What are the most used or useful items on your farm/homestead/ranch?

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Same here.... Are you left handed?

Ben

No, but I keep my keys in my right pocket as I grab for that most often. One of the things I learned from my military training is the need to standardize how you store and carry your important items. If you become disoriented in an emergency, you need to instinctively know where your critical items are so you can retrieve them on your fist try.
 
5-gallon buckets were mentioned several times. Thought of this thread when out adding hydraulic fluid to the tractor yesterday.
Both the tractor and hyd fluid live in a pole barn. Went to get the hyd fluid and of course, the entire lid was covered in dust and other crap. Needs cleaned off before pouring out the fluid so I don't get contamination. When done with the fluid, I covered the lid with a plastic grocery bag. A perfect fit! So if you need to keep your buckets covered or clean, consider a grocery bag. ;)
 
5-gallon buckets were mentioned several times. Thought of this thread when out adding hydraulic fluid to the tractor yesterday.
Both the tractor and hyd fluid live in a pole barn. Went to get the hyd fluid and of course, the entire lid was covered in dust and other crap. Needs cleaned off before pouring out the fluid so I don't get contamination. When done with the fluid, I covered the lid with a plastic grocery bag. A perfect fit! So if you need to keep your buckets covered or clean, consider a grocery bag. ;)
@zoomzoom good idea. Cheap, easy, and effective, I like it.
 
Agreed, a most excellent idea @zoomzoom!! Thank you!

I guess we can add plastic bags to the list of essentials.
I've got about a hundred of them stuffed into a big grocery bag. If you want 'em come get 'em! 😂

My brother once told me one of the signs that you've become an adult is that somewhere in your pantry you have a grocery bag stuffed full of grocery bags.

He was right...
 
I love your list! I am drawing a blank on what a “high tunnel” is. Since it appears gardening related, you have me interested. What is a high tunnel?

Here is a picture of ours being built.
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A swamp buggy. For under a grand a person can make up a great firewood skidder, dozer, crane n such.
For me, the frame of a 1956 or so gmc 4x4 is the base. But I want to upgrade to a 1984 F-250 4x4 I have. It has power steering n brakes n automatic transmission. Take the cab n box off, pretty easy to do in a day. Then throw down a sheet of 3/4" aww plywood, seat n dash. Add on a good winch, a gin pole for the winch to lift logs n such. Pull logs in to the open or home.
I have an old western plow blade n frame. I want to mount on the front to use as a plow.
I will post a picture of my current buggy. I realized that it was a Napco upgrade on the old gmc to make into a 4x4. And worth a good penny. So now I have a old gmc 56-58 4x4 that runs n drives good for sale.
And have the money in hand to build a better swamp buggy. And a cool project to work on with my family.
Kinda never ends does it ? Work on the homestead, its all good man
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If I could have anything to make life easier it would be 50 years off my current age.
Things I can have changed over time. I bought a high-wheel hand plow with several attachments and I used it a lot. I even have a drip tape attachment to lay the tape just under the soil. I haven't used it in 2 years because I garden differently now. I bought a small tractor with a tiller and a mower. I sold it to my cousin because I only used it about 3 times a year to mow. I don't till my garden now.
I covered my garden area with a ground cloth so weeds aren't a big problem thankfully.
My zero-turn lawnmower has saved me about an hour a week in mowing time. My old rider took me about an hour every time and now 30 minutes tops.
Everyone is right about buckets. You can never have too many so I am always looking for more. I hate the buckets with plastic handles. I will pass those up because I have several with broken handles. I bought some bucket handle grips from Amazon. You remove the old white handle and snap on a larger round handle and it's way easier to carry a load.
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I’m just listing the things I use every single day and many times a day
1 a good knife
2 power equipment (atv mower saws)
3 buckets as said before you cant have to many!
4 hand tools (shovels rakes ect)
5 f250
 
Floor scrapers! Long handle, looks like a hoe with the head straight out. Killed two copperheads today. 🐍 Have them at every door inside and out, and in all the sheds!

I don’t miss snakes for sure! I would rather deal with the bears versus the snakes and the gators when we lived on the bayou. It’s a miracle that our dog survived the multiple copperhead/rattler/gator encounters he had when we lived in the south.
 
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Cinder blocks & bricks are one thing I forgot, I do not use them much, but when I do, they make thing go faster.
 
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If you're living out in the boonies, cordless power tools are indispensable. Being able to do the work where it is, instead of hauling it to a place with an outlet, saves a lot of time and effort. Around the farm, we found that the cordless Sawzall is one of the most useful things to have. From demolition to construction, cutting tree limbs to cutting metal, that thing gets used a ton...
 
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