Whether it’s plowing snow in winter, cutting grass in summer or moving stuff in any season, a tractor equipped with the right attachment can do as much as a farmer can give it. These days, it seems like whatever the job, there are tractor attachments that can help from start to finish, even if it’s a one-off, ultra-specific task. If it’s one you do a lot, it might be worth picking up or renting an attachment that will make the job quicker and easier. Here are a few attachments that don’t readily fall into common implement categories.
1. Log Splitter/Stump Grinder
If you have a lot of woods and tons of plugs to cut, you might consider a three-point mounted log splitter (pictured above). Unlike wheeled, haul-behind log splitters, a three-point attachment mounts right onto the vehicle for ease of transportation wherever a tractor can go.
You can just set your plug on the horizontal frame, then activate the attachment to lower the wedge and split the log into firewood. After you’ve split all your logs, you can switch out one attachment for another—a stump grinder—to finish cleaning up the downed tree.
2. Soil Conditioner
If you struggle with less-than-perfect soil, a soil conditioner can save you time and energy usually spent raking out rocks, breaking up large clods and leveling tilled land. Teeth are welded to a counter-rotating drum in a spiral, and when the three-point mounted attachment passes over ground, it pulverizes soil and clods and tears up sod, letting the aerated soil “rain” down behind. The counter-rotating motion, though, moves soil forward for a smooth, even seedbed. Additionally, a conditioner attachment rakes rocks and debris for easy collection.
3. Sod Roller
Not everybody needs a sod roller among tractor attachments, but if you often find yourself putting down yards, it might be worth investing in this one. What does a sod roller do, exactly? Simply put, it carries and lays rolls of sod atop bare soil for a beautiful and complete yard in a short amount of time.
It’s typically mounted on the three-point hitch, holding rolls of sod between 2 and 4 feet wide between two endpoints that allow the grass to unroll exactly where it needs to go. Features such as automatic braking and relief valves can provide even greater control of how rolls are installed.
4. Stall Scraper
Manually mucking out stalls is one of the least-popular chores a farm has to offer; repeatedly lifting a pitchfork laden with spent bedding and livestock waste can be a back-breaking and, quite frankly, gross task. But stall scraper or manure attachments make quick work of a dirty stall. Specially designed to clear out livestock areas, the reversible rubber edge acts as a kind of “squeegee” to leave floors extra clean, and it’s replaceable. There’s an optional bolt-on back drag, too, that gets into tight areas—or, you could bring the pitchfork out of retirement.
This story originally appeared in the November/December 2018 issue of Hobby Farms magazine.
