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All articles about Workshop skills

Farm workshop tips and advice on common tasks such as cutting and welding, tackling rust on farm machinery and using grinders safely. See also top farm inventions and workshop-built kit from other farmers, including our video of a homemade silage station.

Advice and tips

WORKSHOP SKILLS

Top tips for upping the quality of workshop projects

Every year, the Farm Inventions Competition unearths a horde of impressive workshop builds that provide ingenious answers to some of agriculture’s recurring conundrums. Traditionally, farmers and contractors have sketched out…

WORKSHOP SKILLS

Managing welding fumes on farms – all you need to know

Farm businesses must now understand and mitigate the health and safety risks associated with fumes produced during welding and other metalwork tasks to protect the long-term health and wellbeing of…

WORKSHOP SKILLS

Workshop heaters: The options and the rules

Winter is a prime time for repairs, maintenance, modifying or making pieces of equipment that will make life easier when fieldwork picks up again. But the thought of spending long,…

WORKSHOP SKILLS

John Deere tractors: Common problems and how to fix them

Tractors have a habit of breaking down at the most inconvenient moment. Independent mechanic Lee Morley takes a look at John Deere models, offers a few tips to reduce the…

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Case studies

CULTIVATORS

How to adapt cut-price cultivators to low-disturbance system

When Michael and Will Scholey decided it was time to stop damaging their ground with high horsepower tracked crawlers and deep, intensive cultivation, they drafted in some expert help. This…

TECHNOLOGY

Dairy farmer to sell home-built GPS and nutrient mapping tool

Uninspired by the array of off-the-shelf tractor guidance systems, County Tyrone dairy farmer Andrew Wright set about building one to suit his own requirements. A key reason for him going…

WORKSHOP SKILLS

5 home-built pieces of slurry kit which improved efficiency

Armed with a degree in mechanical engineering from Ulster University, Niall Murphy returned to the family farm and contracting business and set about making handy custom pieces of kit. His…

WORKSHOP SKILLS

Northern Irish inventor reveals his best machinery creations

Since he was old enough to wield a welding torch, Albert O’Neill has been busy designing and building novel kit to improve the efficiency of his family’s dairy farm in…

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Community

WORKSHOP SKILLS

FW Inventions Comp 2023: Wacky and wonderful creations

We've picked out some more entries from this year's Farm Inventions Competition, from a rudimentary trailed sprayer to simple trailers, scrapers and hedgetrimmers. See also: How to get a patent for…

WORKSHOP SKILLS

Inventions Comp: Sam Hicks’ and Ben Hayes’ Super Snacker

In search of an easier way of creep-feeding their 2,000-plus store lambs than humping around bags of pellets, Gloucestershire farmer Sam Hicks and foreman Ben Hayes built a custom hydraulic…

WORKSHOP SKILLS

FW Inventions Comp 2023: Jordan Sizer's 24m weed wiper

A home-made 24m weed wiper is the latest weapon to be employed by Hull arable grower and contracting outfit WH Richardson and Son in its war on blackgrass and wild…

WORKSHOP SKILLS

FW Inventions Comp 2023: Karl White's budget direct tine drill

In a bid to slash the manpower, horsepower and time required to establish crops on his heavy arable land near Barnsley, South Yorkshire, Karl White built a one-pass combination drill.…

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Insights

TRACTORS

What to look for when buying and fitting a tractor dashcam

Drive a tractor on the road for any length of time and you are bound to see some form of reckless manoeuvre from an impatient motorist. Most of the time,…

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News

WORKSHOP SKILLS

Norfolk Show comp yields quirky crop of farm inventions

The long-running machinery innovation competition run by the Norfolk Farm Machinery Club (Normac) returned to last month's Norfolk Show. Here are some of the highlights. See also: Farmer saves cash by…

WORKSHOP SKILLS

Farm-built bale unroller wins Highland Show innovation award

The practical and “green” attributes of a simple farm-built bale unroller have been recognised by the judges of a technical innovation award to be presented at the Royal Highland Show,…

WORKSHOP SKILLS

Time running out to enter FW's Farm Inventions Competition

Time is running out to get involved in this year’s Farm Inventions Competition, with entries set to close on Friday 27 January 2023. The process is simple – just email…

WORKSHOP SKILLS

Win a cash prize for your innovative workshop ideas

If you have built something in the farm workshop that has saved you time, money or hassle, it is time to enter Farmers Weekly's Farm Inventions Competition. The total prize…

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Test and reviews

WORKSHOP SKILLS

Video: On test – 20 workshop tools recommended by farmers

Off the back of the low-cost tool, gadget and knickknack review we carried out last year, scores of readers got in touch with nifty suggestions of their own. Oliver Mark…

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Video

WORKSHOP SKILLS

Winning Inventions Comp entry up for grabs in farm sale

After 53 years, several million small square bales and dozens of farm inventions, Cotswolds contractor and farm-scale engineer Frank Henderson is calling time on his career – and his bespoke…

CULTIVATION AND DRILLING

Video: Grower builds cover crop broadcaster for £3,000

A farm-built broadcaster costing less than £3,000 has given James Hopkinson the opportunity introduce cover cropping as part of a "regenerative" approach to the arable enterprises he manages. The tractor-mounted…

WORKSHOP SKILLS

Video: Time-saving feeding and bedding kit inventions

Clever feeding and bedding kit is helping livestock farmers shave hours off their daily routine. We've picked out some of the best ones from the many entries to our 2020…

WORKSHOP SKILLS

Video: Conversion turns Discovery into off-road milk float

Charles Kinston’s off-road milk float took third place in the simple category of the Farmers Weekly Inventions Competition. Mr Kinston, a dairy farmer from Burton on Trent, is doing his…

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