Farm primitives

I have a hobby that has really begun to take off (as if I needed something else to occupy my limited time), I collect farm primitives. Farm primitives is a small area of antique collecting focusing on old tools and equipment found in barns, farm yards, and the like. I have always sought out old rakes, shovels, hoes, etc... but lately my hobby has taken a dramatic turn.

In a previous post I gave tribute to my father-in-law, Alger Langworthy, who recently passed away. Alger was a collector of all kinds of things and thru him, I was able to bring home a couple fun, interesting pieces for my collection. The first piece is am old, horse drawn, two-armed cultivator. This piece is wonderful. It rolls fine and is begging to be restored and someday put back into use.

The one thing I look mostly look for in farm primitives is their ability to be used again around StonePath. These old tools, with very few exceptions, are not meant for decoration, rather, they are meant to be refurbished and put back to work.

Many of the old rakes, forks, and such just are not made new anymore, or worse are made in China. Their function is still sorely needed, however, there is no market demand. Many of my old, antique forks, find very good use around our homestead. They made need a little TLC, a new handle perhaps, but they still function as designed. The old saying, "They don't make them like they used to." definitely applies in old tools.

The piece pictured above is a classic horse drawn plow. It needs new handles and a  new coat of paint, but otherwise it's a tool looking for a horse.

I hope to start restoring both of these large pieces sometime late fall, but I'm in no hurry. These tools were made to last and can hang on for quite sometime.

I encourage anyone looking to homestead to consider older tools. They are usually much cheaper then a new tool (if it's even made), built far better, and can be surprisingly useful.