Will do thanks @jesmed
Don’t go too crazy with weed removal. Or wild flower removal. Grass is both a weed and a flowering plant.
I “invented” a fence post puller. We were removing a woven wire fence with the metal posts set in the ground. I took a bumper jack and a tire chain. I wrapped the tire chain around the bottom of the post and around the lift piece of the jack. As I pumped the jack, it pulled the post out of the ground.
I have found one of the biggest hassles in working on suspension and engine components is stuff getting in the way.
While my special tool is not from the mind of da Vinci it did save time, aggravation and avoided many colorful metaphors.
An 18" length of rope with a hangmen noose can secure almost anything out of the way.
@Barkydog
The reason you get 3 dandelion instead of 1 because every time you use the digging tool it will break just a tiny chunk off the taproot.
These tiny pieces are vigorous enough to grow into individual plants.
Also did you noticed on an unmowed field the dandelions ate standing up while if you keep mowing them the flowerstalks will be shorter and the flowers stay closer to the ground. After a while even mowing will not reduce the numbers of seed spreading…
@252525 Yes I hear what you are saying, never wanted to use herbicides for the kids and critters, Triy to get as much root as I can, been there with if you mow often enough the flowers stay closer to the ground, news to you maybe just another invasive species. “it’s one of the 2,000 or so herbs brought over by European settlers, both intentionally and in pant cuffs and on boot soles: by the English to New England, by the Spanish to California and Mexico, by the French to Canada, making it easy for the dandelion to take North American swiftly.” http://eattheinvaders.org/dandelion/
Hmmm. I’ve got one of those foot operated dandelion diggers. Mines the $20 version from Menards though and works great. When I get going in the cool of the evening I can get 5-10 gallons in a couple hours. Problem is though you have to get right over the center of it and then a little twist and out they come.
My son in law had a Dodge Aspen with a bad differential. So many of these went bad that you couldn’t find one for less than $275 in late 1980s. For $25 a junkyard sliced the center of a Valiant rear axle assembly for him. All the center diff. parts were the same but the Aspen housing was wider.
To get the gear s out of the center section you had to remove a nut on each side from inside the axle housing from where you pulled the axle out. Extensions on his socket wouldn’t work because the housing was so long they would droop too much to get the socket on the nuts .
He made a tool by welding a socket on the end of a 4’ pipe and used a pipe wrench to turn it.
Still has it today, just in case.
I once made a bright light skinny enough to drop down the oil galleries of a slant six so I could change the lifters without removing the head, I used a double ended dome light bulb with a wire soldered to each end and a retractable pickup tool to get the lifters in and out.
I want PICTURES! 
I have 2 tools of note:
The first is a socket welded to the end to an extension, suitably filed down with emery paper to a smaller diameter than original that is used to power the oil pump, so the engine sees oil BEFORE it is first fired up.
The second is a block of wood with a depression made with a series of hole saws, used to install oil seals in engines evenly without having to remove the oil pan.
And, of course, there is the assortment of bent wrenches for specific difficult to get to nuts and bolts.
I have 2 one-off tools. And only used on my 72 Chevy Vega.
The first was an Oil Sending Unit Socket. At the time I had to buy it from the Chevy dealer.
The second tool was a hand made tool (my first and only attempt at welding) is used to hold down the valve springs to remove the Overhead cam. GM made a tool (which at the time I couldn’t afford)…so I made one. It worked fine. I looked like crap. On more then one occasion my wife thought it was junk and tried to throw it out. Even though I’ll NEVER EVER use it again…I’ll never get rid of it.
I’m not sure if this one counts, but for one job my boss had me on an old computer with a failing hard drive. We determined the reboot failure was because the hard drive couldn’t get up to speed in time during the boot cycle and CMOS check. I had one of those toy cars you pull back a few inches to wind up and it’ll drive away, so I modified it with an o-ring, a coat hanger, and some JB Weld. Now I could pull the car to wind the spring, the coat hanger “latched” one wheel so the axle was held, put the other wheel’s o-ring (for traction) against the hard drive’s exposed spindle, and turn the CPU on as I pulled the coat hanger’s trigger to release the spring and kick-start the hard drive. It was an awkward ritual but it worked well. Eventually I cut a notch in a small plastic pulley and glued it to the spindle, allowing me to pull-start it like an old outboard. I kind of regretted when my boss bought me a new drive.
@Docnick, one of the guys who taught me how to ride a motorcycle had something he made with PVC and a heavy duty blow dryer that he would use to dry his motorcycle riding boots after a wet ride. I never saw it, but it probably looks like what your wife wanted to buy.
@Tester, I sometimes use my Club (anti-theft device) to hold down my brake pedal so I can check my brake lights. I wedge it between the seat and the brake pedal and lock it into place. I’m curious why you would use such a device on the gas pedal. Wouldn’t it be easier to operate the throttle manually at the throttle than to place a device on the gas pedal?
How about a 25/32" socket? Wacky because I paid good money for it, and have never used it!
@Whitey
The RPM’s need to be held at about 2,000 RPM’s when recharging an AC system. So instead of having to remove an engine cover to get at the throttle body linkage and rigging something up to hold the linkage at 2,000 RPM’s, it’s easier to push on the gas pedal with the tool.
Tester
This is my favorite garden tool. It is usually called a Korean trowel.
http://www.shovelandhoe.com/Korean_Weeder_Cultivator_p/377.htm
Here’s a picture of the tool.
Hmmm? Won’t upload the picture?
Tester
I have a stock tool that is now a specialty tool.
Its an impact socket sized for 1/2"
It is so worn it is not good for 1/2" but perfect for 9/16" nut or bolt that has rusted away. A 9/16 would be too sloppy for these so my socket is perfect.
252525 Thank you. You have vindicated me concerning the “ducking dandelions”! When I would mow, the dandelions would be standing tall for about 1/3 of the job. After that they would be curled as close as they could get to the ground! My Wife and Sons thought I was ready for a one way trip to the “Casa De Wacko”. (Insane Asylum) I have read a few articles about plants being able to rather quickly adjust to their environment. Flowers close when it is dark. Others turn towards the sun. My theory with no scientific back up is that the dandelions sense the vibration through the ground from the lawnmower and go into a defensive mode. What convinced me was when after mowing the back yard the dandelions in the front yard where in defensive mode.
I have a very old socket set that has hexagon cutouts and uses an Allen Wrench instead of a ratchet. I don’t know if this was before ratchets were invented(?). I found it at a scrap yard. I’ve possessed 40 years now and never used it.