Interactive lesson

Compact tractor, step by step

Interactive lesson: when a tractor pays its way, how to hitch an attachment, how to prevent rollovers and PTO accidents, and what you need for the public road.

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The whole lesson as text

1. When you need a tractor

A tractor is not a status symbol but a machine that needs work to do.

From about 2 ha — A tractor makes sense from roughly 2 ha (5 acres) of cultivation or hay, plus woodland and haulage. Below that, a two-wheel tractor or a contractor is cheaper.
Write down the jobs — Hay, field, woodland, muck, snow. Write down which jobs it would do and how many hours a year.
A year of contracting — Ask a local contractor to do your work for a year and write down every hour. Then you know how much tractor your holding needs.
Which tractor — For a self-sufficient homestead of 2 ha (5 acres) or more: a compact tractor of 25–50 hp with attachments. An old Massey Ferguson 35 or Ford is tough and simple, but often has no ROPS.

Why: A tractor saves hundreds of hours of work, but it is also the most dangerous machine on the holding. A tractor that works 30 hours a year costs the same to own as one that works 300, only each hour is dearer.

On a small plot you don't need a tractor: a two-wheel tractor or a contractor is enough.
A shared tractor needs a written agreement: who pays for servicing, who keeps it and what happens when it breaks down.

2. Power and hydraulics

You don't choose power by area but by the heaviest attachment you will pull.

Heaviest attachment — A two-furrow plough needs 35–50 hp, a 2–3 t trailer 30–50 hp with good brakes.
4WD or 2WD — 4WD gives better grip on wet grass, in the wood and on slopes, and you need it for a front loader. But it does not make the tractor more stable on a slope.
Three-point linkage — Two lower arms and one top link. Small tractors usually have Category 1; the attachment must be the same category or fitted with an adapter.
No one in between — No one stands between the tractor and the attachment while the tractor reverses. Stop, switch off the engine, apply the handbrake, and only then fit the pins.

Why: A tractor that is too strong breaks a light attachment; one that is too weak can't pull it and is overloaded. The attachment's manual always gives the minimum and maximum tractor power.

A rotary tiller of 1.2–1.5 m (4–5 ft) needs 20–35 hp, a single-furrow plough 25–35 hp.
The first attachments are usually a mower, a trailer and a plough or tiller. Add the rest when there is work for them.