Neighboring Property Development and Fence Work

Land prices have been on the rise since COVID began.  The increase in land pricing has caused more properties to go up for sale.  Additionally, those who don't sell have more reason to improve and invest money in the property they own.  I've seen a bit of this in the area of my land.  I'll include a few examples...

On the east side of the property about 100 yards from the SE corner, a neighboring property line runs into mine.  There was a railroad tie here that blocked my ability to extend the fence down to the corner properly.  I removed it and then put it back into place still on the property line but slightly over so I could finish my fence. 

I put the railroad tie back in place on December 17th and thought nothing more of it as that whole side of the neighboring properties is so grown up that no one ever goes back there.  Strangely, on April 22nd, I went back out to find that someone had cleared that property line, ran a new fence, and connected it to the railroad tie I put back into place.  I don't know when it actually occurred but rather strange timing on my part.

Before:

After:

In this same area, the SE corner of my property was super overgrown and I couldn't see the corner of the property which on the survey was marked as an oak tree.  When I had the mini excavator, I cleared back to the tree and along the fence line expecting to get from the railroad tie down to this corner ready for fencing.  This is another area so dense that this property owner never went back there either.  

This weekend, I drove the property line for the first time since late April.  I found the neighbor to the south cleared his east fence line up to the tree which marks the corner of my property.  He then installed a new fence along side that part of the property and connected it to the metal piping that I exposed when clearing back in November.  Also really strange timing despite being six months apart.

In the spring of this year, I began working a little on the north property line as the neighbor's fence crossed onto my property.  This particular neighbor, wrapped his fence through trees many years ago and had it run on to my property and the neighbor on the opposite side.  I started clearing it and then a large storm came through breaking the top out of several of the trees.  I ended up pulling the fence out of those trees, cutting them down, and then moving the fence closer to the right spot.

I noticed some unique cars going to that neighbors house while doing some of this work.  I learned this past weekend that he ultimately moved out and is suffering from dementia.  Seems his children are cleaning up the property now with plans of selling it in the near future.  I guess I need to hurry and get the rest done while I can before I have to convince someone else of where the property line I had surveyed is actually at.

Before:

After (opposite angle):

Lastly, I mentioned my neighbor ran his fence around trees rather than using posts causing it to come over onto my property.  He did the same with another neighbor I spoke with this weekend.  He is the one who told me about the case of Dementia.  We ended up talking as he is now cleaning his property line shared with the neighbor who came down with Dementia before the property is sold and there are conflicts over the property line.  You can see the clearing and the flags for the property line in the picture below.

I don't have pictures of it but this last fall, I noticed property markers show up on the east fence.  I looked into it and found the old man on that side started selling parts of his property to another neighbor.  He sold two different 20 acre segments of land that neighbor mine.  I've not seen anything of it yet except some mowing along that fence line which is a good change but I'm sure more of it will come in the future.  

We have owned the property for seven years now and nothing really changes.  The neighbors are all quiet and we are at the end of a private easement.  It is strange to have all of these changes happening around you on property that has largely been ignored.  I don't see it as negative but more just something to watch as you never know what happens next.

Texas Metal Tanks Wildlife Waterer (Part 2)

This Saturday, I returned to work on the wildlife waterer a bit more.  I built a small fence around the perimeter using a spare hog panel and a small scrap piece of a cattle panel I cut a few years ago.  The two combined were just enough to circle the water tank so that hogs would not push it over and the cut piece formed a gate.  I cut a few 5' T-posts down slightly so that they are just a couple of inches below the ring of the funnel.

I mounted the funnel to the barrel itself using the 2" self-taping screws that they provided.  I'd considered coming up with brackets or something a little better but in the end just used the screws.  

The funnel is 6' in diameter.  If we get 1" of rain, it should amount to 17 gallons.  If I wanted the entire tank filled it would take 5" of rain to make it happen.

I ran a regular water hose from the bib at the bottom of the tank over to the watering pan.  I coiled the extra hose around the tank as opposed to cutting it.  

The tank is out of the way so that if I were to shoot anything in the pen, I'm not going to hit the tank with a bullet.  It is visible in the back left of the picture above.

I poured 15 gallons of water into the tank to get it to at least fill the water pan.  After waiting a while, it never filled the pan.  The bib is on at the tank so I'm not sure what is wrong.  The process to find out isn't hard but I called it a day as I'd been working for several hours, it was 2 o'clock, and the temperature was 101.  I'll work on it a bit more on the next trip.

Texas Metal Tanks Wildlife Waterer

Several weeks ago, I ordered a Wildlife Waterer from Texas Metal Tanks.  The tank itself is a 90 gallons and measures 30" in diameter by 33" tall.  On top of the tank is essentially a 6' cone to collect rain.  Additionally, it comes with a tank screen that goes into the bottom of the cone (TASS20 from rainwaterharvesting.com) and a galvanized water dish with shut off float (Pet Lodge PW13).

The company that made the waterer is in Dripping Springs.  Considering the size, it would cost $275 to ship it so I made the 2.5 hour drive to go pick it up today.  

There was a hose that came with the setup to connect the large tank to the watering pan but it was only 2' long.  I'll need to get another as I plan to have the tank quite a way from the pan.  I'd like the tank out of the way so that it is not in the way of shooting with the pan in the feeding pen so that hogs will not destroy it.

I also need to come up with a way to fasten the cone to the tank.  The company provided several 2" screws to screw it down to a flange on top of the tank.  This would work but they couldn't be very tight or they would distort the shape of the cone.  I'm going to try to come up with another option.

The last thing I need to do is put a fence up around the waterer so that hog does not try to rub against it and push the whole thing over.  A 16' hog panel is 5' in diameter when formed into a circle which should work.  I have a spare panel I can use and will just need a few T-posts to secure it to the ground.  

Lastly, I need to level the ground so that it is sitting perfectly flat as when full it will have 720 lbs of water inside.

More Brush Burning on North East Corner

In 2018, I used a skid steer to do some clearing at the properly which resulted in a burn pile in the north east corner.  That pile has now sat in that location for five years.  Yesterday, I started the pile on fire.  I made about eight trips to pick up bits of yaupon I pulled back in November and burned it on top of the pile.

This is what the burn pile looked like when I finished clearing on April 16, 2018.

The following picture is from yesterday morning right after I started the pile on fire.  Over the five years, some of it broke down which made burning it a little easier.  However, the big pieces that remained at the bottom are all oak.

The following picture is after the pile burned overnight.  Despite the heavy rain storm, the fire kept going and was burning still this morning.  There were parts of two stumps left and that is essentially it.  After five years, I'm glad this pile is now burned.

North Fence Work and Relocation (Part 2)

I've been slowly doing some work on the north fence line.  Many years ago, the neighbor ran fencing around his property by wrapping it around trees.  The trees did not perfectly follow the property line so there are some areas where it runs onto my property.  The fencing is so old that it has become part of the trees so moving it isn't that easy.  To this point, I've largely just moved existing T-posts over without touching any trees.

I storm came through recently which blew down several trees.  Some of those were coincidentally on the property line and had the fence grown into them.  I took the opportunity to remove the fence from these trees so it was not damaged (long process), cut down two of the trees, and then moved the fence closer to the proper spot.  

The challenge now is that there is a power pole that is near the property line.  One of the guy wires that hold it into place crosses over the property line.  In order to move the fence, I'd need to come up with some way to deal with this area.  Additionally, I wanted to install some field fence which would not work out too well with the guy wire the way it is.  While this is still something to consider later, I made some excellent progress today.  

Unfortunately, toward the end of this day, I was feeling horrible.  I probably should not have worked as I wasn't feeling that well to start with.  I found out a couple of days later that I had COVID.  

Fox at the Cabin

 After almost a good week of working at the cabin, I happened to notice a hole in the ground near the cabin.  Upon closer inspection, it appears to be a fox hole.  I can't imagine the fox would still visit it after all the noise I've made for a week straight, but I put up a game camera to see if the fox stops by.

The hole is about 8-10" in diameter and angles down at about 45 degrees.  When it is just about 24" into the ground, it appears to turn left.  In the picture below, I included a glove by the hole for comparion purposes.  The second picture shows how close the fox hole is to the cabin.  

I'll update this post more if I can catch a few pictures of the fox with the game camera.

Fox Dens | All You Need To Know - All Things Foxes

Addressing a Railroad Tie Fence Post

On the east side of the property, the majority of the property line is fenced rather nicely.  There are four runs of barbed wire with black pipe corners like at the front of the property near the cabin.  The one exception is on the south side of that property line.  The new fencing just ends at the black pipe H shown below.  Beyond that, is an old railroad tie and some really old barb wire that runs to the corner of the property which is marked by an oak tree.

The area between the railroad tie and the tree marking the corner was massively overgrown.  While I had the excavator, I cleared the brush from that area so that I could get this area of fencing improved.  While clearing, I decided to go ahead and pull the railroad tie as it was angled such that it would block me continuing the fencing down the side with the standard black piping.  

Pulling the railroad tie required that I disconnect the neighbor's fence but it's a rusted and broken mess so anything I did would end up an improvement.  That was two weeks ago and today I finished the job by putting the railroad tie back in the ground but a couple of inches over so I could continue the metal piping.  The railroad tie is also now straight up and down.  I fastened the neighbor's old fence back to it better than before.  I want to keep it so that he connects any future fencing to it rather than my fence piping.