Tractor? Or not?

I have several thoughts, George, if you are interested. Firstly, if you are happy with your animals and the progress you make, I would not get a tractor. It sounds to me that you would be getting a tractor to make your neighbor happy, which seems wrong to me. I have met many people that will never admit there is value in draft animal power (including some neighbors), and never fail to point out limitations. I have decided to agree to disagree with them. Most of the time, I can just walk away, but it sounds like you are stuck doing buisness with one. Perhaps there would be a way to change to nature of the arrangement? Perhaps your neighbor would be happy with a set number of bales per year or a set number of dollars per acre, which would give him no incentive to manage how you work the field. I understand these arrangements can be touchy, but I think this might be what I would propose. Perhaps the neighbor will go for it and it solves the problem… I think we both know that there are ways to get the work done with animal power, but sometimes it is hard and slow. I have always avoided owning a tractor because I feel I will go to it when there is alot of work to be done quickly or I am having some training issue. I feel that sometimes having an overwhelming amount of work that needs done at one time is a result of management mistakes on my part, and I need to suffer the consequences of those mistakes (rather than relying on a tractor to bail me out) so I don’t do it again. Likewise, I feel that having a tractor to “bail me out” of training issues will lead to animals that are less trained and less pleasureable to work with long term. I am sure everyone has different reasons why they farm, but working with animals and enjoying the quiet and peaceful solitude of nature is very important to me. I guess part of the answer to this question is what is important to you? If working with animals is very important, you might ask yourself “How does owning a tractor forward your goal of farming/working with animals?”

My question is regarding your agreement with your neighbor. If you are renting ground from him, what say does he have in how you farm it? In most cases, you are considered the operator – he, the owner. If you are paying cash rent, then his only concern is whether or not you make payment. IMO – he’s listening to too much jabber from his friends at the coffee shop/bar who chide him about your farming practices. We have plenty of “barstool farmers” here too – they rarely get dirty.

So, as I think others have said, go with what YOU REALLY feel called to do and not what someone else THINKS you should do. One added note – if you’re looking at a tractor that costs less than a power forecart costs, plan on spending even LESS time with your remaining team and more quality time with that tractor – it will eat your wallet and your time. Good luck with your decision but decide what’s best for you/your situation and goals, not someone else’s..

Sorry – I reread your post and see you do shares with your neighbor. How is that setup? He gets 1/3 and you 2/3 of the crop? Of the receipts? Who does the work etc …. ? If your landlord keeps giving you grief, I’d try for a cash rental agreement to quiet him down.

Computor has a mind of its own tonight, will try later or you can give me a call and we can discuss your problems

Iron Rose
Dan Rasmussen
SE Mn

George, the new mowers can really lay down some hay. Just putting ours to consistent work this past week, rotating two teams every two hours for 11 hrs in the field I cut 20 acres on Tuesday using the I and j big cart and 9 ft. mower. So a weekend could lay down all your hay ready for raking and tractor baling….

Kevin

My dad bought a brand new ford 8n tractor the summer I was born. I still have that tractor. Although it is only worth about $1500 It is priceless in my book. it sat for years under a pile of horse blankets while I farmed and worked wood with my horses. This spring I drug it out of the bushes and a friend and I have started going through it. Wheel seals, top end, fuel and electrical systems, a 12 volt coil, and she runs pretty good for an old girl. Her paint is a little dull, but so is mine and I still fit into that spot that I wore in the seat. Anyway, it can still do work and I can find things to do with it. I used to worry a bit more about this question, tractor or not, but it doesn’t bother me so much anymore. The true question is probably do you farm to have horses, or do you use horses to farm, and that is of course a personal choice. My horses aren’t going anywhere yet, they are young and I will wear out before they do.
One thing I have discovered about myself is that if I haven’t hooked the horses in a while, bad weather or something, I start getting cranky and irritable. Penny notices, and says go hook your horses, and I do, and instantly feel better about the world. So they can be therapeutic.

Hi Gpoky, Please don’t take offense, but I would not make this decision based on my neighbors thoughts on the usefulness of what I am doing. That is just me. There aren’t a lot of details in your post; but here are a few things I would consider. Perhaps they explain how and why I farm with horses. (I have an old tractor, 60’s?). I also have an off farm job – City Fire Department.
First, horses and horse power can be financially sustainable provided the scale is appropriate. That means the number of bales you can make equals the number you can need. The number of acres you want to plow and cultivate must equal what you can reasonable do. This is not meant to suggest that this is easy or it will work for everyone. Most all of us are making financial decisions today that are compromises. Where will we get health care? Day care? Education for our kids. All these things might make it hard to work with horses on a full time basis.

Environmental sustainability is great and I talk about that all the time, but truthfully that is not the first thing that motivates me to use horses. I all ways tell people working with horses is the funnest thing I have ever done. I have done a lot of fun things. When some one suggests how much quicker it would be to use a tractor on my farm, I tell them that is fine, go ahead. You will just have to do it without me because I will be off starting a horse powered farm some where. That usually quiets them for a while. Good luck and keep us posted. Donn

I don’t see a problem with hybrid systems. The same philosophy as was discussed in the Hybrid logging thread. Use each to its best advantage. And who says you have to buy a expensive tractor anyway? They can be rented or leased for short periods of time. You could rent one for a month and turn it back in at after your done with it.
~Tom