What's in my toolbox | Essential Tools for Tractor Owners 

You can never have enough tools. Was an equipment and industrial mechanic for 20+ years before becoming an engineer. My garage has tool boxes from work + tool boxes for home, truck box has full sets of tools, house has tool sets, lawn mower, log splitter, chipper and tractor all have tool boxes, even have a box just for the chainsaws. Makes me happy and able to fix things anywhere. Of course the downfall is that my wife really dislikes when I buy more tools…..

Good tools pay for themselves over there life span,multiple times.Not only being able to do at home repairs on your equipment,but well maintained equipment carries a much higher end value when it presents itself from someone with pride of ownership.As my father said"buy cheap,buy twice",take care of your tools and equipment.It's forever etched in my DNA.

Dad was a mechanic so I inherited an eclectic set of SAE tools. Snap-on, Mac, Cornwell, and S-K covers most of the brands. In 66 I bought a Honda motorcycle and quickly found out I needed some metric tools. I don't know if it was genetic or a virus from Dad but my first set of tools was Snap-on. The Snap-on guy sold me 11 chrome sockets, 2 extensions, and a 3/8 ratchet he repossessed for $24. I was hooked. I am also hooked on Reelcraft. Too bad I'm retired and cannot afford my addiction.

I need a large tool box. I currently have 3, yes 3, narrow stacked tool boxes. I am always searching for that one tool I need. Some day I will consolidate all of my tools in one large box. I bought both of my sons a very complete mechanics set of tools the Christmas after they got their first cars. Tools are always a good gift!

When you talked about SCREW drivers on Philip HEADS. The (WERA- 350 PH) has groves in the head, it is amazing what just a notch will do for Philip HEADS, locking into hard to undo screw heads. The Philips screw drivers have a green and black handle. But the notches do wear.

The one quality of life tool id add in there is an electric grease gun. A friend got me one for Christmas last year, and oh man, it made life much easier. We all know loader grease fittings need to be done frequently, most compact tractor manuals end up being around the 10h mark, your's may vary, but it is so much easier to do when it takes one minute instead of five or ten- a little thing that pays off big in keeping expensive equipment running much longer

Nice tour I have a Prusa also its been reliable close to 3k hours on it now. I tell myself every year I am going to rig up a commercial 240v pressure washer like that every year lol and I never do. Hope your Christmas was a merry one..

Thanks for showing us your space Neil. It’s relieving that your garage isn’t “perfect”

Being an Auto tech for 30+ years it’s very handy that most if not all my hand tools come in handy working on tractor stuff! I still do a little wrenching on the side but find myself using my professional tools more on my own things now days! Many of my tools are over kill for my home use but I’ve had them for years if not decades ,and they don’t owe me anything. I’m even looking into modifying my hoist pads to lift my tractor if need be ..😊

Yep, that’s something I need too also do fix up and organize my box . Just seen like I don’t have the time. That will be my new year’s things to do.

Neil you are more organized than I am. I have a Worx pressure washer handheld work's great. I also have a cheap 140 Lincoln mig welder that works great. People told me it was to small for me. I build my own tools to get my work done. Thank you for this video. I need to organize my tools more.

Great video! Having the right tools when you need them is key. I have the exact same tap and die set and have used it several times since moving to our small farm. Thanks for sharing.

Good choice on 3-d printers 👍

Nice video. I thought this was going to be what tools to carry on your tractor not what tools you needed to properly take care of all maintenance on your equipment. What tools do you recommend to keep in a toolbox on each piece of equipment. Would make another good video. Does a tractor take a different set of tools than skid steer or excavator and does size make a difference? Compact verses larger.

Thank you for showing the TOOL essentials. I myself have a (adjustment wrench) that is 2 feet long, opens more than (2-1/2") on adjustment. Also a few different size cut yourself cheater long bars. Cut Galvanized Fence post pieces make great cheater bars. The cheater bar has to FIT over your open end wrench but still not be sloppy (lots of play in it) carry a full set of open ends WITHOUT the (ratcheting End) on one side. Just standard box wrenches. Size from small up to 2" is my largest. Never forget to ADD the (15/16) open end to your fleet of Tools, it is sadly forgotten in standard tool SETS, you must buy separately. Can't tell you how many times that I needed that opening on some Hydraulic lines, on fitting sometimes it's amazing how big of a wrench size you need to snug the threads securely to threaded ends. Like you so Brilliantly pointed out. No matter how many American make equipment you run into taking off fittings.The (METRIC) bolt head is always there.

Nice set up. I personally have a "junk" drawer in my shop and house garage tool chests. It has some goofy Sh_t in it. Like dental mirror, dentist pick, tongue depressive and a host of items like you stated may need but once a year or two. BUT I had it in inventory. Keep the videos coming. Happy New year.

Nice idea on the garage corner for the hoses. I haven't used my air impact wrench since I bought the DeWalt 20v unit. It's amazing how much torque it can generate. You must have access to an off road diesel supplier, no? Here the on road tax is over $0.50/gallon. Always enjoy your channel...

Great video. I need to organize my tools better - needed the reminder and some thoughts. Happy New Year.

Great setup! Simple tools to get your jobs done nothing better than that.

+ Multimeter, grease gun, breaker bar, PB blaster, and loctite (and lots of extra cotter pins and such)

Lol cute toolbox. Merry Christmas

Great information. One thing I would recommend is to NOT use a tap and die set to chase threads. A tap and die set is designed to cut threads and can damage existing threads. A better idea is to get a "Thread Chasing" set. They are actually easier to use than the tap/die. A consumer-quality set with both SAE and metric runs about $70.

Opened that service kit like aVe haha love it

Is that a Stihl box cutter? Haha (13:15)

Circlip pliers turn out to invaluable on a compact tractor. As do seal pullers and a DIY set of aluminum tubes for seal seaters. It is also a much bigger investment in tools buying a tractor than you think if you track it and you really need to do some serious hours to make it comparable to hiring someone with specialist equipment...

I like your setup Neil, and I agree...some tools I buy the nice stuff, but I've got no problem with "bargain" tools for others.

Neil you must be a good sales person I just bought a Vevor portable Diesel Tank from your youtube story. My toolbox just got deeper. Bob

Nice tool box…I have the cheap style that separate and are setup like a 2 wheel dolly. One for wood stuff and other mechanical. If ya get a big snap-on can I have yours.

all you need is a regular wrench set with a few big sizes i have used a 32-46 and 55mm wrenches ore than a 10 or 13 which are very common then a socket set and pliers many of them keep a few sets on the machine if you have them youll see how often you will use them and then the most important thing i have is a hammer a tiny hammer a little bigger hammer and then a big hammer and after that a really big hammer i have but a hammer to my tractor more than my other tools

Great videos series, really enjoy them. Love the 3D printer, I have a Prusa MK3S printer as well, use it all the time.

love these videos! Not sure if it would be a big seller or not but Messick's should put together a "starter kit" of tools for new tractor owners. Maybe tier it up with a more advanced kit and the mother of all kits.

We need a full shop/garage tour!

Love these video’s. Hope you had a great Christmas.

Merry Christmas!

great video! Love the open presentation of your own tools. I have a similar set of tools, but have found some wrenches that get much larger... almost 2" are need for some of my old Kobota Backhoe... on a John Deere 755. :)

Pretty good haul Neil. Maybe you should try the pressure washer on that side by side. Lol. Merry Christmas and a happy new year to you and yours. Thanks for the great content.

Nice One Neil Thanks again

Since I bought the big Milwaukee 18v impact I havent used my Ingersol Rand pneumatic because its MUCH weaker.

With my HACK saw I also have my ( Dermal saw everything) cutting power tool. The cutting with the Dermal has cut down on the hacksaw so much. I might start the cut with Hacksaw, then finish with Dermal. It cuts down on the hand saw back and forth, you manually do, just my Humble opinion.

What in Heaven 's name are you doing with "High Voltage"????🤣🤣🤣 Merry Christmas, Neill!!!

Nead...grate vid really pops

I can just see you turn around a trip over the broom

ooh I have the good stuff for the important things and the cheap stuff for the loaner stuff.

Not a single grease gun mentioned. Probably the most important tractor tool to have...

I sometimes could use a hydraulic line installation tool. what do you recommend?

A piece of heavy gauge electric wire. Used to start tractor when safety switches are misbehaving. Remove wire going to starter selinoid and insert wire and touch it to power wire. Every tractor repair person carries it.

Three words: GOOD GREASE GUN

Neil, you need a Bambu X1 Carbon 3d printer, put's the Prusa to shame, no joke! :)

Great video agian

I stopped watching, ordered some big wrenches, and then continued. Two weeks ago I helped a friend with hydraulic leaks. Had to do some disassembly to get an adjustable wrench in there to tighten a fitting on an attachment that wasn’t even hand tight… planned on getting bigger wrenches then and immediately forgot!

Metric is standard 😜... Sorry, just had to blurp it out 🤭🤣🤣🤣. Have to ask: with that diesel tank, do you get problems with algae? At least here on Finland we get biodiesel added into the normal diesel and in time algae grows. Yes, biosides are an option but would be nicer if we could get by without ..

Great video here. I'm looking for a set of drawer slides for my International box. Since they went out of business in 2017, I was wondering if your toolbox perchase is recent and if so, where did you buy it? Thanks for your help.

You run an impact wrench on that tiny compressor?

Aaaaand a good battery powered grease gun, so that you actually want to use it and grease your equipment 👍

No sockets?

Where is the Snap on stuff?

Curious what the tool/equipment is on your bench with the wire reels on top. Is that for making harnesses?

Merry late Christmas and first

We know you have a side business 3D printing illegal gun parts Neil.