Build Your Own Farm Tools Equipment & Systems for the Small-Scale Farm & Market Garden

Josh Volk, author of the best-selling Compact Farms, offers small-scale farmers an in-depth guide to building customized equipment that will save time and money and introduce much-needed efficiencies to their operations.

Volk begins with the basics, such as setting up a workshop and understanding design principles, mechanical principles, and materials properties, then presents plans for making 15 tools suited to small-farm tasks and processes. Each project includes an explanation of the tool’s purpose and use, as well as the time commitment, skill level, and equipment required to build it. Projects range from the super-simple (requiring a half-day to build) to the more complex, and include how-to photographs and illustrations with variations for customizing the finished implement. Along with instructions for building items such as simple seedling benches, a mini barrel washer, a DIY germination chamber, and a rolling pack table, Volk addresses systems design for farm efficiency, including how to design an effective drip irrigation system and how to set up spreadsheets for collecting important planning, planting, and market data.

Josh Volk is the best-selling author of Compact Farms and the proprietor of Slow Hand Farm in Portland, Oregon. He has been working on and managing small farms around the country for the last 20 years, studying the systems that make them efficient. He travels in the United States and abroad, consulting with farmers and researchers, teaching farm apprentices and new farmers, presenting workshops at agricultural conferences, and writing articles for publications, including Growing for Market magazine. 

Introduction: Why Build Your Own Tools?
1 Setting Up a Basic Shop
     General Tool Safety Notes
     Basic Mechanic's Tools
     Basic Woodworking Tools
     Basic Metalworking Tools
     Workbenches and Toolboxes
     Treating Your Tools Right
PROJECTS
2 Greenhouse Tools
     Simple Seedling Benches
     Germination Chamber
     Potting Bench with Mixing Tub
3 Tools for the Field
     Hoop Bender
     Rolling Bed Marker
     Hand Cart
4 Irrigation Tools
     Drip Winder
     Drip Irrigation System
     Easy-to-Move Sprinkler System
5 Wash and Pack Tools
     Glove Drying Rack
     Hand Truck Pallet
     Onion Bag Filling Stand
     Simple Spray Table
     Mini Barrel Washer
     Rolling Pack Table
     CSA Boxes
6 Office Tools
     Spreadsheets for Seasonal Planning
     Useful and Useable Data Collection Sheets
     Hacking Photos and Videos for Data
Epilogue
Appendix
     Designing Your Own Tools
     Cost Analysis for Tools
     Mechanical Principles in Common English
     Basic Materials Properties
Acknowledgments
Metric Conversion Chart
Index