Simple Farm Tools

Meaning of Simple Farm Tools

Simple farm tools are simple, handy tools made up of metals and wooden handles where applicable and used mainly by peasant farmers. They are designed to help the hands to apply force in farm operations. They make the work easier, faster and safer.

Types of Farm Tools

These tools can be classified into the following:

Farm and horticultural tools
Workshop or accessory tools.

Farm and Horticultural Tools

These are simple tools used for cultivation of arable crops, fruit, vegetable and flowers. Example include cutlasses, hoes, rakes, hand forks, garden fork, shears, pick axe, spades, hand trowel, shovel, secateurs, watering can, harvesting sickle, head pan, wheel barrow, axe, pruning saw, budding knife, budizzor castrator, etc.

Workshop or Accessory Tools

These are tools used in workshop to repair or maintain farm implement and farm machines. They include hammer, spanner, screw driver, pliers, nut and bolt, chisel, hack saw, file, punches etc.

EXAMPLES OF SIMPLE

FARM TOOLS AND THEIR USES

HOE

Hoe is an ancient and versatile agricultural and horticultural hand tool used to shape soil, remove weeds, clear soil and harvest root crops.

CUTLASS

A cutlass is a short, broad sabre or slashing sword, with a straight or slightly curved blade sharpened on the cutting edge, and a hilt often featuring a solid cupped or basket-shaped guard. It is used for cutting weed or grasses on the farm.

SPADE

This is a tool with a sharp edged, typically rectangular, metal blade and a long handle, used for digging or cutting the earth, sand, turf and so on.

SHOVEL

A shovel looks like a spade and is used for digging, lifting and moving bulk materials such as soil, coal, gravel, snow, sand or ore. Most shovels are hand tools that consist of a broad blade fixed to a medium length handle

RAKE

It is an implement consisting of a pole with a toothed cross bar or fine tines at the end, used especially for drawing together cut grass or smoothing loose soil or gravel.

WHEELBARROW

This is a small hand propelled vehicle, usually with just one wheel designed to be pushed and guided by a single person using two handles at the rear, or by a sail to push the ancient wheelbarrow by wind.

PICK AXE

This is a hand tool with a hard head attached perpendicular to the handle. The head is usually made of metal and the handle is most commonly wood, metal and fiber glass.

HAND FORK

When it is viewed, the hand fork, looks like the kitchen fork we eat with, just that it is a little bit bigger, it has a short wooden or metal handle with four prongs. It is used in mixing manure into the soil, for breaking the surface of the soil, so that air and water, can pass easily and it is also used for the removal of weeds on the seed bed.

HAND TROWEL

It is boat shaped or it is either curved sloop metal blade that is attached to a short wooden or metal handle. When using it, you hold it with one hand. It helps in the transplanting of seedlings, for the application of fertilizer and also for the application of manure to the soil, it helps in loosening vegetable beds, it can also be used for light weeding, sampling or mixing up of soil and digging holes for the planting of seeds.

THE SICKLE

The sickle has a curved metal blade that is fitted into a short wooden handle. The inner part of the curved metal blade is very sharp while the other part, has a blunt edge.

To recognise a sickle when been viewed, it has a structure like that of a question mark (?). It used in the plucking of fruits. This can only be possible, when it is tied to a long handle, it can also be used to harvest cereals like rice, wheat barley because they possess thin stems. It can also be used in the harvest of grasses.

IMPORTANCE OF FARM TOOLS TO FARMERS

They make farming processes more comfortable for farmers
They are free and easier to use on the farm
Without the tools on the farm, crops and livestock will not be raised and cultivate properly
Without farming tools, no plants will be able to produce crops which is very important so that we can be able to have food

We hope you enjoyed the class.

Should you have any further question, feel free to ask in the comment section below and trust us to respond as soon as possible.