What tool(s) or machinery make you more self sufficient?

[me&thegals]

Stove, fridge, running water, freezer, rake, hoe, hand shovels, my own 2 stained and callused hands and feet Jeans for whacking through berry patches, my bike for pedaling all over the place getting asparagus and berries, a big all-terrain kid stroller for hauling things back to the house (eggs, veggies, berries)

 

[FarmerChick]

LOL we farm for income on 120 acres...there is no way I could do it without the tractors and equipment.

I have researched making biofuel but honestly, it was a nasty operation --...not something I am willing to take on at this point. Time is a huge factor in everything I do. Time is not available to do everything and hold the volume of what we farm.

We make tons of hay and I wouldn't do it without the round balers and square balers.

If I had to farm to this level without all that equipment, I would quit.

I could easily live without all this farm equipment if I shut down the farm and be my little old self sufficient self with a utility trailer and small truck..HA HA

 

[dacjohns]

I want to say all my electric and fossil fuel tools like my power tools, chain saw, and tractor. But when the power goes out or fuel becomes too expensive to buy then I'm left with all those old fashioned hand tools that I can use if I have to. Cutting firewood with an axe and hand saw.

 

[pioneergirl]

my pair of pliers. Yep, I know, sounds very simple. I learned when I married into this family of farmers that not having a pair of pliers in your pocket or on your hip makes you seriously 'tool deficient'. And I have found that I feel very naked without them. lol

Beyond that, I would say a hammer, and a good pair of gloves. I could personally care less about mowing the grass, but it seems to be something people care about around here, lol. I wait til the last possible day, just before I'm wading through it, before I mow. DH hates that! LOLOL

I think if I had a horse and wagon, I could do without the car, too. lol

 

[Homesteadmom]

My sewing machine for one, my wheat grinder, food processor, large supply of cook books. All my garden tools, shovels, hoes, rakes, pitch fork. My canning supplies too. My 2 fridgesw/freezers & my 2 freezers.
For all my repairs it would be my hubby & all his tools & equipment along with the garden cart I bought him.

 

[Quail_Antwerp]

I asked my husband, he said his chain saw.

I dunno for me. My can opener maybe?

 

[lupinfarm]

Hello Pat! We decided to take our farm name on here, it's Chick_a_dee

I think it would have to be...

+ The John Deere L175, it's like a beefed up lawn tractor/not quite estate tractor, we have A LOT to mow

+ Our truck, honestly... if we didn't have the F-150 we'd be a) stuck on the farm on snowy days, and b) we wouldn't be able to pick ANYTHING up, we pick up 4x5's with it

+ A wood planer, we've saved a tonne of wood from the old stalls that were in the barn, and used them around the farm for other jobs, a few even ended up as flooring in our upstairs bathroom.

+ All the old treasures we keep finding in the out buildings, like the cute little wire gate I found hiding in the old Hackney barn which will be used next year to gate off the front of the chicken coop, or the three homemade welded wire gates I found down in the main barn.

Edited to add:

+ Our SCYTHE, we killed the weed whacker on the 3 foot grass, and decided to buy a scythe, it's very very useful

We'd really like to get a manual plough, the kind pulled by horses, as well as a Hobby sized round baler, they're push balers and kind of look like a snow thrower but produce a 50lb round bale, would be great for bayling up the hay that grows between the fence lines, save a bit of cash hay wise.

 

[enjoy the ride]

I have only 2 1/2 acres so I don't need big machines- I use my cordless drill a lot, a weed whacker occasionally and assorted hand tools. I agree that my garden cart is important for de-pooping.
But the goats and horse do engage in mowing for me.
I deliberately got rid of all my toxic plants (I hope-it's sometime hard to get info on the more obscure plants,) so the girls get time in the orchard area and around the house- the goats do duty in the woods.

 

[lupinfarm]

I have only 2 1/2 acres so I don't need big machines- I use my cordless drill a lot, a weed whacker occasionally and assorted hand tools. I agree that my garden cart is important for de-pooping.
But the goats and horse do engage in mowing for me.
I deliberately got rid of all my toxic plants (I hope-it's sometime hard to get info on the more obscure plants,) so the girls get time in the orchard area and around the house- the goats do duty in the woods.

lols, we had a weed whacker until it bit the dust trying to weed whack 3 foot grass around the driveshed, then we bought a scythe

 

[sylvie]

My Stihl chainsaw. best investment I ever made. No one borrows this, Dh doesn't touch it.

Firewood is the obvious use.
Used it to cut posts for my vineyard and chicken run.
When we built the coop I cut off the roof rafters the same size with it.
Built a bridge over a creek by cutting long logs, screwing on deck boards and cutting those even.
Dh needs to rest a lot, but still must walk for exercise so I cut some wide logs, screwed on wide boards for benches throughout our property.
Making a woven wattle fence for the garden and saplings are simpler to cut with the chainsaw because so many are needed.

Finally, when a large tree took down our electric line the Electric Co wouldn't move/cut the tree. As it was our responsibility we had to cut it away before they'd return(power was turned off at road). Having the saw saved us a bundle and we had firewood.