CHAPTER XXIII 



THE FARM SHOP 



670. Necessity. There is no farm so small but a farm 

 shop would be of value. For small farms there should not 

 be many tools, but there is seldom a year when a small 

 investment in a bench with a vise and a few tools would 

 not return to the user a good dividend. It is not alone 

 the amount of money which can be saved by doing a 

 large per cent of one's own repairing, but it is the time 

 saved in emergencies. 



Often breakages occur with farm machinery which, if 

 the tools are at hand, may be repaired in much less time 

 than is required to take the broken parts to a repair shop 

 where the job must wait its turn with others equally 

 urgent. There are times when farm work is very press- 

 ing and a delay of a few hours means a loss of many dol- 

 lars in wasted crops. 



Not only is there a loss by not having a shop for urgent 

 repairs, but there are rainy and disagreeable days, when 

 men do not relish working outside, that can very profit- 

 ably be put in working in the shop. 



671. Use. The idea is prevalent that only skilled me- 

 chanics can do work in a shop. Of course this is true in 

 a great many instances where the work is difficult, but 

 there are more times when the work is such that a man 

 with only ordinary mechanical ability can do it. The 

 farmer should not attempt to point plows, weld mowing 

 machine pitmans and do such work until he has 

 achieved skill. However, he can tighten horseshoes, re- 

 pair castings, etc., as well as do carpentry work. 



