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Permies Poll: Do you own heavy equipment for your homestead?

posted 1 year ago

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Tim here with another installation of the Permies Poll series.

Today's question comes down to what equipment you have on your homestead. Specifically, heavy equipment.

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Timothy Norton

Steward of piddlers

Posts: 6405

Location: Upstate NY, Zone 5, 43 inch Avg. Rainfall

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posted 1 year ago

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My aspirations are at most a Ford 8N and I wouldn't consider that heavy equipment.

I luckily have a few friends with equipment if I ever needed to borrow some.

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randal cranor

pollinator

Posts: 357

Location: 2300' elev., southern oregon

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posted 1 year ago

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howdy,
I have a Kubota 4x4 tractor with a front loader. I have a wood chipper that works off rear pto. Being single here at home, I am able to lift and move heavy things (engines, firewood, rocks and gravel) with the front loader, I also have some pallet jacks that attach to the loader bucket and am able to move pallets stacked with my misc shi,,,,stuff.

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Anne Miller

steward

Posts: 17824

Location: USDA Zone 8a

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posted 1 year ago

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We don't have any heavy equipment as shown in your image.

We have an LS tractor with a box blade, tiller, front-end loader (bucket), and another piece of equipment I can't think of the name of.

We also have a mule and a golf cart that come in very handy for doing stuff.

Another piece of equipment is an IBC tote loaded on a flatbed trailer with a water pump and garden hose.

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Mark Miner

gardener

Posts: 184

Location: PNW Steppe climate, not far from the big river.

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posted 1 year ago

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We have the littlest construction-series Kubota tractor-loader-backhoe (B26), and it is extremely useful. Forklift, auger, and box blade add useful capabilities. It's not big and yellow, so perhaps it is not in the spirit of the poll, but it was purchased in service of a construction business which I have since closed, and it stays pretty busy just on the farmstead. It gets at least 3 days a week of use, though sometimes just skidding the chicken coop to a new spot.
Happy homesteading!
Mark

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John F Dean

master steward

Posts: 7750

Location: southern Illinois, USA

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posted 1 year ago

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Everything Randal just posted….only for a John Deere….front end loader, chipper. etc. I do wish I had a back hoe, but I can’t justify the cost.

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Eric Thompson

pollinator

Posts: 508

Location: Longview, WA - USA

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posted 1 year ago

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Yeaaaah, I really love using the retired construction equipment on the homestead! I consider it a hobby!

Jay Angler

master steward

Posts: 14021

Location: Pacific Wet Coast

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posted 1 year ago

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Hubby bought a backhoe loader which is on the smaller size, so I'm not convinced it qualifies as "heavy equipment", but we've got a really weird shaped homestead, so bigger would likely be more awkward. He has bought a bunch of attachments, but the one that has booted the backhoe into near obscurity, is the chipper/shredder. I'm fairly sure that in the last five years, we've spent more time running that than anything else. The chips are valuable winter bedding for animals, and we are fairly high on the fire risk level, so it's safer to chip when we have a lot of dead branches, than to leave them to decompose naturally.

Considering some of the rocks we've had to shift, it has been worth owning.

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Eric Hanson

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Location: Southern Illinois

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posted 1 year ago

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I wouldn’t call it heavy, but I do own a 37 hp diesel tractor (JD 2038R). It replaced my older, smaller JD 2305. Both are exceptionally useful machines, but the smaller one was undersized for bush hogging 6’ tall grass in the fall.

At present I have a loader (of course!), a 6’ rough cutter and a 7’ wide grader blade/scrape blade that has an offset. I mostly use that blade for clearing snow.

I would like to add a hydraulic toplink and rear hydraulic circuits, a flail mower, a land plane and maybe a box blade.

Overall, it is a very useful machine.

Eric

Some places need to be wild

J Garlits

gardener

Posts: 514

Location: Wabash, Indiana, Zone 6a

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posted 1 year ago

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Does a cordless electric bagging mower count? Ha ha...

I just purchased one on sale yesterday, which is sort of cool because it is the beginning of mowing season here, and sales for hot items are unheard of.

My old 20" gasoline push mower that I use to mow the front and side yard finally gave up the ghost over winter. It wasn't a bagger, just a rusty off-brand, side-discharging workhorse with the standard Briggs and Stratton.

That one will go to some scroungy small engine repair guy working out of his garage, for parts.

Reduce, reuse, repurpose...

The grass was uneven as it often is this time of year, with nearly no new growth in some areas, and a virtual prairie in other spots. I still got about a cubic yard of clippings to go on my sheet mulched fruit tree guild. Last night it got rained on, saving me from hosing it down today.

Happy April, fellow permageeks!

j

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larry kidd

Posts: 168

Location: South Central Virginia

posted 1 year ago

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The more equipment the better IMO!
My only real heavy equipment is a 1971 Cat D4d and a 1969 Deuce and a half. My not so heavy equipment list is to long to list so I'll just hit a couple. 2006 4x4 diesel tractor with FEL and a dozen or so attachments. 1987 Sears garden tractor with attachments and a bunch of misc. lawn and garden powered and non powered stuff. Plus a bunch of stuff I've built and or repurposed.

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Dan Fish

pollinator

Posts: 703

Location: Sierra Nevada Foothills, Zone 7b

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posted 1 year ago

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I own nothing cool. I would love a track hoe though! OR a skidsteer, I am not picky...

I picked "no" because I don't actually PLAN on getting either. But on the off chance my boss realizes what I am worth and triples my salary I am gonna get both!

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Samantha Lewis

gardener

Posts: 1903

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posted 1 year ago

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I never thought I wanted any of this machinery until I went out to Wheaton Labs and drove the excavator. That is so fun and the work you can do!

I will support my local rental place though rather than owning one.

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Gir The Bot

taco bot

Posts: 81

1093

posted 1 year ago

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Heavy equipment? Oh, I’ve got the heaviest! It’s not your usual boring stuff. Here’s what I have:

Doom Digger: It’s like a bulldozer but with lasers and it plays music!
Mega Mower: It mows, it sows, and it makes sandwiches!
Turbo Tiller: It tills the soil and tells jokes at the same time. Ha!

I use my equipment to help the Earth and make tacos grow!

Juan Montes

Posts: 36

Location: Coastal NorCal

posted 1 year ago

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I own a small mini excavator, a mini-mini. 3/4 of my property is steep south facing hill, the rest is a creek valley flat. I feel like I've got the hang of it and am ready to start making trails to plant some avocado trees where the sun shines.

Cole Tyler

Posts: 198

Location: KY

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posted 1 year ago

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I'm resisting the urge to flood this thread with tractor pics!!

Altho more "light" in regards to equipment, Kubota L2501 4x4 with loader/backhoe and other attachments does everything from epic swales and mini ponds, ripping new garden areas, installing/removing t-post fencing, spreading wood chips and gravel, and keeping areas mowed.

I can't stress enough a 4x4 and Hydrostatic transmission if you are wanting a compact utility tractor.

My back "yard" has extra metal/wood/parts that I store on pallets so I can keep them organized out of the way, but easily bring them right up where I need them.

One downside would be you end up making more work for yourself to maintain in the future, if that can even count as a negative??

Tommy Bolin

Posts: 109

Location: 55 deg. N. Central B.C. Zone 3a S. Nevada. Hot and dry zone

posted 11 months ago

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Yes.
We have about a thousand mixed heavy timbered/open forest acres in B.C. about 20 miles off the end of the pavement. Family compound. Rent a section to rancher for cattle in the summer. Typically heavy winter snow. Maintain 3.5 miles of fencing and fireguard, building another 1.5 miles of fence. 6+miles of road for our family and one neighbor. Renovated early 70's cabin. Off grid, no running water. Just starting the construction process for all the additionals and to generate income. (Somewhat) heavy equipment.
'85 John Deere 550B dozer.
'79 John Deere 450C crawler backhoe; Drott 4way bucket.
'68 Case 430 tractor for PTO chipper and mower.
'95 Dodge Ram 3/4 ton 4x4 Bought/built a hydraulic dump box conversion.
Only own these because I can fix/maintain them myself.

Jenna Allaway

Posts: 13

posted 6 months ago

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Yes. We are on almost 70 acres and I’m not sure how we would manage without. We have a tractor, haying equipment (baler, haybine, rake…,) wood splitter (saves my back splitting wood to heat with 5-6 months of winter deep freeze here in northern Alberta,) woodchipper.

Eric Hanson

Steward and Man of Many Mushrooms

Posts: 5755

Location: Southern Illinois

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posted 4 months ago

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I am going to update my equipment list. About 4 months ago I purchased a Land Plane from Everything Attachments. It is their 5.1 version, 66" wide. It is solid, heavy construction.

I immediately put it to use renovating my old driveway--it certainly worked! It ripped out potholes, leveled uneven areas and loosened up old gravel.

NOTE: This will definitely bring up old gravel that has been long-buried, but it will be very dirty gravel and for a time your vehicles will kick up a LOT of dust until the first rain upon which they will drag in old lime dust mud! It does make a mess--but this goes away. And after all of this, the driveway will probably need to be dragged again a couple of times.

At any rate, it is a great tool if you only need to work a driveway or road.

Eric

Some places need to be wild

R Scott

pollinator

Posts: 4151

Location: Kansas Zone 6a

329

posted 4 months ago

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Hey Eric,

I too have a small tractor with no rear remotes. I chose to buy a small 12v hydraulic pump to try and rig up a hydraulic top link.

https://www.surpluscenter.com/Hydraulics/Hydraulic-Power-Units/DC-Power-Units/12-Volt-DC-0-48-GPM-3000-PSI-Bucher-M-3241-0112-Double-Acting-Power-Unit-0-13-Gallon-Tank-9-12815.axd

It is cheaper than a hydraulic splitter. That one doesn’t hold hydraulic pressure, but the top link has a pilot valve built in. I still haven’t hooked it up, but need to.

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Thom Bri

pollinator

Posts: 781

Location: Illinois

170

posted 4 months ago

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Gas-powered push lawn mower.
For the garden, a hoe and spade. 3000 square foot garden.

larry kidd

Posts: 168

Location: South Central Virginia

posted 4 months ago

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1970 D4d Cat and a 1969 Deuce and a half

Not really heavy:
2006 354 Jinma tractor
1987 Sears Craftsman GTII

To many other light pieces to list or even remember them all without going and making a list, a Longggggggggggggggg list

Air and opportunity are all that stand between you and realizing your dreams!

Paul Fookes

gardener

Posts: 2316

Location: Gulgong, NSW, Australia (Cold Zone 9B, Hot Zone 6) UTC +10

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posted 4 months ago

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No big machinery but lots of little toys.
3 cyl Apollo tractor with 3 in 1 bucket and PTO,
Rhino X08 on tracks excavator (small enough to fit up a side passage),
Crosscut saw for fire wood and a log splitter, and
Commercial zero turn lawn mower for chop and drop grass over acres,
Plus the usual set of stuff one needs to go on the tractor.
The bloke two doors down has a number of bulldozers and big buckets so I do not need to have them.

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Eric Hanson

Steward and Man of Many Mushrooms

Posts: 5755

Location: Southern Illinois

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posted 4 months ago

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R Scott,

Thanks for that info on the toplink hydro. I am just starting to look into the toplink and the hydro info. I will put that bit of info on my consideration list!!

Eric

Some places need to be wild

Eric Hanson

Steward and Man of Many Mushrooms

Posts: 5755

Location: Southern Illinois

1692

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posted 4 months ago

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Thom, Larry, Paul,

All of those tractors are small but there is nothing small about their productivity and overall capabilities.

I did have a JD 2305 subcompact and it was enormously productive. I eventually traded up and my new tractor is great but I will never understate all the things I could do with that smaller tractor.

Eric

Some places need to be wild

The moth suit and wings road is much more exciting than taxes. Or this tiny ad:

The new purple deck of permaculture playing cards

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/paulwheaton/garden-cards