March 21, 2009 - Heavy Hoe workshop



=Introduction=

Heavy hoes are a versatile tool in agriculture. See many uses described on our blog post.

Learn to fabricate a heavy hoe. In this workshop, we will fabricate heavy hoes for you, and you get to take one home if you like. You will see how they are made from scrap metal, by torch cutting and a little welding, followed by sharpening and tempering. In this workshop, you will see our open source tractor, LifeTrac, in action, powering the welder.

=Details=


 * Time: Noon to 3 PM, Saturday, March 21, 2009
 * Place: Factor e Farm in Maysville, Missouri, 1 hour north of Kansas City
 * Admission: Free to True Fans - see blog post about the 1000 True Fans - 1000 Global Villages Campaign. $55 admission for others. Note: you may sign up to be a True Fan any time prior to the workshop to obtain free admission. True Fans pay only for materials, or $10, if they want to take a heavy hoe home with them. Also, discounts are offered to supporters and other friends of Factor e Farm on a case-by-case basis, such that the economic barrier is eliminated for those who are interested in the workshop.

=Signing Up=

To sign up, email us at opensourceecology at gmail dot com. Tell us your name and that you're interested in the Heavy Hoe Workshop. You may also call us at 206.202.3387 and leave a message with your name and best time to call. We require payment in advance for people who are not members of the True Fans group, in order to assure your commitment, and so we can prepare the correct amount of materials. You may send payment via PayPal by going to our Donations page and making a one-time donation, or by check or money order. We must receive payment prior to the workshop. You may also sign up to the 1000 True Fans campaign at the same page. If you are signing up to the 1000 True Fans campaign, please send us a separate email to let us know that you'd like to attend the workshop. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to [mailto:opensourceecology@gmail.com email us].

=More Information=

See the blog post regarding our other work in agriculture and appropriate technology.

Excerpt from our blog:

"Next, we move on to low-tech agriculture. We’ve built 3 heavy hoes already.

These are Made in the USA - as Factor e Productions - blade of which I torched from flat scrap. They are the next best farm tool outside of LifeTrac or MicroTrac. We love them around here because we’ve already used our heavy-duty versions for brush clearing, stump ousting, tilling, weeding, digging, trenching, and floor leveling. That’s the most important hand tool you can have on a farm - and given the choice between this and a shovel, I’d grab the heavy hoe immediately. Greg Baka from easydigging.com, of Columbia, Missouri, also imports these from Brazil, but he may be getting into actual fabrication, as he is friendly to developing local productive enterprise. Greg gave us a heavy hoe when we met him at our Columbia lecture one year ago - and we immediately found the tool to be extremely useful. We broke the handle quickly, per heavy duty use and operator malfunction at Factor e Farm, and that’s why we’re making ours all out of metal, with a lifetime warranty.

We’re offering a workshop where you can learn to fabricate the heavy hoe. The workshop is free to True Fans, and $55 for others, and you can take the tool home with you. This workshop is in a little less than 2 weeks from now - Saturday, March 21, from Noon to 3 PM, so sign up now and pass this on to others. Email us for more information. A heavy hoe is for every food producer."

http://openfarmtech.org/weblog/?p=547