Handy Devices

Narrow is the gate (Editor’s Choice):

Richard Morgan, Bloomfield, Kentucky, had a problem with calves climbing through the bars of his round bale feeders. They created a lot of waste as the calves messed in the hay and used it for bedding. To solve the problem, he cut nine lengths of 3/4-inch conduit. He attached them with bolts to the top and middle rings of the feeder to narrow the openings in the hay rings.

A ringing solution:

Lloyd Fossum, Moorhead, Minnesota, used the metal spine of a loose-leaf paper binder to create a hanger for cotter and hitch pins. He removed the spine from an old binder and screwed it to a wall. The binder’s rings keep the various shapes and sizes of pins organized and secured within the self-locking loops.

Crank it up:

Frank Stone, Ashland, Virginia, welded a 7/8-inch nut to the top of the jack handles on his hay tools. He used a socket wrench and socket to crank his equipment up and down with greater speed and ease than when he used the rotating handles that came with his equipment.

WINNING IDEAS: Win $150 if your idea is chosen as the month’s “Editor’s Choice” Handy Device. Win $50 for other ideas used on this page. To submit a Handy Device, please send clear photographs, detailed drawings and a complete explanation of your idea. With each entry, include your name, address and telephone number. Send Handy Device entries to The Progressive Farmer, 2204 Lakeshore Dr., Suite 415, Birmingham, AL 35209. Sorry, but we cannot acknowledge submissions or return photographs, drawings or documentation.

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