Wool sheet is closed with home made lever

[Practical Farm Ideas]

Here's a simple little device which you can remember to make before shearing next year. It allows you to close wool sheets without damaging finger nails or using super human strength.

The bar has the end of a bent nail welded to the end, and a complete nail that's bent over and fitted in a hole three inches or so from the end. The distance from the nail hole to the end of the bent nail is less than that of the hole to the end of the lever.

You use it by hooking the nails to either side of the sheet and then pulling the lever over. The lever brings the two sides of the sheet together and makes them overlap by enough to pin the two halves together with a smaller nail.

This idea, sent to Practical Farm Ideas many years ago by Eric Thornally of Lincolnshire, has been voted a favourite by many readers who keep sheep.

The alternative is hard work... this method gets them as tight packed as the Woolsack in the House of Lords!

Caption: With the nails in either side of the filled sack the two halves are drawn together with relative ease.



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