Horsey/Small Holding essentials you couldn't be without!

[Lintel]

For all of you lucky enough to have your own yards or smallholding/land what item can you not be without?
Quad to electric fence poles, padlocks , anything!?

 

[Mike007]

Cheap old tractor ,nothing fancy ,not worth stealing ,starts every time. Harrow, Foreloader for tractor. Cheap trailer , Vicon varispreader. Decent gates and gateposts. Good fencing. Secure diesel tank and hose. Good basic set of tools ,Hammer ,sledge hammer, Spanners , screwdrivers , Stilson wrenches, Oils , Jump start battery pack , Jump leads ,

 

[Dubsie]

Automatic filler water troughs - connected by hosepipe to tap is fine saves masses of time lugging buckets

 

[Lintel]

Fab things I haven't thought I'd at all! Thank you both so far!

 

[Rowreach]

Anything that allows you to do the job without calling anyone else in to help. So your own machinery, a good set of tools, and knowing where everything is (stop cocks, electrics, where the pipes run and so on). And, in my case, a Nigel down the road who is there whenever I'm in a panic. Get a Nigel.

 

[Lintel]

Anything that allows you to do the job without calling anyone else in to help. So your own machinery, a good set of tools, and knowing where everything is (stop cocks, electrics, where the pipes run and so on). And, in my case, a Nigel down the road who is there whenever I'm in a panic. Get a Nigel.

Oh Nigel sounds good. Now where can I buy these said Nigel's?
Lol.

 

[LittleGinger]

Anything that allows you to do the job without calling anyone else in to help. So your own machinery, a good set of tools, and knowing where everything is (stop cocks, electrics, where the pipes run and so on). And, in my case, a Nigel down the road who is there whenever I'm in a panic. Get a Nigel.

Definitely befriend all your local farmers/dogwalkers/whoever!

I love my solar panels for keeping electric fence charged. Physically cannot lift batteries so poor non-horsey OH was forever carting heavy batteries around for me. Spare electric fence posts and tape as you never know when you'll need them!
Hooks, hooks and more hooks for keeping tack rooms etc. organised.
Bailing twine. Lots and lots of bailing twine.

Oh, and I use my ragfork a lot, too

 

[Pearlsasinger]

Tractor, harrow, roller, petrol driven strimmer and other tools, small generator (ours came from Aldi), small cement mixer. You won't use some of the stuff very often but will find it a godsend on occasions. I second the getting to know the local farmers, we also have a very useful builder who is a neighbour.

 

[Lintel]

Tractor, harrow, roller, petrol driven strimmer and other tools, small generator (ours came from Aldi), small cement mixer. You won't use some of the stuff very often but will find it a godsend on occasions. I second the getting to know the local farmers, we also have a very useful builder who is a neighbour.

What do you use the strimmer for?

 

[Spot_the_Risk]

Harrow, topper, post knocker (that's the manual version!). Solar panel to constantly charge low level caravan lights (we have no electric), bore hole (yep, we aren't on mains water either), a good reliable genny that doesn't die when you ask it to work (bought ours secondhand at auction). Sheep to eat the roughs and break the worm cycle, cat/s for vermin control.

 

[Spot_the_Risk]

Strummer -roughs, edges, gateways, banks, you'll find a lot of uses for it!

 

[Dry Rot]

Mains electric fencing! Once you have a decent energiser, the rest is comparatively cheap and not difficult to do yourself.

A quad or small tractor is useful but I'd rather have a trailer and something with a tow bar to pull it with.

Small tools: Hammer, pinch bar (for making post holes), mal (big hammer for driving in posts), post hole tools (for putting in strainers), monkey wire tensioning tool, various spanners (at least one being adjustable), Power tools (drills and grinders), wire cutters, ....

Harrows, roller, and topper are not (in my opinion) essential.

Anything else, you borrow or buy at farm sales, via Ebay, and Gumtree as and when needed or when the price is right (ideally free).

Don't rush out and spend money. It will disappear without any encouragement at all!

 

[Lintel]

Mains electric fencing! Once you have a decent energiser, the rest is comparatively cheap and not difficult to do yourself.

A quad or small tractor is useful but I'd rather have a trailer and something with a tow bar to pull it with.

Small tools: Hammer, pinch bar (for making post holes), mal (big hammer for driving in posts), post hole tools (for putting in strainers), monkey wire tensioning tool, various spanners (at least one being adjustable), Power tools (drills and grinders), wire cutters, ....

Harrows, roller, and topper are not (in my opinion) essential.

Anything else, you borrow or buy at farm sales, via Ebay, and Gumtree as and when needed or when the price is right (ideally free).

Don't rush out and spend money. It will disappear without any encouragement at all!

It's looking like it I've been keeping an eye out for god bargains etc but don't want to go jumping the gun and buy unnecessary items! How do you go about fitting mains electric?

 

[YorksG]

Build up a collection of tools, including cordless ones (otherwise the angle grinder, which you need to cut the gate off when the beasts have destroyed it, will end up with yards and yards of extension cable, or you have to carry the genny across the field!) It helps to have some basic mechanical knowledge (mending old tractors is relatively easy if you have the basics).
The other essentials are little more nebulous, make sure you have a reliable source of forage. We once thouoght we had, until the week before christmas saw us searching for just that! We were fortunate and the source we then found has been reliable for the last four years. I always resisted my late fathers attempts to teach me to weld, but have found that our farrier will very kindly do small welding jobs for us. A good mechanic, within striking distance is also a bonus, preferably one that can sort wagons and 4x4's. These aren't necessarily essentials to begin with, but they are the things that you need to try and build up over time

 

[Magicmadge]

My tractor is a grass cutter with the cutting deck removed. It's a biggish one it s fab.,It has a tow ball and I pull a small erde trailer which I mount my sprayer in . (Sprayer was my Xmas gift last year saves me hours walking to do weeds) cutter also pulls my 4ft harrow. Petrol strimmer with bush cutter attachments to keep long grass down around electric fence perimeter. Hose pipes to both water troughs from yard tap just swap at tap end to fill whichever trough. I also have hole borer post knocker and cement mixer , all been worth weight in gold at some point. Loads of spare electric fence posts . My latest is crop or debris netting , I've been reseeding sections of my paddock . Birds were taking loads of the expensive seed, used the covers , keeps off the birds and seems to grow so much quicker wouldn't reseed without covering now . I do 35/25 m metre blocks . Hard working looking after it all but I love it 😄

 

[Magicmadge]

My mains is an energiser box plugged in to a socket in my feed room. It then runs on to the fence wire via a crocodile clip as normal, feeds electric right Round 4 acre perimeter I sub divide in to smaller paddocks. Hubby has made me wire to attach . Peice of wire with croc clip at each end one on perimeter mains other on the divided paddock fence line if that makes sense .

 

[silv]

Quad bike and trailer, saves so much time carting stuff around and for poo picking. Harrow, multi purpose fencing tools and lots of plastic joiners for repairing leaking pipes (to troughs) Spray pack for spot spraying. Probably lots more things I use but these are the staples.

 

[Red-1]

Arena. I could not be without my arena. Yes, I do school in it when it is tipping it down, the roads are icy, it is foggy, it is dark.... but mainly I use it for winter turnout as we only have 2 acres of grazing, and we are on clay.

No mud. Phew!

Also, we have gravel surfaces, so no deep paths either.

Finally lighting, we have a lot of lighting. I don't use all of it all of the time, but if we need it then it is there.

It just makes everything so much easier in winter. Summer is easy anyway, but if you haven't got the place winter proof it is a really dispiriting time of year.

 

[The Fuzzy Furry]

Lots of great suggestions above - but add another: Thinking ahead for time saving jobs

Plan ahead before winter - get any ditches dug out before August, then you only need to drege autumn leaves out in November.
Clear gutters & drains spring & autumn.
Ensure muck heap gets collected (unless you are muck spreading yourself) when the clocks go back.
Soggy gateways should be being finished off now with planings (or your choice) to harden before winter.
Bulk buy fodder & bedding - hay is usually much cheaper off the field if you can store it. Likewise bedding is also cheaper in bulk.

My staples are: solar panel in yard to maintain batteries for lighting, hammer, sledge hammer, screwdrivers, staples, baler twine, spray pack, strimmer, creocote, spare elec fence posts & fresh tape. Spare fence posts and rails in the store.

I have a friendly farmer, so he annually harrows, rolls, then muck heap clears (2 x per yr) when I shout - and also gives me 1st nod of hay off the field when ready

Have fun OP

 

[alwaysbroke]

Our fiances didnt ru to a tractor so we have a decent quad with harrow and roller, petrol strimmer, petrol hedge trimners and weed sprayer, oh and a very good grader for the school. Out of this the strimner gets used the most. Have a lovely local farmer who will do large hedges and majority of field management, but we can kerp on top of it with equipment we have. Have also made some very useful contacts via the local feed store, local building and handiwear store and the old owner of the property who still lives locally. Fortunately the place was in fantastic condition when we purchased it, extremely well maintained with good quality fencing, gates and water troughs to every field.
Good luck with your property, its hard work but well worth it.

 

[Dry Rot]

It's looking like it I've been keeping an eye out for god bargains etc but don't want to go jumping the gun and buy unnecessary items! How do you go about fitting mains electric?

Have a look at the main stream electric fencing suppliers. Google is your friend. Take your time and cultivate a Nigel. Get a much more powerful energiser than you think you'll need and the best you can afford. I think mine was recommended for 30 miles and it powers about 3 miles of fencing on my 30 acres. Yes, 3 miles! Ditches have two sides as do shelter belts, roads, etc. Electric can be used to patch old stck fencing -- just put your wire on offsets or posts set out from the old fence. Attach white tape to strip graze, make temporary paddocks. Etc.

Oh, I forgot. Plant trees! It is so easy and you have cheap shelter until they get too big, then you have fire wood. If you find you've planted them in the wrong place, a chain saw will change that in minutes. I put in a ten metre strip along my northern boundary and now they have become established, the shelter they give is substantial. I only regret not planting more!

You could also join a few farming/small holding forums. Plenty out there.

 

[Antw23uk]

This thread is invaluable and just what I'm after as well. Feeling totally overwhelmed with the new place at the moment

 

[stencilface]

Duct tape
Wire cutters
Crow bar
Hammer
Post knocker
Kettle
Somewhere safe to lock everything to at least give the people of unfixed abode a challenge when they no doubt clear you out of anything of any worth (generators taken 4 times from a double locked metal shipping container, once time they sawed through the hinges, must have taken all night)
Sense of humour
Ability to fix anything with baler twine

 

[Christmas Crumpet]

I find having an agricultural contractor for a husband is quite a good essential to have!!

 

[MiJodsR2BlinkinTite]

Automatic filler water troughs - connected by hosepipe to tap is fine saves masses of time lugging buckets

^^^ This!!

Also lots of stopcocks so that if there IS a problem, i.e. leak, you know exactly where to isolate the problem and be able to turn things off. We fitted a device called an "Elimaleak" which tells us if there is a water leak, invaluable.

Water key turning device hung up in regular place - we are on a water meter here so may need to turn off at the mains entry point in case of emergency!

We have a pair of wire-cutters hung up so everyone knows where they are, in case of emergency i.e. sheep/horse getting caught up in wire, which we hope won't happen but are prepared for if it does.

Torches (with WORKING batteries!) everywhere and where people know where they are.

Tel no's of vets, feedmerchants, farriers, kennels & knackerman etc on a chalkboard.

First Aid kit - human and animal - to include reams and reams of Animalintex.

Purple foot spray.

Udder cream.

Jeyes Fluid.

Electric fencer mains unit (well worth the extra expense) and current testing device (invaluable).

Farrier's tools i.e. hammer, tongs for removing shoes in emergency, clench hammer.

The other essential/can't-do-without is a good CCTV system and audio burglar alarm........

Probably more but just can't think of 'em at the mo.

 

[Lintel]

I find having an agricultural contractor for a husband is quite a good essential to have!!

Damn.
I have a very "indoorsy" husband to be! Had reckoned marrying a farmer or a rugby player was a good idea but hey that hasn't worked out lol! Lucky you!

Stencilface a sense of humour I bet is the most nessecary thing especially when the ***** hits the fan!

 

[Antw23uk]

Ahh now farrier tools is one I wouldn't have thought of. Something to remove a shoe in an emergency is defo worth investing in, thanks

 

[lucky7]

This thread is invaluable and just what I'm after as well. Feeling totally overwhelmed with the new place at the moment

Dont be!! My set is is really basic. Started out with a 4 acre field, which my OH inherited, crap fencing, no electric, no water and on clay, no shelters or shed, just grass!!
7 years later we are building on some of it so field has been reduced to approx 3 acres, this bit is fenced off at the front of the field and we have installed a hardstanding path to drive down in all weathers, a decent gate, a hard-standing for the horses and my very own shed (i love it!!) and somewhere to tie the neds too. My OH is very handy and did the fence and installed the gate and put the shed up, i got local stone and paid a man with a digger to dig out the hard-standing. Still far off from what i want but it takes time and i have limited funds!! next is the water connection, for now i take take water daily but have a large container i the field which is filled from the house then driven 5 mins to field which last around a week. I have a hose connected to it and it runs down hill to the water. They normally move i the winter as the field is clay so floods and gets extremely boggy in little rain. I pay a local farmer to harrow and roll fields and he also cuts the hedges. This year i am planning on making some stables to go on the hard-standing and a lean too for storing hay which without can be difficult i the winter and a faff with a tarpaulin! hoping if they are done in time i can save myself £80 PW on winter grazing!! i am also very lucky to have a fantastic livery yard opposite us and able to hire there lovely menage anytime or use facilities and have put me up for emergency stabling in the past too. Also houses that over look the field are full of horsey people so lots looking out at them all the time and they let me know if anything isnt looking right.
Yes i want an electric shower installed at some point in one of the 3 stables but this is a luxury at the moment not a need!
Other smaller essentials:
First aid kit for horses and humans
Baling twine!!
Lots of hooks for your tack room and shelves
Mouting block!! (i still need one of these!)
Tie rings for neds

 

[Nudibranch]

Swiss Army knife and a piece of baler twine in the pocket of any coat.
Electric fencing.
A 50 gallon circular water tub (the kind which goes in the loft). SO useful - light and portable enough for 1 person to manage, holds loads of water (or hay) so can be used anywhere.

 

[Christmas Crumpet]

Damn.
I have a very "indoorsy" husband to be! Had reckoned marrying a farmer or a rugby player was a good idea but hey that hasn't worked out lol! Lucky you!

Its all not all a bed of roses. He has been very slack on his duties recently because he's "too tired" from all the silaging he's been doing. Not much help when I need the muck heap moving and a field rolling!!!