Equipment for the Farm
This page contains research on some of the larger powered equipment for working on our farm and homestead.
Lawn Mower
For mowing lawn areas and to help to maintain some portions of the land initially, a mower will be used. This is because tractors are much heavier and can rip lawns pretty easily.
After consulting Consumer Reports ( thanks, Ma! ) we have decided to purchase one of the following..
The Troy-Bilt Mustang 50 has excellent mulching, ease of use, with very good side discharging.
The Cub Cadet RZT L54 has excellent side discharging, bagging, ease of usem, to go along with very good mulching & handling.
Both of these are about $2,900, which is quite a bit cheaper than the larger John Deere's or Kubotas we were looking at. And, after all, how much lawn are we really going to bother with?
I have heard really good things about BobCats lately. While expensive, this comes with a roll bar, suspension seat, and can have up to a 61" blade. XRZ Pro RS Zero Turn Mower. And heard good things about Spartan zero turn mowers.
Field and Brush Mower
Around our property, we have many places where nature tends to take back over, but are near trees and will be difficult to reach via a tractor. In addition, the shrubs and such are too much for a lawn mower. For these purposes, are are looking into different field and brush mowers.
In addition to field and brushing, the BCS two-wheel tractor will prove invaluable for prepping beds for horticulture, from tilling brand new beds to helping to gently work in compost on established beds.
The 749 model is available with an electric start for around $4,500, while the 739 model is available with an electric start for around $3,630. The 739 has slightly smaller tires and a smaller engine.
There are a great many attachments that can be used on the BCS's. Attachments for the BCS walk behind tractors include plows, tillers, water pumps, chippers, and log splitters. In particular, we are looking at the following implements:
- Flail Mower 30" or 35" - $2,200 or $2,300
- Power Harrow 32" - $2,300
- Rear Tine Tiller 30" - $800 (optional, not sure if we will get it)
With wheel extenders, the BCS two-wheel tractor has roughly 30" wheel base, which works great for 30" beds.
Utility Tractor
We are continuing to explore different utility tractors.
We looked and some John Deeres in the right price point, and read many reviews and ultimately decided against a JD.
We also explored Kubota tractors, in particular the Kubota MX Series Economy Utility Tractor. Both the MX5800 (61 hp engine, 50 hp PTO) or the MX5200 ( 51.5 hp engine, 44 hp PTO) are in our desired power range and pricing. Definitely want the hydrostatic transmission with 4WD. This is a full-size tractor build between the USA and Japan and has excellent reviews. The tractor and loader should run around $32k or ~$500 a month with no interest and no downpayment for 5 years.
In addition, we are also looking at Mahindra tractors, available from Lazenby Equipment, Inc in Starke. For the Mahindra, the 5555 4WD Shuttle and 5570 4WD Shuttle models are in our ranges, for desired power and price. Mahindra tractors appear to be bigger and heavier than Kubota, which has advantages for lifting heaving hay bales.
It will likely come down to a series to test drives and seeing which tractor seems like the best mix of easy to use, ergonomic, and power.
We also explored smaller, or compact, tractors, but the saving wasn't really there and it makes more sense to just get a full-size economy utility tractor.
Of course, we could use the current tractors we have, but there seems to be a major scale problem with them....
Other Tools
Below are some other tools to consider, for garden/farm maintenance:
- Broadfork ( video ) - this helps no till rows be aereated
- Power harrow for the BCS tractor for soil movement a bit - again needed for no till rows
- Field flame weeder (video1, and video2)
- Tilther ( video1, and video2 ) - useful especially in hoop houses where we don't want to bring in the BCS tractor.
- Seedbed Roller
- Paperpot Transplanter
- Direct Seeding
- EarthWay Precision Garden Seeder - calibrates easily, but not as good for small seeds
- Glaser Seeder - works well for small seeds on well-prepared beds
- Six-Row Seeder - works well for intensive planting of small seeds on a well-prepared bed, such as microgreens, etc..
- Soil Moisture Tensiometers
- How to use tensiometers
- Sentek USA company
- Irrometer SR 12 tensiometer which comes with a standard vacuum gauge - local supplier
- For greens, and such, might be worth looking at investing in a Harvest Star. A bit expensive, but would greatly reduce labor on those types of crops when it could be used. Might consider attaching this to the BCS to help push it as well. This might really change the profitability of microgreens, spinach, etc..