62 of 64 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Environmental Engineer endorses Authors' Septic System!!!, March 5, 2002
This review is from: Travel-Trailer Homesteading Under $5,000 (Paperback)
Any "Full-Timer", (Living full time in a Recreational Vehicle, like my wife and I do), could tell you that Mr. Kelling is right on track. His info is timely, accurate, and most importantly, useful! Since a "Full-Timer" already has a firm grip on the basics of a travel trailer, or motorhome, the author has correctly dispensed with all but the valuable stuff, ergo his title:
". . . HOMESTEADING. . ."
I've seen older travel trailers (30' or less) sell for $300 and last a lifetime. All of the prices noted in Mr. Kelling's book are correct, by my research. Certainly one could spend much more, but that lends itself to the old story of Richard Petty (the racecar driver) asking a famous racecar builder just how much it would cost to build a racecar. The reply was, "Depends on just how fast you want to go."
The idea here is frugality. If people can't do the work themselves, the "Do-it-yourself" book isn't the proper genre.
If, on the other hand, those of us who are self-sufficient pick up this little jewel -we're good to go! It's all here.
We folks living in the country know all about outhouses, septic systems, and cisterns. Suffice it to say that any engineer of Septic systems will endorse Mr. Kelling's plans. A leeching field is the correct place to return the liquefied matter back to mother earth. Lateral lines are what carry the liquefied matter to that leeching field. A separation tank, and liquefying tank are the correct instruments to reduce the matter to liquid.
Well, enough techno prattle.
It just irks my hide when a person pens a flame without doing their homework first. My wife and I have each staked a mining claim -20 acres each- in gorgeous country, beautiful mountains with dynamic and breathtaking views. Cost? Free!! (Well there was a meager filing fee, and we must make $100/yr improvements.) That takes care of the land, notwithstanding millions of acres of wilderness.
$30,000 worth of power & hand tools would make one a professional in the trades, so that's out of the question. A professional is not needed here, if you use Kelling's book. Park your travel trailer, get your pickaxe and shovel out and go to work. There's your excavation for the septic system for sweat equity. OK, so you have a few dollars, hire a backhoe.
Well, I could go on and on. This is such a marvelous book. Small? Well, maybe it isn't War and Peace sized, but there's an old country saying that goes, "It's not the size of the dog in the fight that counts, but the size of the fight in the dog."
This dog has plenty of fight in it and it will sure hunt.
Buy the book and go hunting!!
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19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Help for the homeless ,but not helpless, December 25, 2009
This review is from: Travel-Trailer Homesteading Under $5,000 (Paperback)
I enjoyed this book very much ,and I hope that others will read and use it too. It , and lots of hard work, has saved me from being one of the working poor, homeless and hopeless. It showed me that there are other ways to live. Buy it, Read it ,Use it . Simple, to the point, and inspiring. Soon after reading this book I started to save all I could to start at this. Then I went looking for some land myself, the internet helps with this a lot, and found some, made my purchase ,and have a mortgage free dwelling, not many can say they have that, but if I can do this so, can you . mortgage free, running water, heat? no problem. Lights? T.V? Yes, the know how to get Your basics, they are all here.
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30 of 34 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
WELL RESEARCHED, CONCISLEY WRITTEN, ACCURATE TO A FAULT!, March 6, 2002
This review is from: Travel-Trailer Homesteading Under $5,000 (Paperback)
What a simply charming book. Take a travel trailer, homestead a 20 acre mining claim for free ...follow the directions given in the book and you are good to go! What could be simpler.
With this book as a guide, shucks, even I can do this!
The author found a beautiful piece of ground in colorado, by the looks of the cover of this great little book. The good news is that he has already done it and taken the onus out of the equation. It is duplicatable!! He provides a true "template" for the entire venture. No guess work. Just follow the yellow brick road and the simple instructions on the back of the box.
Thanks a million, Brian. What a great wealth of information.
Hap
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