Essential Equipment for Small Farms
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- 24-03-2021
When you begin an agricultural business, you will want to know: What is essential equipment for small farms? Find out more about the machinery and equipment needed to run a small farm.
Identify your Needs
Before you buy the equipment for your small farm, it is important to think about exactly what you are going t need. To do this, you need to think about the jobs you will be doing on your farm and your personal preferences.
You need to know if you are mostly going to be working on your land or with your livestock, what animals you have on your farm, how much of your land needs mowing, and if you're going to be doing other agricultural jobs, including soil cultivation and fertiliser spreading.
Now you'll be able to find the perfect farm machinery for you to meet all your farming requirements.
Common Machinery for Small Farms:
To find the right machinery for your farm, you need to think about your own personal needs and the needs of the farm, including how many acres of land you have to work with. For example, if you have a lot of livestock, you won't need a lot of harvesting equipment. But there are some farming necessities that every farm has to have. These include:
Pickup Truck
Utility Vehicle
Pickup trucks are one of the most traditional pieces of equipment in the farming industry and are also essential for doing jobs around the farm. They are used to haul heavy loads either in the truck bed or on a trailer attachment. A truck is so useful for farms, for building, fencing, tools, and much more. They can even carry your animals, crops and other farming produce in the truck bed, which is quicker, more efficient and will allow you more time to get all your other jobs done.
A utility vehicle, or a UTV, are like ATVs and are great for driving over rough terrain, perfect for farming land. They also have a trailer attachment to carry your extra tools and farm equipment and are extremely versatile. They are basically a smaller version of a truck, which is ideal for small-scale farms under 60 acres, but they can drive on all areas of the farm, whereas trucks can't. These vehicles will make your farm work much easier and are definitely handy to have for hauling.
Compact Utility Tractor
Lawn Tractor
The compact tractors are good to haul heavy loads around the farm. They are extremely versatile and have a quick hitch on the front and rear so that you can add small implements, such as tools, garden supplies, animal feed, crops, small trailers or a mower. These compact tractors are essential for farms over 160 acres; however, it is completely up to the farmer to decide whether to invest or not.
A lawn tractor is good for small farm purposes and is much more aesthetically pleasing than a compact tractor with a strapped mower at the rear, which is better used on a large-scale farm. A lawn tractor is much bigger than a normal-sized riding mower and comes with so many useful features. They can also handle so many different types of attachments, like a lawn roller, a utility cart or a rotary tiller, and they can also handle so many jobs that a compact tractor can too.
Common Tools and Equipment for Small Farms:
Farm equipment is essential to make your farm more efficient. It is mostly all machines now, whereas traditional farming was very different, mostly using handcarts or hand tools. It is important to find and choose the right equipment and tools for the size of your farm. Having the right equipment will ensure you can have an even amount of time to feed and look after your animals and all your other harvesting and seed planting jobs.
Here are a few of the main implements that you can use for your small farm to make it more efficient:
Front-End Loader Attachments
A compact tractor can be made more useful using different implements to complete even more jobs around your small farm.
Material Bucket:This can scoop up manure, soil and rocks, and move them to where you usually dump it all.
Pallet Fork: To move any heavy or substantial farm equipment, a pallet fork is ideal. It will also move your spare pallets too.
Debris Grapple: If you have any timber or brush, the debris grapple will scoop it all together to make it easier to clean.
Lawn Care Equipment
To keep a good-looking lawn and garden for your livestock and crops, you need to use a mower. It is an essential piece of equipment and will always be useful, whatever the size of your farm. For your pasture, garden, edges of the roadside and much more, you need a rotary cutter to help with your agricultural needs.
Blades
One of the most well-used pieces of equipment on a farm is a box blade. They are used to make the ground more level, help you build paths, so it is easier to walk across your fields, it can helo build a terrace, and so much more! You can even use it to spread manure and soil around your field.
Rotary Tiller
Another ideal piece of equipment for your small farm is a tiller. Especially if you are growing crops, grains, cotton and indigo, they will also help prepare your soil for planting crops in the Spring and again in the Autumn.
Post Hole Digger
One of the most important pieces of farm equipment for farmers is fencing. This is because a fence can protect your crops and livestock. In fact, many farmers use electric fences around their animals and crops. This post hole digger will help you build a fence and help you build other things, including a barn, decking, or even a shed. The post hole digger can also help with digging up the soil to plant a tree!
If you work in the agricultural industry in Scotland, you can find a range of agricultural machinery for hire. For Farm Machinery Hire in Aberdeenshire and North Scotland follow this link to find out more.