My dad was born in 1929 to a blacksmith/well driller. My grandfather always said that you measured a man’s wealth by the size of the junk pile in his yard and shop. My father survived the Great Depression learning those skills from his father. I didn’t get to know my grandfather well. But my dad taught my brothers and I the value of working with my hands and tools. Now both men are gone and my sons didn’t really get to know my father well. My older brother kept all my dad’s tools except for my grandfather’s anvil and a small farrier’s forge. Both are over 100 years old. I bought most of my own tools over the years though and I have tried to teach my sons how to use them.

My dad only had 1 farm tool that did everything... the shovel. It was the plow, the disc, the hoe, the rake, the post hole digger, the anchor for the yard goat, and the tool that turns a boy to a man... apparently. I planted some apple trees a few weeks ago with my wife and she was bewildered at how much was accomplished so quickly with a dull worn out shovel, so she called my mom who said "oh, yea, its the only tool they ever had. They plowed an acre field every year with that shovel..."

@teban67

3 ай бұрын

LOL 😂

@Sean-ry4fi

3 ай бұрын

fk yea bro the shovel and the rake for me. I loved carry a shovel to knock down the dirt and find the stones. finish plowing by hand wtf. did we forget the wheelbarrow

@Sean-ry4fi

3 ай бұрын

i turned a few acres by myself with my own hands with just a shovel steel rake axe loopers and wheel barrow, but I agree shovel is hands down #1

#1 tool in any shop, homestead, or garage is always a hammer lol how did that not even make the list

@saskrockhoundoutdoors9865

3 ай бұрын

The local mechanic / handyman used to say " you're not a real mechanic unless you have a full set of hammers ". True wisdom, lol.

@alexandersupertramp151

2 ай бұрын

I was waiting for the mallet lol

I love your Vids. When I turned 19 I moved to the north of sweden by myself. And now I have a small homestead. I like your tips for simple stuff. Greetings from a German in Sweden💪👍

@dietagesretter5987

3 ай бұрын

@asper37 nice profile picture😁

I love old tools I pick them up whenever I can. I always think of the many hands that used them before me. My father has long sense passed away but I feel a special connection to him when I have the privilege of using one of his old tools

Another great video, Thank you. 15 of your items are on my top 20. Here's the five I have different from yours: Hammer; Chisels; Sledgehammer; Wheelbarrow; and Vice.

@PatrickKQ4HBD

3 ай бұрын

It's funny that he used three of those in discussing his list of 20.

Hey Pa Mac, All the tools you showed are necessary on a farm, but my Grandpa would argue you left out one that is used the most. That would be a sturdy knife for whittling or cutting all manner of material, making pegs or whatever was needed.. I do enjoy your videos and hope you continue with them

Another important tool for the old-timey farm family was good connections and a decent standing in the community. If you had that, you had nearly every tool in the local community, including the folks who know how to use them. Amazing to watch how a wife cooing over a baby at church could turn into a husband getting his broken hay trailer welded up, which turns into help in the fall with the pigs, which turns into the most coveted of things, a favor on call.

@joshsmithward8848

3 ай бұрын

That’s just from necessity due to resource shortage and people doing things. Are people doing things themselves now?

@georgeschmitt8205

3 ай бұрын

@joshsmithward8848 You are 100% correct. We, and I might add, temporarily, live in a post scarcity society. Scaricity has forced people to interact and work together to acheive their goals, and has been the bedrock of humanity since the beginning. Would you say that we are better now as a society now that we don't interact and cooperate as much or worse? I feel it's worse. Are people doing things for themselves now? Well yes and no. Most people just hire someone to do a task and go work more or they just don't do it, i.e. a garden doesn't get made because they won't dig for themselves or hire someone to do it. In my mind it's a kind of slavery. You work all the time to pay someone to come do a task that someone in your core group could do if you had one. Yes it frees you from the obligation of owing a favor but it cuts the human socialization right out and that's the unhealthy part. Thank you for your comment. It was thought provoking.

@PatrickKQ4HBD

3 ай бұрын

Such specialization is a double-edged sword. It carries both benefits and problems. But that sense of community is something I tremendously cherish and want to support in my small town. I don't think large city people can properly value such relationships based on a good name.

I love old tools too, connects us with the ancestors. That's a good list of tools, tyvm.

The only tools I don't have from your list are push plow and cottonseed fork! I don't think either one particularly necessary for my purposes. Thanks for another entertaining answer!

My favourite hand tools are the axe and the drawer knife!

Great video , thought provoking , I've got the basics , but my favourites are the bill hook , hand axe and slasher ( bill hook on a longer handle for clearing under hedges ) when hedge laying . Nice to have a kettle and a flint too .

I hsd all of those except froe and block-and-tackle, but the greatt old antiques were stolen out of my basement! My favorites include Army surplus Foxhole Shovel, tiny pick, military grade flashlight. I have my grandpa's hand-made level, my mom's metal 4- and 5-prong rakes, my dadis many many tools, Grandma's pliers. Your tamp bar has enough leverage to use as a fantastic prybar, to pry up Walnut or Sassafras saplings, or to pry rubber tracks back onto a Skid Steer!!! Oh, and the relly long sharp pick is a must to pull a round rock out of a garden or dig up clumps of anything !!!

Having a come-a-long (don't know the spelling) comes in handy.

I have a pair of blacksmithing tongs my great great grandfather made to use on the homestead to use with the farm forge. Can see the scarf welds in the handles.

You know I’m gonna ask for a pocket dump lol great video man I love your channel

@farmhandscompanion

3 ай бұрын

Thank you, New England Swamp Yankee. I appreciate you watchin'

Wheelbarrow comes to mind, overall a nice list, and a few I should add on my farm, namely the wheel hoe!

Thanks! You just taught me that the froe is fo sho the tool I've needed.

Great list. My top 20 would also contain the fence pliers, a good hammer, a knife and Rope (Although it is not technically a tool I have found myself always needing and using rope on the farm)

@farmhandscompanion

3 ай бұрын

Agreed! Rope deserves a whole show...someday.

To compliment the tamp bar, a punch bar and a slate bar are my favorite.

You're seriously my hero. Man I wish I had the skills you had...Definitely going to be teaching my children more than my daddy taught me but, man, what would I give to spread the knowledge you had onto them.

@farmhandscompanion

2 ай бұрын

Thank you for the high compliment, Cameron. You're gonna end up givin' and teachin' your kids exactly what they need.

Billhook, great for shaping wood and hedgelaying. The slash-hook, great for clearing brambles or young blackthorn n other seedling trees sprouting for the field margins and the base of hedges

The Rockbar & Posthole digger be the devil's handmaidens........

@PatrickKQ4HBD

3 ай бұрын

At 49, I will go to great lengths to avoid the post hole digger!

Have you ever done a list of small hand tools, like awls and shears?❤️🐝🤗

A wire puller or winch is pretty handy too, 😊. Block and tackle will do tje same job i guess😊

Wow. Very useful review of old tools! Thanks a lot!

old tools are the best

I've recently put a handle on an antique rake, with the teeth made out of solid steel, not just punched out of sheet metal. Oh boy, what a difference does it make. I also got a spade, or rather a turf-cutter - very well built, and with a nice handle - we argue over who gets to work with it. I've also noticed the productivity increase from having multiples of a single type of tool - like the wheelbarrow, or several scythes. Here in Romania unfortunately we get mostly cheap and bad tools, mostly Russian, Chinese - but through facebook groups I've got a hold of better quality tools from Germany, France, UK, some even from USA. A good tool will require less sharpening, you'll work with less effort, it will be more enjoyable. If you haven't experienced it, it's hard to tell when it's worth getting the 5$ or the 15$ tool.

I like using old tools too... But consider for a moment, the power tools we have today were only figments of our old timers imaginations. And I know for a fact that my grandfather was an early adopter of just about every new tool he could get his hands on. I inherited them. 😁 So I continue that fine family tradition, but only buy the bare minimum of new tools as I need them. There is a place for making do with what you have, but now we have so many more options.

Wonderful video! I hope at some point, you'll do a demonstration of your shaving horse; I'd love to make one!

This is great! Love old tools

Doing stuff with tools, nothing better.

A wheelbarrow is in my top 3, and a variety of pitchforks from 3 tines to 8 or so is top 10. I really want a brush scythe for my blackberries with a garnish of poison ivy. Maybe I just need a shovel and a yard goat. 😊

I do believe the most used tool on my homestead is patience and persistence. And a fella on KZread what knows things.

An old wheel barrow frame and shovel head are easy to turn into push plow if you have grinder and welder

@farmhandscompanion

3 ай бұрын

That sounds like a great idea, Bryan

Got all of them and more. Great vid!

Thanks,I like old tools

Merci from Montreal Canada

Screwdrivers (debatable), pliers, hammers, chain and farm jack. I'm tempted to add a wire tensioner, which is really useful for fences but not entirely necessary. Keep up your excellent work!

Here in Vt, your cotton fork was an insilage fork. Used to handle corn or grass silage

My skills and resources are meager 😂 increasing all the time though, and now will be loading my car up around yard sale season!

This is a great list. Thank you so much for the wonderful content. If you have to move something really heavy being one person, a farmjack is really useful too. The combination of the block and tackle, farmjack and a mechanical winch can solve a great many things on the homestead, if you do not have access to heavy equipment. Cheers!

Thanks for sharing this with us Pa Mac. It does take lots of tools to get the work done around the farm and with a few hand tool you can come up with some of the needed tools by making them yourself. Stay safe and keep up the good videos . Fred.

Subbed because tools are cool.👍👍🇺🇸

Thank you for that video, i love to see what everyone that uses the old tools use the most i use them you said and so much more cant get enough of them i just got into sewing with the old sewing machines and now ive got 9 in the house lol and was gave a cobber anvil and so ive got to try my hand at repairing my boots myself keep up the great videos and god bless you

Good morning great video . Im been collecting my hand in yard tools now for over 40 years some of them were my grandfather's some of them were my dad's some remind and some I buy through like flea markets and auctions. Your tool collection reminds me of my grandfather's collection. Well if you have a blessed weekend now thank you for pointing out this video

Does anyone appreciate the shtick going on with the buckets and rakes and stuff? Hilarious.👏👏👏

Such a humble guy and channel. Love it.

Good one

That's hilarious; I've ALWAYS wanted to try using a gas powered leaf blower as an outboard motor. 😅

@PatrickKQ4HBD

3 ай бұрын

There's a hilarious short of a kid powering his tree swing in a giant circle with a leaf blower. 😂

Pitchfork!!

Great episode, appreciate the hard work you’re doing to provide awesome content!

Some people call your "one man" cross cut saw a "one and a half man saw", which makes sense to me since the secondary handle is movable for a second person. A one man saw wouldn't be concerned with anyone else.

21 Toolshed... and organisational skills

Very nice video

just love old tools like you

Great video. Very well explained. We just might have to go back to using things like this. Even if we don't need to use these types of tools, it's still good to know how, "JUST IN CASE". Now, if I can just figure out what powers those tools, I might be able to use them. 🤪 From an old man in the Southeast. .

I would add a Mallet, Hammer etc.

Thank you for this video and sharing your wisdom!

I’ve always heard the tamping bars called California bars. I’ve heard that’s how they separate the men from the boys out there.

Great list. There are a few tools I need to pick up.

Great video, thank you for making these.

The only thing I thing you missed was a good curved pruning saw or pole saw and broad fork

Would love to see what’s in your pockets! And maybe favorite knife?

Nice list, thanks! As a tool nerd, I appreciate May I suggest you sharpen your drawknife? 😁 + 1 subscriber

Love it!

Corn sheller

You can never have too many buckets.

Great list. Obviously one's personal list will vary according to their needs, so I'll just say " Other very handy tools: cart, hammer, knife, whetstone, gloves, broad billed hat, hammer, pliers, pruning shears, pole saw, file, vise, anvil, and a crow bar." I don't know if it's a recent invention or not, but I love my scuffle hoe!

You forgot to mention the cement mixer lol

Yo!! This video is funny as hell, PLEASE tell me yall see it👋🤣

Maybe fence plires

Fencing pliers

The wood mallet...did you make it?

@farmhandscompanion

2 ай бұрын

Sure did! kzread.info/dash/bejne/ZXeEuJWmhJy8qbw.html

I was watching the countdown thinking where if the file. Very last thing you show is a file. Use a file sharpen your tools and you will use half the effort.

No one should be the barn 😊😮

Wheel barrel, cart.

where to buy these tools?

Have you ever itemized all the tools you have?

Did I miss the hammer, mallet , sledge?

@farmhandscompanion

3 ай бұрын

Numbers 21, 22, and 23. Ran out of time.

HOLY MOLY HE TALKS!

Best tools for a homestead are people plants and animals.

Where is the best place to acquire these tools at a fair price?

@farmhandscompanion

2 ай бұрын

For me, it's auctions

@amherstwraith3552

2 ай бұрын

@@farmhandscompanion thank you

Axe

Hammer? Sledge? Maul? Or are you going to use a rock?

@farmhandscompanion

2 ай бұрын

That was my plan...and why the hammer was #21 on my list.

Missed hammers and mallets...

@farmhandscompanion

3 ай бұрын

They're numbers 21 and 22. Had to stop somewhere.

@eodhowland

3 ай бұрын

@farmhandscompanion My friends know that I love and collect vintage tools so they send me pictures of old tools. I could not cut my list down to just 20, even combining the bit/brace and augers.

@farmhandscompanion

3 ай бұрын

@@eodhowland I understand, eodhowland. Believe me. Thank you for watchin' and commentin'

2 extra tools you need A hammer A knife

"In this the millennial last days you will beat your swords into ploughshares & your spears into pruning hooks. " If your smart. Isaiah. "The meek hunter gathers & homesteaders shall inherit the earth." Jesus After the new moon pulls Noah's tidal deluges out & around the planet SE to NW every 40 years for a millennium. First one in 2033. New Commandment Covenant to unite & warn us all about this the millennium of climate change end times due to the precession of the Sun's shadow millennial equinoxes. Jesus did say all would be revealed and he would write the truth about the crossing of the Sun's magnetic equator on your heart. Your heart & brain are like the earth's double torus magnetosphere & the Sun's OOrt cloud magnetosphere is a glory & the Galaxies Fermie cells are another kind of magnetosphere glory. It's not you. It's not CO2. It is the earth's orbits crossing the ecliptic of the Sun's double torus OOrt cloud magnetosphere for the next millennium. These are just the birthing pains of this the millennium of climate change end times. Mystery of the 7 star crossings Jesus held in his hand is Obliquity in the Galactic Milanovitch climate cycles. The truth shall set humanity free from the pharaohs/pharisees. Come to Jesus as time is short & your worm never dies.