Hi, my name is Dave and my wife BJ and I live in North Pole, a few hundred miles north of the Kenai. We are seniors and both of our daughters are on the other sides of the world serving as missionaries, one as a nurse practioner and the other s vetrinaran to semi nomadic herders.I have just celebrated my 50th year in Alaska. I am amused watching the flood of 20 and 30something couples moving up here in the last five years. All of your stories are pretty similar. I hope to hear back from you and will tell you that spending money on all that gravel now for your driveway and pads will be money and peace of mind in the bank for the future. God bless you both.
Thank you! We actually looked for properties in the North Pole/Delta Junction area back in 2021, but it just didn't work out. I bet your daughters have tons of interesting stories of their travels from other parts of the world. We are happy that we invested in our driveway now. It was definitely a necessity! 😀
I’m Liking this channel not a lot of Talk just a little explanation and all work that’s really great to see a channel like this! Not all but a lot of channels want to bore us to death with talk instead of getting to work ! I like to see the progress in action even if it’s on time lapse at least we get to see the actual things that took place. Thanks for a refreshing working channel ! CC RIDER
We are glad to hear you are enjoying the videos 🙂 It is really challenging to find a happy medium when creating the content. We try to keep more quality less quantity. Thanks for watching!
Yes, for sure! The mud was really crippling after the snow melted. We could not move trailers in and out really slowing our progress. It was quite the ordeal getting the vehicles in and out. They became stuck several times during mud season. Thanks for watching!
Hey guys how you doing today hope you're having a wonderful day at least you got the tractor out I didn't think it was going to get it out that day but all right have a great day and I hope you get the driveway
Thank you! It feels good and solid, even with a full load in the trailer. Not having the driveway really slowed down progress on building because we weren't able to get out during really rainy, muddy days. We do enjoy mud bogging, just not in our driveway 🤣
SO JEALOUS you guys are living my dream. My wife and I just bought a school bus to convert and plan on moving back to Alaska if not this spring coming up definitely the following. Great job we will be watching keep up the great work.
Thank you! We are glad to have you 😊 We actually used to have a bus conversion, but we found a deal on our current RV that we couldn't pass up. So, we ended up getting that and selling the bus.
Greetings from Pakistan,now driveway looks beautiful after putting garbles.Your new homestead getting shape every passing day.Filming of your all videos are par of excellence.it’s my dream to live in a the wilderness of Alaska. Keep working and smiling 😊
Hello 👋 🙂 thank you for your kind words! We are glad you are enjoying our videos 😃 living in alaska is a great dream to have it is so beautiful, wild, and free! Have you been able to visit alaska?
Thank you! It was such a relief, we were essentially stranded for a while because the vehicles could not get out of the property without a winch or help from machinery... having a stable road has realy helped us make more progress 🙂
Thank you! We enjoy working hard! We have been gathering the tools for a more self-sufficient lifestyle over the last 10 years or so from doing all of our own DIY projects in Pennsylvania. They are certainly coming in handy now, too! And at the cost of our used skid steer, it's paid for itself over and over again, not having to hire contractors. 😀
DANG!!! You did ALL the work and YOU had to pay that guy $60. to take that car off your property?!?! Bummer!! You kids are doing such a good job!! I wish you the best of luck!! Loving your videos, Hello from Wichita Falls Texas!!!
Thank you! Ha! Unfortunately, in Alaska, scrap steel you have to pay to get rid of unless we travel several hours to Anchorage 😅. Back in PA, we probably would have gotten $300 for it.
@@northtoalaska2022 Well, I understand. On the plus side, it benefited you to get that taken away. If that’s the only bad thing, then, living off the grid, being self sufficient, is a good thing! RIGHT?! Another thought is, by living off grid, your making yourself a better form of life and not making Mortgage Companies, Electric Companies richer!! You are our future generation and are a lot smarter than all the folks out there busting their butts to make the Rich even Richer!! God Bless!!
Suggestion: water drain dirt made driveway ditches running along the road would be ideal to keep any and all rain or snow meltin water accumulation running onto the road... Compacting the road with heavy equipment before snow falls.. makes the road more hardened plus you get to find out where the road needs more gravel to be level so you're not ending up in a ditch in winter... place some reflective poles marker (Relective tape tapered on a wooden stick will work) atleast 6 feet long.. so you'd know where the road is when driving in winter. (these are all suggestions) Regards from Singapore, GOD bless
Now lets see that sidebyside throwing gravel!!! One day ill have to boondock my way up there for some good trail running. You guys should set up a "camp site" for boondockers passing by and get yourself registered as a boondockers welcome site! Id visit for sure!
the driveway is looking good now. I bet it is a big relief to you. I know I just did my driveway and it is so much nicer knowing I'm not going to get stuck. Thanks for sharing your journey.
Yes, a good road makes life a lot easier! The soil here becomes a bottomless pit fast without a road structure in place. We hope your driveway has turned out great! Thank you for watching 🙂
Looking Good. I put in a driveway using 'stone crete'. It hardens up like concrete. You probably can't get it there. I have only found it in one place in Michigan. Everything takes a lot of time (and money).
Thank you! We haven't heard of stone crete. That sounds interesting. I doubt we have it here. There are lots of things that are hard to get. We are actually limited on stone material here, too. Pit run is the most widely used material for driveways in our area.
I have about run out of superlatives to describe the work you are doing and most importantly, the results. The driveway looks amazing. It was a significant investment but one you will appreciate when break up comes. Super job!!
Thank you again! 😊 we lost a lot of time this spring because access in and out of our property was really difficult during spring breakup... it was a huge relief to be able to knock this project out.
Love that we found you guys as we work on our own driveway endeavors for our homestead in northern Wisconsin! Unfortunately we have a few trees to deal with 😂 but we're making progress. Great channel!! Best wishes to you guys and your endeavors.
Hi you guys. I've been kind of keeping up with your progress on stuff along with the number of other couples like you. You guys pretty much seem to be doing it right. I would love to be young enough to do something like what you're doing. My mouth Waters when I'm watching your videos. My wife and I have been to Alaska three times but only on vacation trips with a combination of ships land tours I guess I should say train tours as far up as Fairbanks. I have always been involved in construction since I was a kid my father built three different homes for us from the time I was six until the time I graduated from high school. I learned a lot and I miss it. Although about 15 years ago we remodeled our house and that worked out good. In addition to your great knowledge of building you are very good at photography and video which I also am very interested in and have been since high school up to now. I have a few more stories about Alaska as an uncle lived up there for 30 years and raised his family. And a niece spent Summers up there for 10 years working in Skagway making money. Then, and touring the world for the rest of the year. ❤ Keep up the good work and I'll continue to watch God bless you both. Dan and Marilyn Cook.
Hi Dan and Marilyn! It's great to be able to share our experiences here with folks like you. It sounds like we have a lot of related interests. Thanks for exchanging some of your experiences, and God bless!
Are you guys making quite a bit a Projects I’m enjoying watching you I am here in the state of Maine in the states so keep up the good work I will keep watching both C3 very good workers God bless
Very enjoyable watching your progress! I built my road to my OGP, a little over 800 yards. Didn’t have the mud tho! New sub, Still catching up, only 4 months behind now 😂
Thank you! Glad to hear you found us and are enjoying our videos! 🙂 the mud was unbearable for a short time here. Building the road was a top priority!
I’m so glad I found your channel last week. You two are doing great work on this property. You should be very proud of yourselves for all this hard work. I like that rake attachment for the skid steer. That does a great job leveling up the driveway. Keep up the videos I’m really enjoying them.
I'm glad you are enjoying our videos! It has taken a lot of work, but we are working towards our goals one project at a time. The rake does great for gravel roads. We purchased it to maintain our old dirt road in Pennsylvania, and now it is very handy in alaska! Thank you for your kind words!
This is great. I just started watching. Me and my lady are leading a very similar life in the Colorado Rockies. I was born and raised in Philly and was gonna ask if you guys were originally from the Philly area then I saw this comment about y’all being from Pennsylvania. Can hear the east coast in the way ya talk. Also, love that rake for the skiddy. It’s our next attachment purchase for sure. Keep up the great work.
I’m remote off the sterling about 5 miles on a non- maintained borough road. I did the exact same but had to go back and redo it due to heavy equipment I have coming in and out. Went with 4”-6” rock bottom layer, 2”-3” rock next, then pit run, and finished it off with 1” minis and topped it with pea gravel compacting/watering every layer. Expensive but will never have to redo it. Cheers
@@northtoalaska2022 Thanks for your reply. I used to live in the Shetland Isles. About as far north as you could get in the UK. I'm not a fish eater due to medical reasons. I just had to comment on the beautiful colour of your salmon fillets to the farmed salmon they produce in Shetland..
Thank you! It absolutely will make it easier. The property had been abandoned for nearly 20 years, so this year, we were running over small trees and shrubs while snowblowing and plowing.
Hi guys! Mike here from Charlotte. Just found your channel and subscribed. All caught up and looking forward to your journey. Garden and drive look great
Road fabric seems to be a common practice here in alaska. Our old gravel driveway back east had a lot of sink holes that I think would have not been an issue if the road base had a layer of geotextile fabric In place. Thanks for watching 🙂
We are glad to hear you are enjoying our videos, and thank you! 😀 the rv is 38 feet, so we are living in roughly 300 square feet. It has been great to have a warm, dry place to rest while we are building up our new home! We will do a video over the winter about the rv. It is an old 1993 motorhome that we bought for dirt cheap and renovated solely for the purpose of moving to alaska.
@@northtoalaska2022 I am going to run your videos over and over after I have seen them not fast forwarding thru the comer ials while I work around my house, I will share you guys with everyone I can, in order to help you grow your channel as much as I can.
Man! I wish I could live up in Alaska on a mountain🏔️ top that has snow❄️all year round! I'm so sick of burning🔥 hot🥵 heat humidity 💦 and mosquitoes🦟365 days a year down here in the deep south! The last 20 days have been 110° F everyday with no rain in a month!
We really wish we could send some rain your way, It has been raining here most of the summer... we saw that a lot of places had a brutal hot summer this year! Luckily, cooler weather is on the way for everyone 😎
So far, we have had rain nearly every day since it was installed, and many of those days were downpours! It's been holding up great with the rain and with the vehicles and trailers so far. Thank you for watching!
If I may offer one little thing about the garden ,which looks really good. You might want to think about doing a few cross braces in each corner ,and up right to up right, you know just in case you get some body that is looking to see what they could munch on,,,, just a thought
I suppose news takes time to travel north. Just chain the tailgate of the gravel truck open 4"-6", raise the bed and back the truck up to neatly and evenly spread the rock. Next time!!!
Hi there! This company will not spread the gravel unless they are building the roads. I believe it's too much of a risk for them as they would rather not sink, get stuck, or tip over. We did ask. Luckily, we have the skid steer to place it all.
I'm amazed at how much equipment you have up with you already, skid steer, attachments, boat, closed trailer, open trailer, canam, two trucks and the RV. How Many road trips did you make to get it all up there. Nice road by the way !!
Hi, and thank you for watching! Chris drove the 40 ft motorhome towing the enclosed trailer packed with our belongings. Katie drove the truck with the gooseneck dump trailer with the skid steer and all of the attachments and the sxs on a custom rack that we made for hauling it. That was in October. In February, Chris drove back to PA with just the truck, no trailer and hauled the other gooseneck trailer back up with more belongings and our Jeep. 😀 The boat we purchased here. More content on the boat coming soon 😉
If this is anything like my place up in North Idaho - it Looks like you’ll need some angled v-groove drainage ditches after a wet Winter/Spring. Good luck!
It is hard to see in some parts of the video, but we do have slight ditches along the driveway in key areas. It will be interesting to see how it works out when the snow melts. We may have another video this spring digging drainage with an excavator 🙂 thanks for watching!
@@northtoalaska2022 - yeah after two Winters up in North Idaho I had to get a real job excavationtesm up there to clear things for real. Most of property is sloped so I’m having to re-direct and add culverts to avoid washing away my house! Good luck!
We crowned the road and created swails on the side for drainage. So far, it has been through about 60 days straight of rain, some days being heavy downpours with 1/4 inch or more. We haven't had any drainage issues. We will see how it stands up to the ice here very soon. Thank you for watching! 😀
Great Job. Looks good. Could've saved huge amounts of time if the dump drivers had just used spreader chains and did a dump n roll...Maybe next time....
When we lived in Pennsylvania, we sold junk cars to scrap yards for 300-400 $ over the years. Here, scrap steel is worthless. Even to get rid of steel for free, we would have to make an 8 hour round trip. Best 60 dollars spent to have the eyesore out of here in a half hour 🙂
There is a small subset of ryobi tools that make it worth having the platform in your collection. That inflator is one of them. I’m curious why you didn’t have the drivers chain the gate and spread the gravel when they delivered it?
That inflator is actually a cheapo one we found on Amazon for $30. We typically get milwaukee tools, so we have all matching batteries. Unfortunately, they don't have that inflator. We asked the company to spread the gravel that way when they delivered, and they said that they didn't want to be responsible for blowing through the typar with the dump truck tires and wouldn't do it. That company only delivers and doesn't actually build roads, so we had to spread it ourselves 😀
We asked about this, but the dump truck drivers would not do it here because the ground is not stable under the geotextile cloth for the weight of a dump truck. They would sink in and blow out the road cloth because this was just a dirt trail in the Forrest prior to us adding stone. Thanks for watching 🙂
We really like it! The weed trimmer seems to go through a lot of batteries, but it works well. It gets a bit heavy when you start adding extensions, but overall, we would both highly recommend it.
Did you have to consider drainage much when doing this project? I'm no environmental engineer, but used to work in landscaping. Mud issues can often be solved by good drainage.
We did. Most of the mud issues like we show here were from frost. In spring, when 6 feet of snow is melting, the frost is still solid, about 16 inches down, so the water has nowhere to go and the first 16 inches or so of topsoil turn into mud pool of trapped water that won't dry for some time. We did mention in the clip that we put a crown on the grade and gravel. We forgot to mention that while crowning the grade, we cut in ditches down the sides on slope, so runoff had somewhere to drain down and away. It's hard to tell because some ditches were unintentionally filled in when dump trucks unloaded, and gravel spilled into the sides. we had to go back and clean them out afterward. Since we originally built this road 3 months ago, it has rained almost every day here, and it has held up great and drained really well. Thanks for watching!
60 bucks to get rid of it local, we thought about taking it to Anchorage because it's free to drop off at the scrap yard but would have cost more in fuel and an entire day. Just did not make any sense for us. If we did not tow it ourselves, it would have been 400$
I heard prices all over the place, wasn't sure. I looked at a place that had junk busses and no one would take them at any price. 800 to get rid of cab and chassis. I didn't buy the place
I have property in northern Idaho I'm looking to do the same thing with building a road out. I'll have a driveway of about 1/2 mile, care to offer a guestimate as to what that will cost me doing pretty much the same thing you did? I really have no idea what it will set me back.
This road took about 75 tons per 100 feet. If your ground has a more sturdy base that you are building on top of, you may get away with less material. Delivery fees depend on how far away your property is from the quary that has your stone type. I want to say your stone prices are cheaper in Idaho than Alaska. The best bet is to call your closest stone deveriery services and get a few quotes on delivery and tonnage per delivery. Some places may be much cheaper. Once you know the price per delivery, you can get a good estimate for your half mile
...not sure your eyes will ever see this. But, just watching your channel, I was not impressed by what I was seeing as I figured just another one of "those" Alaska" videos. I kept watching. That man standing there with that pistol strapped to his belly, watching from side to side. Said, I love her, I CARE. Was enough for me. I am from Texas, I wear mine low on my hip, western style, R.I.A. 45 cal. Consider me subscribed. Scottishxpride, Tx.
We understand it can be difficult to find genuine creator content on RUclips. We are just two average people working to build a better life in a place we want to be. We have no interest in TV drama series-type content or being a salesman. This is just our part-time hobby sharing projects and experiences with anyone interested. Glad to hear you still exercise your freedom, it is a welcome sight to see many here who do as well. Thanks for your support!
How many loads did you need for the whole thing? Im up here in Fairbanks, and about to build a 400 ft driveway to my future house location at the center of 20 acres. Kinda unsure of what it’s going to ACTUALLY cost. Hit me back!
This was 720 feet long and 13 feet wide. In total about 27 dump truckloads. They will only deliver 15 tons at a time to our location, they might have an option in your area for a side dump to save money. Good luck and well wishes on your project!
We asked them to, but they told us they wouldn't and didn't want to be responsible for tearing the typar. So they would only dump. Thank you for watching! 😄
I used to run a forklift at an auto wreckers and all I did was run the forks right through the windows and pick it up by the roof the ones that were going to the garbage pile That guy is gonna charge you $60 for that wrecked Subaru that you have to deliver and he's probably gonna make two or three $100 on just that windshield because it looks like it doesn't even have a crack in it
Unfortunately, this abandoned subaru was toast, the engine was completely seized, ate up with rust, and smashed in front end. I don't think any vehicle in alaska has an uncracked windshield. It's the most common body damage here, for sure. And it was an eyesore that put me in a bad mood to walk outside and see 😅 the best 60 dollars plus ten bucks in fuel spent considering they wanted 400$ to haul it away for me...
It was an option to rent one. But it's not necessary. we packed it in with the skid steer tires, and it has been a great road over the last few months. Even with non-stop rain, it has not had any washout issues. Thanks for watching! 🙂
@northtoalaska2022 awesome I’m glad it turned out great and working for you. I’ve built roads like that and it takes time but as you know it’s an awesome reward afterwards
Good question, The previous owner who abandoned this property about 20 years ago already had installed a steel culvert at the end of the property. We cut in drainage down the sides prior to putting in stone.
It doesn't take long to recover the original investment price when buying used old equipment that still has some life left. It has saved us quite a bit of back aches as well as helped stretch our budget further by not needing to hire contractors over the years. Thanks for watching!
Wow......someone who is doing it right the first time!
Haha, we try to research and make informed decisions so as not to waste money and time. Thank you for watching!
Hi, my name is Dave and my wife BJ and I live in North Pole, a few hundred miles north of the Kenai. We are seniors and both of our daughters are on the other sides of the world serving as missionaries, one as a nurse practioner and the other s vetrinaran to semi nomadic herders.I have just celebrated my 50th year in Alaska. I am amused watching the flood of 20 and 30something couples moving up here in the last five years. All of your stories are pretty similar. I hope to hear back from you and will tell you that spending money on all that gravel now for your driveway and pads will be money and peace of mind in the bank for the future. God bless you both.
Thank you! We actually looked for properties in the North Pole/Delta Junction area back in 2021, but it just didn't work out. I bet your daughters have tons of interesting stories of their travels from other parts of the world. We are happy that we invested in our driveway now. It was definitely a necessity! 😀
👍🏻🤗❤️🤗👍🏻
@@northtoalaska2022
That skid steer was a great guy...
It is! We've had it for about 10 years now, and it is worth its weight in gold because of the amount of work it has done for us.
I’m Liking this channel not a lot of Talk just a little explanation and all work that’s really great to see a channel like this! Not all but a lot of channels want to bore us to death with talk instead of getting to work ! I like to see the progress in action even if it’s on time lapse at least we get to see the actual things that took place. Thanks for a refreshing working channel !
CC RIDER
We are glad to hear you are enjoying the videos 🙂 It is really challenging to find a happy medium when creating the content. We try to keep more quality less quantity. Thanks for watching!
@@northtoalaska2022 😁👍🏼
No more muddy driveway. That will make life much better. We have been there
Yes, for sure! The mud was really crippling after the snow melted. We could not move trailers in and out really slowing our progress. It was quite the ordeal getting the vehicles in and out. They became stuck several times during mud season. Thanks for watching!
Hey guys how you doing today hope you're having a wonderful day at least you got the tractor out I didn't think it was going to get it out that day but all right have a great day and I hope you get the driveway
Hello! We were happy to get it out! Thanks for watching 🙂
You sure made a nice road. Oughta give you a good firm base and keep you outta the mud. Them Jeeps love it .
Thank you! It feels good and solid, even with a full load in the trailer. Not having the driveway really slowed down progress on building because we weren't able to get out during really rainy, muddy days.
We do enjoy mud bogging, just not in our driveway 🤣
SO JEALOUS you guys are living my dream. My wife and I just bought a school bus to convert and plan on moving back to Alaska if not this spring coming up definitely the following. Great job we will be watching keep up the great work.
Thank you! We are glad to have you 😊
We actually used to have a bus conversion, but we found a deal on our current RV that we couldn't pass up. So, we ended up getting that and selling the bus.
Greetings from Pakistan,now driveway looks beautiful after putting garbles.Your new homestead getting shape every passing day.Filming of your all videos are par of excellence.it’s my dream to live in a the wilderness of Alaska.
Keep working and smiling 😊
Hello 👋 🙂 thank you for your kind words! We are glad you are enjoying our videos 😃 living in alaska is a great dream to have it is so beautiful, wild, and free! Have you been able to visit alaska?
@@northtoalaska2022 May be in future visit this beautiful state.
We 🙏 that you can visit one day, pictures do not do the beauty of this place justice.
I bet that felt good when it was done! Looks really nice!❤❤✌️
Thank you! It was such a relief, we were essentially stranded for a while because the vehicles could not get out of the property without a winch or help from machinery... having a stable road has realy helped us make more progress 🙂
Y'all are not afraid of hard work. Of course it helps when you have all the right tools. Good job 👏
Thank you! We enjoy working hard! We have been gathering the tools for a more self-sufficient lifestyle over the last 10 years or so from doing all of our own DIY projects in Pennsylvania. They are certainly coming in handy now, too! And at the cost of our used skid steer, it's paid for itself over and over again, not having to hire contractors. 😀
I just started watching your RUclips channel ,,like what you’re doing!! I have to see where you live in Alaska. By the way - great job so far!!
Thank you so much for your kind words! We are glad to have you. 😀
DANG!!! You did ALL the work and YOU had to pay that guy $60. to take that car off your property?!?! Bummer!! You kids are doing such a good job!! I wish you the best of luck!! Loving your videos, Hello from Wichita Falls Texas!!!
Thank you! Ha! Unfortunately, in Alaska, scrap steel you have to pay to get rid of unless we travel several hours to Anchorage 😅. Back in PA, we probably would have gotten $300 for it.
@@northtoalaska2022 Well, I understand. On the plus side, it benefited you to get that taken away. If that’s the only bad thing, then, living off the grid, being self sufficient, is a good thing! RIGHT?! Another thought is, by living off grid, your making yourself a better form of life and not making Mortgage Companies, Electric Companies richer!! You are our future generation and are a lot smarter than all the folks out there busting their butts to make the Rich even Richer!! God Bless!!
We see it the same way. That's one of the big reasons we decided to live this lifestyle. 😀
Perfected family work. Good like from Ukraine.❤
Suggestion: water drain dirt made driveway ditches running along the road would be ideal to keep any and all rain or snow meltin water accumulation running onto the road... Compacting the road with heavy equipment before snow falls.. makes the road more hardened plus you get to find out where the road needs more gravel to be level so you're not ending up in a ditch in winter... place some reflective poles marker (Relective tape tapered on a wooden stick will work) atleast 6 feet long.. so you'd know where the road is when driving in winter. (these are all suggestions)
Regards from Singapore, GOD bless
Thanks for your suggestions 🙂
Now lets see that sidebyside throwing gravel!!! One day ill have to boondock my way up there for some good trail running. You guys should set up a "camp site" for boondockers passing by and get yourself registered as a boondockers welcome site! Id visit for sure!
We only charge 300 a night, no hook ups sorry.
the driveway is looking good now. I bet it is a big relief to you. I know I just did my driveway and it is so much nicer knowing I'm not going to get stuck. Thanks for sharing your journey.
Yes, a good road makes life a lot easier! The soil here becomes a bottomless pit fast without a road structure in place. We hope your driveway has turned out great! Thank you for watching 🙂
The best ever machine operator. Super done work. 👍👍👍❤❤❤
You are too kind! 😄 Thank you!
Nice job on the road. Looking forward to your future projects. I have a total of five channels from Alaska. So glad I found your channel. Take care
Thank you! We are glad you are here. We have a lot more content coming 😀
Looking Good. I put in a driveway using 'stone crete'. It hardens up like concrete. You probably can't get it there. I have only found it in one place in Michigan. Everything takes a lot of time (and money).
Thank you! We haven't heard of stone crete. That sounds interesting. I doubt we have it here. There are lots of things that are hard to get. We are actually limited on stone material here, too. Pit run is the most widely used material for driveways in our area.
I have about run out of superlatives to describe the work you are doing and most importantly, the results. The driveway looks amazing. It was a significant investment but one you will appreciate when break up comes. Super job!!
Thank you again! 😊 we lost a lot of time this spring because access in and out of our property was really difficult during spring breakup... it was a huge relief to be able to knock this project out.
I have seen American trucks open the tail gate so far and tip the load as they back up, saves a lot of work. Bill UK
Love that we found you guys as we work on our own driveway endeavors for our homestead in northern Wisconsin! Unfortunately we have a few trees to deal with 😂 but we're making progress. Great channel!! Best wishes to you guys and your endeavors.
Thank you for your kind words. Best of luck on your driveway and homestead endeavors!
Well done guys that was a ton of work.
Thank you!
Great job, gotta love that skid loader!!!
Thank you! It has paid for itself time and time again with all the work it has helped complete this year. 😀
Hi you guys. I've been kind of keeping up with your progress on stuff along with the number of other couples like you. You guys pretty much seem to be doing it right. I would love to be young enough to do something like what you're doing. My mouth Waters when I'm watching your videos. My wife and I have been to Alaska three times but only on vacation trips with a combination of ships land tours I guess I should say train tours as far up as Fairbanks.
I have always been involved in construction since I was a kid my father built three different homes for us from the time I was six until the time I graduated from high school. I learned a lot and I miss it. Although about 15 years ago we remodeled our house and that worked out good.
In addition to your great knowledge of building you are very good at photography and video which I also am very interested in and have been since high school up to now.
I have a few more stories about Alaska as an uncle lived up there for 30 years and raised his family. And a niece spent Summers up there for 10 years working in Skagway making money. Then, and touring the world for the rest of the year.
❤
Keep up the good work and I'll continue to watch God bless you both. Dan and Marilyn Cook.
Hi Dan and Marilyn! It's great to be able to share our experiences here with folks like you. It sounds like we have a lot of related interests. Thanks for exchanging some of your experiences, and God bless!
Are you guys making quite a bit a Projects I’m enjoying watching you I am here in the state of Maine in the states so keep up the good work I will keep watching both C3 very good workers God bless
We have been staying busy since moving onto our property! It is great to hear you are enjoying the videos 🙂 thank you! 🙏
Very enjoyable watching your progress! I built my road to my OGP, a little over 800 yards. Didn’t have the mud tho! New sub, Still catching up, only 4 months behind now 😂
Thank you! Glad to hear you found us and are enjoying our videos! 🙂 the mud was unbearable for a short time here. Building the road was a top priority!
The driveway looks awesome!! Can't wait to see what your plans are next!
Thank you! We have a ton more content coming 😃
I’m so glad I found your channel last week. You two are doing great work on this property. You should be very proud of yourselves for all this hard work. I like that rake attachment for the skid steer. That does a great job leveling up the driveway. Keep up the videos I’m really enjoying them.
I'm glad you are enjoying our videos! It has taken a lot of work, but we are working towards our goals one project at a time. The rake does great for gravel roads. We purchased it to maintain our old dirt road in Pennsylvania, and now it is very handy in alaska! Thank you for your kind words!
This is great. I just started watching. Me and my lady are leading a very similar life in the Colorado Rockies. I was born and raised in Philly and was gonna ask if you guys were originally from the Philly area then I saw this comment about y’all being from Pennsylvania. Can hear the east coast in the way ya talk. Also, love that rake for the skiddy. It’s our next attachment purchase for sure. Keep up the great work.
I’m remote off the sterling about 5 miles on a non- maintained borough road. I did the exact same but had to go back and redo it due to heavy equipment I have coming in and out. Went with 4”-6” rock bottom layer, 2”-3” rock next, then pit run, and finished it off with 1” minis and topped it with pea gravel compacting/watering every layer. Expensive but will never have to redo it. Cheers
Nice work with the rake; you have mastered it!
Thank you!
I really enjoy this couples take on stuff. Simple chat, great videos already seen the drift? netting salmon video so out of sync but still fun.
Ahh yes, this video is about a year old now! Glad you are enjoying all of our videos 🙂
@@northtoalaska2022 Thanks for your reply.
I used to live in the Shetland Isles. About as far north as you could get in the UK.
I'm not a fish eater due to medical reasons.
I just had to comment on the beautiful colour of your salmon fillets to the farmed salmon they produce in Shetland..
Looks good will make plowing this winter easier
Thank you! It absolutely will make it easier. The property had been abandoned for nearly 20 years, so this year, we were running over small trees and shrubs while snowblowing and plowing.
Your a pro on the Bobcat !!
Looking a lot better.😀
Thank you! It certainly is 😀
The driveway looks fantastic.
Thank you! 🙂
Nice work guys, great to see the amazing progress you both are making and what a beautiful property too! Best wishes from Ireland!
Thank you so much! We hope you are doing well.
Awesome job
Thank you ! We are glad you enjoyed the video!
Hi guys! Mike here from Charlotte. Just found your channel and subscribed. All caught up and looking forward to your journey. Garden and drive look great
Hey Mike and Charlotte! Thanks for joining us for this adventure. We appreciate the nice comments on our progress 😃
I am new to your channel and look forward to your projects building your homestead🦋
Thank you! We are happy to have you 😀
Good decision on using road fabric. In my opinion the most under-rated method to reduce the amount of gravel and lower cost there is.
Road fabric seems to be a common practice here in alaska. Our old gravel driveway back east had a lot of sink holes that I think would have not been an issue if the road base had a layer of geotextile fabric In place. Thanks for watching 🙂
Living the dream................ great video
We are trying! Thanks for watching 🙂
Hey guys another great video, enjoyed watching, Just subscribed and looking forward to the next video, thanks for posting be safe.
Hello and welcome! Glad to hear you are enjoying our videos 😀
Love watching you. Great work. That is a huge RV. Can you do a video of the inside
We are glad to hear you are enjoying our videos, and thank you! 😀 the rv is 38 feet, so we are living in roughly 300 square feet. It has been great to have a warm, dry place to rest while we are building up our new home! We will do a video over the winter about the rv. It is an old 1993 motorhome that we bought for dirt cheap and renovated solely for the purpose of moving to alaska.
Nice big drive 😊well done xx
Thank you!
Thankyou 😊
I'm glad you enjoyed the content 🙂
Nice job guys!
Thank you! 😊
I am glad I have found your channel you guys are amazing. Good work
Thank you! We are glad you have you 😊
@@northtoalaska2022 I am going to run your videos over and over after I have seen them not fast forwarding thru the comer ials while I work around my house, I will share you guys with everyone I can, in order to help you grow your channel as much as I can.
@dennisoverholts8396 oh wow! Thank you! We are glad you enjoy the content 😊
Man! I wish I could live up in Alaska on a mountain🏔️ top that has snow❄️all year round!
I'm so sick of burning🔥 hot🥵 heat humidity 💦 and mosquitoes🦟365 days a year down here in the deep south!
The last 20 days have been 110° F everyday with no rain in a month!
We really wish we could send some rain your way, It has been raining here most of the summer... we saw that a lot of places had a brutal hot summer this year! Luckily, cooler weather is on the way for everyone 😎
Hey guys ! Just found you channel and subscribed! Nice work on that driveway! Looking forward to following your journey. Take care!
Thank you, and welcome! We are happy to have you. We have a lot more content coming. Thank you for watching!
looks great,... let us know how all that work and money holds up after heavy rain and traffic👍👍👍
So far, we have had rain nearly every day since it was installed, and many of those days were downpours! It's been holding up great with the rain and with the vehicles and trailers so far.
Thank you for watching!
Love your video's, thanks for sharing
Nice rubicon plough you have there
Haha! It's an upgrade from our standard snow plow 😅
Great machinery….good job on the road!
Thank you! 😊
Looks absolutely beautiful
Thank you!
Looks nice
Thank you 😊
@@northtoalaska2022 say hi to Chris
He says hi Mike 👋
Looks great!
Thank you!
I just found your channel and I m very interesting in your channel , Subscribed
Welcome! 😀
If I may offer one little thing about the garden ,which looks really good. You might want to think about doing a few cross braces in each corner ,and up right to up right, you know just in case you get some body that is looking to see what they could munch on,,,, just a thought
Thank you for the tip! We did consider doing it and may end up going back and putting some up just in case 😀
Looking good
Thank you 🙂
I suppose news takes time to travel north. Just chain the tailgate of the gravel truck open 4"-6", raise the bed and back the truck up to neatly and evenly spread the rock. Next time!!!
Hi there! This company will not spread the gravel unless they are building the roads. I believe it's too much of a risk for them as they would rather not sink, get stuck, or tip over. We did ask. Luckily, we have the skid steer to place it all.
Enjoying the channel and hope your views could help get you a drone😊
I'm glad you are enjoying our channel 😀
I'm amazed at how much equipment you have up with you already, skid steer, attachments, boat, closed trailer, open trailer, canam, two trucks and the RV. How Many road trips did you make to get it all up there. Nice road by the way !!
Hi, and thank you for watching! Chris drove the 40 ft motorhome towing the enclosed trailer packed with our belongings. Katie drove the truck with the gooseneck dump trailer with the skid steer and all of the attachments and the sxs on a custom rack that we made for hauling it. That was in October. In February, Chris drove back to PA with just the truck, no trailer and hauled the other gooseneck trailer back up with more belongings and our Jeep. 😀 The boat we purchased here. More content on the boat coming soon 😉
Thanks, that was a lot of hauling, will be watching out for more video’s
If this is anything like my place up in North Idaho - it Looks like you’ll need some angled v-groove drainage ditches after a wet Winter/Spring. Good luck!
It is hard to see in some parts of the video, but we do have slight ditches along the driveway in key areas. It will be interesting to see how it works out when the snow melts. We may have another video this spring digging drainage with an excavator 🙂 thanks for watching!
@@northtoalaska2022 - yeah after two Winters up in North Idaho I had to get a real job excavationtesm up there to clear things for real. Most of property is sloped so I’m having to re-direct and add culverts to avoid washing away my house! Good luck!
You will need to think & control drainage & water flow as well 👍👍🇬🇧🇬🇧
We crowned the road and created swails on the side for drainage. So far, it has been through about 60 days straight of rain, some days being heavy downpours with 1/4 inch or more. We haven't had any drainage issues. We will see how it stands up to the ice here very soon.
Thank you for watching! 😀
Great Job. Looks good. Could've saved huge amounts of time if the dump drivers had just used spreader chains and did a dump n roll...Maybe next time....
We did ask them to, but we were told that they didn't want to be responsible for tearing through our typar, so they would only dump and not spread.
Hi guys, I’m a new subscriber to your channel, your driveway looks great
Thank you! 🙂 I'm glad you are enjoying the videos !
Great Job just joined channel and this video was Great!
Thank you! We are glad to have you 😊
Nice
Good job team. New subscriber.
Thank you 🙂 we are glad to have you along!
Hi from Trinidad that's in the Caribbean
Nice job guys. Must be different in Alaska on old cars , most places will give you $35 to $100 for an old car/truck they do have scrap value
When we lived in Pennsylvania, we sold junk cars to scrap yards for 300-400 $ over the years. Here, scrap steel is worthless. Even to get rid of steel for free, we would have to make an 8 hour round trip. Best 60 dollars spent to have the eyesore out of here in a half hour 🙂
Your video I see in so beautiful ❤️
Thank you!
There is a small subset of ryobi tools that make it worth having the platform in your collection. That inflator is one of them.
I’m curious why you didn’t have the drivers chain the gate and spread the gravel when they delivered it?
That inflator is actually a cheapo one we found on Amazon for $30. We typically get milwaukee tools, so we have all matching batteries. Unfortunately, they don't have that inflator.
We asked the company to spread the gravel that way when they delivered, and they said that they didn't want to be responsible for blowing through the typar with the dump truck tires and wouldn't do it. That company only delivers and doesn't actually build roads, so we had to spread it ourselves 😀
Nice!
Did you like the music?
@@northtoalaska2022 yeah!
Looks much easier on your vehicles.
That road upgrade was badly needed. It brought your property value way up.
I normally put chain (limiter) truck bed hatch and reverse it. Goes 100 times faster and takes off lot of man hours.
We asked about this, but the dump truck drivers would not do it here because the ground is not stable under the geotextile cloth for the weight of a dump truck. They would sink in and blow out the road cloth because this was just a dirt trail in the Forrest prior to us adding stone. Thanks for watching 🙂
Nice job, you made it easy. Thanks for sharing.
Thank you. I'm glad you enjoyed it! 🙂
You should have done a cold start video on the subie. Bet it would have got 1 million views. 😂
This 👆😂 we missed a great opportunity... unfortunately the motor was seized up from sitting for 20 years tho 😕
How do you like the Milwaukee pole saw? I was thinking of getting the quik-lok pole saw/trimmer combo.
We really like it! The weed trimmer seems to go through a lot of batteries, but it works well. It gets a bit heavy when you start adding extensions, but overall, we would both highly recommend it.
@@northtoalaska2022 Thank you for the reply!
👍
Thank you for watching!
Did you have to consider drainage much when doing this project? I'm no environmental engineer, but used to work in landscaping. Mud issues can often be solved by good drainage.
We did. Most of the mud issues like we show here were from frost. In spring, when 6 feet of snow is melting, the frost is still solid, about 16 inches down, so the water has nowhere to go and the first 16 inches or so of topsoil turn into mud pool of trapped water that won't dry for some time. We did mention in the clip that we put a crown on the grade and gravel. We forgot to mention that while crowning the grade, we cut in ditches down the sides on slope, so runoff had somewhere to drain down and away. It's hard to tell because some ditches were unintentionally filled in when dump trucks unloaded, and gravel spilled into the sides. we had to go back and clean them out afterward. Since we originally built this road 3 months ago, it has rained almost every day here, and it has held up great and drained really well. Thanks for watching!
How much did it cost to get rid of the old car? Skidsteer and grapple, as fun as it gets
60 bucks to get rid of it local, we thought about taking it to Anchorage because it's free to drop off at the scrap yard but would have cost more in fuel and an entire day. Just did not make any sense for us. If we did not tow it ourselves, it would have been 400$
I heard prices all over the place, wasn't sure. I looked at a place that had junk busses and no one would take them at any price. 800 to get rid of cab and chassis. I didn't buy the place
I have property in northern Idaho I'm looking to do the same thing with building a road out. I'll have a driveway of about 1/2 mile, care to offer a guestimate as to what that will cost me doing pretty much the same thing you did? I really have no idea what it will set me back.
This road took about 75 tons per 100 feet. If your ground has a more sturdy base that you are building on top of, you may get away with less material. Delivery fees depend on how far away your property is from the quary that has your stone type. I want to say your stone prices are cheaper in Idaho than Alaska. The best bet is to call your closest stone deveriery services and get a few quotes on delivery and tonnage per delivery. Some places may be much cheaper. Once you know the price per delivery, you can get a good estimate for your half mile
...not sure your eyes will ever see this. But, just watching your channel, I was not impressed by what I was seeing as I figured just another one of "those" Alaska" videos.
I kept watching.
That man standing there with that pistol strapped to his belly, watching from side to side. Said, I love her, I CARE. Was enough for me.
I am from Texas, I wear mine low on my hip, western style, R.I.A. 45 cal.
Consider me subscribed.
Scottishxpride, Tx.
We understand it can be difficult to find genuine creator content on RUclips. We are just two average people working to build a better life in a place we want to be. We have no interest in TV drama series-type content or being a salesman. This is just our part-time hobby sharing projects and experiences with anyone interested. Glad to hear you still exercise your freedom, it is a welcome sight to see many here who do as well. Thanks for your support!
How many loads did you need for the whole thing? Im up here in Fairbanks, and about to build a 400 ft driveway to my future house location at the center of 20 acres. Kinda unsure of what it’s going to ACTUALLY cost. Hit me back!
This was 720 feet long and 13 feet wide. In total about 27 dump truckloads. They will only deliver 15 tons at a time to our location, they might have an option in your area for a side dump to save money. Good luck and well wishes on your project!
Did you buy your skid steer in Alaska or did you haul it with you from _______? where?
No, we bought it about 9 years ago in Pennsylvania. Then, we hauled it to alaska in 2022.
nice work! just a curious question, why do u mister carry a gun? is it for animals?
Thank you 🙂 We have bears and angry moose here better to be safe than dead. Thanks for watching.
@@northtoalaska2022 ok thx for reply. Just found our page and will come back for sure 👍
Just a question. Why did the truck drivers not spread the loads for you. :)
We asked them to, but they told us they wouldn't and didn't want to be responsible for tearing the typar. So they would only dump.
Thank you for watching! 😄
I used to run a forklift at an auto wreckers and all I did was run the forks right through the windows and pick it up by the roof the ones that were going to the garbage pile That guy is gonna charge you $60 for that wrecked Subaru that you have to deliver and he's probably gonna make two or three $100 on just that windshield because it looks like it doesn't even have a crack in it
Unfortunately, this abandoned subaru was toast, the engine was completely seized, ate up with rust, and smashed in front end. I don't think any vehicle in alaska has an uncracked windshield. It's the most common body damage here, for sure. And it was an eyesore that put me in a bad mood to walk outside and see 😅 the best 60 dollars plus ten bucks in fuel spent considering they wanted 400$ to haul it away for me...
@@northtoalaska2022 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
i have wanted to live in alaska sense high school so im saving up to do so what area of AK is that if you dont mind me asking
We are on the Kenai peninsula, we wish you good luck in your Alaska move endeavor!
To bad you didn't have a smooth vibration roller to pack it in there. Would help it stay better.
It was an option to rent one. But it's not necessary. we packed it in with the skid steer tires, and it has been a great road over the last few months. Even with non-stop rain, it has not had any washout issues. Thanks for watching! 🙂
@northtoalaska2022 awesome I’m glad it turned out great and working for you. I’ve built roads like that and it takes time but as you know it’s an awesome reward afterwards
😇👍👍👍👍👍🙏
😎👍👍
🇳🇴👍👍👌
Thanks for watching 🙂
No need for any culverts?
Good question, The previous owner who abandoned this property about 20 years ago already had installed a steel culvert at the end of the property. We cut in drainage down the sides prior to putting in stone.
🇳🇴👍👍
I'd say the old Case was well worth the money you paid for it.
It doesn't take long to recover the original investment price when buying used old equipment that still has some life left. It has saved us quite a bit of back aches as well as helped stretch our budget further by not needing to hire contractors over the years. Thanks for watching!