[farmmaid]

We are cleaning up and have lots of baling twine. We have some hanging in the loft of the barn to do farm repairs etc. BUT...what can I do with the rest? I once flat braided a wreath for the tack room door and that looked nice. Any other craft or other projects I could use the extra for?...Joan

 

[Kirk]

In boy scouts as a kid we made a rope maker which used bailing twine. As I remember it had a crank handle and a hook which the three long pieces of twine were hooked too. I'm sorry I dont know the particulars but i think somehow you made three longe pieces twisted one direction and then twisted those three pieces together the other way.
Kirk

 

[RANDEL]

i used to like the baling WIRE better. less obtrusive to build with! the orange twine stands out, looks cheesy.

 

[lacyj]

maybe you could macrame' it into one of those single porch swings???

 

[lacyj]

sorry, double post

 

[Jena]

i used to like the baling WIRE better. less obtrusive to build with! the orange twine stands out, looks cheesy.

Yeah, but it doesn't poke holes in you when you walk too close!

 

[comfortablynumb]

if its the hemp type rope and not that plastic stuff....
I once worked in a stable and I ahd tons of time on my hands, so I tought myself how to 4 line round braid rope. done right, you can keep adding those 8 foot strings to the braid and make a continuous rope as long as you like... our barn was 100 feet long, so I would coil up a rope when it hit 100 feet. some I made longer.

after a few yrs I had piles of tight braided rope... I used it for pretty much everything.
I use the hemp type rope now to mend my fences, and tie fenceboards on in place of nails. (dont like rusty nails where I can avoid em)
if you spary it with wd40, it lasts for a few yrs out in the weather...
great for tieing pallets together to make a fence thats not only impossible to knock down but one that flexes when you or a horse runs into it.
get the kids to bundle it up and stuff it neatly in feed bags, and store it someplace dry.
my nephews build a tree house totally held together with bailing twine... its still up in thier woods after 10 yrs. i wouldnt jump around in it but as much rope as they used, its probably good and sturdy. all the "joints" move with the tree, and doesnt come loose like a nailed plank would. they were pretty inventive, they bored 1" holes in planks and 4x4's and lashed it all together like a raft.

never underestimate the usefullness of twine......

 

[Guest]

I've used the odds and ends than come off bales in the garden to tie up the 6 x 10 foot chunk of concrete reinforcing mesh to posts for peas or beans or tomatoes to climb on. And since we live on a windy hill, I use pieces tied together to make a long string to keep the vines from flopping off the wire, pea fence, etc. At the end of the season the twine can be tossed into the compost pile with the dead vines, and is gone by the time the compost is finished. It weathers to a grey, and is unobtrusive used to support floppy flowers, such as yarrow or peonies by intertwining with support twigs (shove 3-4 branches pruned from tree, like apple suckers around plant, and wrap with twine). The compost pile is made up of pallets attached to steel posts with the twine. Three pallets form a U, and there are 4 consecutive bins. A "door" is made from a fourth pallet to hold the compost stuff in place and keep the chickens from scratching it all out. It is all held together with twine. Wire would be more permanent, but then I'd have to go buy wire, and it is no big deal to replace the twine when the bins are emptied. I don't like to use the plastic twine, as it eventually shreds and I find shreds in the garden soil.

 

[jessandcody]

I remember stuffing a burlap feed sack full of baling twine once to use as a tractor seat cusion and it was rather comfy. It kept my backside warm from the meatle tractor seat in winter! You can also use the twine to weave seats on the old ladder back chairs. there is a name for thoughs types of chairs but it slippes my mind. the seat of the chair is made of rope(or twine!). Dogs often find twine useful as a tug-of-war toy when you brade it! If you wrap it around a stick several times it can be used as a scrub brush of back scratcher. Cats find hours of enjoyment from a dangeling piece of twine. I could go on for some time about the many uses for old twine but I hope these ideas help. I love to reuse things. there is a certain satisfaction from "making something work". Old sheds to me arnt Full of trash, They the homestead general stores!

Cody

 

[Jo in PA]

You could make a wreath. All you need is a macrame ring in the size of your choice. Cut twine in lengths according to the size ring you purchased. This you just have to work at by trial and error. Just tie the twine around the ring leaving a tail of twine the same length on both sides of the ring. Keep going around the ring till is really full and you can't add anymore. Decorate as you wish. I always hot glue flower tops on them.

 

[Oxankle]

If it is the sisal twine there is little you can do. The stuff rots so quickly outdoors that it is unsafe for anything permanent. \\\

The polypropylene twine can be made into very good rope. I have a 75 foot rope of it, 36 strands, twisted with an electric drill. Stretch your twine in bundles with each end fastened to something stout. Put a hook made of a bent nail or a piece of heavy wire in your drill and twist each bundle until it is tightly wound, fastening the wound bundles back to their supports after winding until all three bundles are equally wound. You can do this by timing the twist or by simply twisting so that each bundle is the same length--they get shorter as you twist.

When all three are twisted, go to the other end, put all three bundles on the hook and reverse twist until your rope looks good to you. Tie off the ends so that it will not unravel and you have your rope. My 36 strand rope has lifted the rear end of a heavy sedan.

You have to keep these poly ropes in shelter when not in use. Sunlight will degrade them.
Ox