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Homestead Supply (Sellers) List
I am looking for a list of homestead supply places. I know we have some scattered here & there on the forum, but nothing in one place that I can find. Please list: Company name & Country Link A summary of what they offer (tools, toys, books, food, other, equipment for livestock...bees, dairy, etc.). If it's a bit of…
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Tomato Cages and Supply Chains
The latest victim of ongoing supply chain disruptions appears to be tomato cages. I have been trying to get more since early June, without success. I have shopped at several local stores without finding them. In some cases, such as Walmart, the online web site claims that my local store has them, but local staff tell me…
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Older really can be better
It's hard to improve on the original 1949 Sunbeam toaster design. My toaster is a cheap yard sale model, not the Sunbeam, but it has worked for years and will probably outlive the modern toasters being sold today.
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MANUAL small kitchen appliances list
I want this list to be one of manual replacements for electric small kitchen machines, such as flour mills, oil presses, oats flakers and such, with links whenever possible. This list is not for yard tools nor large kitchen appliances (stoves, fridges, etc.). I'm not sure how large appliances could be manual anyway aside…
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8 Types of Hammers - Do you know them all?
OK, so I just like the posts that Grainger puts out. I saw this on one hammers. Yup, hammers. Who would have thought there were so many different kinds? LOL There were a few I hadn't seen or used much of before. I've copied some of the article here and the link to the full post is blow.
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Creative Farming Tools That Work Well video
Super interesting YT video with all kinds of unique farm tools. From China I think? Doesn't matter - farming is like math - a universal language.
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Butter Churn or Clothes Washer?
I was watching this video and wondered how well this might work on clothes. If course you would not want to make butter & wash clothes in the same one and certainly not a the same time. Haha Here's a crude diy butter churn. I'm looking for an idea how to do LOTS of cream at a time. One cow is now "past due" and the other…
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Alternative heating ideas being made into a movie by Paul Wheaton
Not sure if this is allowed. If not Admins please remove. Paul Wheat of Permies.com is planning a new movie including lots of information on building and heating with Rocket Mass Heaters. There may also be information on cooking with the Rocket Mass Stove included. Even a Rocket Mass assisted solar dehydrator looks like it…
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Computer Recovery Tutorial
I couldn't think of a good place to post this, but since we all use our computers to access information, and since a computer is a tool that has several bits of hardware, here you go. I just replaced my laptop because it didn't start properly and I am afraid of losing years of work and downloads on it. (Typing this from…
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Bicycle Conversions
I am considering adding a small motor to my mountain bike to help me on the uphill. Has anyone done this before? What are the pros and cons of gas vs electric? Are the motors easy to install? Any recommendations as to companies or brand names?
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Custom Scythe company
We have been looking at this this evening. We have an old one in excellent shape, and wanted to know if some were still being made. Here is the answer to that question! This site has all sorts of sizes and scythes for different uses, cutting your lawn, etc., etc. If you want a "tiny" one (not sure how useful it is), they…
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Uses for old cooking oil
Wasn't sure where to put this, but since tools come up several times, maybe here....This seems like a good summary of uses for oil that's too old for cooking. Some I knew about some I didn't. I would add at least one more: when you are stuffing empty toilet paper tubes with dryer lint to make fire starters, soak the lint…
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Grow Lights...What do you use?
What brand of grow lights does everyone use? I want to know! 1. Brand & size 2. Pros 3. Cons 4. Price range for your chosen light. Is it low end, mid range, or high end? 5. Any other tips to consider when choosing a grow light? Thanks!
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How do you sharpen a can opener?
I have several can openers that are perfectly functional, except that they are too dull to use. I don't want to throw them out. But the little circular blade that does the cutting is not a shape that I could easily put on a whetstone. Does anyone have suggestions or a tutorial?
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A Winter Driving Tip
As a non-driver I'd like to share this winter driving tip. Honestly, I'm not even a good passenger in bad weather, so I like all my driving friends to know all the tricks to getting where we are going safely.
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Well water filter suggestions for the US
We've moved into our new homestead and have a well now. The water is tested and we are able to drink it. But we want to get some filters and I wondered if there is a certain brand for here in the United States, South Carolina specifically, that anyone could recommend? I intent to get a sediment filter and I'd love to get a…
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Its Baby Chain Saw time
I got tired of waiting for someone to cut my brush or trees a few years back and the cost of a tree trimmer is quite high so I learned to run a baby chain saw - one with an electric cord. I feel it's some what safer and its smaller so I don't tackle the really big trees. I tend to live on the edge and think I am wonder…
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Electric Vehicle and off grid living
Teri (Homestead Honey blog) has an interesting post about her experiences combining an EV lease with off grid living.
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Looking for Advice for Mobile Tumbler Composter
Just asking anyone out there that has experience with mobile tumbler composters. Where did you purchase it from? Which one have you found works best? What is price range that you can expect to get a decent one? Thanks for advice!
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Handy New Garden Tool
I visited a garden centre on the Sunshine Coast in Queensland last week and came across a handy tool that I just had to have. A 5in1 garden trowel. Thought it would come in handy, especially for planting seedlings. It has a fork on the end for weeding, a serrated edge for cutting through roots, measurements up one side for…
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Is a weed eating head supposed to turn both directions easily - clockwise and counter clockwise?
I took apart my weed eater/trimmer because it stopped after a few second. There was grass wound around the shaft which I removed. It doesn't turn both directions easily, so I was wondering if it was supposed to. Anybody know?
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What is this?
Does anyone know what this is?!
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Mower Tires
THE PROBLEM - Our riding mower tires keep going flat from thorns. SOLUTIONS - See below. Please add your two cents before I go broke buying tires. My husband bought two new front tires for the mower last year. In March of this year, he had to buy two more because the ones from last year were already torn up from thorns. He…
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Electric log splitter, any thoughts or advice
I’m in the market for an electric log splitter, somewhere around the 7-10 tonne capability, easy to use and will last. I’m more familiar with a petrol driven 30 tonne model but don’t need something that big and want to house it in my woodshed, where I have power connected.( so no petrol fumes) So I can split wood, no…
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Looking for the best generator for our needs.
Please share what you use on your place. We are looking to purchase a generator. We have a co-op electric company, we know what to do when the power is out. We have been without power for 7+ days at a time the winter. We never had the $ to purchase one before now. We are looking at something that will do basic not a whole…
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Ingenuity at its' best - A doodlebug tractor
I know someone who has one, would love to try it. Where there's a will, there's a way.
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Fixing a Have a Heart trap
My one Have a Heart trap is broken. I would like to fix it. I do not have the proper terminology for the parts but I promise not to use do hickey and thing-a-mabob. (this is my go to terminology) The part of the trap that is triggered by weight and held up by a metal hook has rusted by the holes where the metal attaches.…
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Fire wood cracker
I find myself blessed with much fire wood. Problem is my husband cut it all in chunks he could handle, but I can't. Since his death I have been struggling with this. I tried using the splitting maul but it is way too heavy for me to lift or to use with any accuracy. I have managed a few splits with it but I believe the…
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Favorite gardening tool
Piggybacking of the favorite kitchen gadgets thread, what is your favorite gardening tool? Big or small, bought or homemade, it all counts! I like dibblers. First of all, it is fun to say, second of all, it is fun to poke holes in the potting soil. 😄
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DIY propagating tool
You can buy trees and shrub propagating balls for quite a price. They range anywhere from $12 to over $20. But making your own you can save a lot of to buy seeds and plants with . The $1 for two clear christmas ornaments can easily be adapted to fit on a branch and secure. Theses plastic balls already separate. Drill two…
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non-electric well pump
I chimed in on the shelter in place thread that we are pretty good in terms of food, shelter and warmth. Our Achilles heel is water. We are on a deep well and it's good water, but without electricity, we have no well pump. Truth be told, we don't even know precisely where the well is. A contractor needed to know and it…