What is your favorite "unusual" tool?

RustBeltCowgirl

Mine is the extra wheelchair. It sits in the utility room with the recycle newspaper/magazine box on it. It is often used to bring the load of groceries into the house, move the bag of used kitty litter to the garbage can. Anything too bulky or awkward to carry (within reason) will get moved using it.

What's yours?

Tave

When I had recently moved to South America, I wasn't able to get a lot in my suitcases. I quickly found out that I missed my funnels, so I cut the top off of a plastic 2-liter bottle about 5 inches down. It worked so well that I did the same thing with a larger and smaller bottle. I now have 3 sizes of funnels that are perfect for just about anything.

Lisa K

I use old knives as a spade for small buckets and I have an antique napkin holder that I use to sort my mail.

shllnzl

I had a teaspoon drop unseen into my garbage disposal and ended up with a serrated spoon lip. I now use it as a small shovel when working with seedlings.

Lisa K

@shllnzl I did the same thing.

Merin Porter

I'm not sure how unusual this is, but I use those 2-gallon paint buckets from Home Depot to keep my hens from laying in random corners in the coop. I just turn the bucket upside down and set them in non-nestbox places where I've found eggs. I also turn them upside down and use them as supports for hanging chicken feeders, and (of course) use them to carry water from the frost-free to the coop in winter. We've got heated waterers that have an electrical cord that's kind of hard to plug in properly (if you don't get it just right, the power will short), and I prefer not to unplug them unless it's absolutely necessary. With the 2-gallon buckets, I can just make a few trips with two of them at a time to refill the waterers without having to unplug them.

JodieDownUnder

@RustBeltCowgirl the good old hacksaw blade comes in handy. When it’s time to replace the blade in your hacksaw, keep the old one. I’ve used them to scrape down a horse, after hosing with water. They are also useful grooming tools on any animal you want to get hair out of. Also if you snap one in half and sharpen one end/side you’ve got a handy knife to put in all manner of places, comes in handy and very cheap.

RustBeltCowgirl

https://community.thegrownetwork.com/discussion/comment/892570#Comment_892570

Been there, done that. Will be doing again shortly. The "boy" is starting to shed.

Monek Marie

I use a plant hanger, the metal 4 or 5 foot ones with a hook on the end to grab things and pull them. Works great for getting hay bales and buckets just out of reach. I keep one in the car to use to get stuff out of dumpters. I call it my hooker and my hooker is usually in the car with me.

seeker.nancy - Central Texas

I have some clothes baskets from Dollar Tree that I use for picking greens; they are light weight and can hold a lot of greens without crushing them. It's also great if whatever I harvest needs washing before bringing inside. I can hose it down good then let it sit outside a short bit until it stops dripping (mostly).

Monek Marie

I use an old sheet or a tarp to put leaves, weeds or branches on to pull to a compost pile or burn pile

Old sheets have so many uses from covering something, using for frost protection or cleaning up clutter in a yard if you don't have or want to start up a mower and wagon

shllnzl

https://community.thegrownetwork.com/discussion/comment/892554#Comment_892554

It also works great to dig up weeds.

gardneto76

I have some mesh wire baskets I picked up at the Dollar Tree that I place upside down over new plants of seedlings to protect from the birds. It works so great I have left many of them in place over my greens to stop my chickens from raiding the garden when I am not looking.

stephen.1

I got tired of those aluminum watering wands breaking the tube off at the handle so I made my own out of PVC tubing & fittings with a shutoff valve at the top and a garden hose fitting on the bottom to screw on the diffuser head from the broken aluminum one. A slight bit heavier, but still going great for 3 years and more.

Lisa K

I also love rebar, I use it to support trellises, to hold mesh for temporary fences and as poles for plants to climb up.

Torey

Welcome to TGN's forum @stephen.1 Great tip!

When you get a chance be sure to check out a couple of our other discussions. "Our Front Porch Welcome" at: https://community.thegrownetwork.com/categories/our-front-porch-welcome%21-%28please-read-before-posting%29

And our "Introductions" where you can let us know what region you are from, at: https://community.thegrownetwork.com/categories/introductions

Voodoo Flóra

@RustBeltCowgirl this is the "CD of silence" I hung in a dogwood tree over the strawberry patch. Any bird that jumped onto the tree aiming to swoop down for a strawberry and seeing their image flash in the CD would fly off thinking it a competitor / possible predator. Anyhow it was enough of a noteworthy image most of the birds must have seen, as it startled away most of the birds and worked great I thought given my observations esp. at first. Then, I do think at least some of the birds habituated to it. However, this gave time for the strawberry patch to become mature. Eventually, I took the CD down, but it was a great beat while it lasted and certainly a fine reuse for old hard-to-recycle stuff.

Voodoo Flóra

@Merin Porter you inspired me to start my "chicken coop file" today and yours is the first piece of information I'm putting in it thanks!

Monek Marie

I have a new tool

I had to move bags of feed today and was not looking forward to it. The mower needs gas so it was move it myself or get creative. I saw a luggage carrier my brother had given me that I have not used on the porch. It was perfect. I put the rack down, extended the handle and used the bungie straps to hold a bag in place.

I moved it one hundred feet with no effort or time. Another 5 bags and I was done.

My reward, an evening bonfire

RustBeltCowgirl

@Denise Grant Way to go!

JIM BULLARD

I have a "rock pick". Its made by Estwing (they're known for making hand tools (head & handle) from 1 piece of steel (no wood or fiberglass handles). So this thing is about 2 ft long & the head resembles a mattock w/a pointed end and a chisel end. It weighs about 4 lbs. I don't dig for fossils (I think that's what this thing is for), but I use this beast for everything. Prying up stuff I secured w/rebar, digging out big rocks in the ground. Anything that needs smashed, prying, or broken gets the rock pick. Its one of the few hand tools that I don't baby or worry about breaking.

RustBeltCowgirl

@JIM BULLARD Welcome to TGN. We're a fun gang.

judsoncarroll4

I have a couple of old like soviet flag style hand sickles. I use them A LOT!

Torey

Welcome aboard @JIM BULLARD!

Have you checked out "Our Front Porch Welcome" at: https://community.thegrownetwork.com/categories/our-front-porch-welcome%21-%28please-read-before-posting%29

Or the Introductions section at: https://community.thegrownetwork.com/categories/introductions