Table and Trash Drum
In my farm shop, I have a limited amount of bench space. So I cut off the top of a 55-gal. oil drum to create a solid surface across the center with half-moons cut out on each side. I use my metal chop saw on the solid workspace and push the scraps into the barrel. When that drum is full, I switch it out for another one. This provides a table for my chop saw and an easy way to collect and recycle scrap steel.
Jim Wissman
Casco, Mich.
Horseshoe Holder
We recycled old horseshoes by welding them to a piece of channel iron to make a hanging boot rack. As the crew comes in from checking irrigation pivots, they can hang up their muddy boots before tracking the mess into the shop. The boots hang from the horseshoes upside down.
Randal Morris
Arimo, Idaho
Better Bulk Oil Storage
My brother and I built a platform for dispensing bulk engine oil and hydraulic oil. The platform is built to be the same height as if you’re holding the refill jug at waist level. A ¾" gravity line feeds from each tank with a cutoff valve at the jugs to reduce drip. To avoid confusion between the bulk tanks, the valve on the left, which is for hydraulic oil, fits a 2½-gal. jug, and the right valve, which is for engine oil, is lower and fits a 1-gal. jug.
When you overfill a jug or if the oil drips once the jug is removed, a funnel allows the oil to fall into a jug on a lower shelf. We pour that oil into our waste oil heater. The platform is built to support 9,000 lb.
David Drew
Mullins, S.C.
When Drew Farms expanded their shop, they wanted to improve their fluid handling systems. To make a vertical bulk oil dispenser, they put safety first and reinforced the structure to support 250-gal. oil totes. David Drew farms with his brother, Robert, and father, Charles Ray; they raise corn, soybeans, cotton, peanuts and 175 brood cattle.
