While equipment companies are doing their part to reduce corrosion of tractors and farm equipment, how well you maintain your machinery will determine its useful life. Here are some rust prevention tips.

Many lawnmowers, string trimmers, leaf blowers, and other lawn and garden equipment with small engines were inundated during the flooding from hurricanes Katrina and Rita. In many cases, that equipment can be salvaged.

Pine straw makes an excellent mulch and is much in demand for landscaping. If you own some land with pine trees, you can easily rake your own pine straw.

If you grow a vegetable garden, you probably get tired of bending over placing seeds in a furrow. Perhaps you are also tired of making the planting furrow and then covering it over and tamping. If so, you might be interested in one of the garden seeders on the market.

Garden tools will last longer if we take good care of them, but it can be a real bother to do so. A simple trick will make it much easier for you to keep your shovels, hoes, trowels, etc. clean and protected.

Electric tools eliminate the fire hazards associated with gasoline, but introduce the hazard of electric shock or electrocution. There are some steps you can take to improve the safety of electric tools.

When tightening bolts on your equipment, it is sometimes helpful to know the recommended torque. If so, this table should help you.

A dirt scoop is a handy attachment for small tractors. It will allow you to dig, move, and dump small quantities of soil, gravel, sand, or other materials much easier than you can do with a shovel and wheelbarrow and much less expensively than with a front-end loader on your tractor.

One of the most important things you can do to maintain your small engines is to service the air filters as needed.

Carefull examination of the spark plug(s) can yield insights into other maintenance needs on your engine.