Hand Tools and Machinery for Country Living

[AngryScientist]

Yea it seems like the big names have settled down on battery compatibility too, which is good. I just recently moved and cleaned out my old garage and threw out a few ancient cordless tools that batteries are clearly not available for anymore. Hopefully as battery tech improves the new batteries will continue to be compatible with the old tools.

[j44ke]

I just got this Morakniv knife. I have been kind of thinking about having a fixed blade knife to carry around, something with a more substantial blade that would have more utility than a pocket knife perhaps. The convenience of a good pocket knife is pretty significant though, so I am still not sure whether I actually need a fixed blade knife. So I figure what the heck, this is $24 and recommended by a friend of mine. Morakniv makes a series of variations on the old Swedish fish knife that in its most basic form looks like something made in a maximum security prison out of stolen metal bits and a broom handle. I got the heavy duty version, and the blade definitely feels heavy duty. It is almost chisel thickness and really smoothly sharp. I guess one of the purposes for this is to make kindling in a pinch using a wooden "baton" - basically whacking your knife with a stick to cut a larger stick into chunks. I won't likely use it for that. I appreciate the invention of the hatchet. But the knife definitely seems like whatever I do with it, it won't suffer. Comes with an indestructible plastic sheath that might get replaced with something leather at some point.

[j44ke]

Marty T from New Zealand is one of my favorite YouTube channels. I've posted one of his videos before, and someone here is a relative of his. Can't remember who. Marty has a completely unafraid relationship with machines and a knack for procedural simplicity that turns every upside down tractor in a mud pit to a series of steps. Follow the steps and the tractor goes from broken to a functional asset.







He's now moved into town so their kids can walk to school, but I figure there will still be tractors involved. And they didn't sell the country place.

[rwsaunders]

I’ve gone the battery powered route on hand tools such as drills and saws and I love using them, but I made the decision a few years back to go with a 2-cycle engine on the leaf blower backpack. Too many leaves and too many hours to be futzing with batteries imho, after trying a battery power unit. Maybe things have changed.

[caleb]

I followed @j44ke 's example with a forestry helmet, and after only just an afternoon it seems like a nice step up.

I anticipated liking the face shield, but the surprise was just how much I appreciated the ear muffs. What surprised me about the muffs is that I think they help me to relax, rather than respond to the noise of the saw.



I have a feeling that the face screen is going to get beat up quickly, but we'll see how it lasts.

The takeaway is that I think a full forestry helmet is at least worth a try.

[Mabouya]

What about chaps? Any pointers on those?

I suppose one benefit of winter is that all the protective gear doesn't cause you to overheat.

[j44ke]

What about chaps? Any pointers on those?

I suppose one benefit of winter is that all the protective gear doesn't cause you to overheat.

I got a pair of Stihl chaps. They are not made for someone with a climber's physique. The chaps reduce my mobility so much, I can't imagine being able to get out of the way of something falling from above quickly enough. I do wear canvas pants regardless of the season without loss of mobility (just massive sweating during summer,) but finding a pair of lighter-weight chainsaw pants is probably a good idea. Clogger appears to be the brand that gets the best reviews from pros but they may just have the best organized marketing department. https://goclogger.com

The electric saw is a little different in terms of when the saw is active and how quickly it stops, but a saw is a saw so this is something I haven't quite solved yet.

As far as protective gear in the winter, yeah you still do overheat.

[j44ke]

Another Marty T adventure. Given how far in the bush it is, it seems like one of his toughest yet.

[Mabouya]

Another Marty T adventure. Given how far in the bush it is, it seems like one of his toughest yet.

Very cool, but lugging the battery and fluids up there mustn't have been much fun.

I could just image those sheep, as he came up to the gate, thinking "Now what's he brought home this time?"

[j44ke]

Very cool, but lugging the battery and fluids up there mustn't have been much fun.

I could just image those sheep, as he came up to the gate, thinking "Now what's he brought home this time?"

Usually the ram attacks him when he arrives, especially if he is on a motorbike.

[rwsaunders]

Old tools never die, they just work harder.

[Too Tall]

That will do RW, that will do just fine.

[j44ke]

Building a deck?

[Tom]

When my father in law died my mother in law was in a "throwing out everything" frenzy and I rescued a half inch Porter Cable drill and a Dremel tool of that age, the cases all beautifully machined metal. I don't know what else she got rid of before I caught on. I don't want to think about it.

[rwsaunders]

Building a deck?

An arbor at the garden gate for my wife's climbing roses...she is really trying to time the expiration of my life insurance policy. In true vSalon fashion, we can't just have simple angles and details, right?

[j44ke]

An arbor at the garden gate for my wife's climbing roses...she is really trying to time the expiration of my life insurance policy. In true vSalon fashion, we can't just have simple angles and details, right?

My wife might be getting ready to cash mine in. Convert me to bitcoin.

[Octave]

On the chainsaw front -

the wife and I recently became "brand ambassadors" (don't ask me what that means, I don't have social media, but I'm not going to complain about free tools) for TTI products and have been doing a head-to-head comparison of Ryobi, Milwaukee, and Hart. We've got about 70 lengths of 2023 firewood, a mix of Douglas and Noble fir, Ponderosa pine, and some native oak. Lengths are all at 8' (because that's what fit in the truck bed coming out of the forest) and will be cut into 13" lengths.

So far, the Milwaukee is the clear champion from a reliability perspective. There are a few odd kinks in the Hart and Ryobi saws, both of which have pretty long lag times for stoppage compared with Milwaukee. The Milwaukee is the only one that doesn't struggle with Oak, but they all cut very nicely through the fir and pine. Interstingly, the pitch of the chains they come standard with are all slightly different, as is the gauge. The Milwaukee came with a smaller gauge chain that rips quickly but has a lot of kickback compared to the no-skip high gauge chains that came with the Hart and Ryobi. Battery life is just about equal across all of them. If I'm really cooking, I can get about an hour out of a battery (5ah). In general I'm sold: they're all light, quiet, and don't smell. And it's nice to not have the rumble in the background while I'm doing non-cutting things like marking cut lines, debarking, or loading into a cart..

[rwsaunders]

$35/day from Home Depot..I call it the “more time for bike riding” power washer, as these things are awesome. You do need a 3,000+ psi power washer to run it.

[thollandpe]

OK Veesalon hive mind, I'm up at a friend's camp in deep central Maine and we came across this gizmo. It's been used but not a lot. This from a boathouse that has everything from bent nails in coffee cans to DDT in a glass jug.

Whaddya think it is?



Retracted position. And yes, we're taking offers on the sofa.



Extended position. Not the eyelet on the top plate that would allow you to retract it with a line.



Tines. Note the corner tines are shaped differently than the edge tines.

[rwsaunders]

The world’s largest portable industrial potatoe masher.