It’s not economical on most farms to have a $10,000 Snap-on toolbox full of every size of wrench, socket, screwdriver and specialty tool. But it is economical to have a selection of tools that allow you to accomplish basic maintenance and repairs. Here are a few basic tools that can save time, reduce skinned knuckles and keep your machinery away from equipment dealership shops and their one hundred-dollar-plus per hour shop rates.
Gotta-have tools for any farm shop include a full set of metric and standard open-end/closed-end
Modern farm machinery requires a selection of both metric and standard wrenches. The finish on a wrench has no influence on its strength. Polished chrome wrenches are as strong as sand finished wrenches. Wrenches with rounded edges to their handles are more comfortable to use than wrenches with squared edges. Longer wrenches provide more leverage, but shorter wrenches fit in tighter confines.
wrenches. Most farm machinery built after 1990 uses metric fasteners, but many hydraulic fittings are still measured in fractional inches so it’s necessary to have both kinds of wrenches. Get a full set of metric wrenches from 10 millimetre through 30 mm, and a set of standard wrenches from 3/8 inch through 1 1/4 in. Polished chrome wrenches are favoured by professional mechanics because they wipe clean with a shop towel. Sand-finish wrenches cost less but tend to be “dirtier.” Finish has nothing to do with the strength of the wrench, so use price and personal pride as the deciding factor.
Economy-grade chrome and sand-finished wrenches are thicker and may not fit on nuts or bolts with shallow heads, compared to premium wrenches made of stronger steel that allows them to be thinner and lighter. Also consider comfort; the edges of handles on some wrenches are rounded, while others are tapered. Tapered edges can feel like a knife blade when you have to pull hard to loosen a fastener. Metric and standard combination wrenches range in price from $125 US to 700 US per set, depending on the name that’s stamped on the handles.
Metric and standard sockets along with a ½ in. drive ratchet wrench are base equipment for modern farms, along with a 2 foot long ½ in .drive breaker bar. But a smaller 3/8 in. drive socket set will get more use because they’re smaller, lighter and handier to use.
A 1/2-inch drive socket set in both standard and metric sizes is a necessity. Standard-size from 3/8 in. to 1-1/4 in., and metric from 10 mm to 30 mm. Be sure to get a breaker bar at least 24 inches long as well as the basic ratchet wrench. A 3/8 in. drive socket set in both standard and metric sizes is a “luxury,” but if you have both ½ in. and 3/8 in. drive socket sets on hand, you’ll use the 3/8 in. set more often because it is lighter and handier to use. You’ll eventually need the extra “oomph” provided by the ½ in. drive set, so it’s best to have the larger set if you can only afford one size. Depending on number and size of sockets, extensions and the type of ratcheting mechanism of the ratchet wrench(s), farm-worthy ½ in. socket sets sell for $150 US to $350 US.
High-quality screwdrivers with machined flat-and Phillips-tips are worth their higher price, especially when dealing with soft-headed screws
from metal with the ductility of Silly Putty. Good screwdrivers have crisp, machined tips that fit snug in slotted or Phillips-head screws. Figure on paying $20 US to $80 US for a good set of flat-blade and Phillips-tip screwdrivers, depending on what name is on the handle.
The same goes for Allen-head wrenches (aka, hex-head wrenches.) Avoid Allen wrench sets that fold out from a handle — that handle will eventually interfere with removing hex screws in tight confines. Plan on paying $20 US to $40 US each for a quality set of L-shaped Allen wrenches that includes both metric and standard sizes.
Torx-head screws are now unavoidable in farm machinery. Don’t try to cheat by using an Allen-head wrench to remove a torx-head screw; you’ll just strip t the torx-head screw and make more work for yourself. Bite the bullet; buy a quality set of either torx-head bits to fit a ratchet wrench, or a set of torx-head screwdrivers. You won’t regret it once you accept the purchase price of $30 US to $60 US.
A good 24 or 32 ounce ball peen hammer is a necessity when working on farm equipment. Claw-type carpenter’s hammers aren’t designed for beating on large metal objects. Many professional mechanics favour a wood-handled ball peen hammer because of the “give” the wood offers; others favour a polyurethane-coated steel handle with lead shot in a cavity in the head. The lead shot shifts upon impact and reduces head-rebound. I tell people I use polyurethane-handle hammers because of their “dead blow” impact, but it’s actually because I have a history of breaking wood-handled hammers. A good polyurethane-handled dead blow, depending on weight, is worth its $40 US to $75 US price.
It’s possible to use a hammer to pound a gear, pulley or hub off a shaft, but it’s easier to use a gear puller. And even easier to use a Post Lock gear puller.
Gear and wheel pullers are not optional on farms. They are often the only safe, sane way to remove pulleys, sheaves or gears from shafts. Traditional gear pullers are disjointed, floppy and difficult to use without three hands. Posi Lock-brand gear pullers have a safety cage around the jaws that not only makes them easy to install with two hands, but dramatically reduces the risk of the jaws popping loose when they’re tightened. They come in a wide range of two and three-jaw pullers, but aren’t cheap — around $225 US for their five ton capacity, five inch jaw-spread model 104. They’re the only brand of gear puller in my toolbox.
Every toolbox needs a couple pairs of vise-grips. Ten-inch vise-grips are the universal tool that has saved the day countless times on farms. They aren’t the elegant, sophisticated way to make repairs, but they get the job done.
A 12 inch and an 18 inch pipe wrench are obvious solutions for installing or removing pipe fittings, but also work well on large nuts, bolts and odd-size fasteners. When purchasing large pipe wrenches, pay the extra price for aluminum-alloy versions. The weight difference between steel and aluminum pipe wrenches is well worth the cost.
Finally, I’m not sure it’s possible to farm without at least two adjustable wrenches (aka, crescent wrenches.) A couple of 12 in. crescent wrenches, with maybe a 16 or 18 in. version available for heavy-duty repairs, have repaired more farm equipment than all the tools on a Snap-on tool truck.
When buying crescent/adjustable wrenches, especially big ones, consider weight and the shape of the handle. Handles that taper from wide at the head to narrow at the end of the handle are lighter and easier to use than wrenches with handles the same width from head to tail. Given the choice between two 16 in. crescent wrenches in his toolbox, one with a tapered handle and one with an un-tapered handle, an experienced mechanic always chooses the tapered handle.
Tools by any other name
Not all tools are made of metal and measured in inches or ounces. For example:
--A pocket flashlight with an LED bulb helps illuminate nooks and crannies in farm equipment, especially when repairs are after sunset. Modern LED pocket flashlights are surprisingly bright and take up minimal space in a toolbox.
--Safety glasses and safety shields are awkward to see through, fog up and are never handy when it’s time to grind, cut, weld or torch metal. If you think you can squint your eyes or turn your head long enough to accomplish whatever eye-threatening maneuver you’re attempting, you’re wrong. Many of us have to make at least one trip to an eye doctor to have metal removed from an eye before we’re convinced it’s worth the time to use safety eyewear.
--Gloves reduce pain and blood-letting. I grew up on a family farm where only wimps wore gloves while working on equipment. Scabs and scars on fingers and knuckles were trophies that proved how manly you were. As a professional mechanic, my company’s insurance company now requires me to wear leather or at least reinforced cloth gloves. Once I found out how nice it is to have hands that don’t hurt, don’t bleed and are relatively grime-free, I now wear gloves even when I work at home on my garden tractor.
— Dan Anderson