In your position your house is your pension. I agree with HW. While you're able to work, keep the house as equity and rent it out and get an income off it. I wouldn't sell unless planning to emigrate lock, stock and barrel. And then I wouldn't sell for at least two years or until I was absolutely certain I wouldn't be coming back. Otherwise you're burning your bridges.
Figaro, why not get the (C2 first) C1 license; become a part-time HGV driver & earn £200 on a sunday? Agencies are crying out for C1 lorry drivers.
Simple - I don't want to work Saturdays, never mind Sundays. The idea is to improve my quality of life, not work myself into an early grave.
Apologies, I down-sized & decided removing myself from a mortgage & renting cheaply was the only option too a life of boating (wide-beam) or in a lorry. But you don't have to live on the road! Find a friendly farmer who wants some extra money for a electrical connection & water tap close by (farms have cheap electricity so its not like they'd notice the bills going up & water connections can be soon installed cheaply). I've brought an ex-removal lorry which gives me 23' to play with. And I've got my metal work cut ready for an over the cab sleeping compartment which will be fitted by this summer.
Part of this whole idea is the project side of things, I want to build a home to suit me, and I would like it to be as self-sustaining as possible, so solar and generators are very much in. I don't really want to rely on outside hook-ups if I can do without. To be honest it would be a lot easier if I wasn't insisting to myself I need the bike on board. There are plenty of people who could make a bike lift for the back of the bus, but I want a bus with space to put it inside. Already I'm thinking of downsizing though - those old buses don't half drink the juice
I will pooh on your idea of wanting a bus or prehaps double-decker. As they are heavy chassis & won't do double digits on the fuel side of things. Which is why i switched from the same line of inquiry which then led too ex-library buses & special-interest vehicles to removal vehicles with a luton storage well at rear. They do decent fuel & can be unrestricted speed limiters & even have analogue tachogragh removed. The major problem with buses is the location of engine & gear box. You cannot use the vehicle if mechanically something majorly goes wrong. Whereas with a fixed box on the back, you could most likely work out a deal for still using it at a garage. But a bus requires flooring to be removed & compared too a rigid lorry with tipper cab; makes light work of maintenance & mechanical involvement. I'd recommend an old Daf lorry & if you doubt me visit a commercial garage & speak too the old-boys running it & ask them about your idea of converting a bus/lorry.
I need to actually go look at some vehicles rather than just sit here googling stuff, I'd have a better feel for what would suit me then. I saw a passenger ambulance on ebay with a wheelchair lift that looked big and sturdy enough to lift a bike, but the bike would go in lengthways and take up half the space. Perhaps if I could remount it sideways and just use the last 3ft of the bus. Dunno. A lorry is a viable option, but I don't want a cabover bed, climbing a ladder to go to sleep is not in my remit, hence why I was looking at larger floorplans and buses in particular. But economy is going to be important. Is LPG a worthwhile conversion on a big diesel motor?
I will leave you to suss out the practicality of buses versus lorries & vehicle plating. Research & physically seeing stuff & breakers yards...will arm you with lots of future quagmires. Don't be rash, know your stuff
That may be true. But given that he already has the truck, farm and no mortgage, all that's left is to quit work and sell up. I'd say its inaccurate to use the term 'fantasist'. But yeah he's definitely half baked. Makes wine out of anything, tea, peas, parsnips. The sparkling rhubarb wine is the most bearable. I shouldn't have said 'exiting society'. Just being a bit further away from most of it.
Solar panels are amazing things. I've fitted 3x 100w panels on the roof of my parents narrow boat and the only time they run the engine now (for power) is to vacuum. It runs the fridge, telly, lights etc no problem. Not as good in winter obviously but it was supplying 12 amp last Saturday while I was working on it.
I reckon a triple whammy of solar, generator and propane will keep me warm and fed for pennies a week, then it's just a case of keeping on top of vehicle maintenance. There must be a way to set up the system so that the generator kicks in automatically if the batteries get low. But there's a lot of spending to be done. The solar system itself ain't cheap, then I'll need a fridge that'll run on DC voltage or propane, a propane cooker, a quiet generator won't be cheap, and of course all the bespoke work needed to hang it all from the vehicle (and hide it from the pikeys). It ain't gonna be a cheap project, that's why it's years away yet, but it'll still be a lot cheaper than buying a purpose-built rig.
All that is possible, what you have to remember is that we have three-main leisure industries that cover all of the above. Caravaning, narrow-boating & motorhomes; you can mix and match the equipment from each of those. Top tier systems based upon electrical stuff from 'Victron' Victron Energy Shop | Victron Multiplus | SDMO Generators | Sterling Power | Renewable Solar are the industry standard in high end boats & motorhomes. Go visit a dealer & explain what you just stated, you would need an idea of the electrical devices you wish to run & there power usuage (saving you time again!) & they will matter-of-fact design you a system to cover that using wind/solar/genie in a matter of minutes. For free also' I'd recommend narrowboat toughened glass windows rather than plastic shyte & decent xtratherm insulation 30-50mm. Both of those are must haves in my opinion. One reduces likelihood of breaking-in (you can add anti-shatter film & tint) & the insulation is comparable to 4-6 inches of normal house-hold stuff. The only thing you must do with that insulation is not allow water ingress so you install a vapour barrier between inside of vehicle wall (based on metal structure due to thermal difference creating condensation). And your (WBP - Water and Boil Proof) ply-sheets can rest against the insulation safety without making moisture mold. If money is flush & you want some quality sheeting, veneered sheets or formica based ones are a money-pit. I should charge for this advice, I'll soon be posting one or two books you should read for inspiration & idea's of your level of competence. And if you design it so stuff isn't glued into place, you can upgrade materials as money comes into your life. But the electrical system is where you want to spend serious cash because done well, it will last 15 years or longer.
