5 Unexpected Tools You Can Find At Menards

Menards says it's been "family owned and operated since 1958" and builds its stores with "customer convenience in mind, offering something for everyone." Founded by John Menard, Jr. in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, Menards provides home improvement supplies at "over 330 store locations across the Midwest." While Menards began as a lumber yard, today, in addition to building materials, you'll find everything you'd expect at a home improvement store, such as appliances, vinyl flooring, indoor furniture, and tool storage solutions. 

Menards also carries a wide variety of tools. Whether you're shopping online or in-store, you'll see abundant electric, battery, and pneumatic devices used for home projects. There are also tools for drain cleaning, plumbing, masonry, drywall, siding, tile, ductwork, flooring, roofing, gardening, painting, and electrical work. While many of the tools you'll see at Menards are nothing out of the ordinary, the following five tools are unique in their particular way.

Extension ladders allow reaching greater heights than standing on other ladder types. It's not surprising to find a variety of extension ladders at a home improvement store. However, finding one that extends to 60 feet is unexpected, as other popular home improvement stores' extension ladders top out at 44 feet.

Menards' 60-foot Type I Aluminum Extension Ladder by Keller (model number 560-3) has a 250-pound maximum rating and retails for $1,293.43. The model 560-3 features three ladder sections that extend to their full height using a "heavy-duty rope and double pulley system." As a bonus, the removable "top fly section" allows use as either a 40-foot extension ladder or a single, 20-foot straight ladder.

The maximum working height for a 60-foot extension ladder is 47 feet due to the angle required to form a stable platform and only climbing to the fourth rung from the top. This ladder carries a safe working load limit of 250 pounds. Menards' website also warns that the ladder brand may vary.

Anyone interested in peeling the bark from fresh logs will enjoy knowing Menards carries an eight-inch draw shaver. The Tool Shop branded draw shaver at Menards costs $12.99 and features a 0.25-inch thick carbon steel blade that measures 1.9375 inches in width and provides an eight-inch wide cutting surface. The shaver's wooden handles flare to measure 17.4 inches from tip to tip, with an overall weight of 1.74 pounds. The carbon steel blade is easily sharpened with a file or whetstone, and the tool comes with a limited lifetime warranty.

Using a draw shaver or draw knife to shape logs or remove bark is a labor-intensive task that some find therapeutic. The activity is undoubtedly one way to be alone with your thoughts. While shaping and peeling logs by hand reduces the risk of removing too much material or severing one of your limbs, faster, more efficient methods are available, such as our following unexpected Menards tool.

Menards sells the Log Wizard with a hard case for $209.00. Like the draw shaver, the Log Wizard allows the craftsperson to remove the bark from cut logs and shape them to suit their project, except much faster. The model 450010WC "attaches easily to most 65-cc or smaller chainsaws." For reference, a 65-cc chainsaw is larger than most people require. Northern Woodlands recommends chainsaws between 45 and 55 cubic centimeters for people who harvest "several cords of firewood a year."

The Log Wizard easily attaches to the tip of the chainsaw bar. At the heart of the Log Wizard's magic are two 3.25-inch planer blades that spin from power transferred from the chainsaw. These planer blades quickly remove bark from logs or cut into the wood to make notches, remove knots, and plane flat surfaces as needed. Ball-bearing construction and removable/resharpenable blades ensure years of use from the Log Wizard.

In keeping with the log-working theme, Menards also has 16-inch log-skidding tongs for $39.99. These Forester model number FOR2222M skidding tongs allow those working with logs up to 16 inches and under 1,500 pounds to move them using a small tractor, all-terrain vehicle (ATV), UTV, or draft animal. Skidding tongs reduce wear and tear on chains or cables used as chokers when moving logs over hard surfaces.

Forester's powder-coated ⅞-inch forged steel skidding tongs weigh about eight pounds and measure just over 20 inches in length from end to end. Skidding tongs feature inward curved points that dig deeper into the log as the pulling force increases. The other end has a hook for attaching to chain links or cable loops and a swivel that reduces the odds of twisting the device from the dragging log. The red powder-coated finish provides corrosion protection and enhances visibility on the forest floor.

The flat bastard mill file's name has nothing to do with parental marital status. However, you may want to clearly enunciate the letter L in the word flat if you ask which Menards aisle it's on. While priced at only $4.49, a flat mill file promises to be one of the handiest tools in your workshop. In particular, the bastard cut provides a superb combination of aggressive metal removal and leaving a smooth finish behind.

You'll find a bastard-cut flat mill file useful for tasks such as sharpening lawn mower blades and axes and touching up the edges of shovels, hoes, and hedge shears. It's also an excellent tool for removing burrs and sharp edges after drilling or cutting anything metal. It's like a combination of duct tape and WD-40 as far as its usefulness: If it's dull and it should be sharp, use the file, and if it's sharp and should be dull, use the file for that, too.