Essential Tools and Equipment for the Small Farm

I first moved out of town in 1981 with my husband , Ken Woodard . We rented a log house on 40 acres , with a sub - irrigated grazing land . We cursorily acquire farm animal and trying our bridge player at gardening . But when we propel to the country , we both labour railway car that were quite undesirable for our rutted , two - caterpillar track private road that was ¾ miles long , and our entire shaft collection consist of some random hand tools that fit in a moldable fishing fishing rig box . While we would n’t dream of come back to township life , over the long time we have get a variety of tool and equipment that makes our life on the farm a whole lot easier , include substantive tools I trust every belittled farm should have .

My dad ( a guy who could build anything , from any sort of textile — wood , concrete , metal ) taught us to treat tool as an important investiture , so I ’ll offer up his advice : Take your prison term acquire your tools and equipment ; get the good quality you could yield , and they will serve you for twelvemonth . Do n’t make the mistake of buying every little thing you see . Unless you are fantastically wealthy , you may quickly expend more than you may afford on detail that do n’t get used , busy valuable storage space , get thrown away or sell at a garage sale for penny on the clam . For a tool or implement that will be used only a few time , consider renting it — or barter for its usage with a neighbor .

If you have latterly made the transition to rural living or are considering doing so , here ’s my list of all-important tools and equipment that will help you get started .

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1. Pickup Truck

Before we bought our indispensable cartridge , we buy an old Chevy Blazer . We promptly realized , however , that an SUV is not a pickup arm and can not exchange for one . A pickup could be the most versatile and utile recollective - term investment you’re able to make for your farm . These trucks are essential for hauling various matter , let in building supplying , provender , firewood and greensward . team up with a preview ( see item 3 ) , you may move farm animal . Although a pickup is a large investment , when you take charge of it ( retrieve to change that fossil oil every 3,500 miles ) it can last for ten . honest used pickups can often be bought at a sensible price .

tot up a canonical topper to your pickup and you could haul detail you take kept dry , use the motortruck for tenting or haul small-scale animals . We ’ve gotten some entertaining looks at gas station and other stops over the years when the topper held a small zoological garden . Among my favourite : the time we drove 30 turgid turkeys to the fowl processing works , and the time we had half a dozen duck and geese ( and several braggart rabbits ) hang out in the back . Goats , sheep and low pigs are also easily moved under the topper .

2. An ATV, UTV or Compact Tractor

Even if you stargaze of mold your land with animate being , a tractor or farm utility vehicle ( anATV or UTV ) is immeasurably practical . Although we care to use our Equus asinus for packing firewood when clock time permits , wintertime often finds us ( well , maybe I should say Ken ) out with the ATV , equip with a laggard , bringing in Sir Henry Wood .

Compact tractors are various pieces of equipment that are utter for small farms . count on theattachmentsyou have , they can do any number of tasks : hayloft acres of lawn , grasp a foundation , bale hay , push snow , rig fence post . It ’s all potential with a compact tractor .

If you have less than 60 acres , a usefulness vehicle , or UTV , will often be adequate . It ’s less of an investment funds than a tractor , and manufacturing business now makeattachments , including front - end loader buckets and manure spreader , that are especially designed to lick with these rigs . The fat tires , light weight and small pith of gravitational attraction make these whole easy on the kingdom . If money is not a heavy issue , and you have a large piece of earth ( say , 160 acre or more ) , having a tractor and UTV makes sense . The tractor can do heavy work , such as bale hay , but the service program vehicle can drag supplies — or get you across the farm quickly to move a paddock fence or discipline on the gillyflower and crops .

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Two - steering wheel - drive trucks , tractors , and service program vehicle are OK for flat ground that ’s not too murky , but if you live in cragged terrain , a snowy climate or frequent waterlogged conditions , invest the special money in a four - wheel - drive truck .

3. Livestock Trailer

If you aim to have large farm animal ( horses , cow , llamas , yakety-yak ) , you need astock lagger . We do n’t utilize our house trailer that ofttimes forhauling livestock , but I still consider it one of the best investments we ’ve made more than two X of buying . When we do need tohaul our animals , we do n’t have to endeavor to take up or rent a prevue , and in between animate being trip , we use it to haul firewood , provender , hay and lumber . During the several household moves we ’ve made since we purchased our trailer , it has done duty as a moving van . It also often help as a temporary storage shed . Although two - cavalry trailers are pronto available , opt for a bigger trailer that can adapt four animals or more .

4. Handcarts

This is the first tool I would purchase . Prices start at less than $ 100 and continue to around $ 300 or $ 400 depend on capacitance and construction . Yard cartsare a bargain that ’s hard to beat . They are lightweight , yet they carry big scores easily . Unlike their single - wheeled cousin-german , they are tough and steady over uneven ground ( as well as through clay or snow ) and they are just plain hard to tip . They are balanced in such a elbow room as to be well-to-do on the back . Some cart come with an accessory that convert them to a poke for pulling behind a UTV or small tractor .

We use our carts for many undertaking around the farm . In the garden or yard , they ’re great for displace topsoil , plant , seed , fertilizer or tools . In the b , they are handy for houseclean up small pile of manure , or scuff mainsheet from one place to another . They are dead sized for moving a bale of hay or a few 50 - pound purse of feed . We also bring newborn calves easily from theater to barn in forged weather , with mama tagging along next to the go-cart .

5. Manure Spreader

With any livestock , sooner or later you need a manure spreader . Even if your animals expend most of their time on pasture , piles of manure accumulate , and spreading this manure lightly over the land amend soil fertility , reduce contaminated overspill and help keep fly numbers down . Several producer proffer compact manure broadcaster ideal for small farm . The tractor - driven unit carry more manure in one trip and are probably the best direction to go if you have a meaning phone number of animals you keep in the barn regularly . The ATV units are good for operation with only a few beast stabled regularly , or with a larger ruck that is on pasture most of the time .

6. Composter

I love compost . It ’s one of the most environmentally friendly practices : cut back the waste going to landfills and incinerators while feeding grime and plants . How could anybody not compost ?

You canmake your own compost box , but an assortment of commercial units are available , set about at about $ 25 for a penetrate polyethylene sheet that creates a 32 - inch diam bin , and running to several hundred dollar mark for large - content tumbling composters . The tumbling units are attractive for sept with small-scale yards and are easy to use ; they loosely give useable compost the quickest , because they make mixture and aerating slowly . They are also animal resistant , subjugate worries about rodents andother undesirable visitors . For do - it - yourselfers , check local recycling bureau for construction plans — many of which use recycled materials , such as tires or pallets . ( Pick up a container of worms in the springtime at your local decoy supplier , and tally them to your compost pile or bin to speed things up . )

7. Electric Tools

Dozens of electric business leader tool are usable at hardware and home stores , but there are two necessity for any type of farm construction task : acircular saw(shown here ) and anelectric Mandrillus leucophaeus / driver(pictured at the top of this post ) . Need to make your own compost bin ? Out come the adage and practice session . give ear a new barn doorway ? Get the saw and the exercise .

You ’ll find these two versatile tool useful for unnumerable projects , so indue in the best heavy - obligation simulation you’re able to afford . If you contrive to do lots of grammatical construction and remodeling ( thinking about that sun parlour addition on the business firm , or that novel barn ? ) , consider adding a heavy - obligation reciprocating saw to the electric - tool collection .

8. Hand Tools

Every farm needs a diversity of hand tools such aslocking plyer . companionship such as Sears ( with its line of Craftsman tools ) and Snap - On ( usable at many auto part stores ) make hand tools that will last for generation and that follow with a lifetime warrantee . First on my list of items to purchase : a 25 - fundament and a 100 - base tape measure cadence ; a good nipper cock with a comfortable travelling bag ; lineman ’s pliers ; aratchet and socket solidifying ; adjustable wrenches in several size ; a screwdriver limit with unconstipated and Phillips pass drivers .

9. Garden Tools

Every small farm needs a level spade and a pointed spade amonggarden implementsfor dig . A adept labor forking is a multipurpose tool , used for check up and turn dirt in the garden , harvesting and for manure cleanup spot around the barn . You might also consider abroadfork . My druthers for hoes is thecollinear hoedesigned by garden guru Eliot Coleman . This elan hoe study the “ back - breaking ” out of weed ascendance by rent you fend flat up while you figure out .

10. Fencing Tools

farm and fences go script in hired man . Plan to buy a fence - post driver . A equipment driver is a heavy iron tubing that drop dead over the top of a T - Wiley Post and has handles on the side . You expend it to pound the billet into the earth . Among usefulfencing implementsis a pair of fencing pliers . They ’re a and fairly inexpensive , specialty tool to have . We love galvanic fences — they are economical , efficient and dependable — but when you have an galvanic fence , you need a fencing quizzer .

11. Miscellaneous Items

We always impart pocketknives when influence , and a Leatherman - type shaft serves many purposes . backbreaking - duty flashlights are a must when the lights go out during a heavy storm , or when you need to tend to a livestock parking brake in the pasture at 2 a.m. Garden hosesare crucial ; when grease one’s palms them , buy the longest and secure available . ( Fall is a gravid metre to bump really good bargain on garden hose . ) The good I come with farsighted - term guarantees ( often 25 years or lifetime ) , and we keep enter the guarantee card with the receipt staple to it , because under farm - use of goods and services conditions that “ lifespan ” turns out to be only a few year . The last mixed putz on the list is adigging bar . We use ours for break deoxyephedrine in winter ; for digging gravid Rock out of the garden , structure sites , or fence holes ; and for poke apart incorrigible packages .

This article first appeared in the May / June 2004 issue ofHobby Farmsmagazine .

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