The importance of power tools on the smallholding

Agricultural journalist and smallholder Jane Brooks joins us for her regular look at the world

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I was recently looking through some old farming magazines and came across an October 1970 Farm Machinery Maintenance supplement that was produced by Power Farming magazine.

It covered such things as welding equipment, bench and power tools, hand tools and what kind of building was needed to house a farm workshop. Not much use for the modern smallholder or farmer, you may think, but there was some good common sense advice to be found in its pages. Such as ensuring there is plenty of natural light in a workshop so that any work bench could be positioned to make the most of the light. The suggestion was that the window area should be at least one fifth of the floor area. It went on to recommend good artificial lighting as well, particularly for working on large machines that would probably be in a more central area of a workshop with less natural light. This makes a lot of sense, particularly on brighter days, as it does take a bit of adjusting to coming into a building out of bright sunlight as the eyes are slow to get accustomed to changes in light.

POWER TOOLS – WHAT YOU NEED