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Date:   Sun, 15 Aug 1999 14:13:47 -0400
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Subject: Successful Farming excerpts from 1998
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All Around the Farm book for sale

Solve more problems with nearly 500 ingenious 
farmer ideas for home and garden, repair and 
maintenance, livestock, tools, fences and gates, 
buildings and machinery. This 80-page book also 
gives a reference guide packed with tables and 
standards. The cost is only $7. Send you order 
to: Successful Farming 1716 Locust Street/LS416 Des Moines, IA 50309-3023

This adjustable boom fits on the back of my 
three-point hitch and we use it to trim trees or 
pick apples. I welded pieces of angle iron to a 
12-foot pole, forming a bail to which I bolted a plastic barrel.

Another piece of angle iron welded to the pole 
makes a stabilizer bar at the bottom of the 
barrel. With an experienced driver, I can stand 
in the barrel and be lifted to just the right height.­E.M., Missouri. [Image]


An angle iron welded to form a V-shaped bracket 
with two 45-degree angles makes the perfect 
welding jig for drilling holes in round stock for cotter keys or shaft bolts.

This one can be bolted to the drill press 
platform to add stability and allow perfectly 
centered holes every time. It also assures the 
jig will not turn during drilling.­B.S., 
Missouri. [Image] During calving season I use a 
miner’s hat with a light on it instead of 
carrying a flashlight. This frees up my hands to 
carry a newborn calf to the barn if necessary.­J.P., Iowa.


I made a base for each of our car ramps out of 1/2-inch plywood.

The plywood is longer than the ramp, which allows 
the vehicl e to drive onto the plywood at the 
rear of the ramp before it gets to the ramp.

A 2"x4" fastened across the plywood at the rear 
of the ramp keeps the vehicle from pushing the 
ramp ahead instead of climbing onto it. The 
plywood also helps protect the shop floor.­H.H., 
Missouri. We made this drill stop by cutting a 
short length of vacuum hose of the correct 
dimension and slipping it over the drill. We 
leave the bit sticking out equal to the depth of 
the hol e we want. The rubber does not scratch 
the work surface.­T.B., Oklahoma. [Image]

This heavy-duty hinge has stood the test of time 
for over 20 years. My garage doors ar e 10 feet 
wide and 16 feet tall and surrounded with 3-inch 
pipe. I made the hinge from 180 roller chain. One 
side of th e link was welded to an angle iron and 
bolted to the building with bolts 6 inches apart. 
The other side was welded to th e edge of the 
door. There are two hinges on the door.­H.B., Nebraska. [Image]

Removing bushings or a tapered bearing cup from 
the housing, when you can’t get at it to drive it 
out, is often a problem. We found that by welding 
a bead all the way around the insid e face of the 
bushing we could more easily remove it. Th e 
welding process causes the bearing cup or bushing 
to loosen and it can be removed more easily. ­D.B., South Dakota.


These wood-post insulators ar e actually more 
durable than many commercially availabl e styles. 
We made them from polyethylene tubing. PVC pipe 
is OK, too. Usually inch pipe works best. Cut 
them off diagonally at 45&int; angles about 3 or 
4 inches long. Cut a groove just deep enough for 
the fence wire and pin to fit snugly. Use heavy 
wire or nails to make the pin. Works well on 
corner and end posts.­G.B., Tennessee.

[Image]


We no longer worry about pulling wagons or 
equipment after dark. We made this device, which 
plugs into a cigarette lighter and is equipped 
with a 12-volt flasher fuse. We used an old 
extension cord and attached the lights to a 
spring clamp so they could be mounted on the rear 
of the trailing vehicle.­J.J., Michigan. [Successful Farming, AATF, 1998]


A respirator lfor a newborn calf is easy to make. 
Cut the bottom out of a liter plastic soda 
bottle. Place the bottle over the calf’s nose and 
blow in the end. I replace the cap on the bottle 
to keep the end clean when not in use. Cheap, but 
effective for emergencies in the calving 
barn.­­­J.C., Wyoming. (Photo 3K.) [Successful Farming, AATF, 1998]

These ice-gripping boots really work for choring 
after a big ice storm. I made the cleats from 
mower sickle sections. I heated the corners with 
a torch to bend them down, then took a pair of 
rubber boots and removed the liner. I used 
carriage bolts through the two existing section 
holes to fasten them to the soles of the boots. 
Just don’t wear them on any surface that can be 
damaged by the sharp points.­S.C., Missouri. (Photo 5K.)

[Successful Farming, AATF, 1998]



Plastic buckets on our farm were always sticking 
together when empty and stacked inside each 
other. To eliminate the frustration of tugging 
and pulling to separate them, we took soap and 
rubbed down the outer surface of each of the 
buckets. Now they seem to slide easily 
apart.­.S., Ohio. control of the 16x16-foot doors­­O.B., Illinois.(Photo 6K.)

I built this catch pole to catch, tag or doctor 
small calves when they’re a little too frisky to 
run down on foot or from my ATV. I started with a 
piece of PVC pipe 10 feet long. I added a 25-foot 
section of 5¦16-inch rope with a loop in it, 
which I tied back to the pipe as shown below. 
Soft braided rope works best. I added a chain 
hook on the back end for securing it to the 
machine or a fence, once the calf is 
caught­­E.H., Missouri. (Photo 8K.) [Successful Farming, AATF, 1998]

This hollow boxed-steel sleeve with an attached 
strap-steel bar and ball hitch slips nicely over 
the hitch on my tractor and can be pinned in 
place with a standard drawbar pin. It’s very 
handy for quickly moving a trailer or implement 
with a ball hitch. It saves time when attaching 
and removing a ball hitch, but should be 
considered only a temporary hitch, not used over 
the road at high speeds. ­L.H., Wisconsin. 
(Enlarged picture 12K.) [Successful Farming, image]



I keep this self-coiling air hose (with chucks on 
both ends) with my vehicle at all times. In 
addition, I keep a tubeless tire plug kit and a 
pair of locking pliers. I can repair punctures 
without removing the wheel and reinflate a tire 
for limited travel by borrowing air from another 
tire. One chuck can be locked on the valve stem, 
the other has a quick coupler to allow chuck and 
hose to be used on other hoses and tanks.­J.E., Ohio. (Enlarged picture 16K.)

[Successful Farming, image]This simple device puts an end to the

frustration of never having the right size ball 
hitch on my pickup receiver. To the tubing that 
fits in the receiver, I welded two 7¦8-inch flat 
irons about 10 inches long to the top and bottom. 
I put my two most common ball sizes on the 
receiver so the correct size can be flipped over 
and pinned in place.­B.W., South Dakota. [Successful Farming, image]

IDEA OF THE MONTH

The nozzle tip of my garden sprayer was 
continually being plugged with the slightest bits 
of debris from chemicals or the water that I was 
using to mix them. I cut the hose and installed a 
fuel filter at about the halfway mark, and I've 
had no problems since. ­T.R., Arkansas. [Garden sprayer filter]

IDEA OF THE MONTH

The nozzle tip of my garden sprayer was 
continually being plugged with the slightest bits 
of debris from chemicals or the water that I was 
using to mix them. I cut the hose and installed a 
fuel filter at about the halfway mark, and I've 
had no problems since. ­T.R., Arkansas. (Enlarged picture)


Send your ideas! You can win up to US$100.





This T-post gauge helps me set all the posts at 
the same height. I cut a 2-inch pipe to the 
height I wanted the posts to extend out of the 
ground. You can use a loader bucket to press down 
on the post until it touches the top of the pipe. 
It will keep posts from bending and every one 
will be even. For safety and ease of handling, I 
welded a handle to the pipe. Don't let anyone 
stand too close to the tractor bucket..­J.G., 
North Carolina. (Enlarged picture) [T-post gauge] 
I built this devise to install temporary water 
lines in pastures for intensive grazing. I 
started with a single shank, three-point 
subsoiler. I bent a 1-inch piece of black pipe at 
a 90 degree angle and welded it to the back of the shank as shown below.

I use half-inch pipe, but 3/4-inch pipe (with 
corresponding bigger guide pipe) could be used. I 
built the guide just above the shank to hold the 
roll as it is being installed.­J.S., Indiana. (Enlarged picture)

[Water line layer]

An old kitchen double sink works really well as a 
vegetable cleaner when mounted on legs and placed 
at the edge of the garden. You can attach a hose 
to the faucet portion and PVC pipe to the drain 
and return water to the garden. ­ V.R., North Dakota.

Cutting holes with an oxygen-acetylene torch is 
much more exact if several thick, flat washers 
are used as a guide. Washers should be chosen 
that are 1¦4 inch larger than the desired hole. 
This allows the inside edge of the washer to 
serve as a guide for the tip of the torch. I use 
Vice-Grips to hold the washers in place in a 
predetermined location. The result is a smooth, 
accurately sized hole.­B.S., Missouri. [Image]

When starting new trees or evergreens, place a 
used tire over them and fill with mulch. They 
grow faster and are protected when mowing. Tires 
make it easy to cut around trees with a weed 
eater or mower. ­L.G., Iowa. (Enlarged picture) [Image]

A 15-inch auto rim is always carried in the back 
of my pickup. When positioned against a post with 
a block in front of it, it’s the perfect lever 
for vertically lifting out a wooden or steel 
post. When hooked to a vehicle and pulled, a 
chain or rope fits snugly in the rim groove.­T.T., Kentucky. (Enlarged picture)

[Image] WA simple double-snap hook attached to 
the bail of a calf feeder bucket and to the fence 
keeps the calves from dumping the milk from the 
pails.­M.G., Indiana. (Enlarged picture) [Image] 
With an older barn that needs to be whitewashed 
every year, the coating on the lightbulbs was 
always a problem. We keep burned-out bulbs for 
this purpose. We use them to replace the good 
bulbs when the whitewasher comes, instead of 
having to clean the good bulbs every time. Saves 
a lot of time. ­R.W., Wisconsin.

Cracks in tractor parts are often hard to detect 
with the naked eye. Axles, shafts or casings can 
be checked by first removing grease or dirt, then 
applying a coating of correction fluid and 
alcohol. After this has dried, tap the part with 
a hammer. Enough of the lubricant has likely been 
retained in the cracks and will now show through 
the correction fluid. -T.L., New Mexico.