We’ve discussed the Felco model 20 lopper before, but what is different about their model 29 loppers is that they’ve added a spray device to help control disease — especially those caused by bacteria and fungus. Every time you cut, a spray is directed at both the blade and the wound.

Felco doesn’t give much more information about their model 29 lopper, but it looks like the sprayer is a simple handle pressurized container. The sprayer container also looks like it has a belt clip so you can keep both hands free to use the pruning shears.

Unless you do a ton of pruning, you’ll probably want to stay with your modestly-priced loppers and can of disinfectant/sealer rather than pay almost $300 for Felco’s Solution.

Model 29 Lopper [Felco]
Model 29 Lopper [Felco Store]

There’s a scene in the film Battle of the Bulge where Telly Savalas siphons gas from a drum to fuel his Sherman tank and winds up spiting diesel. Every time I’ve ever siphoned anything I remember it and think to myself, there’s a real man. Me, I’m a big sissy; I’d use something like the Drill-Powered Pump from Northern tools.

Jack a drill into the side to crank up to 650 GPH through a standard garden hose up to fifty feet. The pump is 5 1/2 in. from inlet to outlet, 3 1/2 in. thick x 3 in. high and will require a few band clamps to fit to either end of the section of hose you’d like to use, but other than that just add a 3/8″ or 1/2″ drill.

For us, $5 -$10 is worth it not to have to suck down non-potable liquids the three or four times it would take to get a steady flow going — and we’re not as cool as Telly Savalas anyway.

Drill Powered Pump [Northern Tools]
Street Pricing [Google Products]

You’d think there wasn’t much more you could do to improve the trusty old round-point shovel, but Gemcor, maker of the One-Shot Shovel, thinks they’ve found a way. They start with a basic round-point shovel and give it wings — the “wings” provide extra carrying capacity and extra support for your foot when you step on the shovel, and the extra edges cut the ground quicker.

The 2mm steel blade connects to a 32mm diameter by 3mm thick fiberglass handle with a reinforcing metal collar. One version of the shovel has a shorter shaft ending in a D-handle — the other version features a longer straight handle with two rubber grips that wrap around the handle, an adjustable lower grip and a fixed upper grip with integrated hanger.

Pricing for either shovel starts at $30.

One-Shot Shovel [Corporate Site]
One-Shot Shovel [Shop.com]
One-Shot Shovel [Garrett Wade]

Meteor’s Spark Doctor is yet another multi-tool, but this time they’ve specialized it for working with spark plugs. This multi-tool boasts eight different tools for removing, tuning, and cleaning your plugs.

As always, we’re skeptical about the number of tools a multi-tool packs — sometimes marketing departments like to be sneaky and claim a lanyard hole or carrying case as a tool or function. So let’s enumerate the tools, shall we?

• 5/8″ socket
• 3/4″ socket
• 13/16″ socket
• Brass brush
• Metal file
• Metal pick
• Gap gage
• Gapping tool

The metal file and metal pick are part of the same tool, kind of like the wire stripper is part of the flat screwdriver blade on Leatherman and Swiss Army Knives. If they can get away with it, why not Meteor? All these tools fold into a soft-grip handle.

The Spark Doctor can be had for less than $20 before somebody tries to gouge you with shipping.

Spark Doctor [Meteor]
Street Pricing [Google Products]
Spark Doctor [Sears]

Today you can buy a mower with a guaranteed start on the first or second pull — a huge improvement over my old 10+ pull mower — but why does it still come with a cheap plastic T-handle which can be hard for some people to pull? If this bothers you, replace it with the Start-Me-Up handle from Meteor.

Available in red, green, or gray, the Start-Me-Up D-shaped plastic handle is covered in a soft-grip rubber material that’s more comfortable than a hard plastic T-handle. Included with the handle is 84″ of Duratuff starter rope in case you also need to replace the pull cord. Pricing for the handle starts at $7.

Start Me Up [Meteor]
Street Pricing [Google Products]
Via Amazon [What’s This?]

You could use a couple of hand stretchers to stretch chain link, but where’s the fun in that? Instead hook this A-frame fence stretcher from American Fence & Supply Co. onto the tension bar and then pull the stretcher with a Come-A-Long.

Use this 30″ stretcher for 4′ chain link fence. It runs $30, but unfortunately you’ll pay $25 in shipping charges. If you’re a Texan you also get hit with tax too.

A-Frame Stretcher [American Fence & Supply Co.]

It’s a verifiable fact that working with concrete sucks. The lifting and the mixing, followed by the pouring and smoothing, all while being rushed and worried that the mix isn’t right. I can’t think of much that’s physically more demanding and that has such a big potential for a hard-to-clean mess — which is why we tip our hats to reader Jmillerid and his new front stoop.

This had to be an afternoon of fun and adventure followed by copious amounts of Advil and a nap. In his caption Jmillerid tells us that this great-looking brick and concrete monster has 1,200 lbs of mixed and poured goodness in it. We cringe at the thought but will be the first to say that it looks absolutely great. Well done, sir.

Toolmonger Photo Pool [Flickr]

Pole-mounted loppers let you safely prune trees from the ground without having to work from a ladder, but most loppers are fixed on the pole in a way that only lets you cut branches that are relatively horizontal to the ground. While you can come at the branch at an angle, you’re never going to cut the branches sticking straight up. With Wolf-Garten’s adjustable angle loppers, the head swivels 180° to reach troublesome branches.

The loppers’ anvil cutters are operated with a 4-fold pulley mechanism. The mechanical advantage this gives you means you can prune longer with less effort. Wolf-Garten precision grinds the non-stick blades to give you thousands of clean cuts. The loppers can cut branches up to 40mm (1-1/2″) and they work with Wolf-Garten’s Vario handles, up to 5.7m (18.5′).

The loppers alone will run you at least $40 — then you’ll have to spend at least another $15 on one of their extension poles.

Tree Lopper [Wolf-Garten]
Street Pricing [Google Products]
Via Amazon [What’s This?]

If you have an odd-shaped yard or certain plants that need more water than others, the Noodlehead Flexible Lawn and Garden Sprinkler allows you to point 12 “noodles” to precisely the right place for optimal watering. Product literature indicates that the three holes in each noodle give you six feet of coverage, up to 20 feet away, under normal water pressure.

As shown, you can attach it to a garden hose — and then place it precisely in the same spot to get the benefits of exact water distribution. If you already have underground sprinklers, you can attach the Noodlehead to a ½” riser, solving that precision problem.

The precision water distribution this device claims to provide seems to mandate a permanent installation. The noodles are pretty tall, so the implementation design (inset, top) seems destined for a lawn mowing accident; however, if you are able to isolate the head from the lawn (inset, below), it appears that you can do as claimed.

The 12-headed Noodlehead Flexible Lawn and Garden Sprinkler runs about $13 at Amazon, a little more around the web.

Noodlehead Sprinkler [Corporate Site]
Street Pricing [Google Products]
Via Amazon [What’s This?]

Northern Tool offers this $30 propane torch kit for burning weeds and melting snow and ice. With a six-foot hose and a two-foot handle, you’ll need to figure out a way to haul around the (minimum) 20lb propane cylinder.

The torch kit has a manual igniter, so be sure to pick up a proper ignition source as well. Your cigarette lighter is not recommended.

The trick to getting these work right is to singe the weeds, boiling the moisture in the plant cells above ground to dehydrate the weed to a point of no return. It doesn’t take much to terminate — just a second or two — and you must absolutely be careful when using this in drier fields to prevent flare-ups.

In the winter, once you’ve melted all your snow, make sure to sweep the water off the driveway. Otherwise it’ll just end up refreezing, forming your new skate rink, which will amuse your kids but won’t make the 6:00 am departure for work any easier.

Propane Torch Kit [Northern Tool]
Via Amazon [What’s This?]

The Eagle has landed — in your backyard. Well, okay, if you don’t believe the black sphere pictured above is spaceworthy, maybe you’d believe it’s a giant hamster ball for your dog? It turns out that it’s actually the ECOmposter, a compost bin.

The ECOmposter is constructed from recycled materials. The spherical shape maximizes the ratio of surface area to volume, which in layman’s terms means it’ll hold heat better. This shape, coupled with the dark color and the 16 integrated air tubes, helps the compost decompose faster, possibly even in as little as 4-6 weeks. The spherical shape also lets you roll the bin in any direction, mixing the compost more evenly. There are openings on both the top and bottom for adding or retrieving compost.

The ECOmposter comes with either a short plastic base or a taller tubular metal base with rollers that lets you rotate the ball in place. It looks like one of the best prices comes from Sam’s Club, where it’s just $150. If you’re not careful you could pay up to $300.

ECOmposter [Corporate Site]
Street Pricing [Google]
Via Amazon

The head of this particular model expands from 7″ to 25″ wide and can be locked at any width in between. By contracting the head back down to 7″, you can store the 69″ rake in much less space than you would need for a full-sized one.

Shipping on this rake runs about $15, or you could probably pick up a knock-off for under $10 at a local store like I did.

Bond Manufacturing [Corporate Site]
Street Pricing [Google]
Via Amazon [What’s This?]

The Gilmour Traveling Sprinkler is a cast iron, green-and-yellow model of the classic John Deere tractor. It follows the path you lay out with the water hose, covering up to 13,500 sq. ft. of lawn, and the manufacturer says its adjustable spray arms water at a diameter ranging from 15 to 55 ft. Gilmour also says the 2-speed traveler will follow up to 200 feet of hose before the sprinkler’s shutoff ramp automatically stops it and turns off the water.

User reviews at Amazon and at DrillSpot are a toss-up between one-star (hate it) and five-star (love it). Some folks say the sprinkler works especially well for odd-shaped yards and that kids get a kick out of it. Others complain that the gears strip themselves and the plastic internal parts fall apart right away. Are the Deere design and the cool factor of a self-propelling sprinkler enough to part with $70 – 100? Let us know in comments.

Traveling Sprinkler [Gilmour]
Via Amazon [What’s This?]
Street Pricing [Google]

The Fiskars Micro-Tip pruners are great for precision trimming jobs on small plants, flowers, and even vegetable gardens where a larger pruner would be unwieldy. The non-slip handles, blade cover, and blade lock also keep the sharp parts away from your soft parts. Looking at the 1-1/2″ blade, I can also imagine a host of uses in the shop where larger snips or cutters would be too big or clumsy for intricate cutting or trimming work – feel free to share your ideas in comments!

Street pricing runs about $10 from your local Home Depot.

Fiskars Micro-Tip Pruners [Home Depot]
Street Pricing [Google]
Via Amazon [What’s This?]

Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls — gather ’round for the fight of the century. In this corner, weighing in at anywhere from 120cc to 190cc, depending on the situation, is the burly brawler, the buff bender, the big boss from Wauwatosa, Wisconsin: Briggs & Stratton! In this corner, weighing in at anywhere from 160cc to a monstrous 690cc is the heavy hitter, the hot hater, the hypnotic hustler from Alpharetta, Georgia: Honda! These two will duke it out to see which small engine reigns supreme…right after this commercial break.

Most anyone who’s ever used a lawn mower, generator, pressure washer, or other gasoline-powered yard product has had experience with one or both of these motors. Briggs & Stratton and Honda are the leading manufacturers of small engines in the U.S. and in many other parts of the world. Their engines find their way into just about any brand found at the big box retailer as well as the mom-and-pop shops down the street. But which one really stands out as the better choice?

Briggs & Stratton certainly wins when it comes to market share. I would conservatively estimate that 80% (if not more) of the engines in all lawn mowers, pressure washers, generators, and tractors currently on the open market are manufactured by Briggs. Their air intake systems are second to none, incorporating an advanced cooling and filtration system that allows the engine to operate at a lower temperature, thereby likely extending its operating life. However, with so many different engine models and spec designs, their offerings can range from a really solid engine to a piece of junk and anywhere in between.

Honda has a more specified offering on the market. They really only make three main engines that go in almost all of their equipment — the GCV 160 and GCV 190 in homeowner equipment and the GXV 690 in more commercial equipment. Both are solid engines and incorporate an overhead cam design that makes them easier to start and quieter. However, you do pay the price for the Honda; it often averages $100 or more markup from a comparable Briggs.

So which titanic template of technical torque wins out in this battle royale? Let us know in comments.

Briggs & Stratton Engines
Honda Engines

I always stare in wonder at folks who can manage to actually grow something in a garden.  It’s a mystery to me — always has been. I can work on motors or build furniture fine, but when it comes to keeping things green in an outdoor environment, the best I can do is let the weeds take over. Reader Fred does a little better than that. Here’s a great pic of his micro greenhouse experiment.

Gardening in Wisconsin, the land that global warming forgot. Trying to start pepper plants in peat pots. The problem is that these seeds need temperatures about 80 degrees to germinate. It’s 61 degrees two weeks into June.

So, we’ll plant ‘em anyway and put a clear plastic deli container over each one to act as a micro greenhouse.

Down here in Texas that would set the poor plant on fire if I did it. I’ve planted two things in my entire life that have grown. One is a cottonwood that thrives still in my father’s yard, and the other is a little oak tree that’s still clinging to life –- barely — in my front yard.  Best of luck to you and your peppers, sir.

Toolmonger Photo Pool [Flickr]

Can anybody tell us why you’d buy an 8-inch hatchet — what good is a hatchet this short?  You’re not going to get much of a swing with it, and you’re not really gaining much portability over a 14-inch hatchet.

Although it’s short, the hatchet seems well-constructed.  Fiskars starts with a 7/8lb, drop-forged steel head, hardens it, and puts a non-stick coating on it.  They designed the reinforced fiberglass composite handle to prevent the blade from loosening or separating altogether.

The tiny hatchet retails for a not-so-tiny $34, but at least a sheath is included.

8″ Hatchet [Fiskars]
Street Pricing [Google]
Via Amazon [What’s This?]

Yes, ladies and gents, this is a preview of the upcoming Craftsman C3 cordless chainsaw — they’ll add it to the existing C3 line in late July.  Craftsman recently released this information to Sears associates only, and just as of today it’s cleared for public consumption. On with the show!

If you’re familiar with the Craftsman C3 cordless power tool system (or any cordless power tool combo system on the market, for that matter) you know the tools are designed to all share a common battery source. The chainsaw is no different — it’ll run on the same DieHard 19.2 NiCad and Li-ion batteries currently available for the existing C3 lineup.

This chainsaw will sport a 10″ blade with manual push-button oiler and inertia-activated chain brake. Early estimations put the cutting time at 35 minutes with a fully charged NiCad battery and closer to an hour with a fully charged Li-ion. If the specs sound vaguely familiar, it’s because this chainsaw is designed by the same manufacturer that makes the Ryobi One+ system which has included a small chainsaw for a little over a year now.

Obviously, you won’t be felling any trees with a chainsaw like this, but for small-scale pruning and trimming or for cleanup after a storm you can’t beat the simplicity of popping the battery into a 6-pound chainsaw and hacking at everything in your path. This is especially convenient if you already own any C3 tools. No picture exists as of yet — at least not one I’m legally allowed to show you until it shows up on the Sears website — so for now you can all enjoy my Photoshopped image.

The package will include the chainsaw, one NiCad battery, and a charger.  It’ll retail for around $120 and go on sale for about $90, and it’ll be available in your local Sears by late July.  No word yet on if the chainsaw will be offered alone without the battery and charger as a less expensive add-on tool.

Craftsman C3 Set [Sears]

If you just have a lawn mower, a Gas Caddy like the one pictured above might be a little overkill — but if you maintain a bunch of gas-powered equipment, you might appreciate this simple solution for transferring and storing all that fuel.

John Dow constructs the tanks from cross-linked polyethylene to stand up to the rigors of use, and they mold in a handle which doubles as a rest for the caddy when you transport it lying down.  Depending on capacity they outfit the caddy with either 10″ or 15″ pneumatic tires to help you move the fuel to where you need it.

The pictured model features a two-way rotary pump that lets you dispense gas from the caddy or siphon it into the 25-gallon tank.  This Gas Caddy weighs 60 pounds when empty and includes a 10′ hose with reinforced metal tip.

You’ll pay $300 to $700 for a John Dow Gas Caddy depending on which options it comes with and which retailer you purchase it from.

Gas Caddy [John Dow]
Street Pricing [Google]
Via Amazon [What’s This?]

If you’re looking for a good weekend project, Lowe’s website offers instructions on building your own backyard putting green. Using wood, sand, paver base, astroturf, PVC, and a few basic tools — plus some elbow grease/quality time spent with the kiddo — this looks like a project you could do even without the big box. In fact, one online magazine dedicates a whole section to building your own greens that go beyond the 8′ by 8′ square.

We see a few potential concerns, though:  warped wood over time, protecting the green in winter months, and drainage issues since the flat turf and raised border can retain water.  Do you have experience building a green or ideas about how to improve drainage?  Post in comments and let us know!

Weekend Projects [Lowe's]
DIY Backyard Putting Greens [Residential Putting Green Magazine]

Skil just recently introduced the Isio 2-in-1 gardening tool — it’s a new lithium-ion grass and shrub trimmer with a tool-less blade-changing system that allows you to convert it from lawn shears to shrub trimmer and back again easily.

At one pound, the Isio supposedly weighs 50% less than comparable products, and it features soft grip material on the top and bottom of the handle to make extended use more comfortable.  The Isio uses laser-cut, diamond-ground blades from Switzerland to make clean and healthy cuts.

The 3.6V lithium-ion battery holds its charge for 18 months, so it won’t be dead next spring when you dust it off.  Using the wall-mountable Energy Star-qualified battery charger, Skil claims its 5-hour charge time is three times faster than other garden products on the market, and the charge lasts 33% longer.

The Isio comes with the shrub trimmer blade, the grass shear blade, and the charger for $80 at either Lowe’s or Amazon.

Isio [Skil]
Isio [Lowe's]
Via Amazon [What’s This?]

In this great action shot, reader Vincent Ma cuts some stone for his latest backyard project and shows off his hard-won work clothes.

Using an angle grinder from Canadian Tire, and a Norton diamond blade, I can score grooves in the brick in order to snap the “wings” off the Celtik wall unit. This way I can make beveled units for curved sections of the wall.

My work pants are nearing their end. Here a giant rip opened up and all I can do is duct-tape it to prevent my underwear from showing. Yes, I do know how to sew, but I don’t wanna bother with it.

Never feel bad about working so hard that your work clothes can’t take the strain. The only idiots who’ll make fun of you for that are the same people who’d hire out the project you just did with your bare hands. The duct tape just means you value one type of work over another this weekend — nothing wrong with that.  Also, the stones look great.

Toolmonger Photo Pool [Flickr]

I’m not sure if the Hose End Safeguard (HES) is the solution to a problem I never had or a cheap way to make sure I never have the problem.  WenDan Enterprises claims the HES will save you money in the long run by protecting your stuff from scratches and saving you from having to replace the hose end.

The HES slips over the male end of the hose and protects the threads.  It also keeps the hose end from damaging your car, windows, or other property.  When you need to connect something to your hose you flip the cover back to expose the threads.  You can then flip the cover up again and it’ll direct any leaks from the coupling away from you.

You’ll pay $1.50 for one Hose End Safeguard, plus a little over a buck for shipping.  If it can just keep the dirt out of the threads it might be worth it.

Hose End Safeguard [WenDan Enterprises]

The makers of the SnapBagger claim that it out-performs most other methods of bagging leaves.  You can rake leaves into it like a dustpan, scoop leaves from the ground, or load leaves into it while somebody else holds it, like you might already do.

Constructed from steel sheet metal and powder-coated to resist corrosion, the SnapBagger weighs only 3 pounds.  Most 33-gallon and larger lawn and leaf bags will fit over the SnapBagger’s triangular head.  A bungee fits into a channel around the head, holding the bag in place.  When you’re done bagging leaves and ready to go grab a cold one, the SnapBagger disassembles with a few quick-release buttons and folds up to about the size of a pizza box.

You can purchase the SnapBagger from the corporate site for $25 plus $10 shipping.

SnapBagger [Corporate Site]

Walk into the gardening section at your local big box and you’ll to notice two different kinds of cutting tools — bypass and anvil.  You’ll see these two options for everything from pruners to clippers to loppers to hedge shears.  So how do you know which one is right for you?  Learn more after the jump.

With a bypass cutting tool, you draw a curved or straight blade past another blade — this creates a scissor-like motion that works well for cutting live green plants.  The spongy, firm outer wall surrounding the stem yields easily to that bypass motion.

With an anvil cutting tool, you bring down a straight blade against a wide anvil usually made of steel or hard rubber.  Anvil pruners are better suited for dead and dried-out plants — the crushing motion causes the brittle stem to kind of explode and separate.

Choosing the wrong tool for the job can frustrate your pruning project.  A bypass cutter used on a dead plant causes the brittle stem to bend and get caught between the two blades as they glide past each other. This can damage the bolt mechanism holding the blades together, reducing the tool’s cutting effectiveness. And when you try to cut a live plant with an anvil, the spongy stem tends to crush, even with a sharp blade, resulting in a jagged cut and causing damage to the live plant.

So next time you need to do some pruning, ask yourself: Bypass or anvil? That is the question.