (not footer) under the support points, corners & upright support columns, the container is supported just like it would be stacked 10 high on a container ship.
More than likely, since there is between 4" & 10" of foam insulation all the way around the container, I could pull it out from between concrete walls supporting slab and remove it entirely.
Walls are 10" higher than container top, heat rises so ceiling is the heaviest insulated, and styrofoam distributes load evenly, even used under jumbo jet runways & highways for load distribution.

Styrofoam is cheap & effective. I like cheap & effective.
A footer, and retaining wall stones or concrete blocks stacked directly up if you didn't want a cement truck out at your build, would still support anything on top the container, a slab being the cheapest, most effective I could come up with at the time.

I've see the guys that dig a hole or backfill over containers directly, I didn't want to go that route...
I used sandbags and that was enough of that, weight of sandbags tried to rack the doorway, no issues with doors now.