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Post by willowgirl on Jun 13, 2015 13:37:07 GMT
I'm going to nominate my electric fence tester. Before I got it, the only way I knew my fence wasn't working properly was when the cows informed me ... oops.  Last night, a pretty good storm rolled through while I was at work, so I decided to head back to the farm before I went home to make sure the power was on and the wind hadn't dropped a tree on the fence. It was after dark when I got there. I put the tester on the end of the line, and it was only registering 3 of 7 bars. Uh-oh! Grabbed the LED spotlight Numb bought me awhile back (there's another candidate for Best Purchase, lol) and started walking the fenceline to find the problem. I hadn't gotten very far up the hill before I heard the fence snapping. Found a bad insulator right next to a spring-handle gate ... how convenient; all I had to do was unhook the gate to disconnect the power. I jiggled the insulator a bit, hooked the line back up, and it had stopped snapping. Figured I'd solved the problem and headed back to the truck, but thought I'd better test the fence one more time. Still 3 bars. Dagnabbit! I figured I had storm damage somewhere, but still wasn't too sure about that insulator, so I went back up the hill and put the tester on the wire going in. Seven bars. Wire going out ... 3 bars! Even though it wasn't snapping anymore, it was still shorting out. I reconfigured the wires to skip that insulator (I'll replace it tomorrow in daylight) and tested the end of the circuit again. Seven bars! Yay! Now, if I hadn't had the fence tester with me, I probably would have spent a couple hours walking the fence in the dark, trying to find the problem. |
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Post by jupiter on Jun 13, 2015 16:03:57 GMT
Our MAG led flashlights or our led battery operated lanterns.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 13, 2015 16:34:31 GMT
Oh so many. My cutoff point used to be $20 on most everything. I bought a '52 Chevy pickup for $20. A Winchester .22. Our micro-hydro generator. A '47 Chevy truck. A 265 Chevy motor. A Farmall B tractor. I have bought a lot of stuff for less that makes this place run every day. Some of the best "bargains", have been free....James
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Post by jassytoo on Jun 13, 2015 17:46:14 GMT
I'm going to nominate my apple peeler. We have lots of apples in the fall and this 19$ gadget has saved me tons of peeling and slicing. Since I also have some arthritis now it's doubled in value to me. I can now do a 5 gallon bucket of apples easily. Could never peel that many by hand in one shot.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 13, 2015 18:01:13 GMT
I'm going to nominate my apple peeler. We have lots of apples in the fall and this 19$ gadget has saved me tons of peeling and slicing. Since I also have some arthritis now it's doubled in value to me. I can now do a 5 gallon bucket of apples easily. Could never peel that many by hand in one shot. I have one of those too. It was Grandma's. Cast iron. I use it all the time, it is set up on a corner of the counter at the outdoor kitchen. With my bad hand, I have a hard time holding an apple, pear or potato. It does a great jog on potatoes. Gets used almost everyday. We peel a lot of apples for eating fresh, pies and fruit crisp....James |
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Post by Deleted on Jun 13, 2015 19:44:29 GMT
My wife! Our marriage liscence cost $15 Been going strong since 1998!  |
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Post by Deleted on Jun 13, 2015 20:47:41 GMT
My meat grinder. Ebay price $5 with shipping. Love it!
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Post by willowgirl on Jun 14, 2015 11:42:02 GMT
Apple peelers are very handy, aren't they?  We got a Pampered Chef one in a yard sale a few years back for a couple bucks ... it works great! One of my clients has a Red Delicious apple tree in her yard, and that fall it had a bumper crop of apples. She only wanted a few for fresh eating, and let us have all the rest. Numb made apple butter and dried a bunch, too. We're still eating those apples 2 years later. P.S. I'm not sure a wife counts as a PURCHASE! rofl  |
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Post by Deleted on Jun 14, 2015 12:47:07 GMT
Lately that would be 550 rounds of 22 LR ammo. $18 and change.
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Post by susannah on Jun 14, 2015 20:04:43 GMT
I have a number of gardening tools - all of them the old, extremely sturdy ones from years back. I started buying the old ones after bending/breaking too many of the new flimsy ones. And all of them were purchased for $1 or less apiece at yard sales and estate sales. All my garden tools together cost less than $20. They may not be pretty, but they are pretty indestructible.
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Post by themotherhen on Jun 15, 2015 1:50:22 GMT
My best purchase? A $3 mini greenhouse, a $5 light, a $2 lightbulb, $5 starter soil and $5 in tomato and bell pepper seeds. I have 80 tomato plants and 80 bell pepper plants. My family of 6 eats a lot of tomatoes and peppers, and the grocery store prices are cost-prohibitive. I hope we have a great harvest! I have a vision of sending the 4 sons out to pick their bell pepper to complement their lunch. :-)
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Post by Deleted on Jun 15, 2015 4:22:26 GMT
Wow, my best purchase? hmmm how about half gallon canning jars for less than a penny each. Was selling them for $10 each for a while. Got over a $100 worth of wrenches for $5 last year.
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Post by pammysue on Jun 15, 2015 12:30:40 GMT
My best purchase I think would be the 5 tray Excalibur food dehydrator I got at a thrift store for $15. Bought it used over 14 years ago and still going strong.
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Post by Homesteader on Jun 19, 2015 18:17:14 GMT
Hands down, no, hooves down, I hire a farrier to do our 2 goats' hooves. They are nubians and I can't do them, and they wrestled DH down to the ground one time and he said, no more! He charges 20 per goat. I pay him more than that plus send him off with eggs, jams, my canned beans, etc. We call him The Goat Whisperer.
The first time he came, he sang "Every Which Way But Loose" to them as he was doing the job. Cracked me up.
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Post by countrymom22 on Jun 22, 2015 21:44:31 GMT
Mine would have to be the 4 truck loads of old barn boards that we picked up at an auction. We stayed till the end in terrible weather and got the steal of the day! Hubby had to make 4 trips back and forth with the pick up and the trailer to get it all home. We've made garden beds, skids for engines, fences, flooring and still have enough to make a really long kitchen table and lots of other stuff! Most of the wood was oak, 10+ feet long and 12+ inches wide, really nice stuff! Also a bunch or 4 x 4 and 6 x 6 posts. All that for $5. That was a good day!
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Post by ketoriverfarm on Jun 23, 2015 0:32:48 GMT
Mine would have to be the 4 truck loads of old barn boards that we picked up at an auction. We stayed till the end in terrible weather and got the steal of the day! Hubby had to make 4 trips back and forth with the pick up and the trailer to get it all home. We've made garden beds, skids for engines, fences, flooring and still have enough to make a really long kitchen table and lots of other stuff! Most of the wood was oak, 10+ feet long and 12+ inches wide, really nice stuff! Also a bunch or 4 x 4 and 6 x 6 posts. All that for $5. That was a good day! I think you win. Great find! |
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Post by Deleted on Jun 27, 2015 14:16:49 GMT
DW got a 1962 sewing machine (in a table) at an estate sale. Runs good. It was $20. Best $40 I ever spent! |
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Post by susannah on Jul 14, 2015 12:17:37 GMT
Another of my "best purchases under $20" is a pair of knee high, turquoise colored rain boots that I bought at Menards several years back for $12, I think. I'll be honest, it was the color that caught my eye - I wanted to make a northwoods fashion statement. The sale price was another factor. But I ended up using them all the time. If it's muddy in the garden, no problem. They become my gardening shoes. I'm mud-free up to my knees, and I don't slip and slide. Working in the woods? I put them on and I don't wipe out on wet leave - and better yet, the little ankle-biting mosquitoes and other insects can't bite my ankles. (They're good tick protection for my lower legs, too.) I put a couple of pairs of heavy socks on with them in winter when we get two feet of snow at a time and I need to clear a quick path - while I wouldn't wear them out in the cold for hours and hours, they're higher than my other boots and I can slog through deeper snow without getting soaked. Not soaked as much, anyway. And finally, I've worn them into the lake on a number of occasions if it's chilly but not so bad that I need to dig out the waders.
My turquoise rain boots may raise a few eyebrows but I get so much use out of them it's unreal.
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Post by karenp on Jul 15, 2015 13:05:20 GMT
I bought a huge roll of garden netting at a yard sale for $1. We've used it to cover fruit, chicken coops very useful stuff.
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Post by Maura on Jul 16, 2015 0:10:46 GMT
Little Boy Blue. This was my Irish Setter from the Detroit Humane Society. He had been there for a few days and they knocked the price down. A birthday present from my boyfriend. He was the smartest dog I’ve ever had, and I’ve had a standard poodle and a border collie. Wonderful with the children. He is the dog which all other dogs are measured from.
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