posted
on Monday, October 1, 2018
in
United Ag & Turf News
The land is now yours; whether, it be 5-acres, 10-acres, 50-acres or a 1000-acres, it must be loved. Loved? Yes, your property must be loved. It must be nurtured and fostered to be the best it can be. Vacant, unloved land, withers away across the globe. Your dirt may be untapped and just waiting to live up to its potential. With your help it could be anything. It could be a hay field, a wild life refuge, an orchard, a solar farm, a golf course, a shooting range, an athletic complex, a park, or just your personal haven. No matter the end goal, it will take work & equipment to get it there and it will take equipment to maintain it.
What Every Property Needs: A Tractor
A good versatile piece of equipment to have is a tractor. For those who are asking “Why do I need a tractor?” there a few reasons listed here.
Compact Tractors
A compact tractor or tractor under 90 HP will be a work horse for your piece of land, the extra helping hand you need. Tractors help with chores such as shredding the pasture, setting fence poles, distributing gravel, tilling up the garden, grading the driveway, removing tree stumps, transporting feed, clearing debris, pulling a friend out of the mud and much more. A compact tractor makes quick work of domesticated property maintenance chores. There are an endless number of implements to make your life easier. Backhoes, box blades, spreaders, aerators, harrows, mowers, rakes, seeders, pulverizers, brooms, tillers, post hole digger, plows, wood chippers, and even snow blowers just to name a few. With an average compact of 35 to 40 engine HP lifting over 1,000 lbs the chores are a breeze. And now, compact tractors are often offered with a hydrostatic transmission. No more clutching, no more wore out knees. For those willing to go the extra mile and work in luxury, options such as cab with air conditioning may be the ticket.
Utility Tractors
For those needing a little more work to be done or requiring a little more strength, a utility tractor could save time and money. Tractors between 50 HP to 130 HP may fall into the Utility Tractor range depending on frame size. These tractors take power to a higher level. By now all new tractors in the U.S. have met Tier 4 compliance for emission standards but with a little bit of diesel exhaust fluid (DEF) there is no need to worry. Even with the new emission standards these tractors have not lost their power. An average 85 HP tractor will lift over 3,000 lbs. That is two round bales, 60 bags of feed, 150 treated fence posts, a yard of gravel, or six grand pianos. An important feature to look for is a self-leveling loader to avoid having to worry about the orientation of your bucket as you raise and lower it. The utility tractor is heavier and wider than the compact tractor, but it can do most everything a compact tractor can do with a few adjustments and creative thinking. Moving the tires in will make them narrow for the tight space and allow you to use a finishing mower which covers the tracks.
Row Crop & 4WD Tractors
If you have decided to utilize your land for crop production a Row Crop and 4WD tractors may be the right way to go. These are the powerhouses of the tractor industry. These tractors range from 140 HP to 620 HP and weigh up to 55,000 lbs. These machines can till up to 50’, plant up to 36 rows of crops per pass, spray up to 132’ or scrape up to 72 cu yds. It’s hard to fathom the power behind these machines. Large forage production, farming, mining, and earth moving are some of the applications of these monstrous machines.
Knowing how to work your land to the best of its abilities will help you love your land. And knowing where to find your resources to help you on this journey is pivotal. Get to know your extension office, your neighbors, your Farm Bureau agents, the local folks at your local feed store and the folks at your preferred equipment dealer. These are the folks who will help you with all your land questions and how maximize its potential.
- aerators
- backhoes
- box blades
- brooms
- commercial roadside mowing
- compact tractor
- equipment dealer
- farming
- harrows
- hay producing
- mining
- mowers
- plows
- post hole digger
- pulverizers
- row crop
- scraper tractor
- seeders
- self-leveling loader
- spreaders
- tillers
- tractor
- utility tractor
- wood chippers