Top Tips for Selecting Quality Agricultural Tools

If you’re in farming, then budgets are likely to be tight and you’ll often be looking for economies. That’s virtually “business as usual” in agriculture.

However, one area you might not want to cut spending corners in is that of your tools. There might be little point in purchasing prestige items like for example Krone hay equipment if you then put that at risk by trying to maintain it with cheap tools.

So, here are some top tips for selecting quality tools.

1. Look for recognised quality brands.  If they’ve been around a long time and have a reputation for quality, then they’re clearly doing something right. Be prepared to pay a little extra, if necessary, for that reassurance.

2.  Learn a bit about metal descriptions. For example, if terms such as “HSS” or “Chrome Vanadium” don’t mean much to you, you should research them and other such technical designators. That’s because tool producers often use such designations to describe the quality of the metallurgy they use. Note that metal hardness isn’t always necessarily the only criterion behind selection – read up on that too.

For more details, please visit - http://ezinearticles.com/?Top-Tips-for-Selecting-Quality-Agricultural-Tools&id=9831597

So, You Need a New Set of Tools?

During one of our recent chats with a visitor, they commented that they’d purchased a new socket set recently.

They also said just how cheap it had been and it all sounded really good. Their joy at their bargain lasted right up until about the third time they’d tried to use it when various parts of the set had started breaking under stress. Apparently, the ratchets gave up first then bits of the main metal parts started to shear or “round”.

Now you can probably see where we’re going with this because we’ve blogged on it before (socket sets in particular seem to arise commonly in this respect), albeit a long time back. Even so, we’ll offer our thoughts again.

Generally speaking – cheap tools are a bad idea! OK, if you’re able to buy a quality second-hand branded set at a bargain price then good luck to you. That’s different. Read more So, You Need a New Set of Tools?

Nutty Talk

We’ve seen a lot of talk in Australian farming circles recently about how to better market nuts.

Now let’s forgo all the obvious jokes, well, apart from the title of this blog (apologies for that!) and get down to business - and this is nothing to do with tractors for sale, Goulburn or elsewhere!

Apparently, a lot of the discussion is about trying to do two things:

1. market them more effectively to what people call the “Millennials”, which seem to be those youngsters that are about 16-18 right now and;

2. reduce or put into perspective, those concerns about allergic reactions etc.

In terms of the first point above, it seems as if young people see nuts as brain food – something that can directly stimulate the cognitive processes.

The marketing people want to pick up and expand on this, reasoning correctly that younger people aren’t worried about their cardio-vascular systems and the health benefits of nuts in those respects. They think that’s an issue for old-timers. They are though, more receptive to the evidence that eating a sensible quantity of nuts on a regular basis can help stimulate aspects of your grey cells and what they’re up to.

For more details, please visit - http://www.whitestractors.com.au/blog/334-nutty-talk.html

Top Garden Lawnmower FAQs

Here are some of the most commonly heard FAQs covering domestic lawnmowers.

What are the advantages of electric rotary cutters?

Typically, these are nowadays encountered in smaller domestic environments.

As their name suggests, they’re usually an electric motor driven by a lead connection to the mains supply. The motor drives a circular rotating blade or sometimes a plastic cord.  

Their big plus points are usually that they’re light to manoeuvre and can be quite effective mowing at steep angles. They’re also usually fairly simple in design and maintenance terms.

On the downside, they’re not usually considered viable for larger areas and trailing electric cables can be a concern both in terms of range and safety (use a circuit breaker when using one of these).

Are zero turn mowers dangerous on slopes and uneven ground?

No – this reputation goes back to some teething troubles back in the very early days of this type of mower. That was a LONG time ago now!

For more details, please visit - http://www.whitestractors.com.au/blog/330-top-garden-lawnmower-faqs.html

Some Worries About Beef

Yet again, it’s slightly uncertain times for our domestic beef production. We’re also speaking here about Australia as a whole and not just NSW.

Apparently, the latest statistics show a widening gap between the price of beef, in retail circles and that of some of its main competitors such as chicken, lamb, pork and even vegetarian food. That’s leading to some concerns that consumers might be driven away from beef onto other cheaper protein sources.  

To make matters worse, the spectre of US imports is on the horizon. The economics are puzzling given Australia’s abundance of cattle but for whatever reason it looks as if US beef could be heading our way – subject to tariff quotas etc.

The third wave of concern being expressed is over a combination of increasing drifts away from red meat for health reasons (whether you agree with those concerns or not, is does seem to be happening) plus the changing demographics of Australia. Read more http://www.whitestractors.com.au/blog/329-some-worries-about-beef.html

Thought of the Month - Value

A well-known speaker started off his seminar by holding up a $20 bill. In the room of 200 people, he asked, "Who would like this $20 bill?"

Hands started going up.

 He said, "I am going to give this $20 to one of you but first, let me do this." He proceeded to crumple the dollar bill up.

 He then asked, "Who still wants it?" Still the hands were up in the air.

 "Well," he replied, "What if I do this?" He then dropped it on the ground and started to grind it into the floor with his shoe.

 He picked it up, now all crumpled and dirty. "Now who still wants it?" Still the hands went into the air.

 "My friends, you have all learned a very valuable lesson. No matter what I did to the money, you still wanted it because it did not decrease in value. It was still worth $20. Many times in our lives, we are dropped, crumpled, and ground into the dirt by the decisions we make and the circumstances that come our way.

For more details, please visit - http://www.whitestractors.com.au/blog/316-thought-of-the-month-value.html