2026 Spring Homeland | Red Green Approved Ranch Hacks
Many a rancher has heard the age-old wisdom of everyone’s favorite hillbilly handyman, Red Green: “If women don’t find you handsome, they should at least find you handy,” and thought, “Better safe than sorry.” Thus, there is never a shortage of innovation coming from this sector of the population. Whatever the issue, there’s a ranch hack for that.
A Calving Creation
Casey Bauer, a fifth-generation rancher from Meade County, South Dakota, learned the leatherworking trade from his grandmother and father and started making “cowboy stuff” at a young age. One of Bauer’s most popular products is a calving bag. At one point, Bauer had a need for such a product and invented a fix. Bauer said, “That’s kind of how a guy comes up with things.”
The outside of these American-made leather bags measure 12 inches across with a 5 inch gusset around the middle. They have a heavy brass zipper, making them sturdier and more durable than similar cloth or canvas bags. Inside, there is a center divider pocket with a place to hold a pen, a pliers, or anything else one may need to bring along. At calving time, they free up one’s pockets by holding vaccine guns, tags, taggers, and pens. They are just the right size to carry along, and the straps make them easy to hang from a saddle horn or the handlebars of a four-wheeler.
Bauer calls them a “handy little bag” that “any rancher could use,” noting that they prevent one from needing to go back and forth from the saddle bag or side-by-side to the livestock. Bauer adds that they are a “multi-use thing.” He has used his for calving and as a snare bag for trapping. Some customers have used them for doctoring bags, while others keep them in their pickups with their basic necessities inside. Bauer’s work can be found on his Facebook page, Glass Butte Custom Leather, or on their website: http://www.glassbuttecustomleather.com.
Fencing Favorite
The Gallagher Fault Finder from Live Wire Fence Supply makes quick work of finding and fixing issues with electric fences. Jake Miller and his wife, Cassie, wouldn’t sell a product they don’t believe in. As regenerative ranchers who graze cattle 365 days a year, this pocket-sized tool is a must-have. Miller said, “We’ve got one in about every side-by-side and every pickup now.”
With a simple touch to the wire, the Gallagher Fault Finder shows how hot a fence is, if there are any shorts, and if so, which direction to go to find them. Miller said, “Sometimes you’ll have an insulator that is on the post that is cracked or something and leaking voltage, so it helps you diagnose that and find it.” With the Fault Finder, there will be no more driving around the entire pasture looking for a problem that is hard to spot. It is also equipped with a retractable voltage probe for reading voltage on hard-to-reach areas.
This tool can also be used to test if there is an adequate ground system and can serve as a “visual aid” to show the improvement that can be made by switching from an electric fence post to either a copper or galvanized ground rod system. Jake said that upon making the switch, “[customers] have usually seen about a two-time increase in the voltage on their fence, and it’s been a lot more effective that way.”
Live Wire Fence Supply, located just north of Culbertson, Nebraska, is open by appointment. Call Jake at (308) 350 – 0034 or find them online at livewirefencesupply.com or on Facebook.
Worry-Free Watering
It’s every rancher’s least favorite experience— sleeping soundly at 11 p.m. when it hits him, jarring him awake from a peaceful slumber… the water hose is still on. He goes outside to find a small lake forming. Luckily, there’s a ranch hack for that.
The local farm and ranch supply store will have everything one needs to piece together a solution— a garden hose, a gas nozzle, some thread tape, and an adaptor to fix the hose to the nozzle. Whether it’s the water tank for the sprayer or a livestock tank, one can turn the hydrant on, put the shut-off in place, and walk away, knowing he won’t come back to a mess.
A Gift for the Gate-Getter
Gate-getters are worth their weight in gold when it comes to making chores a snappy affair, and sometimes, they may need a little help. Whether the gate is too heavy for the kids or the ruts or frozen manure make it hard to carry it smoothly, this ranch hack can help. With some brackets, a spring, a couple of metal pipes, some angle iron, and an old wheel, one can make an attachment for a gate that helps it glide smoothly across any ground.
To make one, drill half-inch holes in the brackets and weld
one onto the bottom of the gate and another up by the chain. Then, attach a piece of angle iron perpendicular to the bottom bracket. Drill a few holes for adjustment on the smaller piece of pipe before putting the spring and the outside pipe over it. Finally, bolt the pipe to the top bracket and the piece of angle iron and add the wheel. The best part? Most of this can be found in the junk pile and repurposed to make chores a little easier.
A Handful of Helpful Hints
WD-40 is magic for removing cockleburs from a horse’s mane and tail, and an old rasp has more surface area than a curry comb to make shedding a horse’s winter coat a breeze. Coconut oil works for shining up a pair of leather boots. A worn-out chest freezer makes a rodent-proof feed storage container. If a waterer needs scrubbing, putting the end of a toilet brush in a handheld drill will have it clean in no time and save your arm some fatigue. Zip tying ear tag labels to hydraulic hoses takes the guesswork out of hooking them up. A flat dish scrub brush with a soap dispenser can be filled with Clean-Up II insecticide and rubbed on horses or show cattle for longer lasting pest control.
There are countless ways to make ranch work a little easier on one’s back and one’s budget. So,
fellas, if she doesn’t find you handsome, don’t worry— there’s still hope that she may find you handy.
