Porch Railing Displays Decades Of Tools

2016 - Volume #40, Issue #3, Page #20

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Five generations worth of old wrenches are on display for all to see as part of the railing on Ron and Julie Doll’s Perham, Minn., farm home.

    Ron needed a railing on the east and west sides of the 145-year-old home the couple remodeled and he decided it was as good a place as any for the wrenches that had accumulated on the dairy farm. He had plenty of experience welding and, after cleaning the wrenches with a steel brush, he arranged them between sections of steel pipe. Once he was satisfied with the arrangement, he welded them in place with 6011 welding rods.

    “I primed everything, then spray painted the pipes red,” Doll says. Then he taped the pipes before spray painting the wrenches black.

    Altogether he made 10 7-ft. sections of railing. Eight have the wrenches along with a few other old tools and even jacks and a pump handle. The other two are farm scenes he welded together. He finished it off with cow stall dividers for railings along the steps.

    Doll doesn’t know what many of the wrenches were used for or how old they are. The farm has been in the family since 1868, and some wrenches may have come with ancestors from Germany.

    He knows that a family member made one extra large wrench for old steel wagon wheels. He also discovered several antique Ford wrenches in the collection.

    While Doll downplays comments about his artistic talents, he admits the wrench railing is a great way to display tools that have become obsolete. It has also inspired relatives to contribute to future wrench art projects.

    Among the donations is a 6-ft. wrench with a chisel on one end. Doll notes he’s not sure what he will do with it and other wrenches he received. But future plans include building a cabin on a lake lot, so there’s a good chance more wrenches will end up there.

    Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Ron Doll, 44383 Co. Hwy. 14, Perham, Minn. 56573 (ph 218 346-4243; jdoll54@icloud.com).

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Porch Railing Displays Decades Of Tools BUILDINGS Miscellaneous Five generations worth of old wrenches are on display for all to see as part of the railing on Ron and Julie Doll’s Perham Minn farm home

    Ron needed a railing on the east and west sides of the 145-year-old home the couple remodeled and he decided it was as good a place as any for the wrenches that had accumulated on the dairy farm He had plenty of experience welding and after cleaning the wrenches with a steel brush he arranged them between sections of steel pipe Once he was satisfied with the arrangement he welded them in place with 6011 welding rods

    “I primed everything then spray painted the pipes red ” Doll says Then he taped the pipes before spray painting the wrenches black

    Altogether he made 10 7-ft sections of railing Eight have the wrenches along with a few other old tools and even jacks and a pump handle The other two are farm scenes he welded together He finished it off with cow stall dividers for railings along the steps

    Doll doesn’t know what many of the wrenches were used for or how old they are The farm has been in the family since 1868 and some wrenches may have come with ancestors from Germany

    He knows that a family member made one extra large wrench for old steel wagon wheels He also discovered several antique Ford wrenches in the collection

    While Doll downplays comments about his artistic talents he admits the wrench railing is a great way to display tools that have become obsolete It has also inspired relatives to contribute to future wrench art projects

    Among the donations is a 6-ft wrench with a chisel on one end Doll notes he’s not sure what he will do with it and other wrenches he received But future plans include building a cabin on a lake lot so there’s a good chance more wrenches will end up there

    Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Ron Doll 44383 Co Hwy 14 Perham Minn 56573 ph 218 346-4243; jdoll54@icloud com

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