It''s great to be able to buy a nice, new, shiny piece of machinery, but that''s just not always possible. New skid steer attachments, depending on their function, can run up to $10,000 or more. Renting is one option to consider, especially when you only need the attachment for a short time.Farm auctions benchdrillpressspindletravel are another good source for attachments. "One definite trend I''ve picked up on over the past year has been the move to sell these attachments separately from the skid steer at auctions," says auction expert Greg Peterson, publisher of the F.A.C.T''s Report (800/381-0423 or machinerypete.com). His service reports machinery prices from auctions around the country.

New toolsSomething I found quite exciting, and truly new, benchdrillpressspindletravel is the Electronic Manifold Plus from Robinair. It''s a digital electronic refrigerant gauge benchdrillpressspindletravel with a built-in thermometer that provides pressure readings with an accuracy of +/1/2%! It also gives the saturation temperatures for 13 of the most common refrigerants. In addition, it can calculate superheat and subcooling temperatures for each of the refrigerants.Another tool -- but not a new one -- is Imperial Eastman''s Quick-Tite Ratchet Wrenches (they come as a set of different sizes). These circular ratcheting tools are made for tightening refrigerant-line-coupling nuts to condensing units and evaporators, and have an arm that opens up to go around the lines.

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