Handy Farm Devices: And How to Make Them (Paperback)

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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Originally published in 1909, "Handy Farm Devices" is more than an engaging trip down memory lane. For any small farmer or homesteader, the techniques and devices described in detail are just as useful, durable, and fully functional today as they were 75 years ago. You will learn to build a portable chicken coop, a stone boat (for moving stone), a lightweight orchard ladder, gates that don't sag, and a handy wood splitter, as well as rudimentary farm structures, well houses, bee hives, a baby's cradle, a cheese press and much more. The charming, turn-of-the-century language and useful and inspirational quotes from Shakespeare, the Bible, Bacon, Longfellow and many others make this book a delight to read. --Mark A. Hetts

Review

A reprint of a 1910 classic, this well-illustrated 288-page paperback is filled with clever ideas and useful information. Even those of us who'd rather pass on making a moveable brooder house for chickens of fashioning a baby cradle from an old barrel will find wisdom in this thrift-conscious and often environmentally wise celebration of self-suffiency. -- Country Living Magazine, April, 1997

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Product Details

• Paperback: 290 pages
• Publisher: The Lyons Press; 1st edition (February 1, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1558214321
• ISBN-13: 978-1558214323
• Product Dimensions: 6.9 x 4.5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (28 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #334,755 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

  Popular in these categories: (What's this?)

  #31 in	Books > Professional & Technical > Engineering > Special Topics > Agricultural Engineering
  #42 in	Books > Children's Books > People & Places > Where We Live > Farm Life > Nonfiction
  #87 in	Books > Home & Garden > How-to & Home Improvements > Electrical

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

128 of 130 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This book will save you both time and money., August 11, 1998

By	David Lilligren "free believer" (Sandstone, Minnesota, USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This reprint of the 1909 classic should be on the shelf of every serious homesteader. Farming is hard work, and this book will teach you how to save both time and money to get the job done. In this little gem you'll learn how to make your own tools for your workshop, how to build things for around the house, for the barns, and for your livestock, in addition to other devices for your garden and orchard, including a section that discusses fence-making and gate-making. Several pages are devoted to building a farmhouse (including the floor plan for my wife's "dream house"), barns, and other outbuildings. This book also makes for very entertaining reading. Peppered throughout are worthwhile quotes from famous (and not-so-famous) farmers from the past. I'm glad I found this book. I hope you will be, too!

70 of 72 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Book is worth its weight in GOLD!, March 2, 2000

By	Mark A Griffith (Fairfax, VA, USA) - See all my reviews

I bought this book on 29-Feb-00 because I am inheriting a farm in West Virginia. I read through it last night and am 110% convinced that the ideas in this book will cut my workload in half and make my life better when I move to the farm. I have placed 27 yellow stickies in this book; one for each idea that I will be able to use in the coming year. If you own a farm, buy this book!

33 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Pure practicality & lots of nostalgia, October 31, 2001

By	Jeffrey W. Behm "Jeff B." (Belle Mead, NJ USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Handy Farm Devices is a really great book if you'd like to read about early 20th century practical living. There's no fluff here; just practical tips for simple living, and lots of good ideas for fixing/making things around the house.