7 Days Repairing Off-Grid Cabin in Alaska

Luke here with the art Boys YouTube

channel and Welcome to our off-grid

Alaskan Homestead it's been a long

winter and the snow is deep here in

Alaska but we've got a lot of projects

including replacing our collapsed garage

we got lots of friends visiting a lot of

snow Machining to do and we're bringing

you guys along for the ride

[Music]

took a while but we got the side by side

all up and running and all of its

maintenance done it's uh running really

good

[Music]

now got

her she just hooking it straight to the

starter

well the back of the solenoid it just

what it does is it bypasses the

battery oh so my neighbor Jason helped

me out here turns out the selenoid

switch for the starter was frozen and we

threw the jumper Cal straight onto the

selenoid and that threw enough juice on

it that we're able to force the switch

and overcome the ice ice does not help

your Machinery work better I'll tell you

what those Treads are probably Frozen to

the ground pretty good so uh we'll see

if we can break that loose

it's been a few months since I've been

to the property kind of anxious to see

how it's

doing so I'm driving my K truck on the

snow machine Trail and it's doing really

well it's not chewing up the trail it's

not getting stuck we're just taking it

slow and easy but this is where it's

going to get

tricky okay so there's a trail that goes

right through here and it's covered in

snow and you can see it's really hard

and firm but if you wander off the trail

you get stuck and right now because of

the wind you can't see where the trail

is I don't think I should go this way

it's like an invisible Bridge you one

step off and you

fall I've got somewhere I need to be

later this afternoon and I don't want to

be dealing with a stuck K

truck it's all I got time to do today

but uh I've got some big PL hands I want

to start working on building a new

garage and I think I'm going to come

back and start working on

that you going to help me get the snow

machine

out yeah

keep I thought we should get

after that it was a laughing scrape all

this snow and throw it out before we

warm the cabin up

okay okay

turn that

on there he goes we got a light turn

this fan on here you know that Fan's

supposed to work mine is the this one's

mine this snow is wet and sticky but

it's going to get cold tonight so if I

knock down a good trail it'll freeze up

and get nice and

packed Hey Thomas your old man got the

snow machine stuck I need your

help oh yeah you are two three

go good job buddy high five thanks

Tommy should we get the generators fired

up all right let make a path to the

generator woo Sun's set and I think it's

time to get settled for the night look

at this son of Mine He's brooming out

the snow oh that's so helpful Tom thank

you you guys hungry yeah you want tacos

yeah Tac Friday Taco Friday Taco

Friday marinated beef here marinated

orange soda that smells like f

okay do you want any salsa or guacamole

on

[Music]

yours not going to lie these are pretty

[Music]

tasty

Mingo hey guys I just saw what time is

we got to get you guys to bed all right

head on up go get to sleep it's late

well it's late I think it's time to get

to bed I'll see you guys in the morning

we got a lot of stuff to do

tomorrow we end up turning the heater

off last night we were good most of the

night I was thinking for breakfast we

could do chocolate croissants and I

could do some fried spam

come down and get some breakfast we got

hot chocolate oatmeal spam and chocolate

croissants yeah dipping a chocolate

croissant and chocolate it's the way to

do

it all

righty the problem with owning a

property like this is that new projects

come faster than you can finish the old

ones you guys might remember that my

garage over there collapsed underneath

the snow this winter well the greenhouse

just collapsed as well those buildings

just weren't built to handle snow and

I'm just not here at the property

frequently enough to be able to knock

off the snow whenever there's a big

snowstorm but I really need a garage and

I'm going to start taking measurements

today but before I can do that I

promised Tommy I'd try to get the snow

machine started that boy loves snow

machines

[Music]

well fired up a little bit then it died

so it's getting spark it's just not

getting gas my guess is that there's ice

somewhere in the fuel line and fuel

isn't getting into the

chamber so I think there was a little

bit of ice in the fuel filter just by

flicking the fuel filter I broke that

ice out up and was able to get fuel to

it one thing we do need to do is put a

little heat in your gas

tank and that'll keep it from freezing

up

again so he

about I was

looking well Tom should we go knock in a

trail yes

[Music]

[Music]

hey Nathan you got to go do some cross

country skiing awesome man well we got a

nice little Trail for

you Hey Jake how you like your snowshoes

pretty br this watch

the so the new garage I'm putting in is

going to be a lot bigger it's going to

be 14 ft by 32 ft so those poles are

going to be the front two corners of

where the building's going to go I'm

going to have to work pretty fast though

I want to get this finished before all

the snow melts it's going to be a lot

easier to get the equipment and supplies

in here in the winter time versus the

summer time

well I've got some boys that are hungry

so I think I'm going to go make some

lunch Nathan and Tommy are out snow

Machining on the trail so I gave them a

walkie talkie so they can call me if

they get

stuck oh there's the

boys who's ready for mac and cheese when

you're at your cabin you have to look

stylish

eating fried spam and mac and cheese

with crazy Japanese cartoons the boys

are living their dreams hey Tom you

going snow Machining yeah good for you

I'm going to clean up a little bit and

I'll come out and join you once I'm done

okay all

right boil up some water do some dishes

[Music]

let's go get

the you want me to to you uhuh all

right all right I think that'll be a

little interesting on Cross Country Skis

you want to do it yeah

[Music]

that looks like you almost pulled your

leg apart you doing okay

yes Nathan was that fun M well I've got

a friend that's going to come and visit

us and he just told me he's uh close to

the trail head so me and Tom are to go

pick him up Tom you lead the

way do good how are you doing great man

hey what's up m is T Maverick here does

you dabble you do some YouTube videos

yourself don't you yes sir yeah he's got

a pretty healthy Channel he decided to

come up here to Alaska and was in the

neighborhood so we're going to show him

the cabin all right we're going to also

see if we can get the K truck started

cuz I think MAV would like to drive the

K truck let's see if we can get truck

going come

on little further a little further

that's good it was having

similar all right is it Del or G

oh wo winter is hard on batteries it got

down to -40 this winter so my guess the

battery just got a little smoked M you

want you want to drive the K truck don't

you I would love to it was already open

it was already

now all right you want to drive it yes

sir awesome I'm excited how do you get

here little yoga practice it's it's

tight all right well just take it slow

so you can

follow so this is where it gets a little

sketchy I think I might switch with

you it's a little soft in some

places oh

shoot oh that's

bad I'm standing on an existing packed

Trail but if you get one tire off the

packed Trail then that happens I

suddenly don't like this idea I think

there's a good chance I can back it out

but if I'm wrong it's going to dig a big

old hole and will really be in trouble

kind of overdid it and got off on the

other side for someon I feel like it's

not buried as bad on this one gotta

climb up in this

[Music]

thing or maybe you don't want to walk

off the trail no you're good keep going

straight back straight back go a little

to your to your right

good

oh oh yeah let's try not to hit that

these little Treads have terrible

traction when you're on a slope you tend

to slide left and

right no regrets it was a brilliant idea

for the whole part beautiful work I was

wondering how my K truck would do in 4T

of snow now we know now we do know now

we know it it kind of flounders a little

bit honestly that getting out of that

was way better than I thought it would

be yeah yeah I was it it could have been

a lot worse the problem was the snow

machine Trail wasn't wide enough yeah if

I had a two-lane snow machine Trail we

would have been fine and I got the snow

off the roof too that's good

all right we're going to try Plan

[Music]

B wooo snuggle up buttercup here we

go welcome to the cabin Welcome To

Paradise we're going to put you in the

shed it hasn't caught fire this year so

you're good I think I can get a bed in

here for you I bought a hidea bed that I

want to put in there and I got to

assemble it and put it together so we

can get that done then you're going to

have a bunk bed in here hey guys we

going to introduce you why if I call you

m yeah you can call me m cool can I call

you Maverick yeah you can call me

Maverick nice to meet you what's your

name Nathan Nathan look what look at

what Mr M's got o so since you're

watching Japanese movies they're Boba

milk tea flavored jelly beans o Boba

milk is what Boba Fett was raised on and

then I got some

stickers it you think or too heavy yeah

I think we might have tot

yeah it's technically think you

can all

right you like

those

[Music]

yeah oh MAV here he's uh he knows how to

win the boys over he's making

maofu this a little more that's made

from scratch that's not box mix like I

do two

oh that's

good part of your life don't lie about I

can just you know what I can do too is I

can just come brush your teeth

I well I just looked at the clock and

it's way past my kids bedtime so I'm

going to put down the camera I'll see

you guys in the

morning oh got to check the sink all

right I'm going to go I'm going to go uh

empty the

bucket a mouse came out of the bucket

hey look at he he he drowned in

there oh there's another one there's one

two three four there's four dead mice in

the bucket under the sink I was

surprised we didn't have a mouse problem

when we came in here turns out I left a

little water in the bottom of the bucket

and it was just turned into a giant

mouse trap they could crawl in and they

couldn't crawl out they're attracted by

the smell of the food in the bottom of

the Buck

it there we

go 700 in the morning we're just doing a

quickie breakfast cuz we need to get out

of

here well it's time to get going but I

am going to go ahead and get work

started on that garage and I'll see you

guys in a little bit

[Music]

[Music]

well I needed to replace the garage that

collapsed this winter but I didn't have

time to do it myself so I found a place

here in Alaska that makes these garages

and they were willing to come in and

remotely assemble it here on site and

they did it while I was up in Gnome

filming videos they built this whole

thing in about a

week

nice nice workbench got some

shelves I got it set up so I can drive

through it but this thing isn't quite

finished I need to build some sort of

ramp so I can drive ATVs up into it of

course I'm going to need a set of

stairs and I need to build a ramp and a

trail so I can drive through and around

and driving muddy ATVs in and out of

this will destroy the floor so I need to

find some sort of flooring to protect it

this will also be really nice in the

winter time when it gets really cold I

can throw a big propane heater in here

so I won't have to cold start

things I'm also pretty stoked about this

snow machine and I'm going to bring the

boys up this weekend and I'm going to

surprise Nathan with the snow machine

now him and Tommy can ride around on

their snow machines so I think he's

going to be pretty

excited I'm really excited for him to

see it he's going to go Bonkers but I

got to walk back to the car and get

going

[Music]

[Music]

hey guys want to come check out the

garage look at this Nathan what do what

do you think of this garage yeah it's

pretty nice now we do need to build a

ram for to

yeah this this like hvv or something

yeah something here will you help me

pull it off yeah sure here get the tires

off here wait is that snow

machine what what do you think Nathan

yeah this is a nice one

yeah got a good deal on it a real

if you guys will help me unload and then

you guys I'll fill you up with gas and

you guys can go Bonkers okay

yeah there we

go there goes the boys my little boys

are getting old old enough to go do

stuff on their own

that's those is

yes Dad what do you think is this better

than the bunk beds I think it

might nice thing about those two-stroke

engines you always know where your kids

are I've been listening carefully to how

they drive and they're just driving very

slowly and calmly and I'm very proud of

them for that oh they look so grown

[Applause]

[Music]

up what do you think you like those snow

machines that little thing works really

well I bought a bunch of games brought

them up to the cabin for the boys and I

think they're a hit got Uno and Connect

4 and settlers of Katan over here just

trying to dry the boxes out a little bit

they got a little wet on the right over

H this kind of had a oh yeah we're GNA

do some top ramen and a can of

SpaghettiOs I win you like your

SpaghettiOs

did So the plan was is we do this that

me and Mommy can sleep here this is a

heavy well it is way past his bedtime

I'm going to go and put up this camera I

will see you guys in the morning

morning um yeah

I

okay all right there you go you guys go

on snow Machining yeah awesome just stay

together and drive safe do you need

gloves

[Laughter]

oh that thing's a smoker I need eat more

of my more breakfast you

left I love you buddy guys oh

that I love this garage but unless I get

some ramps on it it's not going to be

very useful so that is today's big

project so you could just really go

fast all right Jake who you driving with

you all

right how how much do you guys love just

cruising around in your own snow

machines oh the hut

should we go drive to town and get some

supplies

yeah go right over here

[Music]

well Tommy's broke down on the trail

over here he said his machine just

stopped on him and won't start machine

is

stuck so Tommy's machine is seized

up all

right so uh what we did wrap some rope

around the clutch and we'll see if we

can turn the engine this way

yeah Tom I don't think that's a good

sign I think it threw a piston or

something look inside that hole tell me

what you see see pieces of metal right

yeah that entire cylinder is just smoked

all righty Tommy I'm sorry your snow

machine is dead but I'm just glad his

last moments were with somebody that

loved him here Tom come here give me

give me a hug oh this isn't going to

this isn't going to fix itself today so

let's go get the wood do you want to

come with

me like you

[Music]

what the

L hey guys we got a couple friends

visiting us we got to go pick them up at

the trail head come

on you guys ready yeah

[Music]

welcome to the

cabin yeah I think we can do some

spaghetti and meatballs that sound

[Music]

good hey you want a meatball

yes there you go it's for

you all right there we go

property or buildings on the other you

like that M oh

good well I got some food in me I can

hear the boys snow Machining out there

with Frasier it's like almost 9:00 and

the sun's still up it's about 55° today

it's just been awesome I'm really

pleased at how far things have come here

this is it's going well

Tommy Stu all right well looks like

Tommy is stuck so uh we're going to go

get him

unstuck

nope that I just ran out of

gas oh help

I'd be more upset about the ski breaking

except that I went and bought two

replacement skis for that machine

already the skis were kind of cracked

[Music]

anyways I think it's late buddy I think

it's time to put this up for

yeah I think we're going to get it

done toothbrushes and toothpaste here if

anyone needs it it's sitting on the wood

stove all right it's late guys it's like

almost 11:00 we got to get these boys to

bed I'll see you in the morning well

good morning it's another beautiful day

you guys want breakfast yes all right

I'll get making some breakf

put some hot chocolate mix in

there hot chocolate pancakes with white

chocolate chips nice yeah Dad skills all

right pancakes ready

oh you do you like the pancakes the best

cat pancake I've ever tasted it tastes

like hot

chocolate all right here's the pancake

a so what do you guys think of the hot

chocolate

pancakes

amazing nailed it Hey Thomas I'm getting

dressed and I'm going to go start

working on the garage yeah let's go

build a garage

ramp like this has a piece of

dirt and I'm out of box

pour it dry right in

there you know we're making good

progress but the sunbathers are slowing

us down

woo not too

shabby guys let's check this out I mean

that's not hardly moving at all that

thing's on there pretty

good

woo Nathan where's your snow machine I I

got stuck all right let's go get your

rescued

oh all

right

yeah we go rescue

Tommy I

gotu just crawled in the machine it's so

much easier

swim to the

ROP are you guys getting hungry or oh

I've got grilled cheese sandwiches and

tomato soup do you like that all right

we're going to get some lunch

made and take that cap like a grilled

cheese good you're not

can't they're diet Donuts they're tiny a

little before 6 it is so nice out

here we we'll be

back curious if the K truck is going to

start up

things are starting pretty good it's

nice when it's warm out when I had the K

truck out and we pulled it out of the

snow I noticed some pink liquid dripping

out from underneath the K truck my guess

it's either engine coolant or

differential oil I'm really hoping it's

engine

coolant we have absolutely no engine

coolant so we need to go get some engine

coolant

and you don't normally just run out of

engine coolant so there's got to be a

leak in the system the question is is it

a horrible leak or is it a little leak

we got this orange engine coolant here

we're going to put

that is that the

engine go and just let that

circulate well we'll just see how long

it takes that coolant to fall out and

see how that goes all right let's go get

some

gas before we leave let's see if the

coolant falling out of the K

truck oh yep coolant is completely gone

I got a major leak in the coolant system

if it's drained out that fast radiator

probably froze over the winter and

cracked not sure what I'm going to do

about that save that for another

video 1 2

3 all

right what's that so it's stuck in the

trees yeah so Nathan I hear you got your

snow machine stuck yeah all right show

me what you

got one two

3 one more two 1 2 3

[Applause]

I need you guys to pick that stuff up

and take it into the garage okay oh I

think we need to start packing it up all

right guys we need to start cleaning it

up oh there's always at least one sock

hiding

go well guys we better get going home

it's been a lovely time here at the

homestead but we've got so many projects

yet to do we got to finish that garage

and I've got a lot of plans for for our

little shed next to the cabin we'll see

you guys next video if you like that

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