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Help: Need Parts For Kiddie Tank. Really.
So as those of you who saw his awesome crib build know, Sean has a lovely young daughter that recently turned one. He’s been out in the shop like a madman recently building her all sorts of cool...
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Test Your Soil At Home
Snow is melting, the weather is warmer, and there are probably only a few more snow storms left this winter. That can only mean it’s time to start thinking about getting your lawn and garden ready for...
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UpRoot Your Weeds
Fiskar’s UpRoot Weed and Root Remover is like a Weed Hound with razor-sharp teeth. The stainless steel, serrated claws cut deeply into the soil to get at the roots of weeds like dandelions and...
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Hot Or Not: Rolling String Trimmers
Handheld string trimmers have their limitations, depending on whether they’re corded, how they’re fueled, and how powerfully they slice through weeds (and how much wear they put on your back during...
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Sows Your Seeds With Seedmaster
With its vibrating action, the Seedmaster allows you sow seeds evenly and quickly. Whenever you turn the thumb wheel, it shakes a few seeds through the V-channel in the baffle. The 9″ long Seedmaster...
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Grafting Tool
Whether you need to repair a branch on your ornamental tree or want to experiment growing the perfect variety of apple, using a grafting tool to make your cuts may help you get better results. This 8″...
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Reader Questions: Replacement Patio Cushions
It’s springtime here in Ohio, and with warmer weather comes the reintroduction of our patio. In summer 2007 we contracted out for a new backyard paver patio. It’s held up well despite the sports-sized...
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Protecting Your Summer Grilling Passion
When I had my house built eight summers ago, I never suspected the wind — and the wind damage — we were in for. We’ve lost shingles, given up siding, and been struck by lighting. For a Toolmonger who...
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Planting Isn’t Evil After All
A longtime friend of the shop, Bob Miller, stopped by this weekend to show me which end of the shovel to use when planting trees. I’ve never had much success with things that grow in the yard and I...
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Let Thou Be Not Jackass: Lopper Vs. Chainsaw
And so it came to pass that there were semi-great storms in the Texas area in early 2011, and they did reap horrid damage unto the land. Trees were splayed in twain and fences did break loose from...
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Projects: Garden Refresh
The front garden area wasn’t looking so hot anymore. Five years of weather and string trimmer abuse doesn’t really make for a great-looking picket row, so I decided to fix the sad-looking space with a...
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Arbor Day Foundation Trees
Two years ago, on a whim, I joined the Arbor Day Foundation (www.arborday.org). With a ten-dollar membership fee I joined the Foundation and they sent me 10 native trees for the area. The trees all...
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Planting Trees Actually Works
I am always stunned when I find things growing in other people’s yards. “How on earth do they manage it?” I always wonder. This time that person is me, for I have grown a shrubbery. Not only has the...
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Reason #189 To Own A Truck: Wheelbarrow
I arrived a little early this year to my parents’ house on Father’s Day because my dad had cut some limbs from the large tree out front. He’d freed them from the tree with a bow saw, as he has done...
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Ryobi’s 4-Cycle Handheld Yard Tools
Yes, two-cycle engines make more power per displacement and weight unit than four-cycle engines, which makes them engines of choice for go-fast go-karts, small motorcycles, and most handheld yard...
View ArticleWorx WG308 JawSaw
It seems that more than one or two folks like to have the basic small cutting ability of a chainsaw without the sometimes very costly learning curve that goes along with running one. So in addition to...
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Hot Or Not: Outdoor Patio Furniture w/Cushions
At some point I’m going to have to break down and build some furniture for my patio. We visited a friend’s house recently and were blown away by the awesome landscaping and fence work in his backyard,...
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A Low-Buck Greenhouse
We’re in the middle of a scorched-Earth summer here in Texas, but I know that some of you up north –especially those of you into gardening — are already starting to think about how you’re going to...
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Are Leaf Blowers Worthwhile?
For many, this time of year signals the yearly struggle to keep the yard clear of leaves for a few more weeks while you can still see the ground (and ominous wintry clouds plot from a distance). For...
View Article36v Mower from Ryobi
The larger li-ion battery packs tool companies are putting out today are getting closer to giving us the kind of power and duration they’ve been promising since the eighties. Just slide a pack in and...
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Plastic Storage Sheds — Not Just For Kids
Yeah, it looks more like one of those kiddy-castles than it does a shed. But still, this might be the only real solution for some folks (like me, sadly) whose overly-zealous homeowner’s association...
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Hands-On: Black & Decker 36v String Trimmer
At no point in my life have I ever looked upon yard work with the same soft-focused, warm fuzzies that seem to inhabit many of my neighbors. They talk of string trimmers the same way I might describe...
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Ryobi’s 40V Li-Ion Garden Tool Line
With the introduction of the green-batteried li-ion line a few years ago, we became fans of Ryobi’s power tools. While the early (blue) One+ line pretty much defined (in our opinion, at least) the...
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Another Safe Way to Trim Branches
Despite the Tim Allen-grunt-inspired popularity of chainsaws, we’ve recommended safety saws for most homeowners. They’re not as versatile as full-on chainsaws, but they trade a little bit of utility...
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Traveling Sprinkler Repair
With severe drought crippling a significant portion of the U.S. this summer, lawn irrigation is an art every Toolmonger with a yard has considered. While I don’t have an in-ground irrigation system,...
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