Farm monorail update
We finally figured out a price structure for a farm monorail system.
The cost of 920 feet of track
which includes the support structures with a tractor car and one pallet
car was going to be 60,000 before shipping.
It's way out of our price range so we are going back to the drawing board for some new ideas.
Or explore more posts by date or by subject.
About us: Anna Hess and Mark Hamilton spent over a decade living self-sufficiently in the mountains of Virginia before moving north to start over from scratch in the foothills of Ohio. They've experimented with permaculture, no-till gardening, trailersteading, home-based microbusinesses and much more, writing about their adventures in both blogs and books.
Want to be notified when new comments are posted on this page? Click on the RSS button after you add a comment to subscribe to the comment feed, or simply check the box beside "email replies to me" while writing your comment.
Wow, that's pricey! Does that include placing it, or would you have to do that yourselves?
I must say that I've only seen these monorails in places where building a road is practically impossible (i.e. prohibitively expensive). Maybe this is the reason why.
On the other hand, infrastructure is expensive.
The alternative cost of building a road highly depend on the terrain. But if we accept that a 12'x50' driveway typically costs $2300, building a 920' driveway would typically cost $42000! And that doesn't take into account the challenges of your terrain.
Have you already spoken to some land movers, in your area? Someone who has experience moving earth in your region, for like, decades? It's amazing the knowledge this kind of trades person has. They can create a stable road to go on virtually any terrain. You can also try building your own concrete culvert, to go across the stream. You just need to be able to get a concrete truck to it.
Our neighbours did this - built their own culvert. It sustained a little damage in the 2011 Queensland floods, but nothing major. A tree trunk was launched on top of it by the water. Still, for the most part, it only required a little concrete repair work. They built their own concrete culvert, insitu, with wooden frames, because they said it was too cost prohibitive to buy them and have them craned into position. Just need concrete, rebar and to build a sturdy wooden frame, to have the concrete poured into.
The only trick, is to wait for the creek to dry, or find a way to divert it as you build the culvert in sections. Just some ideas.