Customer Reviews

Travel-Trailer Homesteading Under $5,000

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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!!

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.

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

This really is a motivating little book. We all dream of geting away and his description of exactly how to find a trailer, adapt it to solar, septic, compost and very livable condition!

Has great info on how to fix the trailer, and live comfortably. My company keeps this book in stock at all times. visit the website at www.dirtcheapbuilder.com and look under the cheap houses link.

email me with questions tms@northcoast.com

While the lifestyle this book describes may not be for everyone, it does offer very practical, down-to-earth suggestions as a viable alternative to the 30 year mortgage ball and chain. His writing style is very personable, as if you were sitting across the table having coffee with him. Lots of useful information....
I recommend this book!

Here it is--instant cabin on the cheap, if you can live with the travel trailer aesthetics. Sensible and A-to-Z complete. The $5000 figure in the title is utterly accurate.

I'm gonna try this in the mountains in Mex.

This book might also have been titled "Travel Trailer Frugal Living". I mean that in a good way. This is not the normal homesteading book. There is nothing about raising animals, gardening, making candles, or anything like that. There is plenty on the basics of getting off the grid and what it takes to do that. The information is based on the author's experience and is solid. The only drawback is that the information provided is limited to this one author's experience. Anyone who is interested in getting off the grid should make this book a part of their library.

There are three editions out there. The first two look like professionally bound books, the third more like something done at a copy store. The information is still there but the package is not as slick looking.

I was surprised that this arrived as a laser-printed, spiral-bound "book" a la Kinkos, but the information is more important than the presentation, and the photographs in the back are fairly clear and tonal for this method of printing. I wish the author had talked at greater length about specific things to look for in a travel trailer when buying one, and talked more about insulating one, about water catchment (not everyone will have a truck they can drive to a municipal water pump every day or two!), and retrofitting other energy-efficient appliances to the travel trailer/RV situation. I would've liked more of this sort of info and could've done without the several excerpts from the author's Western-themed fiction writing (and the sizable catalog of the publisher's other books in the back). I also didn't care for the cliché redneck quips about "life on the range" in the back, with potshots seemingly aimed at "limp-wristed liberals" who don't have the mettle to live out West. First of all not everyone wants to live out West, but more importantly it's immaterial to the subject and insulting to those who may have different opinions.

This is REALLY a great book! Lots of info, tips, etc. to get started and with the glut of cheaper RV's right now, do-able.... Thanks!

This book is full of great information, some I have done myself. I planned on setting up an RV on property that I already own, this book filled in some blanks for me. Highly recomend if you are looking for a low cost way to start to homestead even if you plan on building at a later date.