Farm Hacks: Improvise With Existing Tools to Make Repairs in a Pinch

Rapid and Right-Angle Screw Driver

Do you lack the tool to remove screws in an inaccessible location? Do you need to make quick work of removing stubborn screws without stripping out their heads (when using an electric drill)? The solution here is to use a ¼-inch socket to hold a hex-end driver bit. You’ll need to employ the socket reducer in your set to pair that small a socket to your ratchet. In use, press down on the ratchet head with your hand to provide sure contact with the screw head.

Ready Soldering Clamp

Some fine wire connections require soldering to provide a solid connection. The frustration with this chore is holding the two ends of the wire together and upright while, at the same time, applying a soldering iron and solder wire. Create a make-do soldering hemostat with a pair of needle-nose pliers and a rubber band as shown above. You could use a locking needle-nose pliers, but the locking mechanism can crush the wire coating, which would create a potential short.

Ready Wrench Extension

Are you in need of extra reach to remove a bolt or nut hiding in a hard-to-reach location but you lack an extra-long boxed end wrench or ratchet wrench handle for the job?

A quick solution is to combine two wrenches to create a tool extension. The trick here is to loop the boxed end of the first wrench through the open end of the second tool so they “lock” together. This tool trick has the extra benefit of giving you more leverage to remove stubborn fasteners.

 

Pipe Wrench to the Rescue

Rounded-off nuts or bolt heads can prove a huge challenge to remove even with the use of a locking pliers, which can spin round the nut when extra leverage is applied.
The quick-fix solution is a pipe wrench. Not only are the teeth on a pipe wrench more aggressive than a locking wrench (thus biting deeper into the nut or bolt head) but also the locking action of the bottom jaw forces those teeth into the fastener for a sure hold. An added plus is that the pipe wrench handle is longer to provide more leverage.

source: successful farming

Tire Tool Innovations from Chicago Pneumatic, Ken-Tool, and Craftsman

Chicago Pneumatic Bottle Jack

Chicago Pneumatic’s bottle jacks are engineered with a double-guidance and chrome-plated steel piston made from one piece of metal. Other features include a large base plate, a safety valve to protect against overloading, and a two-piece handle. Model capacities range from 2 tons and a lift extension of 13½ inches (model 81020) up to 55 short tons and a lift extension of 19 inches (model 81502).

Ken-Tool Snap-In Tire Valve Tool

The Ken-Tool model 29850 is specifically engineered for the installation of the snap-in type of rubber tire valve stems used in automotive, light truck, and trailer wheels. The unique tool features a notched polymer rim guard with five fulcrum notches that provide you with the right leverage points to pull and seat a snap-in tire valve in the wheel. Plus, the Tire Valve Installation tool has a full pivoting head to ensure the correct stem angle as the stem is pulled into position on the rim.
The tool retails for $32.99, which includes a lifetime warranty.

Ken-Tool Sidewinder Kit

Ken-Tool’s 17.5 Sidewinder Kit is designed to allow a single person to dismount and mount 17½-inch truck tires. Tools in the kit include the demount tool that lets you apply high leverage to the wheel and tire to separate them, as your weight keeps the wheel and tire assembly from lifting off the ground. The mount and bead holder tools provide maximum leverage and prevent slippage. Included in the kit are a leather rim protector and gap tool.
The kit retails for $349.95

Impact Wrench Designed for Tires

The CP7736 ½-inch impact wrench delivers up to 670 foot-pounds of torque in reverse through its 2-inch anvil to break and then remove tire lugs. Chicago Pneumatic equipped the wrench with a twin hammer mechanism to provide more impacts per minute in addition to a steel motor for longevity.
Other features include three-speed settings in forward operation.
 The list price for the CP7736 is $196.

 

One Wrench Set for All Fasteners

The design of Craftsman’s Extreme Grip five-piece wrench set features movable jaws that create a solid fit on standard, metric, and rounded fasteners.
The suggested list price on the set is $59.99, which includes a lifetime warranty.

Busts Duals Apart

The Ken-Tool Shark Fin separation bag exerts up to 5,000 pounds of force to separate and to remove stuck dual wheels from axle studs and hubs.
Safe to use on steel, aluminum, or chrome wheels and with 15- to 24.5-inch rim diameters, the Shark Fin comes with a 3-foot inflation hose.
Suggested retail price is $499.95.

Tool Set for Truck Tires

Ken-Tool’s deluxe version of the Blue Cobra truck tire service set features all the items shown including the Blue Cobra demount tool that can demount the top and bottom beads on truck tires in seconds. The model 35444 tool set is safe for use on aluminum and chrome wheels.
Suggested retail price is $693.82.

Kano to invest N200m to boost rice production

• Seeks to achieve over 2 million tons in 2017
• Increases loan packages for rice farmers
• Concludes plan to employ more extension workers

The Kano State Government has designated over N200 million in the recently approved 2017 budget to boost rice farming in the state.

This was disclosed by the state’s Commissioner of Information, Mohammed Garba, informing that this was part of the state government’s efforts to increase rice production in the state, generally improve the state’s agricultural sector and complement the Federal Government’s efforts to reduce over dependence on crude oil.

According to him, “rice and wheat farmers were given N150 million loan in 2016 to boost production in the sector, while in 2017 we are planning to increase the loan. All necessary measures will be taken to ensure that the ordinary farmers in the state benefit more from the gesture”.

Speaking further on the efforts of the state government in rice production, Garba noted the success of rice production the state enjoyed in 2016, stating that Kano mustered over 1.5 million tons of rice in the year.

The Commissioner communicated the state’s resolve to increase the production figures in rice to over 2 million tonnes in 2017. He also explained that to this end, the state had concluded plans to employ more agricultural extension workers to assist farmers across the state, with the overarching aim of improving and increasing rice production.

“These extension workers would be going round the farming areas to assist the farmers on how to ensure proper production of rice and wheat,” Garba said.

It could be recalled that Kano produced 1.6m tons of rice in 2016, that the state governor, Abdullahi Ganduje during an interactive session with farmers had revealed that the state produced 1,551,720 tons of rice in 2016, while wheat production experienced a swell increase by 84 per cent. The session included intimating farmers on loan recovery scheme of commercial triumvirate which included the Central Bank of Nigeria, Bank of Agriculture and the Anchor-Borrowers Programme.

Rwanda bans import of poultry products amid Bird Flu concerns

The Government of Rwanda has imposed temporary ban on all imported poultry products from Uganda and European countries due to outbreak of Avian Influenza (bird flu).

In a statement released by the country’s Ministry of Agriculture and Animal Resources, the Minister, Geraldine Mukeshimana informed all Rwandan business operators involved in the importation of poultry products from Uganda and Europe to stop imports

“We call upon all Rwandan business operators importing all poultry products from Uganda and Europe to cease with immediate effect. The disease is of great concern to our poultry industry and to humans,’’ said Geraldine.

Expressing the the need for quarantine efforts to be heightened has become increasingly necessary, Mukeshimana stated that poultry farmers must keep domestic birds indoors to avoid them interacting with wild birds.  He also added that people must stay away from carcass of wild birds and report any case of mass deaths of birds both domestic and wild to any nearest government authority.

The Minister also stressed the need for poultry farmers to ensure essential bio-security measures and standard hygiene precautions as well as early detection, immediate reporting and rapid response.

Meanwhile, Uganda has also confirmed the outbreak of the flu in wild terns – seabirds, and domestic birds which has led to mass deaths of wild birds on the shores of Lake Victoria in the country. This was confirmed in a statement released by the Ugandan Ministry of agriculture.

“The species so far hit by the Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza, or HPAI, are migratory white-winged black terns as well as domestic ducks and chickens’’, it reads.

The outbreak of the flu has also been reported in countries across Europe, including Hungry, Germany, France, Denmark, Czech Republic, Croatia, Romania and the United Kingdom.

FG targets 1 million metric tons of fertilizer by March

Federal government is to provide one million metric tons of fertilizers for wet-season farmers across the country by March this year, the National President of the Fertilizer Suppliers and Producers Association of Nigeria (FESPAN), Thomas Etuh has said.

Speaking to Daily Trust in Kano, Etuh, who is also member of the Presidential Committee on Fertilizer Initiative, said a bag of both NPK and urea fertilizer would be sold to farmers at N5,500.

Etuh explained that members of the committee were in Kano state as part of their assessment tour to the 36 fertilizer companies in the country.

“The aim of the initiative is to encourage local production of fertilizer in order to create more job opportunities for Nigerians, induce reduction of inflation and reduce foreign exchange. We have 63 per cent of the raw materials needed for fertilizer production. We are to import only 37 per cent to our local producers,” he said.

He said the FG has promised to provide enough raw materials to the local producers, saying “we are touring the 36 fertilizer companies in the country to find out the companies that are fit to produce fertilizer for our farmers.”

A representative of Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA), one of the financier companies, Uche Orji, said he was impressed by the commitment of Al-Yum Fertilizer and Chemicals (A F & C) formerly NAGARI fertilizer.

The Chairman, A F & C fertilizer, Aliyu Yusuf assured federal government of quality fertilizer, saying NAGARI is a well-known product all over the country.

Yusuf said the company will comply with federal government’s directives, stressing that “going by the federal government’s plans on fertilizer production, the problem of shortage of fertilizer would be thing of the past in the country.”

He warned workers in the company not to involve in any act capable of destroying the name of the company, as according to him the management of A F & C would not hesitate to punish any worker caught in making substandard fertilizer in the company.

“We will work closely with the federal government to address the problems associated with provision of fertilizer in the country. The FG has come up with good plans and we are ready to support government so that enough fertilizer would be supplied to our farmers in all farming seasons,” he assured.