Just read about the "Worker Bee" in Farm Show (vol 35, no 4, 2011). First of all, here is the website:
Worker Bee.
It takes less than $1000 to build it yourself, and "is a good off-season project) as it takes about 50 hours. It requires no fuel, is quiet, easy-to-handle, and facilitates a lot of things on the typcal homestead.