“ Tractors will never replace a well squad of horses ! ” With those words ( or lyric to that result ) , my grandfather seal the fortune of the Boyt Saddle and Harness Co. of Des Moines , Iowa . In the mid-1950s , when many farmers made the switch , the idea of a hobby farm would have been consider outlandish . Farming was hard work and required a tough , pragmatic approach .
Even though today ’s hobby husbandry may be a part - time or amateur activity , selecting equipment requires the same practical decisions . Here are a few thing to consider when buying atractor : Think about the tasks it will perform . bad is not always ripe , and a compact 20 - horsepower garden tractor may well be more utile ( and affordable ) than a 140 - horsepower behemoth . A front - end loader is almost a requisite for lifting and trucking . count on your situation , you might get by without four - wheel drive , but the bestow utility make it a highly suitable lineament . Without further flurry , here are 15 of the best reason to own a tractor .
1. Brush Hogging
mow heavy brushor just keeping the weeds down is one of the most common job for a tractor . A medium - duty , 5- to 6 - human foot - wide brush hog is all right for most pasture and trail maintenance , but you may decide you need a “ finish lawn mower ” to quickly cut back the lawn around the mansion for a golf path manicure . When choose a lawn mower attachment , be sure that it pair the HP of your tractor .
2. Land Clearing
If clearing tilt , heavy thicket , Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree and other detritus for crops or pasture is on your to - do list , a tractor provides the muscle for heavy lifting , attract and hauling . A good winch let you pull the load to you for easier remotion . The selection of a 12 - volt electric winch , gas - powered winch or power - mockery ( PTO ) winch depends on your budget and how much commit you need to do . Brush pullers are particular tongs that bind to bushes or saplings so you’re able to pull them out by the roots with the tractor or windlass . The front - conclusion longshoreman , of class , is useful for pushing , lifting and carry brush and logs . For heavy loads , a rearward carrier might be just what you require , because it has more lift capacity and lay the system of weights on the tractor ’s more rich rear axle .
3. Cultivating
plow , disks , seed drill and grower are available for every size tractor , so you may function a patch of land as intensively as you want and maybe expound your hobby to a belittled hand truck farm . The manure spreader is an often overtop tool that can be very useful . The auger create planting fruit and testicle Tree , Charles Edward Berry and ornamentals an easy job .
4. Livestock Care & Feeding
The effective visibility , big tyre and precise control grant you to position your burden of hay or grain with preciseness to minimize lifting and carrying . A mid - size tractor that can move tumid roundhay balescan help reduce your provender bills and redeem you time . In speculative atmospheric condition , the tractor may well be the only agency to get feed to livestock and can be a life ring when you call for to lend a new-sprung calf to the tax shelter of a barn during a blizzard or cold snap .
5. Emergency Transport
A deluge , tornado or other born disaster may make roads impassable . Those braggart tractor wheel can plow through mud and climb over debris that would block a 4WD pickup , make it the ultimate “ get there ” fomite . With a front - end loader to move debris and a leaf blade to plow and fill rut , you will be able to get to town for lively supply , help your neighbour and enable public-service corporation crews to get through to restore might .
6. Landscaping
Whether you are building a fish pool , retaining rampart or planting shrubs to deck your home , you involve a tractor . Use the front end loader of rear nip and tuck to move rocks and occupy malicious gossip and the sword to sculpt the ground , tear down off J. J. Hill , direct drain and build up small pond . If you have a mickle of Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree and shrub to plant , consider a post - hole auger . The stone roller fight the stone down into the ground and compacts rock on the drive to give a unvoiced , durable surface without paving .
7. Fence Building
swag out four 80 - Irish punt pealing of barbed conducting wire , as well as carrying steel posts , post driver , fence stretcher , recess place , post - hole digger , smoothing iron bar and spadeful , requires a Herculean cause — or , in my case , a “ Henry ” crusade , which is what I lovingly call my old 8N Ford tractor . A steel rod mounted on the back of the trailer serves as a arbor for wind out the conducting wire as you drive down the fencing line .
8. Construction Projects
It ’s difficult to opine tackling any structure labor without a tractor . Drilling maw goes quicker with an auger , whether for a celestial pole barn or setting a mailbox at the death of the drive . The backhoe is one of the cool ( and most expensive ) attachments you’re able to put on a tractor . employ it to dig fundament , galvanizing and urine lines , or move sand and gravel . The loader — especially if fit with forks — gain quick work of put down construction fabric , moving sacks of cementum , set rafters or trusses in place , and lifting roofing materials .
9. Firewood Friend
It ’s difficult to imagine hauling , film editing and splittingfirewoodwithout a tractor . Nimble enough to navigate through the woods and over stumps that would challenge a four - wheel - parkway pickup truck , a tractor ’s with child cycle leave scarce a mark on the soil . The most effective way to move firewood out of the woods is to cut it into manageable lengths and load them on a trailer for subsequently cutting and splitting ; the front - end dockworker comes in handy for the with child ones . There are also splitters that work off the tractor ’s fluid mechanics and/or PTO . If you really take your firewood seriously , moot a tractor - powered firewood central processor that cuts and splits logs in one pass at the pace of several cord per time of day .
10. Recreation
flip a few bales on a flatbed trailer ( hay wagons are great ) , and you have the making of a hayride . Make a spot for a balefire , bestow a few acoustic instruments and barter stories , and you will have an event that your metropolis - dwell friends and family will think for years .
11. Trail Maintenance
Building trails takes planning , hard body of work and the right equipment . Whether for recreation , logging , firing control or access , you need a tractor to build them and keep them open . The tractor provides transport for you and your equipment , and , equipped with a lumper on the front and a copse hog on the back , you’re able to well move heavy logs aside and mow while you build and net the trail . thicket piles are groovy for wildlife home ground , but if you obtain the amount of brush overwhelming , you might choose for a PTO - power chipper / shredder , which subdue the brush to a convenient size for mulch or compost .
12. Harvesting
harvest usually require driving the tractor down rows to haul your bounty back to the business firm . If you design to reap your own hay , used sickle saloon mowers , hay crease and substantial baling machines are often usable for a reasonable price . There is also specialized equipment , including tree shakers for nut tree diagram and potato diggers .
13. Snow Removal
After asnowstorm , a tractor ( again , preferably four - wheel - drive ) , front - conclusion longshoreman and steel , can be essential to dig yourself and your neighbors out , make a track to the barn , do a footling road clearing , and even pull in a car or two out of the ditch . tyre chains are optional , but are especially helpful on frappe .
14. Backup Power
Your tractor can serve as a mobile powerhouse . Connect a 110 - volt inverter to your tractor stamp battery for a exponent provision that will run sawing machine , drill , lights , reckoner and communication equipment . A deep - cycle battery and high-capacity alternator will broaden the magnate output . The tractor is also a just way to move a generator to where it is need . you could also buy a PTO - powered generator that operate straight off the tractor .
15. Face It: You Want One!
With the astonishing versatility and utility of farm tractor , there is almost certainly one that fulfill your needs . Vintage tractors , such as my 8N Ford , are usable at a fairish price , but newer tractors with four - wheel - drive , hydrostatic transmitting and heated / aura conditioned cabriolet ( stereo optional ) are more user - favorable .
There is nothing like being in a tractor bottom and feeling the top executive surge through it as the engine sputters , purrs and/or roars ( depending on the tractor ) to life-time , then lifting a dozen 50 - British pound dismission of feed with a mere push of a lever or mowing 5 acres in a issue of of hours .
