Renovating an old farmhouse and living on the Pennines
Discussion
Depending on budget, a Disco 3 or 4 could be the right choice. They will get hammered for reliability on here, but I’ve always found that if you keep on top of the maintenance then they are pretty good, it’s the neglected ones that suffer mostly.
They are pretty tough/ rugged and generally keep going, even if something on the periphery breaks, they don’t normally leave you stranded.
The 2.7 in the D3 has a known issue with crank failure (as does the 3.0 in the D4), but there’s a logic to say if it hasn’t failed now then it probably won’t. Buy a high ish miler that’s got a perfect SH and it’ll be good
They are pretty tough/ rugged and generally keep going, even if something on the periphery breaks, they don’t normally leave you stranded.
The 2.7 in the D3 has a known issue with crank failure (as does the 3.0 in the D4), but there’s a logic to say if it hasn’t failed now then it probably won’t. Buy a high ish miler that’s got a perfect SH and it’ll be good
I wouldn't have any respect for a motor called 'Jimny' nor Dacia. I don't have any for her Peugeot as the MX5 is such a better car. Problem is when I have no respect or interest in a car I don't want to fix it. Landcruiser perhaps, but what about a Freelander or a Range Rover? Yeah I know I haven't said a budget so that makes it difficult. I'll often say '£5k' or whatever, then realise that won't buy me anything which doesn't require fixing every week so end up spending more, but wisely.
I'll go peruse some ads and see what £10k gets us.
I'll go peruse some ads and see what £10k gets us.
Consider a Rav4, post-05, if you want to spend 5k.
Excellent off-road, full-time 4x4, pretty reliable and ubiquitous, refined on the road.
If you're looking at spending more, you could do worse than a Grand Cherokee.
ETA - both options if you don't want your wife driving anything too 'agricultural'
Excellent off-road, full-time 4x4, pretty reliable and ubiquitous, refined on the road.
If you're looking at spending more, you could do worse than a Grand Cherokee.
ETA - both options if you don't want your wife driving anything too 'agricultural'
Edited by C70R on Thursday 2nd December 08:24
A farmer near us has had a succession of Hiluxes over the past 30 years we’ve lived here and now won’t have anything else. They’re routinely abused (towing big trailers, hauling tree trunks, loaded with stone, animal feed etc) and very rarely let him down. He briefly changed to a Discovery a few years ago and sold it after about 9 months as it was so unreliable
Edited by Escort3500 on Thursday 2nd December 09:43
Brilliant thread, OP, no idea how I missed spotting this earlier!
‘#like (in lieu of no like button
)
Making a mini break with a couple of nights nearby first: taking in Tintern and a castle for fun!
‘#like (in lieu of no like button
)deadtom said:
How easy do you think it is for someone with zero experience but who is reasonably practical to teach themselves basic pointing with lime mortar on stone walls?
I have no idea, but we have just booked ourselves onto a day next year for an introduction to lime pointing with these folk: https://www.carringtonlime.co.uk/coursesMaking a mini break with a couple of nights nearby first: taking in Tintern and a castle for fun!
mikeiow said:
Brilliant thread, OP, no idea how I missed spotting this earlier!
‘#like (in lieu of no like button)
Making a mini break with a couple of nights nearby first: taking in Tintern and a castle for fun!
That's the way to do it ‘#like (in lieu of no like button
)deadtom said:
How easy do you think it is for someone with zero experience but who is reasonably practical to teach themselves basic pointing with lime mortar on stone walls?
I have no idea, but we have just booked ourselves onto a day next year for an introduction to lime pointing with these folk: https://www.carringtonlime.co.uk/coursesMaking a mini break with a couple of nights nearby first: taking in Tintern and a castle for fun!
At the other end of the scale we did a pottery Gonk tealight holder making evening the other night, it was good fun.
anonymous said:
[redacted]
Now that appeals, i'll follow that up, thanks.You need this; the answer to all your needs.
W00DY said:
Lifted from the Barge thread. 
From experience - only buy anything with a Land Rover badge if you're willing to take on another project. They are quite impressive when they work but there's no way I'd trust an elderly Discovery with my GF tackling remote roads in all weathers. A family member had one from new and it was an absolute basket case so christ only knows what a sub £10k one will be like now.
Land Cruiser and Outback are both good options. The Land Cruiser will be quite old at that price and although they are incredibly reliable, they do still need maintained. Outbacks are much more capable than they look and as a bonus are much easier to dig out of a drift than something with axles hanging down beneath the floor pan.
You'll know what suits you best but I still reckon you'd be best ditching the van and swapping it for a fully capable work vehicle and then getting something fairly capable but more comfortable as the second car. Once things get back to normal our plan is an Outback or Rav4 to run alongside the Hilux. It's a shame 4x4 Sprinters are so expensive and rust prone or I'd be tempted.
Decent winter tyres are obviously a given regardless what you end up with.
Land Cruiser and Outback are both good options. The Land Cruiser will be quite old at that price and although they are incredibly reliable, they do still need maintained. Outbacks are much more capable than they look and as a bonus are much easier to dig out of a drift than something with axles hanging down beneath the floor pan.
You'll know what suits you best but I still reckon you'd be best ditching the van and swapping it for a fully capable work vehicle and then getting something fairly capable but more comfortable as the second car. Once things get back to normal our plan is an Outback or Rav4 to run alongside the Hilux. It's a shame 4x4 Sprinters are so expensive and rust prone or I'd be tempted.
Decent winter tyres are obviously a given regardless what you end up with.
We had a Subaru Outback on Nokian winter tyres when we lived at 800m in the Pyrenees.
It would cope with everything we threw at it.
Best thing I bought was a snow blower to clear my 100m drive,also very handy for the snow bank that blocked my drive after the plough had been through clearing the main road.
It would cope with everything we threw at it.
Best thing I bought was a snow blower to clear my 100m drive,also very handy for the snow bank that blocked my drive after the plough had been through clearing the main road.
Another one lifted from the barge thread.
olly755 said:
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Toyota-Land-cruiser-Ama...
All Amazons are overpriced of course and this is no exception, but at least the money stays in them.
Wonderful cars. All Amazons are overpriced of course and this is no exception, but at least the money stays in them.
Interesting transmission on the Subaru too.
I'd kind of set my heart on a Freelander or Range Rover, but not seeing a lot of love for them here. As I'll have no-where to fix a car for a while we do need a lot of reliability for at least a year or two.
The RR looks the part though, I have fond memories of JC blatting around in one on TG, that's when they were new though.
The others are so bland and I've never owned a normal or boring car so it's difficult for me to lay out money on something so soulless.
It is mainly for her use though and she cares about different things so i'll have satisfy myself with a digger
We'll stick what we have through this Winter and go looking next Spring/Summer as perhaps prices and demand will have dropped a little.
Terry is a bit ill so heading off to do a sizeable job on it today, more on that later when i've despatched a very sick looking rabbit i'm just eying up on the banking there.
I'd kind of set my heart on a Freelander or Range Rover, but not seeing a lot of love for them here. As I'll have no-where to fix a car for a while we do need a lot of reliability for at least a year or two.
The RR looks the part though, I have fond memories of JC blatting around in one on TG, that's when they were new though.
The others are so bland and I've never owned a normal or boring car so it's difficult for me to lay out money on something so soulless.
It is mainly for her use though and she cares about different things so i'll have satisfy myself with a digger
We'll stick what we have through this Winter and go looking next Spring/Summer as perhaps prices and demand will have dropped a little.
Terry is a bit ill so heading off to do a sizeable job on it today, more on that later when i've despatched a very sick looking rabbit i'm just eying up on the banking there.
Evoluzione said:
I'd (wrongly) thought that we would only truly use or need a 4x4 on the odd occasion when it snowed, but I think we're going to need one in the future full time - just to cope with the terrain. Her car has another split in the sidewall of a low profile tyre, the van has two blown rear dampers and the trailer many a buckled wheel. In the main all caused by the state of the roads around here. I can't pull the trailer out when it's fully loaded if the rain has loosened the track (although haven't even tried in the dry yet).
If you are undecided which 4x4 to buy, have a look in the local farmers market. That will soon tell you.I will be so bold as to suggest a large percentage of Toyota, Mitsubishi and other far eastern makes.
There's your answer.
Edited by The Mad Monk on Friday 3rd December 11:51
The Mad Monk said:
Evoluzione said:
I'd (wrongly) thought that we would only truly use or need a 4x4 on the odd occasion when it snowed, but I think we're going to need one in the future full time - just to cope with the terrain. Her car has another split in the sidewall of a low profile tyre, the van has two blown rear dampers and the trailer many a buckled wheel. In the main all caused by the state of the roads around here. I can't pull the trailer out when it's fully loaded if the rain has loosened the track (although haven't even tried in the dry yet).
If you are undecided which 4x4 to buy, have a look in the local farmers market. That will soo tell you.I will be so bold as to suggest a large percentage of Toyota, Mitsubishi and other far easterm makes.
There's your answer.
The 3.0CRD Grand Cherokee is another one with fairly solid underpinnings, if you wanted to go up in size/budget. A proper offroader, but decent on the road too.
Those Audi All-Road things should be pretty good. Still very much a normal car, but with lots of features handy for if it gets a bit iffy.
Ground clearance, fatter tyres, and the decent (afaik in the longitudinal engine models) TorSen Quattro.
I'd love to see how rough the roads must be and what you're trailering (and is it essential through winter?) to justify a 'proper' 4x4... which a lot of the time can just get you in more/deeper trouble because you venture out with less risk aversion.
Ground clearance, fatter tyres, and the decent (afaik in the longitudinal engine models) TorSen Quattro.
I'd love to see how rough the roads must be and what you're trailering (and is it essential through winter?) to justify a 'proper' 4x4... which a lot of the time can just get you in more/deeper trouble because you venture out with less risk aversion.
A rather dark grey and wet day today so time for a catchup whilst I work on reducing the log mountain.
Then I'll get my waterproofs on and unload yesterdays cargo of stuff.
Comet Neowise.
The Air Arms S400 with a scope is a great piece of kit, said bunny had advanced myxomatosis and was quickly put out of its misery with a single very accurate shot. Not a pleasant job, but I took it down to the lower field so somethings could make good use of it. There'll be nowt but skin and bone left by now, much like the one the Stoat captured and ate:
At least it'll fit in it's hole now, nothing gets wasted here you know
There is a thing, if you wanted Red Kites in your area how would you go about it? Contact the RSPB to see if they were interested? I think there is only Magpies, Crows and Rooks here which eat carrion. The other meat eaters prefer it fresh. Maybe as there is only really diseased rabbits (and only at this moment) there wouldn't be enough food to go round.
As I type the temps have dropped from 3 to .2 and it's started to snow again, I don't think it'll settle though. I feel the need for a home weather station if anyone has any recommendations, it's not something I know anything about, but it does interest me, especially living up here in the clouds.
I think I have an eye for a half decent pic, just not the equipment, the skill to use it, nor the dedication! As this place lends itself very well to a photographer maybe in years to come I'll invest some time and money into it. Until then you'll have to put up with hastily taken mobile shots and some from S&A photography. On their page are more of the Falconry pics (plus many more!) and he did a full write up about the birds too.
I've interspersed some of their local shots here to break up the text and lack of my pictures. They surfaced as we were chatting about the recent clear nights, the ISS has been doing it's rounds at a sensible hour and 3 very prominent planets have been visible in a line to the South.
ISS
I complained to the council about the state of the roads and they've been out and thrown some tarmac where the edges of the road had gone missing. They haven't addressed the other bits as i'm assuming it's out of budget, I haven't had time to chase them about that yet. I had an hour to spare the other night so threw some gravel into the worst of the holes on the track into here.
Some interesting suggestions on 4x4s for me to follow up, thanks for your input. Most of the questions are answered in the thread already.
Lots of research to do on that which I didn't have time to do when buying the Terrano. It transpires they came with two types of rear LSD and Terry has the weaker type fitted. It still has 3 times the grip of any 2wd car, but has got completely stuck on the odd occasion. I did once set the wheels spinning in some mud on tickover, got out of it and walked around watching what happened.
Sure enough just one wheel at the rear was turning and one stuck, so the diff is now open and no longer locking. I lifted it up to confirm by spinning the wheels manually too. I'd previously changed the oil in it before I knew this was an issue, I put the correct LSD oil in, but the old oil had a metallic sheen to it and some sizeable metal chunks dropped out too.
I wouldn't say I was great with people, but can spot a decent person from a crap one a mile off. I'd been hanging around online in Terry circles and had noted a chap called Jason who struck me as being both knowledgeable, very genuine and lived near where i'd worked and am still packing the workshop up. He sometimes came from down in West Yorks up to the Lakes to do some camping and a bit of Greenlaning, i'd pondered over inviting him here to do a bit, but at the moment it wasn't possible as I wasn't here a lot of the time.
Then he posted up he was breaking a Terrano so I enquired about a rear axle, he said he was selling one with a decent diff and I asked if he wanted to fit it. He said he would so there we were in my old workshop the other day.
They're heavy beasts, the 3 ton lift had picked it up ok, but i'd dismantled that and taken it away, the remaining 2.5 tonner wouldn't lift it more than a foot so we worked off the floor. Better than being outside though.
He did most of the work, I just helped with the bits he struggled with and in 3hrs we were done. £170 changed hands and Tezza has a working rear diff, unstoppable now!
He would have reduced the price on an exchange basis, but my old axle has ABS, the replacement doesn't and the components are not interchangeable. I fancy having a poke around inside it to see what has happened and if it can be repaired easily enough.
Out of interest you can buy front locking LSDs for these too, they started off as 'Lokkas', but aren't available atm, someone in Russia has copied them and knocks them out as 'Blokkas', you've got to be pretty hardcore to fit one, but the unit itself isn't expensive.
Then I'll get my waterproofs on and unload yesterdays cargo of stuff.
Comet Neowise.
The Air Arms S400 with a scope is a great piece of kit, said bunny had advanced myxomatosis and was quickly put out of its misery with a single very accurate shot. Not a pleasant job, but I took it down to the lower field so somethings could make good use of it. There'll be nowt but skin and bone left by now, much like the one the Stoat captured and ate:
At least it'll fit in it's hole now, nothing gets wasted here you know
There is a thing, if you wanted Red Kites in your area how would you go about it? Contact the RSPB to see if they were interested? I think there is only Magpies, Crows and Rooks here which eat carrion. The other meat eaters prefer it fresh. Maybe as there is only really diseased rabbits (and only at this moment) there wouldn't be enough food to go round.
As I type the temps have dropped from 3 to .2 and it's started to snow again, I don't think it'll settle though. I feel the need for a home weather station if anyone has any recommendations, it's not something I know anything about, but it does interest me, especially living up here in the clouds.
I think I have an eye for a half decent pic, just not the equipment, the skill to use it, nor the dedication! As this place lends itself very well to a photographer maybe in years to come I'll invest some time and money into it. Until then you'll have to put up with hastily taken mobile shots and some from S&A photography. On their page are more of the Falconry pics (plus many more!) and he did a full write up about the birds too.
I've interspersed some of their local shots here to break up the text and lack of my pictures. They surfaced as we were chatting about the recent clear nights, the ISS has been doing it's rounds at a sensible hour and 3 very prominent planets have been visible in a line to the South.
ISS
I complained to the council about the state of the roads and they've been out and thrown some tarmac where the edges of the road had gone missing. They haven't addressed the other bits as i'm assuming it's out of budget, I haven't had time to chase them about that yet. I had an hour to spare the other night so threw some gravel into the worst of the holes on the track into here.
Some interesting suggestions on 4x4s for me to follow up, thanks for your input. Most of the questions are answered in the thread already.
Lots of research to do on that which I didn't have time to do when buying the Terrano. It transpires they came with two types of rear LSD and Terry has the weaker type fitted. It still has 3 times the grip of any 2wd car, but has got completely stuck on the odd occasion. I did once set the wheels spinning in some mud on tickover, got out of it and walked around watching what happened.
Sure enough just one wheel at the rear was turning and one stuck, so the diff is now open and no longer locking. I lifted it up to confirm by spinning the wheels manually too. I'd previously changed the oil in it before I knew this was an issue, I put the correct LSD oil in, but the old oil had a metallic sheen to it and some sizeable metal chunks dropped out too.
I wouldn't say I was great with people, but can spot a decent person from a crap one a mile off. I'd been hanging around online in Terry circles and had noted a chap called Jason who struck me as being both knowledgeable, very genuine and lived near where i'd worked and am still packing the workshop up. He sometimes came from down in West Yorks up to the Lakes to do some camping and a bit of Greenlaning, i'd pondered over inviting him here to do a bit, but at the moment it wasn't possible as I wasn't here a lot of the time.
Then he posted up he was breaking a Terrano so I enquired about a rear axle, he said he was selling one with a decent diff and I asked if he wanted to fit it. He said he would so there we were in my old workshop the other day.
They're heavy beasts, the 3 ton lift had picked it up ok, but i'd dismantled that and taken it away, the remaining 2.5 tonner wouldn't lift it more than a foot so we worked off the floor. Better than being outside though.
He did most of the work, I just helped with the bits he struggled with and in 3hrs we were done. £170 changed hands and Tezza has a working rear diff, unstoppable now!
He would have reduced the price on an exchange basis, but my old axle has ABS, the replacement doesn't and the components are not interchangeable. I fancy having a poke around inside it to see what has happened and if it can be repaired easily enough.
Out of interest you can buy front locking LSDs for these too, they started off as 'Lokkas', but aren't available atm, someone in Russia has copied them and knocks them out as 'Blokkas', you've got to be pretty hardcore to fit one, but the unit itself isn't expensive.
Edited by Evoluzione on Tuesday 7th December 13:16
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