Difficult jobs can become much easier when you use the right tool for the task. From mowing the lawn to moving supplies to the cabin through the snow, these are the tools I use the most for the Lawn, Trees, and Snow.
Hand Tools
In the picture below you can see the two Snow Shovels - great for clearing snow. The snow shovel can also be loaded with a heavy item and dragged like a Snow Sled through the snow. You can also see the Pick Axe and the standard Dirt Shovel. After the spring flooding has dried, the clay and rock ground here can become very hard. Too hard for a dirt shovel to be pushed into.
The pick axe does a great job of breaking up the ground for easy shoveling.
In the picture above you can see the sturdy Garden Rake on top of the tarp and length of rope.
Excessive lawn clippings or leaves can be raked onto the tarp and bundled with the rope to be hauled away. The rope can also be used to lasso a bundle of trimmed branches for hauling.
Folding Saw and 10" Chainsaw
In the picture above you see the Bahco Laplander Folding Saw and the cordless 20 volt battery operated 10" Chainsaw - they quickly fall dead trees and trim view blocking lower tree branches.
- Don't forget the oil for the chainsaw chain - thinner oil for the winter and thicker chainsaw oil for summer to prevent the friction warmed oil from becoming too thin to stay on the spinning chain.
My aunt gave me the pair of tree pruners at the end of this past summer, I haven't had a chance yet to try them.
Wagons, Wheelbarrows, Dollies, and Flatbeds
Below is a picture of my lawn tractor wagon. A larger and more sturdy Wagon or Wheelbarrow would be excellent for hauling dirt, rocks, wood, and many other items. Despite the small size, the small plastic lawn tractor wagon has served me well - I'm seriously surprised the wheels have not fallen off yet.
In the picture below you can see the appliance moving Dolly converted to a lawn tractor flatbed trailer.
The dolly was very useful this past summer for moving around the gas generator and other heavy items.
Large Gas Powered Tools
Below is a you can see the trusty Lawn Tractor Mower - great for keeping the lawn tidy, cutting paths through the fields, and towing heavy objects around the property. The cordless 20 volt battery operated Weed Wacker trims the lawn wherever the tractor is unable to go. I use the carry along folding saw to trim branches that get in the way. The tow strap makes them easy to haul away.
The lawn tractor has also been useful for providing a steady weight on a rope pulling a dead tree in the opposite direction of where I am standing while I am cutting the tree.
I installed a plug into the 12 volt lawn tractor battery to power any 12 volt accessories that I may need.
Click the picture below to watch a video demonstration of starting the lawn tractor.
Another excellent tool for winter snow removal is the gasoline powered Snowblower.
Click the picture below to watch a Video showing the interesting mechanics of the snow blowing direction adjustment crank.
Click the picture below to watch an old video of the snow blower in action.
Living out in the country can be a lot of work. The above tools are the ones I use the most to make landscaping, tree, and snow tasks much easier. You will be sure to see these tools more in action as we enter spring and summer.
You may find these previous posts interesting:
-@jackdub/back-acres-how-to-pull-start-a-small-engine
-@jackdub/off-grid-how-i-power-the-power-tools
-@jackdub/off-grid-our-first-8-months-of-off-grid-living-part-1-the-summer-months
Have a great day!