Cost of Replacing Farm Tools.

[Shammy Davis]

Last weekend I went to the local hardware store to replace a broken manual handheld hay fork. Guess what a new hay fork cost? $65.00! There wasn't a new tool on the hardware rack under $25.00 and that was a soft rake. I did some cost comparisons and the larger hardware outlets like Home Depot and Lowe's were slightly cheaper but not much. They at least have a wider range of quality. Stores like Wal-mart and K-mart sell junk for garden and lawn work, none of that stuff works for heavier work loads around paddocks and barns.

What is going here? Not many folks I know can afford these prices. I went back home with the fork and welded the tine shafts and replaced the handle for $9.00. Welds don't normally last long on hand tools, but I figured I'd keep welding until the metal just breaks down and won't bond. My wife has nicknamed me "squirrel" because we've got a scrape metal pile in the back where I've tossed damaged tools and implements to take to the salvage yard. I'm revisiting their possible usefulness cleaned of rust and sharpened with new handles.

Recently on a TV ad, I saw that JC Penny's CEO is re-valuing their merchandize to better reflect the true value of products. This just makes sense. No way is a manual post holder digger worth $75.00 or a hard rake worth $35.00. Everything is on sale today or its two or three for the price of one or 0% financing which as we all know is cr@p. We all know that profits are being made. There is nothing wrong with making a profit, but I think these ads are insulting.

Recently a holistic farmer in PA was prevented from selling his farm diary goods across state lines by the FDA. He had been in business for years, but newer regulations are being enforced. His primary market was in another state. So what did he do? He retired and closed up shop. We're seeing a lot of "getting out" messages across the ag industry. Even on this board. Who can blame them?

I've noticed that the prices on horses is all over the place. Some advertised for free and some offered at high prices that clearly don't reflect market supply and demand. It is almost impossible to make sense of this stuff.

I guess there is a benefit for racing as the owners and trainers of currently running horses are keeping them in training for extra years.

[Lisann]

Gosh! I haven't priced hay forks recently (don't use them), but we just bought a metal grain scoop shovel and the price was reasonable - I think $25, tho' we did have a coupon for $10 off

I hear you on the sales and such, but a lot of people want to believe they're getting a "deal"

Glad you were able to mend your hay fork - I think today's society is more of a buy a new one than repair the old one mentality.

[madelyn]

Isn't it just AWFUL?? I had two Really Good five tine pitchforks and an employee left one out in a field to get ruined, so I am down to one. While we are on this topic I have found that the only really good plastic fork you can get any kind of life out is the Future Fork. I generally only buy the heads and then I rig leftover handles to work. Similarly the only plastic bucket for water, etc., that doesn't break, bend, turn into a slit with a metal handle, etc., is the Duraflex. All of that Fortiflex stuff is for people who just love to replace everything all the time.

[Shammy Davis]

I did recently invest in a very nice metal mucking fork with a fiber glass handle for $27.00. You are right the plastic forks are just a waste of money.

Muck buckets are another issue. I've finally gone to purchasing the 55 gallon plastic drums and cutting them in half. I use salvaged cotton rope to make the handles and they've stood up to me backing the tractor into them on multiple occasions. Hit one of the retail plastic buckets they sell at the feed stores and that's the end of the bucket period.

Did you see my posts on "slow hay feeding?" I'm experimenting with commerical nylon fish nets on round bales. Good hay, with high price of fuel we are seeing, is going to be expensive over the next few years. I'll post the results. Right now, without the netting, I'm getting 4 days, 14 hrs/perday with 2 horses p/paddock from a 4X4 bale but I've had to cut back from three feedings a day to two to balance the budget. Weight maintenance has been good and I've been in luck with the mild winter. I'm thinking I can get 6 or 7 days with the nets.

Also the slower eating will reduce the "poop" production. The compost piles are getting out of hand and Tylenol is not relieving my back and shoulder pain.

[Bast]

I spent $50 on a dozen tine fork about 20 years ago, and I still have it, even though I'm no longer cleaning stalls with it. It's great for yard work.

Tylenol is next to useless, and it does your liver no good. Try ibuprofen.

[Shammy Davis]

Bast, you are making my "bitching" about $65 for a hay fork look ridiculous, when you paid $50 for one 20 years ago.

To be honest, none of the over the counter meds work. If I took anything stronger, I'd be asleep all day.

[oleos93]

My son mucks stalls for me and wants to be a welder. He has designed in his head a metal standard mucking fork for a stall with shavings that is mush easier to use and less expensive to replace. He is sick of the plastic ones breaking and I am sick of buying new ones.


I will let ya's know when it is on the market...lol

[Shammy Davis]

Sounds great. Hope there is a big discount in exchange for helpful info.

What's the update on your filly's tooth?

[oleos93]

You know it. No better way to sell your product then word of mouth...lol

I could not find her a ride there. I talked to my vet again today and I was wrong in what I had wrote earlier....it was her wolf tooth that he damaged but she does have a crooked back molar, it just is not the one causing the infection.

I am so upset I could not get her down there. Not to many people here ready to help out. It is 8 hrs from us and had people offering to do it for $1500-$2500...because they knew it was an emergency....I could fly the school here for less then that. This is what I dislike about some horse people.

I am looking for someone now that has some good knowledge that can come to me. She is eating so not to worried unless she goes off food again.

[Shammy Davis]

Don't think you should be to worried about the molar. If it is not causing any problems and even if it is slightly crooked, it is a "cap." The erupting permanent molar is probably fine. If your filly is grinding ok and has lateral excursion with good occlusion, it will likely work itself out.

My suggestion about getting a competent equine specialist is to either go back to the ID school and ask for the names of equine dental specialist in your area who do "corrective work" or call the nearest Veterinary School and ask them for a reference.

I'll do a search for you also and see if I can come up with something. Any experienced equine dentist should be able to work on the wolf tooth. If it was broken off, its going to continue to be problematic until it is removed.

Sorry things didn't work out as you had hoped.

[Diane]

The price of diesel is going to affect everything. It was $4.69 gal the other day and suspected to be at $5 by May-June.

[Shammy Davis]

Diane: With diesel going up, expect feed and hay to start beginning a rapid rise. In VA, we're close to $4.00, but I'm sure not for long.

Oleos93: Go to your Infected Tooth thread.