Are you still using manual labor on your fields for plowing, seeding and harvesting? If yes, then it’s time for you to increase your efficiency with agricultural tractors. Surely, keeping laborers on your farm would imply that you’re employing people. However, the hard work that it takes to plow an entire field isn’t worth the quality of service you receive.
If you think that tractors serve their purpose for big farms only, you’re mistaken. If you take a sneak peek into the market, you’ll discover there are special tractors for small farms too. Let’s see what they’re capable of and which kind would suit your farm the most.
What are Agricultural Tractors?
To put it simply, they’re vehicles used for plowing, tilling, harrowing, planting and harvesting. Basically, it involves almost all the tasks of farming except irrigation. The manual tools that we use take a lot more time and might not be even since they’re done by hand. However, tractors are a lot faster and ensure better productivity.
Tractors usually run on diesel or gasoline engines. These engines provide enough power to carry heavy equipment and attach tractor implements like seeder, harvester, plow or tiller. You can measure the power of these engines in horsepower (hp). The more the power, the heavier equipment it can carry.
Various Tractor Implements
Tractor implements are attachments that actually do the farming work when you start driving the vehicle. Following are the various implements that you attach to the tractor for various farming activities:
Rotary Tiller
This is a set of rotating blades that cuts deep into the soil to break it and make space for planting new seeds.
Post Hole Digger
This implement also cuts deep holes in the soil, a lot deeper than a rotary tiller. You need them for planting trees or bushes – hence used more in gardens, vineyards and orchards.
Harrow
This tools is used for mainly breaking or smoothening the soil. The metal teeth or discs also help in tilling.
Plow
If the land you’re working on is hard, dry or bushy, using a plow is a better option for loosening the soil before planting.
Spreader
In agriculture, this implement is used for seeding. You put the seeds in a hopper and a spinning wheel will evenly spread them in the soil.
Planter
If you plant your seeds in a row, then this is what you need with your tractor.
Cultivator
This implement is useful for loosening the soil and removing weeds.
Sprayer
It sounds like a tool you can use for irrigation, but it is a lot more efficient for spraying pesticides, herbicides and fertilizers.
Cutter
This is mostly used in lawns and gardens for cutting grass. However, you can also use them for removing weeds from your field.
Front End Loader
As the name suggests, the implement is used for transporting. In agriculture, you can use it to carry and spread manure in the field.
Roto Seed Drill
If you wish to sow seeds right after harvesting, you drive the tractor with this implement once. While it crushes and mixes the stubble, it also spreads seeds and fertilizers as you move.
Pallet Forks
These implements are used during harvesting, mostly for moving crates to the field and transporting goods.
Straw Reaper
This tool is needed after harvesting for cutting and threshing straw on the field.
Types of Agricultural Tractors
Tractors are actually used for many things, agriculture being the most common utility. For farms and gardens, following are the various types of tractors:
Utility Tractors
They’re the most commonly used agricultural tractors, running at a power of 45-140 hp. You can use them to carry heavy equipment and perform all farming activities like plowing, tilling, pulling heavy equipment and harvesting.
Compact Tractors
These are used in vineyards and orchards. They may have a small size, but are of great utility, especially if you want to trim trees and pick fruits at the same time.
Two-Wheeler Tractors
These are compact and lightweight tractors designed for small farms and gardens. You can use them for all activities like plowing, tilling, seeding and harvesting. The vehicle is capable of pulling lightweight and smaller equipment.
Mini Tractors
These tractors work at a power below 30 hp. They’re basically small farm tractors that are efficient enough for plowing, transporting, hauling and harvesting. In the last 5 years, mini tractor for agriculture has been growing in popularity.
Garden Tractors
As the name suggests, you can only use these in a garden. They can only cut grass and make flower beds, operating at a power of 1-20 hp. They’re smaller than other agricultural tractors.
Row Crop Tractors
If you grow your crops row-wise in your field, then these tractors are meant for you. They are very comfortable and user-friendly for plowing, leveling, weed control, row spacing, harrowing and pulling seed drills.
Autonomous Tractors
These are advanced tractors that run on artificial intelligence. They don’t need a driver – you can operate them remotely using your computer and GPS. The main advantage of using them is that you can solely operate multiple of these simultaneously without having to employ a single driver.
What are the Benefits of Having Agricultural Tractors?
Before we had tractors, farmers had to do everything by hand. The best they had back then were bullock carts. However, they’re only capable of plowing the field. What about the rest of the work? Here’s how having agricultural tractors benefits you:
Multiple Uses
From plowing to harvesting, every little job that farming demands can be met by a tractor. You need to use the right implement for the right job.
Saves Energy
A farming tractor is very easy to operate. You just need to drive it (or remotely control it in case of an autonomous tractor). The rest is done by the implements.
Saves Time
Clearly, driving a tractor saves you hours of work that you would have to do by hand with heavy tools. What might have taken you several days, can be done in a few hours.
Multiple Variants
You get tractors of different sizes and capacities that cater to different types of fields. Some are meant for gardens, some for small farms and some for orchards.
Higher Yield
When you increase perfection along with saving time and energy, you’re bound to get more. Your yield depends on a lot of factors – how the seeds have been sown, the evenness with which you’ve spread manure, fertilizers or pesticides and how you harvest it.
Suppliers of Agricultural Tractors around the World
You know the types of tractors and tractor implements available in the market. One is suitable for crop fields, the other is suitable for gardens. Some are suitable for large farms, others for small areas. Once you know the features and power you need, you start looking at the models in the market.
Two of these are popular brands dealing in farm equipment:
Tractors and Farm Equipment Limited
Shortly known as tafe, the company deals in several agricultural machinery like harvesters, tractors, implements, agro-engines, hydraulic pumps and hydraulic cylinders. Based in Chennai, India, it is the 3rd largest manufacturer of tractors in the world and 2nd largest in India.
John Deere Farm Tractors
Based in the USA, the company deals in literally everything a farmer might need. Whether you’re looking for fresh arrivals or second hand tools and equipment, you’ll get everything here. In fact, you’ll also get farm tractors for sale, look for various dealers and rent equipment.
New Holland Tractor Dealers – Online Market for Farm and Tractor Supply
This may say “New Holland” but you can find dealers and farm equipment for sale near you no matter which country or city you belong to. All you have to do is enter you zip code. If you want to deal overseas, you need to “change market” and select where you want to deal in.
Suppliers of Used Tractors
For some farmers, even the cheapest tractor in the market can be expensive. Yet, it has become a necessity to use one for efficient farming. The solution to this problem is dealing in second hand goods. If purchased from good suppliers, you can get a tractor in good working condition for a price within your budget.
Tractors and Machinery
If you’re looking for used farm equipment for sale by the owner, then this is the right place for you. You’ll get branded tractors here at a much cheaper rate for being second-hand. However, you need to be sure that before you finalize your deal, the tractor you’re receiving is actually in a good condition.
Affordable Farm Machinery
This online marketplace is based in the UK but supplies second hand tractors overseas too. They have been established since 1990 and deal in many other farming equipment and machinery. One of the reasons why you can trust them is because they also own a 1200 acre beef farm, where they test the machinery before selling it.
What should be Your Ideal Agriculture Tractor Price?
On an average, a first-hand tractor can cost you anything between $15,000 and $150,000. Depending on the horsepower and size, here’s the break-up:
Small tractors: $9,000-$15,000
Mid-size tractors from 25-80 hp: $22,700-$49,000
4-wheel tractors with up to 100 hp: $55,000-$70,000
Biggest tractors with up to 150 hp: $72,000-$150,000
Second-hand tractors are a lot cheaper since they come used. On an average, based on the horsepower, here’s the price range:
Up to 40 hp: $6,000-$15,000
50-75 hp: $20,000-$35,000
95-120 hp: $50,000-$75,000
How to Make your Final Choice?
At last, you saw everything that a farming tractor needs to have. To sum it up, here’s what you need to look at when buying a tractor:
Size and Nature of Your Land
Do you own a farm or a garden? What is the area of operation? Do you plant your crops row-wise? A 2-wheeler tractor works for a garden but a farm needs a 4-wheeler. If you have a large farm, autonomous tractor will be more suitable for you.
Horsepower of the Tractor
This actually depends on the usage of the vehicle – which in turn depends on how big your field is. TO a large extent, it depends on the nature of the soil and the crops you’re growing too.
Weight & Size of the Tractor
Don’t think that heavier the tractor, the better it is. You are the one who’ll be driving it, so it should be easy for you to operate it too. Moreover, the size of your land matters here. You don’t need a very heavy tractor for a small farm. At the same time, you can’t have a compact tractor in a large farm.
Supplier or Brand
The brand and the dealer selling you the tractor should be genuine and well-known in the market. In the end, this is an expensive, long-term investment. So, it is important to be careful.
Capacity of the Tractor
This is an important thing to consider, depending on the weight of material you have to carry around the field. If you have a small farm and deal in lightweight materials, you don’t need to invest in tractors with heavy capacity unnecessarily.
Price
Is the tractor falling within your budget? Does it seem worth the price after comparing with other brands? This might lead you to the next factor to consider.
First-hand or Second-hand
If the former doesn’t fall in your budget, you’ll have a tough time investing in the second-hand goods. This is because you can’t just test its worth based on its usage and capacity. You need to know if it’s really in a good working condition to judge the price.
Resale Value
It is smart to use a tractor and sell it before it depreciates completely. That way, you ensure that you’re using a good quality tractor all the time and can save a lot of money if you can resell it at a good deal.
Are You Ready to Buy an Agricultural Tractor?
You know now for sure that you need to have a tractor if you have a farm. You can’t work with manual labour anymore on today’s date. What’s more important is that you buy the right kind, so that you benefit fully out of it. More or less, it is your field size and nature that’ll determine what you need. A large farm might even need 2 or more agricultural tractors.
You think you’re ready to visit the market now?
