Compact tractors are a great deal more useful than simple lawn mowers. If you have a property bigger than a postage stamp, you have all kinds of jobs that need doing, and a compact tractor is exactly the right equipment to get them done.
Here are the most popular ways people put their compact or subcompact tractors to work.
- Mowing grass. Like I said, it’s more than a simple lawn mower. Whether you’re mowing the front lawn or taming the cow pasture, a tractor equipped with a rotary mower does the job fast and easy. And when you hit that rough patch of thick, waist high weeds, a rotary cutter makes short work of it.
To make your lawn smooth and golf-course pretty, a finishing mower is the tool for the job, and some finishing mower decks come with mulching and anti-scalping kits.
- Lifting and moving stuff. Aside from the standard rotary cutter, the front loader is the most common implement sold for compact and subcompact tractors. Front loaders are great for dozens of jobs around the property.
Using the tractor’s hydraulic system the front end loader can pick up, lift, spread materials, and move all kinds of things around. Many loaders are now factory mounted which saves on prep time when you buy your new tractor!
In the winter, when snow starts to pile up, you can hook up a snow bucket and clear those pesky drifts. In the spring time you can turn your compact tractor into a handy forklift with a set of quick attach forks. These are super handy for moving pallets of mulch and other landscape materials.
- Dig holes. Boy, can you dig holes. Use the backhoe to dig out pits, ditches, or trenches for any purpose. Need to dig post holes for a fence or plant trees? No problem. Hook up an auger to the 3 point hitch and drill away.
- Push and level. Blades and box scrapers are popular tools, handy for lots of jobs around the property. Using a rear mounted blade, you can grade, level, and spread gravel on a driveway, move snow, or spread a pile of feed or mulch.
- Blow snow. When you attach a snowblower to the front or back of your compact or subcompact tractor, you get a supercharged version of a blower. Kick up a minor snowstorm while you’re clearing a path!
- Haul stuff. At some point, you’re going to need to get something heavy way out into the field. Maybe you’re hauling mineral licks to the pasture for cows or to attract deer, taking a pile of posts and wire for the fence, or hauling a load of shingles for the roof. Attach a cart to your tractor, and you’re good to go. Your tractor is rugged enough to power over any kind of terrain, so it will take you to even the roughest areas of the back forty.
- Prepare and plant. Planning a vegetable or flower garden or a deer food plot? Your compact tractor does everything. Start by tilling and aerating your plot with a tiller attachment. Then hook up a spreader to seed and fertilize.
- Clear brush and tree debris. Clearing stubborn brush is one of the hardest jobs on any property, but a grapple bucket makes short work of it. You can push the brush up into a pile while a cage-like top closes down like a clamp to lift the whole pile!
- Clean up pine needles. Pine needles can pile up into unsightly piles (sometimes crawling with spiders). The hands-down best way to get rid of them is using a pine needle or pine straw rake attachment for your compact or subcompact tractor. It’s simple, just connect the rake to your 3 point hitch and drive over the area covered with needles. The rake grabs the needles and drags them to wherever you need them to be.
- Make extra money! Your neighbors need all the same jobs done and may not have the versatile mean machine you wisely invested in. If you have the time, advertise your services and generate some extra operating cash to invest in new tractor attachments.
