All I Need

I am convinced that if I had nothing else I could accomplish most tasks on the farm armed with only these six items: a pocket knife, a bag of 8” cable ties, WD40, needle-nose pliers, a medium sized crescent wrench and duct tape.

Pocketknife: What a gift from God. You can slice a freshly picked apple, tighten a screw, open feed bags, cut bailing twine, scrape corrosive crap off battery terminals, gut out a deer, and when you’re done after a long hard day on the farm, sit under the big maple tree by the house and whittle. A good pocketknife is priceless.

Cable ties: These handy things come in a variety of sizes and thicknesses. I’ve tried many of them but continue to stock the 8-inch variety as my mainstay. They will fasten just about anything and are almost indestructible if you use enough of them. I’ve used them to attach livestock panels to T-posts, hang grain feeders, secure waterers, and to hold a funnel steady while filling the tractor with hydraulic fluid. They can become brittle in the cold, but in the summertime they work even better than duct tape. How many things can you say that about?

WD40: I use WD40 as aromatherapy. It has to be the real WD40 and not some generic rip-off. It simply smells awesome. I believe women would be wise to douse themselves in the stuff rather than perfume. Most guys can’t resist its power. The smell takes us back to days gone by… coating the chain on our dirt bikes before a long summer day’s ride.

I have a mini-can in every vehicle. I have multiple full-sized cans in every building. I’ve used it to lubricate everything from a frozen tractor blade to the receiver hitch on my truck. I’ve used it on a car battery that had a bad connection and wouldn’t start. I have a friend that swears the stuff will cure pink eye. One of the coolest uses is that it makes an awesome blowtorch when sprayed over an open flame. And of course, it works great on rusty nuts. There aren’t many things as frustrating as rusty nuts.

Needle-nosed pliers: I have found that regular pliers work better than needle-nose in most situations. But there are times when the needle-nose variety is the only type that will work in a tight spot. And although they can make the job a little clumsier, they will do almost anything that the regular one will. I have a pair in the tractor toolbox and use the bare handles to bypass the cellanoid whenever I start the old Ford. I’ve used them to scrape things, bend things, and hold small nails when hammering. They’re awesome.

Crescent wrench: Beyond the obvious tightening and loosening tasks this tool can accomplish, I’ve found a crescent wrench works well in other applications as well. I have frequently used it as a hammer to bang on the tractor starter or carburetor depending on which item is causing grief on a given day. I’ve used the hole in the handle to grab and/or yank out a variety of things in demolition projects. It can be used as a small vise when needed. And the handle can make a dandy pry bar in certain situations.

Duct tape: I could write, and others have already written, a book on the various uses of duct tape. On the farm it can hold panels, wires, and tarps together. It can patch a hose. It will work as a band-aid when you’re working on a fence and are far from the medicine cabinet. It can hold the hood of a truck down. I’ve strapped plastic tubes to goat horns with it when the goat in question had a habit of getting their head stuck in the hay feeder. You can winterize the Milkhouse with it. And I have wrapped countless pairs of shoes with the stuff when the shoes seemed like they still had some work left in them. And you can even patch your truck upholstery with it.

I’m not suggesting that you should simply get by with just these six items. Far from it. In fact buying the right tool for the job at hand is good for mental health. Having a growing tool collection is a status symbol. Building the collection should be done with diligence, creativity and careful consideration. And if your wife is anything like mine, it should also be done with a fair amount of stealth.

That said however, I try to make sure that my toolbox is always stocked with these six items. They have been just the right things for the job countless times.

Merry Christmas! Hope you found some of these in your stocking this morning like I did.