Fall & winter pruning the easy way

Some things never change.

Most things get better with time.

Garden plants will always grow, beckoning your care.

Powered by the loving force that guides, strengthens and inspires, we work with our hands, nurturing life to bring forth the bounty that it was intended to bring.

As we pass from summer to autumn, with the planting of fall crops comes fall & winter pruning.

What a joy it is to work with nature and enjoy the progress and betterment of all things.

Then, amongst the trees and shrubs you come across branches that you would ordinarily cut with your regular pruners (or secateurs – depending on your gardening dialect) but no matter how much strength you add to the task, it is to no avail.

What is needed here is some technological assistance, provided by the wisdom that fills the universe... in the form of a Ratcheting Pruner.

Most things do get better with time; Including the B-575 ratchet pruner from Barnel International. More than a few of our garden tool customers were upset to hear that we no longer carried the B-575 ratcheting pruner that helped them power through otherwise impossible cuts with ease.

That is until we responded with the news that the B-575 had been replaced with a new pruner with better capabilities and an even sturdier design.

The new B-585 ratchet pruner now has a wonderful handle design that many gardeners prefer over the older B-575 design. Included in the newly designed pruner is a flower knife tucked neatly into the anvil blade and a sharpener / oiler kept in a handy spot inside the body of the pruners.  

With the new B-585 ratchet pruner you can do all the same pruning work you are used to doing in your garden, orchard or vineyard. The difference between using a regular pruner (or secateurs) and a ratchet pruner is that the ratchet pruner will behave much in the same way as your old non ratcheting ones until you come to the branch that you used to have trouble cutting. Then the built in gear drive in the pruners will enable you to push the blade through the branch in smaller less stressful increments. Ratchet pruners break an otherwise impossible cut down into about 3 or 4 easy handle squeezes making those otherwise impossible cuts seem a lot less like work.

WOW! Is the typical response we hear from gardeners who try our ratcheting pruners for the first time.

Well as if the more comfortable handle and ease of use is not enough – You can now use your ratchet pruners in flower arranging, using the ratchet action to cut through small bunches of flower stems and the flower knife to angle cut the stems to keep them fresher longer. You can also use the built in knife to cut twine and other garden tasks. Add to that the handy oiler / sharpener – dab some oil onto the cutting edge of the blade and with a few quick strokes of the sharpener you have a tremendous gardening ally that is always sharp and ready to serve. 

We always thought the B-575 ratchet pruner was the best ratchet pruner on the market with a stronger and more durable design than others.

The fact that plants grow and need care never changes.

Like the gardeners we know and the gardens they tend, the new B-585 ratchet pruner is a reminder of the fact that even the best things do get better with time.

Keeping gardening tools sharp

What comes to mind when you think of the difference between using a sharpened tool or a dull gardening tool?
Work!
Why work hard at pruning jobs?
If you had a sharp pruner or garden shear you could be enjoying the art of gardening and be inspired to do more.
Sharpening gardening tools does not have to be difficult especially if you have the right tool for the job.
We're glad we discovered the All In One Sharpener to help make garden tool blade sharpening faster and easier.
It is made in the U.S.A.  - Good for America

 The All in 1 tool sharpener is great for sharpening knives, pruners, loppers, shears, axes, mower blades or scissors.
Now there is one tool that takes the ambiguity out of getting the right blade pitch on each of your tools for consistent sharpening.
This sharpener has an ergonomic handle that is easy to grip with adjustable carbide inserts that you merely draw along the edge of your tool blade to sharpen.
It is designed to sharpen single or double edged blades

The portion of the sharpener that you can use on your bypass pruners (or other single edged tools like mower blades) is designed to reach all the way to the back of the blade so you can easily sharpen the entire blade edge of most bypass pruners.

The All in 1 tool sharpener actually makes sharpening gardening tools fun!
When we were first testing this product; after I had sharpened just about all the tools we have, I just needed to sharpen more tools!  We were invited to be a part of a permaculture workshop by the Blue Ridge Permaculture Network. It was a great opportunity to meet some of the best gardeners and farmers in our area and sharpen all of their tools. The event was hosted by Dave and Leora Vincenti at Montfair Resort Farm.

We had no idea that we would have such a response when we offered to sharpen tools while we were there.
It's was amazing to see the numbers and types of tools that had seen the "full potential" of their usefulness by the farmers and gardeners who brought them along for the workshop.

While the folks who attended the permaculture workshop were sharpening their skills and developing their potential to produce healthier food and protect their land for future generations; their tools were accomplishing similar goals.

The gardening tools we use are one of our best allies.
Keeping them sharp helps both the tool and the gardener, and in a way the people we serve and the planet we nurture.

It has been established: the All in 1 garden tool sharpener is truly a Way Cool Tool.

When digging garden beds - Get the right tool for the job.... Use a broadfork!

 I answered a call this morning from a local gardener who just had to get a broad fork today;.. as in Right Now!
After a long ordeal with her BCS tiler that only scratched the surface of her central Virginia clay soil garden plots. The sweet potato slips waiting it out in a glass jar,.. just itching to grow...



The call came in around 10:45 on Saturday morning.
By noon she was using her new broadfork. - faster and easier than her smaller wooden handled fork.
With all the planting that needed to get done in her garden she said the Bulldog (Clarington Forge) fork she had would have taken forever. 
Based on my experience with our broadfork, what would have taken two or three days of digging will now be able to be done in a day or two.
Our gardening neighbor said it was great to have a tool that was quieter than a tiller so she could start gardening earlier and not bother the neighbors.
Before I left she reminded me of what Mr. Natural always said...

...and so she did!

You can buy your broad fork here at WayCoolTools.com

Save your back and garden easier!

Here in the mountains of central Virginia we have some of the heaviest clay soil this side of the Rockies.
Oh and yeah, the rocks... there is another challenge to producing marketable crops on a small scale.
We have gotten many requests for a broad fork that will stand up to the kind of soil conditions we have around here. A permaculture instructor we met told us that the round tine broad fork she was using snapped a tine in the soil she was working over in Nelson County, VA. What is a gardener to do!
Well, as you may have read in a prior blog post of ours we set out to meet that challenge head on and come up with a better broadfork. The end result is the Ultimate Broadfork - available at our online store: www.waycooltools.com listed under digging tools.

The secret to the success of this amazing garden tool in heavy soil is the wedge shaped tapered tines.
They are heat treated for strength and flexibility. They will flex but they will not bend or break.
The wedge shaped tines slice into the soil and break it apart as you pull back on the two heat treated tubular steel handles. The broad fork is light enough to chop the soil clods up by dropping the fork onto the clods or just using an up and down chopping motion that you would naturally use with your "D" handled fork.
Now instead of taking the better part of a day working the soil in your vegetable beds with your "D" handled fork, you can do the same job in a few hours using the Ultimate Broadfork.
For really heavy soil like ours, I still use the "D" handled fork from Clarington Forge to fine tilth and shape the beds for seed planting.
Now a word about heat treated steel tools.
Heat treating is a special process that allows for a lighter weight, stronger tool. Less metal, less weight and more strength.
The handles are stronger than wood and won't break or splinter.
One of the nicest things about using a broad fork, besides the fact that you can get more done in less time is that it's easier on your back. You can break up even the heaviest clay soil without stooping.
After all these years of bending over to prepare garden beds, it sure is a relief to have the Ultimate Broadfork.

New Propane Engine Conversion Parts and Tools

We're adding some new propane engine conversion products including engine diagnostics gear!
In order to meet market demand and improve engine performance we are offering commercial grade parts and diagnostics gear to help you achieve the performance you need. To help insure a successful conversion of your gasoline powered engine to clean, ethanol free fuel we are changing the way our propane engine conversion products are offered at WayCoolTools.com.

Here is our new three step process that will help you do a successful propane conversion on your gasoline powered small engine.
1) Tell us what engine you would like to convert from gasoline to propane.
2) We will send you an email to specify the key parts you'll need for your conversion and make suggestions for parts you will need to convert your engine to propane.
3) You can then go Here to order the parts you want for your propane engine conversion kit.

We're here to answer your questions by phone or email and look forward to hearing your success stories to share with others who want to go green like you.

Propane engine conversion process

Converting your engine to propane just got easier.
Simply fill out the form below and submit to us, we will respond with a detailed parts list which you may order on our shopping cart . This process usually takes 1-3 days. If you have a time constraint, contact us by email or phone after filling out this form.

Propane Engine Conversion Process Please provide more information so we may provide a parts list. this process takes 1-3 days usually.
Name *	First Last
Email *
Phone *	### - ### - #### if you are outside of the USA, give contact info in notes area below
Engine manufacturer *	Briggs and Stratton    Generac    Honda    Kawasaki    Kohler    Lct    Subaru-Robin    Tecumseh    Yamaha    Other(specify below)
Please specify manufacturer if other
Age of engine *	Less than 5 years   5-10 years   manufactured before 1995(usually not recommended)   unknown
Horsepower of engine *
Application engine is powering
model number of engine *
serial number of engine *
File Upload	if some information above is unknown, please send scan or photo of the gasket located between the carburetor and engine head
Notes and questions

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Broadfork: made in the USA

The Ultimate Broadfork- Made in the USA!
A human powered rototiller.

We've had many requests for a Broadfork, and without further ado: here it is! We have collaborated with WW Manufacturing and consulted with Eliot Coleman on the design of this powerful garden tool. Constructed with extra strong, heat treated steel blades and aircraft quality, lightweight, tubular steel handles. The 7 tines are 10" long and tapered to a point. Overall it is 60" tall and 27" wide, yet weighs only 15 lbs.
The size allows you to deep till a 30" wide bed in one pass, improving tilth without disturbing soil structure. Perfectly designed to maintain your double dug beds in a fraction of the time (and effort) it takes to re-tilth with a digging fork.
It's very easy and stable to stand on this tool and use your weight and gravity to move the blades through the soil. An all body workout similar to a rowing machine, but you are outside listening to birdsong and feeling the sunshine as you "work" :-)
We will post a video soon, when the soil here dries out a bit, of the broadfork in action.