that is a great looking new toy. i hope it works well for you... you are doing something i have been dreaming about doing for sometime.. i hoipe i am as lucky to find as good a deal.
The guy who has owned it recently and has been... ummm... 'taking care' of it is quite the card... Windows on these things get broken and vandalized on a lot of construction sites, he replaced the broken glass with skylights. The orginal seat is gone, he bolted in a swivel office chair with arm rests... At least it is mounted correctly and you can turn around and work both sets of controls. It is also comfortable.
I need to spend some hours in the cab with the manual on my lab learning the controls, then learning to drive this beast... The brakes do work, everything works... But I would really feel more comfortable if I engaged in this learning process after hauling this beast down to my property where I can't destroy anything.
Water on my place is a problem.... I have analysed the satellite maps and topos and walked around looking at the vegitation... It's been years since I have witched water but I already know two spots where I feel there is water at 40 ft or less, and 20 ft is actually more likely... The problem is these spots will probably only yeild significant amounts of water after the rainy season and the wells would go dry for 1/2 year or more... There are a couple of nearby wells (2 miles & 3 miles) and a spring (1/2 mile) down hill from my land, but they are all much lower and/or tap larger water sheds. My water shed is restricted to the 160 acres right around me.
With this in mind I intend to put in a large cistern and cachement systems with above ground tanks. I will put up a small tower for water pressure. With the ability to store 10,000 gallons I can see fit dam a couple of shallow washes and see about using the backhoe to dig down behind the dam in an effort to hit the deeper ground water... Then install a pump. There are good rains periodically, when it comes you have to get the water up and into storage and then conserve for the dry months.
The problem really is that with a small water shed and shallow water the actual quality of the land is very important... Running a machine that leak hydraulic fluid all over this type work will ensure the water ends up with oil leaching into it.
As far as dreams... I suppose in some form or another I have dreamed about something like this project, but it was simply too far out to ever be realistic. What happened was the course of my life made it a necessity... I am not doing this so much because I want to or this is something I have always dreamed of... I am doing this because this is simply how it has to be done, and it's a hell of a lot of work, time, and money getting set up... I end up giving up a lot of things I enjoy (nice restaurants close by and city services for instance)... But I figured as remote and hostile as this area is, if I took the time, put in the work, spent the money, and do things right I can be very comfortable and have all the things I really _need_.
Once I am done my cost of living should be extraordinarily low... Food and maintenence only... No utilities, no commuting to work, if I end up going out once a month for food and to collect waste oil wearing greasy overalls and looking like a country moron...
I would smile
Anybody know how to repack hydraulic cylinders?