Found a good "Farming & Ranching Equipment & Tools" link? Let Us Know!
19th C. Farm Implements Reprints from farm journals and magazines
relating to the early mechanization of farming in the U.S.
Farm Tractor Videos I don't know if any
of these videos will be of any use, but it seems there is a possibility.
Pedal Powered Thresher This thresher was built in 1978 and this
report was written in 1979. VITA of USA kindly published it. Recently I see
that some current designs of man powered equipment for use in 3rd world
locations are not any better than what I was doing 20 years ago. And
opportunities and media (e.g. the Internet) for dissemination of information
have bettered by leaps and bounds during those 20 years. Regrettably also
many 3rd world economies for a variety of reasons have stagnated or gone
backwards during the last 20 years. So this kind of stuff may still be
valid. So I take the liberty of reissuing the VITA report with a few very
minor changes, with the addition of some photos, and with a little summary
(immediately below) of some of the options for design of this kind of stuff,
and some tips and tricks.
Pedal Power Devices This report is 68 technical drawings plus 27
photographs of pedal powered equipment (threshers, water pumps, winnowers,
grain mills and maize shellers), a tractor PTO thresher, and a wind powered
grain mill which I worked on in Uganda 1972 and in Tanzania 1973 through
1978.
Agriculture Fact Book 1998 A "tool" of
sorts. A handy reference tool offers convenient, one-stop shopping for
information about U.S. agriculture, rural America, food, nutrition and
consumer issues, trade, and more. The material is organized into broad
categories: U.S. Agriculture-Linking Consumers and Producers; Structure of
U.S. Agriculture; The U.S. Farm Sector; Rural America; U.S. Department of
Agriculture; Rural Development; Farm and Foreign Agricultural Services;
Food, Nutrition, and Consumer Services; Food Safety; Natural Resources and
Environment; Research, Education, and Economics; and Marketing and
Regulatory Programs. Also available here for .pdf download.
The Small Tractor FAQ - Frequently
Asked Questions about small tractors.
Build A Freeze-Resistant Stock Tank -- Here's how a
Kansas grazier keeps the water flowing in winter.
Hydroponics Plans. Build your own simple systems with
these great, free plans from Hydroponics OnLine.
"Amateur Machinists Home Page" Early
20th century plans for building all kinds of neat machine tools.
Lots of fun and great articles
Farm equipment and tools The farmers who raise beef cattle or who
grow the hay and grain to feed these animals, require a great deal of
equipment; the equipment makes the tasks associated with farming easier and
the operation more productive. Animals were used as a source of power for
thousands of years before the invention of the internal combustion engine.
New or used? Farm equipment choice has pros and cons Each year,
following planting and harvest seasons, farmers face decisions about whether
or not it is time to replace farm equipment and, if so, whether the
replacement should be a new or used model.
Planning Guide to Farm Machinery Storage (Purdue) this publication
only deals with planning new storage facilities, including location, size,
shape and access door decisions, efficiency analyses, and construction
suggestions. A worksheet also is provided to calculate the floor space
required for storing equipment.
Maintain Machinery in Winter (USU/pdf) The best time to start your
battle against next year's breakdown blues is right now. By using time
available during the less busy winter season to check and repair your
machinery you can save valuable hours in the spring when you need them most.
Prevention Maintenance Checklist (USU/pdf) FOR TRACTORS, TRUCKS, AND
AUTOMOBILES
Equipment Wheel Space for Ridge -Till & No Till Row Crops (UofN)
This Extension Circular discusses how to plan and control equipment traffic
to reduce potential soil compaction and maintain ridge integrity in
ridge-till and no-till row crop production systems.
Planning Farm Shops For Work And Energy Efficiency The purpose of
this publication is to present guidelines for locating, laying out,
constructing, environmentally-controlling and equipping a farm shop.
Hopefully, the result will be an efficient, properly-sized shop providing
safe as well as comfortable working conditions to meet your family and farm
enterprise needs for years to come.
Alcohol Distillation: Basic Principles, Equipment, Performance,
Relationships and Safety The purpose of this publication is to help
you understand the distillation of ethyl alcohol. It first presents the
basic principles involved in distillation and how the process works. The
types of distillation equipment and systems that might be involved in a
small fuel alcohol plant are then discussed, as are the performance and
control criteria needed for a general evaluation of each. The publication
concludes with a discussion of safety, along with some general selection,
operation and management criteria useful in evaluating alternatives.
Matching Multiple Ventilation Fans Fans are often used to ventilate
agricultural buildings. Adjoining rooms with connecting air paths through
open doors or manure channels can operate as a single room with a common
negative pressure. The pressure capability or strength of multiple
ventilation fans must be carefully matched to allow all fans to operate
efficiently. Under ventilation, back drafting, and poor air distribution may
result when a fan exhausts air from a room in parallel with a stronger fan,
especially in tightly constructed buildings. The fan mismatch problem is not
immediately obvious to the casual observer, but may result in depressed
animal health and performance in livestock buildings, reduced human comfort
in residences, contaminant exposure of products in food plants, and lower
air quality in all buildings. But there are ways to check whether the
problem exists in ventilated buildings. The following cases illustrate a few
common problems and solutions.
Dryeration & Bin Cooling Systems For Grain This publication deals
with the planning, operation and management of dryeration and bin cooling
systems on individual farms, as opposed to country and terminal elevator
installations. From the information presented here, you should be able to
evaluate the potential, determine design requirements and estimate the costs
of these two grain conditioning processes on your particular farm.
Maintain Machinery in Winter to Avoid Downtime The best time to
start your battle against next year's breakdown blues is right now. By using
time available during the less busy winter season to check and repair your
machinery you can save valuable hours in the spring when you need them most.
Preventive Maintenance Checklist for Tractors, Trucks, and Automobiles
Prolong the Life of Equipment with Proper Care
Spark Plug Operation Selection and Maintenance
Trouble Shooting
Tune-up and Dynamometer Testing Gasoline Engine
Five Strategies for Extending Machinery Life
Daily Maintenance Procedures for Efficient Machine
Performance
Practical Ways to Control Hydraulic System Contamination
Determining Required Field Capacities for
Machinery Sizing Decisions
Calibrating Anhydrous Ammonia Applicators
Five Strategies for Extending Machinery Life
Chipper-Shredders
All Terrain Vehicles
Buying a Used Farm Machine
Checklist for Used Tractors
The Cost of Owning and Operating Farm Machinery
Calibration of Sprayers
Formulas to Aid in Selecting and Using Field
Sprayers
Nozzles Selection and Sizing
Equipment Adjustments for Herbicide
Incorporation
Set Up of Tillage, Planting and Directed Spray
Equipment
Plumbing Systems of Agricultural Sprayers
Calibrating Field Sprayers
Calibrating Granular Pesticide Applicators
Boom Sprayer Calibration for Pesticide
Applications
Spray Nozzle Operating Life
Radial Tire Inflation Pressure
Are Radial Tractor Tires Cost Effective?
Tractor Tire and Ballast Management
Radial Tractor Tires--How Good Are They
What You Need to Know About Retreads
Selecting and Sizing Combine Drive Tires
Caring for Your Tires
Let The Air Out! Advantages of Properly Adjusted
Radial Tire Pressures, AEX-530-94
Diesel Engines
Engine Service Tips, Jumper Cables Use
Cold Tractor Operations
Checklist for Used Tractors
Fourteen Commandments for Tractor Operators
Getting the Most Out of Your Tractor
The Ten Commandments of Tractor Safety
Tractor Air Conditioning
Tractor Electrical Systems
Getting the Most from Your Tractor
Farming with One Tractor
Large Round Balers
Estimating Floor Space for Farm Equipment
Storage
Machinery Storage -- Put it Away Clean, Dry and Lubricated
Cultivators for Conservation Tillage
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