Best Hobby Farm Tractor

Because I don't recommend that anyone blast stumps out of the ground with dynamite like in The Fields of Home by Ralph Moody (one of my favorite books), let's focus on a few other tools that hobby farmers can use to remove tree stumps from the ground...

Such a piece of wood can be easily turned into a simple wagon , perfect for transporting the heavy debris to better locations. Tractor Attachments If you need to remove lots of smaller rocks, a variety of tractor attachments are available to help you...

“We try to make as complete a manual as possible, with all versions together to cover the model completely,” Jensen says. It will also identify daily service duties, as well as periodic system servicing where fluids and filters are exchanged.

Once you've chosen a piece of wood, you'll need to drill holes in two adjacent corners. Fortunately, a simple piece of wood can save the day! By wrestling or rolling heavy objects onto a large, flat piece of wood, you can easily use your tractor to tow...

Don't be caught unprepared and searching for your winter gear on the morning that six inches of snow has fallen from the sky. Create a list of everything you'll need and gather it during the fall.

“It's a good idea to get a baseline scan, and then pull a sample periodically and have it tested,” Tammel says. It should register less than negative 34 degrees F. This article originally appeared in the May/June 2012 issue of Hobby Farms.

“Ask the dealer to bring a demo unit to your farm, and use the machine to perform some actual tasks. “PTO horsepower is usually about 75 to 85 percent of gross engine horsepower,” says Brent Sampson, test engineer with the University of Nebraska.

Front-end Loader (FEL) A large bucket-like implement attached to the tractor's front, a front-end loader is used to lift materials, such as rocks and dirt. Hydrostatic transmissions tend to be easier to operate because they function like the automatic...

However, no-till is not perfect. “Most plows turn soil to the right, looking forward from the rear of the tractor,” he says. With the emergence of no-till techniques, many farmers have cast aside plows in favor of alternative field treatments.

It's good to have a fresh supply of fuel for the days work, plus you can empty any sediment or water you see in the sediment bowl. Tammel suggests adding a fuel conditioner to keep components in both gas and diesel fuels stable and in solution.

These questions can take the wind out of many equipment-dream sails, but they're critical to making a smart purchase. These intangible details are harder to quantify. In addition to these hard-and-fast numbers, it's up to you to take into consideration...

Transmission The type of transmission is a key feature to consider, because it will make a big difference in the way the tractor performs. This is a major contrast to tractors with manual gear-driven transmissions, such as synchro-shift transmissions,...

A good one will more than pay for itself over time. Horsepower: approximately 20 to 25 3. With special attachments, tractors can even handle digging stumps and drilling fencepost holes—and don't forget the convenience a tractor can add to even simple...

Emergency Transport A flood, tornado or other natural disaster may make roads impassable. Fence Building Reeling out four 80-pound rolls of barbed wire, as well as carrying steel posts, post driver, fence stretcher, corner posts, post-hole digger, iron...

But there is so much work to do to get the land in shape. For the correct scale, walk-behinds are extremely practical. But larger tractors produced after WWII dried up the market for many of the walk behinds, and even Gravely stopped producing them around...

I later found out that the Vintage Harvest is an annual affair held the last weekend of every August. Feeling like I had slipped back in time, I pulled into the next driveway. As we approach the end of the year, it's natural to look back at the past year.

When set to the fastest gear at full throttle, the mower was ridiculously fast—much faster than my brother would ever want to drive. Run your engine at low throttle, and the savings can be significant.

Eager to get started cleaning up some pine trees that had fallen down the previous year, I started loading the debris onto a large hay wagon. But the situation demonstrates the old saying: Appearances can be deceiving!

Power Take-off Commonly known as the PTO, this is a rotating connector usually positioned at the back of the tractor that provides power to attachments such as hay balers. (We'll get to PTO in a minute.) 5.

Rotary Cutters If you're looking to tackle a significant amount of mowing and you aren't overly concerned about a finished appearance, the rotary cutter—aka a brush hog or bush hog—is the implement for you.

Before I knew it, I had driven right across the top of the anthill, and suddenly the mower wasn't moving anymore. An attempt to push the mower forward did nothing, as it's quite heavy and wasn't interested in moving.

However, the design of the hitch was exclusive to Ford, leading to decades of competition as other tractor manufacturers attempted to produce similar hitches, including a two-point “Fast-Hitch” used on Farmall tractors.

As spring and summer gain momentum, it's important to give a little love back to the tools and machines used so heavily when things are green and growing. Because diesel motors run hotter and with higher compression, they require a specialized, heavier-duty...

Like a simple rear blade, a box blade attaches to the rear of your tractor using the three-point hitch, but unlike a rear blade, a box blade has sides that catch gravel rather than letting it spill off either side of the blade, which can help the unit...

If there's a decimal point, it is simply a more exact measurement, not another measurement altogether. Be mindful in buying sealants that the one you use is non-corrosive. In fact, a tube, just like a tire, can be patched, and if it needs to be replaced,...

Take breaks to cool off and escape from the sun. Keep fans running when and where possible. Follow these tips to help hay baling days go as smoothly as possible. Stay Cool & Hydrated Remember to take care of yourself while baling hay, which means not...

In reading about the Massey, I discovered that the 135 is still in widespread use in developing countries, where its simple design and reliability are appreciated. Is the latest always the greatest?