Dustin Marsau

also, i heard that round bales almost always have chemicals in them? maybe its just an arse-backwards 'Merican thing... i probably read that from joel salatins book

Hey y'all it sounds like some advice from my neighbor would also be extremely helpful to anyone looking at buying a tractor. First of all, he rebuilds vintage tractors and goes to all the major swap meets and flea markets.  We've never had a tractor on our 2 acres. we've always been able to borrow one from the neighbors when we need it.

Okay heres the most important advice hes shared with me. He has a ford 8n or 9n with a loader. i beleive its a 1950s or 60s tractor. Its got no power steering. So if he goes to pick up a load of compost or soil or anything heavy, he looses the ability to turn! its just too hard to turn the wheel if it doesnt have power steerming.

the other important bit of info he gave me was that the newer tractors that have hydrostatic transmissions are waay more efficient and easy to drive than a geared tractor. i can attest to driving a newer New Holland with the hydrostatic transmission. i think it took me only 15 minutes to turn a huge compost pile that was probably 20 yards. And it was a blast! There is a pedal for forward, and a pedal for backward. just stomp and go! seriously so much faster than gears. (disclaimer: I normally have a tendency to avoid automatic transmissions in cars/trucks for a few reasons such as repair cost & fuel efficiency. But manual tractors are not so easy as a 5 speed.) Go for hydrostatic trans if ya can.

you might also wanna figure out if you need 4x4 too.

I'm currently figuring out how to put a business together and have been struggling with it quite a bit. I was hoping to find a similar plan to look at so i know how to craft mine. I want to raise eggs, broilers, and a winter csa on the 1.7 acre urban lot i live on in portland, or. I have the organic farmers business plan book, and i got a start farming packet from terra firma farm, but im still confused! I guess part of it is i don't know how much food my 1/2 acre market garden will produce, & my gardening practices seem completely different from every template as i do not want to till annually... But the most difficult part is how to sum up how awesome and effective and important it is to farm this way, in order to market myself to the neighborhood & get a good price for my hard earned intelect & labor.

anyone got any suggestions?