Knives and farm work.

Matches · Sep 9, 2003

For some reason I seem to be interested in how a knife (or multi-tool)is used by farm workers.Some time ago, I read a brief explanation of how the stockman came into being and what function each of the blades was used for but forgot what I read.More recently,several posts have been made which touch upon some of the jobs around a farm where knives are clearly a requirement.Anyone with experience care to humor me? If you know the history or intended uses of the stockman blades I'll take that too

gajinoz · Sep 9, 2003

I don't know if this will answer your questions or not but ....

I ALWAYS have my large Leatherman tool with me on the farm. It gets used for all sorts of things. Doesn't do all the jobs of course, (like cutting fencing wire), but for cutting baling twine, emergency hoof pick, pliers, small screwdriver type jobs, poking holes in poly pipe, opening cans of paint and other stuff and a host of other things it's invaluable.

I've just designed a custom knife which I'm having made which is a larger more solid knife with a relatively heavy handle with solid brass fittings. This will get used for things the Leatherman won't do, like for instance tapping in a small nail that's come loose or shaving a bit off a fencing rail or suchlike.

There are many specialised farm tools but a lot of tools tend to get used for all sorts of things, some of them never thought of by the tool maker.

matthew rapaport · Sep 9, 2003

Not a farm exactly, but I do have a few goats, pigs, sheep, chickens, ducks, and geese -- don't ask!

I usually carry a 3-4" fixed blade around with me, or sometimes a largish folder (like a Seb). Opening feed bags is quite a common chore, as is cutting the twine around hay bales (haven't seen those in bailing wire in years). I have an automated (more or less) animal watering system and must sometimes cut hose if I put up new sections of it. Another common chore (maybe my most common use of a knife for the farm) is the making of pointed sticks which I then use to clean the animal sh*t from between the lugs on my shoes.

Matt Shade · Sep 9, 2003

I work for a hay and straw farm as well as living on a small horse farm.

I carry a gerber multi tool (600)daily along with a medium/large folder of some sorts, lately a framelock that I made but in the past it was a benchmade pinnacle and others as well.

The multi tool gets used all the time. I really can't imagine how folks go without them. It has saved me hundreds of miles of walking back to the barn or truck to get tools. The baler we use ties the bales with wire, which is getting to be a rarity theses days, so I use the wire cutters a lot for that. A 100lb roll of wire only ties between 4 and 5 hundred bales, and thats only one side, you have to have 2 rolls in the baler and it will hold 4. We might put up 1000-1500 bales of straw or hay in a day so you usually have to add 2 more rolls(one for each side) sometime during the day. The pliars and wire cutters are a must for splicing on another roll. Once in awhile the roll messes up, or the baler misses tying a bale and then you need the pliars and wire cutters to pull the messed up wire out of the knot tyer, and then rethread the good wire.
Then there are always cans to open, wire to strip, saddles or bridles that need chicago screws tightened. Sometimes I use the can opener as a hoofpick (to dig rocks and dirt out of a horses hoof, so it doesn't get bruised), breaking ice off of water buckets or door latches in the winter, the list goes on and on.

I use the knife for cutting open bales of hay tied with twine, feedbags, packages of other stuff etc. We have automatic waterers in the stalls and pastures, and lots of drain pipes and field tiles that need fixed from time to time, so its not unusual to have to cut plastic pipes. Once in awhile I'll need to adjust a peice of tack at the last minute at a horseshow or out away from the barn where I don't have a hole punch, and I use the knife to make a new hole. I try to save the old hardware off of halters and things that break so I have to cut that loose (like cutting a double layer of seatbelt)

Knock on wood, I haven't had too, but I have friends that have had to cut horses loose from things, IE. accident with trailer, halter is hung up on things and it can't get free etc.

Well, I could probably go on, but I think its pretty obvious why I always have a knife on hand now

JDEEBLADE · Sep 9, 2003

We have sheep, goats and cows on 20 acres. I normally carry a fixed blade (I use crutches so I find a fixed blade easier to bring into use then a pocket knife althout I am experimenting with a hi tech liner lock that can be opened one handed) and use it for cutting twine on hay bales, opening feed bags etc. Its a D2 blade and I keep it razor sharp as on times I've had to 'operate' on calves absecces and cut sheep's throats and put the odd 'roo out of its misery after being shot or hit by a car. I used an old timer stockman earlier in the piece and kept the spey blade razor sharp for 'operations' and had a coarser edge on the sheepsfoot for paring goats hooves. The clip was the general duty blade. Also use the original leatherman but mainly for repairs on engines etc.

lambertiana · Sep 10, 2003

One use that is rarely mentioned - I find a good hawkbill indispensable when harvesting grapes.

Matches · Sep 10, 2003

In reading over the thread it occured to me that most knifenuts talk of opening packages,envelopes,cutting string and a number of other small tasks.I think it's safe to say that you guys are faced with allot more situations where the knife/multi-tool is a neccessity as opposed to a convenience. At work, I too rely heavily on both a knife and multi-tool, but I guess there are many extras for you guys like cleaning an animals hooves or performing minor surgery.Thanks for helping me put this into perspective

Deb Mc · Sep 10, 2003

My family was on a seven-acre "homestead", with a few ducks, geese, rabbits and chickens as livestock. We didn't use multi-tools, but a multitude of different ones instead:

The only bladed items we used were: machetes, hatches, axes, wire snips, fixed blade knives (e.g. skinning knife for the deer; traditional straight blade Buck knife for odd jobs around the barn or down in the workshop); a small pocketknife for delicate odd jobs, especially for inside household chores (rewiring lamps; whittling woodwork).

the possum · Sep 10, 2003

Let's see... All the stuff I use a knife for on the farm, huh? I don't think I have time to even scratch the surface. Well, my knife is invaluable around the farm. For the past year or so I carry a big Bowie knife religiously, but admit it's size is not always necessary. Sometimes, like when clearing brush and weeds, (which I do a lot of in late summer) it is very good to have. It's also great when we want to cut down a truck load of corn stalks for the cows when the pasture gets a little thin. This is coupled with a smaller folder of some kind for detailed cutting. I like multiblades so I can abuse one blade with stuff like scraping- scraping battery terminals for better contact, getting rust or paint off parts, digging grease& mud out of something that needs to be fixed, the list is endless. I keep one blade hair popping sharp for surgical work, such as lancing boils on the cattle as others mentioned, but use it more often on myself cleaning up wounds, trimming back split skin on my fingers, etc. For a while I carried one folder- my Case Sharktooth, but I was unimpressed with the edge holding. I sharpened almost a half inch of steel off it with hand stones, until I finally broke it several years ago. I actually did use it to cut a halter off a steer that nearly strangled himself once. I switched to mid sized fixed blades, cause in the winter there's just no good way to get a folder into action and back into your pocket again while wearing 4 layers of clothes and heavy gloves. Bigger blades are also more handy in winter, when we spend a good portion of every day putting straw in the cattle sheds. In addition to the twine string, they are usually frozen on the outside, and this layer has to be cut through before you can open up the bale with a pitchfork. When it's really cold though, we use a double bitted axe or chainsaw for this operation. Whatever fixed blade I have though, I like to have a sharpened false edge for rougher work so i can save the main edge. There are of course feed sacks to be opened, and also seed sacks by the pallet load during planting time. During spring, one of the blades will be used a dozen times a day for carefully digging up seed to check the planting depth. I never go out in the fields without a gun as well, so I often use the knife to clean a squirrel or rabbit that happened by in the fall. Well, I could go on here for about a dozen pages, but I'll just leave the cutting there.

I actually have not used multitools much. Maybe I should. Right now I carry a good pliers separately, as they are better for cutting wire and heavier use. It takes some pretty serious equipment to farm 1500 acres with only 2 or 3 people. 99.9% of the time, if something breaks in the field, it can't be fixed by anything found on a multi tool anyway. That usually requires welders, blow torches, 3/4" drive socket wrenches with a ten foot cheater bar, and/or a fully stocked shop. For all the smaller repairs, we keep a tool box on every tractor with real tools.

Moine · Sep 10, 2003

Originally posted by Matt Shade
Knock on wood, I haven't had too, but I have friends that have had to cut horses loose from things, IE. accident with trailer, halter is hung up on things and it can't get free etc.

My sister is lucky enough to own a small horse farm in Quebec. One of her (favorite) stallions once got stuck by the halter in a fence. The horse was getting very nervous about that. She had a old pocket knife that needed two hands to open, so she opened it, and then grabbed the halter. The horse pulled her towards him, and she accidentally cut him just below the eye. I can tell you this did not make her freeing job easier... !

The next day, she went to the store and bought a benchmade with an opening hole... This way she can grab the halter first, and only open the knife at the last moment when the horse is not moving too much...

Just one more reason to get a one hand openable folder... or a fixed blade, of course

David

Doors · Sep 10, 2003

Well, I have, at any given point, anywhere between four and one horse. I have a leatherman tool which is now going on its 13th year. It has never failed to be the single most necessary tool for me to have. Fromm fencing to saddle leather it is always up for the task. I also use it to do emergency fence repair in the foaling stall. So it cuts wire fence well.
I also carry a Spyderco Police. Had it since 1993 and it is also an every day use item with the horses. Unfortunatily I can not answer the origional question. I can tell you the knife and pocket tool will always be a common sight around any ranch.