20 Best Farming Tools & Equipment and How to Use Them

If you are just starting a farm or have been in this business for a long time, you will need some tools and equipment, and in this article, we bring you the top 20 best farming tools and equipment, and how to use them on your farm.

Without further ado, these are the 20 best farming tools and equipment for your farm, and after that, we will bring you more about them, and how to use them.

• Rake
• Shovel
• Pickaxe
• Machete
• Ax
• Wheelbarrow
• Pick-mattock
• Pitchfork
• Pruning shears
• (Aku) Chainsaw
• Sprinkler
• Sprayers
• Tractor
• Cultivator
• Harvester
• Set of harrows
• Fertilizer/Seeder
• Agricultural roller
• Baler
• Plough

20 Best Farming Tools & Equipment and How to Use Them

Rake

Rake is a simple horticultural tool intended for (raking), that is, collecting grass and leaves when working in orchards and meadows or settling flower beds in gardens, fields, and flower beds. They consist of a long wooden handle and a serrated wooden or metal part planted at the other end of the handle. Rakes are made today of different materials, and can be wooden, metal or plastic, as well as depending on the purpose longer or shorter.

Shovel

A shovel is a tool for manually digging or moving bulk materials such as soil, coal, gravel, snow, sand, or ore. Shovels are a very widespread tool used in agriculture, construction, and gardening.

Most shovels are hand tools that consist of a wide blade with edges or a side that is attached in the middle to the handle. They are usually made of sheet steel or hard plastic. Shovel handles usually made of wood (eg maple). This is one of the most used farming tools.

Pickaxe

This tool is in shape of the letter T and is mostly used for prying. The upper part is usually made of petal, while his handle is mostly made of wood, sometimes metal, and in newer times fiberglass.

It serves in excavating stones and roots, deforestation, etc.

Machete

The machete is a long broadleaf, with a blade length from 12 to 25 inches.

It is widespread worldwide as a hand-held agricultural tool and handy weapon and is used for cutting grass (reeds) and thinner plants. Because it is intended for frequent blows, it is mainly made of carbon steel, AISI 1045 to 1095 markings that are flexible and easily abrasive, although susceptible to corrosion. The blade does not have a base slope – such as an ax, for example, and is not suitable for more difficult cutting. A cheap and accessible tool is often misused for bloody twists like in Rwanda or South America. A standard piece of equipment for many armies, especially in the tropics.

Ax

An ax is a type of tool that is generally used for cutting or splitting wood and other materials, while in other applications it can be used as a weapon. The ax consists of a metal part (head) and a handle that can be made of different materials, usually wood.

The parts of the head are the holes, which serve as the opening for the handle, the leaf, and the blade. The head is made mainly of carbon steel. It is sanded on both sides, except for specialized types such as an adze. The purpose also determines the geometry of the blade, so the splitting blade will have a stronger wedge-shaped blade suitable for sprouting, while the blade for cutting trees will have a narrower and gentler blade more suitable for cross-cutting wood fibers.

Looking through history, the first axes were made of stone, and their development has been enhanced by the invention of copper, bronze, the iron, and to this day when steel-blade axes are used.

Wheelbarrow

A wheel or wheelbarrow is a small vehicle that usually has a wheel and is driven by one person by pushing or holding it by two handles. They are most commonly used for the transport of small loads in construction, gardening, and farming.

Pick-mattock

Pick-mattock is one of the basic tools in agriculture for digging and loosening soil. The mattock was developed in ancient times and has been present since the very development of agriculture. The first recorded representations of the mattocks were recorded in pre-Dynasty Egypt (18th century BC). It is also used for planting, fruits and vegetables, and hand-picking plant crops.

Pitchfork

Pitchforks are a multi-purpose agricultural tool. They are planted on a hardwood oak or beech tree, with a total length of 60 to 70 inches.

They are used in the work in the field or with hay.

Pruning shears

The first and basic thing is that you buy pruning shears at farm pharmacies, not in shopping malls, as many do. Remember that if you have a good tool, pruning the fruit will be much easier and faster. There are pruning shears with one and two blades. The former is used in floriculture and for pruning vines, and the latter for orchards.

When buying pruning shears, if you also have a smaller number of older fruit trees in the yard, it would be a good idea to take professional pruning shears. Why? Cheaper pruning shears can last a long time, but they are heavier than professional pruning shears, the knife blade is weaker and the angle of engagement of the branch to be cut is smaller, causing the cutter to hurt the arms very quickly, especially the shoulders. It is then best to see the difference in price and why it should not be saved when buying.

Chainsaw

A chainsaw is a hand-held saw, which is used as a cutting tool by a chain with a series of articulated teeth, and which is wrapped around a guide. It consists of a drive and working machine, which is bound by a clutch. The type of drive is distinguished by a motor sprocket (gasoline engine), an electric sprocket (an electric motor), and a sprocket powered by compressed (compressed) air. The first two are used in forest exploitation and the third in underwater works.

There are also acu chainsaws, these saws allow complete mobility and quality work in your garden, and thanks to advanced technology, it allows you to recharge your battery. Also, they are much quieter than gas-powered chainsaws and don’t pollute the air, even do, if you are doing organic farming, then you should look for bio chain oil.

Sprinkler

Sprinklers are an effective solution that requires very little from you for quality irrigation. Just place them once in the right places on the lawn or in a field and any subsequent watering will be easy, precise, with much lower water consumption, while you sit on the terrace instead of holding a gun or nozzle, walking around, and watering. Many of them provide performance, precision, and low consumption comparable to professional underground irrigation systems, but with all the benefits of surface irrigation – no digging, no expensive design and installation, no difficult modifications, and no special winter mode. Just consider the garden hose, plug in the sprinklers, and enjoy. It doesn’t matter if you didn’t hit the perfect locations – nothing was buried – just drag the sprayer in the right place and that’s it. Before winter, clean the sprinklers together with the hoses in the garage, and do not worry about cold, ice, and burst pipes.

When designing the system, care should be taken of the angle and range of the sprayers, to make an ideal layout, and of flow and pressure, to ensure that your plumbing can provide enough pressure for all the sprayers you intend to set up and use at the same time. In the case of less plumbing capacity, you can always use faucet manifolds to separate dispensers or sprayer groups into different hoses and use them alternately instead of simultaneously.

Sprayers

Healthy and well-groomed orchards are the most beautiful sight for proud growers, both amateurs and commercial growers. In order to achieve this, optimal orchard care does not require laborious and time-consuming work. With motor sprayers and motor atomizers, large areas can be precisely sprayed in a short time. Depending on the height of the plantation or for individual plant care, you can choose hand or back sprayers equipped with useful multifunctional details.

Tractor

A tractor is a motor vehicle designed to tow, push or carry interchangeable tools, and various tools for performing agricultural and other work that is towed, pushed or carried by tractor.

Tractors are universal devices that can be attached to various special-purpose machines, such as plows, harrows, irrigation tanks, etc. They are divided in size and power. The strongest models reach around 450 kW. In addition to fieldwork, modern tractors are also used for transportation. At the same time, they reach speeds of up to 40 mph, and there are models whose maximum speed is as high as 50 mph. The speed of the tractor is limited by its construction, its large masses and wheels, and above all by the lack of shock absorbers on the rear axle.

Famous and the best selling tractor manufacturers include Fendt, John Deere, Claas, Steyr, NewHolland, Zetor, Massey Ferguson, IMT, Case, Ursus, IHC, Hürlimann, MAN, Deutz-Fahr, etc.

Cultivator

A cultivator is a single-axle working machine that, without a trailer, can only be moved with the driver’s support. For cultivators, there are a number of attachments that create versatility. These attachments are milling cutter, spatula, plug, spreader, water pump, mower.

They are ideal for grinding soil in gardens and on farms. In addition to grinding with various attachments such as a plow or a potato extractor, they can be multifunctional.

Harvester

Combines are machines for harvesting various cereals, oilseed rape, soybeans, beans, peas and the like.

The harvesting process consists of three parts: mowing and harvesting, as well as the final separation of the grain from straw and chaff. By the end of the 19th century, this process was more or less done manually. With the advent of steam engines, the mechanization of the harvest began. The first machines were stationary, meaning that the bile was drawn by horses and powered by a steam engine that had to be pulled separately. Later the tractors took over. In the 1950s a tractor-hauled harvester appeared just to be succeeded by modern self-propelled harvesters.

Modern combine harvesters combine all of the above-mentioned features necessary for harvesting: mowing, performing, and cleaning. With their use, the harvest speed has multiplied. In addition to the quantity and quality of the harvest, it plays a large role in the development of modern combine harvesters. Quality means minimizing grain loss and refraction as well as high grain purity. The power of modern combine harvesters reaches around 300 kW. The drive is hydraulic while the mower and the cleaning unit are mechanically operated.

Set of harrows

A harrow, dam, tooth, or toothpick is an agricultural weapon that breaks down the soil, breaks the ground, and settles it after plowing or sowing, or destroying weeds. There are several types; the most common consist of rigid frames to which steel teeth are attached.

In the pre-industrial economy, harnesses made of bundles of sticks or pegs attached to a wooden frame were used. They were made at home.

It can quickly and efficiently aerate the lawn, remove moss, and even level out the moles. You can also use it as a tool to level the topsoil or to arrange a variety of terrains or land. The meadow harrow is made of high-quality resistant materials that ensure superior quality and durability.

Fertilizer/Seeder

Seeder machines are machines used in agriculture for sowing grain. This is achieved the importance of saving time and labor. The sowing is done by opening, sowing the seeds and closing the soil.

A big amount of seeders also have fertilizers inside of them.

Agricultural roller

Rolling of winter crops is mandatory when during winter the surface layer of the soil rises under the influence of frost. The frosts scatter and raise the soil, leading to a phenomenon called subsidence. The reasons for rolling cereals may be poor crop rotation in the fall, infrequent assembly, drought at the time of fertilization, and the appearance of cover crops. Poor plowing is most often a consequence of late sowing and may be due to an insufficient amount of readily available nitrogen in the soil.

When choosing a roller, great care must be taken:

• whether the roller is flat or uneven
• whether it is a one-piece or multi-piece roller
• and the mass of the roller.

Baler

Once the ideal dry matter content has been reached and after the hay has been collected in bulk and prepared for silage, we need to choose the appropriate silage technology.

There are three technologies for storing haylage:

• pressing the material into cylindrical or square bales and wrapping bales with stretch foil;
• storing the haylage with a self-loading trailer in a silo and trampling it or storing it in plastic bags;
• storing silage with a baler in a silo and stroking it or storing it in plastic bags.

Each of these technologies has its advantages, so it cannot be said which is the ideal technology for a particular economy. The characteristics of the holding, by size, by a total number of heads, by meal composition, by a distance of meadows from the farm need to be separately analyzed, and many other indicators that affect efficiency and cost must be taken into account.

Ballers collect hay in one pass and press into bales that are transferred to transport trailers or remain in the field. Compared to bulk feed, hay bales are more suitable for handling and take up less space. Most commonly used are high-pressure balers for small and large square bales and baler bales (rotobalers).

Plough

Plough is a type of tool or agricultural instrument that plows the soil. Its main parts are:

• a plowshare or plow, used for horizontal cutting of the furrow;
• a knife, for vertical cutting of the furrow,
• a plank, for tipping and crushing a furrow;
• between the ores and the (ox or horse) harness, there are plow carts, arbors, with two unequal wheels.

Modern plows are made as single, double, and multi-furrows and are used mainly by tractor towing. In addition to the brazing plow, saucer (disc) plows are also used, in which the role of brazing and drawing pins is performed by very sharp edges, which cut and mix the soil mass. Compared to the colter plow, they cover the shallower soil layer, mix fertilizers, and calcification material well, and destroy emergent weeds.