Organizing My Equipment Barn
There's always lots to do on a working farm - even when it's raining.
Not long ago, we had whole day of on and off showers here in Bedford, New York. It prevented my outdoor grounds crew from doing a lot of the usual outdoor tasks, but I decided it was the best day for cleaning and organizing my large Equipment Barn. Keeping seasonal supplies well maintained and properly stored will always save time in the long run. My Equipment Barn is about 40 by 120 feet, with a substantial amount of height. It is where I store mowers, blowers, tractors, tools, and other pieces of important machinery. For this cleanup, we cleared the area, swept the floor and inspected every item before returning it neatly to its spot, so everything is organized and ready for use.
Enjoy these photos.
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- I built this Equipment Barn soon after purchasing the farm. There are two large sliding doors at either end for accessing the equipment. It is located just down the carriage road from my main greenhouse and close to my vegetable greenhouse and hay barn.
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- All the garden tools are hung on sturdy hooks.
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- We use these flip-up tool holders – they’re made of steel with a vinyl coating, and can hold up-to 50-pounds each.
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- Tools are hung so that they are easy to find. Dirt is rinsed off outdoors before they are put away.
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- We keep like items together, so we always know where to find them and how many we have in supply.
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- Here are some of the short-handled spades. Do you know the difference between a shovel and a spade? Shovels are broad-bottomed tools for moving loose materials, while spades tend to have a flat bottom edge for digging.
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- On this section of wall, we hang all the leaf blowers and weed-whackers, or string trimmers.
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- Our blowers are made by STIHL. We’ve been using STIHL’s backpack blowers for years here at my farm. These blowers are powerful and fuel-efficient. The gasoline-powered engines provide enough rugged power to tackle heavy debris while delivering much lower emissions.
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- This is STIHL’s backpack battery and hand blower. The backpack battery eliminates the cost of fuel and engine oil and can be used with several other useful accessories.
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- Ladders of various sizes rest against one wall close to one set of large barn doors.
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- Near the ladders, we keep wheelbarrows on end to conserve space.
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- The Equipment Barn is well lit with natural light through windows and these big overhead lamps. I use very utilitarian lighting and fans where I can on the farm.
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- STIHL’s most well-known tool is the chainsaw. STIHL designed and built its first electric chain saw in 1926 and 94 years later, it is still one of its best pieces of equipment. The chainsaw has soft grips for comfortability and secure maneuverability.
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- We keep our big Kubota tractor parked in the Equipment Barn also. Here it is outside already in use for the day. This is my model M7060HD12 tractor.
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- On another side, we keep our fleet of Kubota mowers. They are all parked by the back entrance to the barn – all ready for another long and busy mowing day – the right equipment for the right job in perfect condition.
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- This is my Kubota ZD1211-60 zero turn riding mower. It has a 24.8 horsepower diesel engine and a wide mower deck.
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- Here is my SZ22-48 stand-on mower. We use this to mow areas where the riding mower cannot go.
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- For even tighter areas, we have Kubota’s walk behind mower. These provide very sharp cutting. And the controls are built to be ergonomic in design, making it comfortable to use throughout the day. All the mowers have powerful Kawasaki engines, cast aluminum wheels and decks, and edge guards to protect the machines.
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- On the opposite side is this bank of lockers for the crew. Everyone has their own set of lockers, where they can store extra shoes, clothing, and other personal items.
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- Also on this side, blowers, tillers and generators.
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- This is our new Troy-Bilt “Big Red” Garden Tiller. Troy-Bilt introduced the first residential rototiller in 1937 and now has several rugged and reliable models to fit every need. Rototilling is one method of turning up the soil before planting the garden.
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- This John Deere tractor is great. It is often used for mowing the big hay fields.
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- This is our bush hog. A bush hog is a rotary type of rough cutting mower that attaches to a tractor via a three-point hitch.
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- The wood chipper is also parked here. I am fortunate to have this chipper, so after dead or fallen branches are chipped, we can return them to the woodland for top dressing various areas.
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- The gravel carriage roads are raked regularly, so they look neat and tidy. This tool is used for raking the four-miles of carriage road here at the farm. We attached four soft rakes to pieces of wood so they hook up to the back of our Polaris ATV and then drive along the road.
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- I also have this vintage Allis-Chalmers tractor from the 1940s. It reminds us how much these farm pieces have evolved over the years.
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- In a storage closet, we keep a lot of the smaller supplies and tools – all organized in labeled clear plastic bins.
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- And, do you recognize this? The Martha by Mail truck was a postal delivery truck from the 80s, which I bought years ago and had painted green.
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- And here is a view from inside one end of the Equipment Barn to the other. During the day, the space is empty as many of the tools and vehicles are being used. At night, this barn accommodates all our equipment with room for storing other items. It’s nice to have the Equipment Barn all cleaned and organized – ready for the next busy season ahead at Cantitoe Corners.
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