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Loaders, Excavation & Property Maintenance
Loaders, skid steers, mini excavators and the attachments around them build roads, ponds, pads and fence lines. These guides explain choices, safe digging and the maintenance that keeps property in shape.
50 guides in this section.
- Front End Loader Buying Guide
A front end loader changes how much work one person can do in a day, but it only helps if it fits your tractor and your chores. Here is how to size... - Loader Maintenance Checklist
Loaders work hard and fail in predictable ways. A few minutes of attention before and after each job catches most problems while they are still cheap... - Skid Steer Loader Basics
A skid steer is a small, quick machine that turns in its own length and takes a long list of attachments. That makes it handy and also easy to misuse. - Compact Track Loader vs. Skid Steer
The two machines look alike and use many of the same attachments, but they behave very differently on soft ground, slopes and hard pavement. - Mini Excavator Buying Guide
A mini excavator can dig a trench, set a culvert or pull a stump with more control than most tractors. Buying the right one means knowing what you... - Backhoe vs. Mini Excavator
Both machines dig holes, but they are built for different habits. One is a tractor with a digging arm on the back, the other is a dedicated digger... - Excavator Attachment Guide
The bucket that comes with an excavator is only the start. The right attachment turns it into a post-hole digger, a log handler or a rock mover, as... - Digging a Pond with Equipment
A pond is one of the more rewarding projects on a rural property and one of the easiest to get wrong. Most of the work happens before the first scoop... - Trenching for Utilities
A trench for water, power or drainage looks like a simple ditch. It is also one of the most dangerous jobs on a farm, and the planning starts long... - Grading and Leveling with Equipment
Good grading is mostly about water. Get the slope right and a surface lasts for years, get it wrong and every rain makes a new puddle. - Driveway Gravel Spreading
Gravel does not fix a driveway by itself. A good surface comes from the ground under it, the way water leaves it and how carefully the stone is... - Driveway Maintenance Equipment
A farm driveway takes a beating from trucks, trailers and weather. The right tool at the right time costs less than a rebuild. - Snow Removal Equipment Guide
When the snow piles up on a long rural lane, a shovel will not cut it. The right equipment, set up before the first storm, makes winter mornings a... - Snow Plow Setup for Trucks and Tractors
A plow that is mounted wrong, or on a vehicle that cannot carry it, causes more trouble than the snow does. Setup is worth the hour. - Salt Spreaders and De-Icing
Spreading salt or sand is about getting the right amount on the right place. Too little does nothing, too much wastes material and eats your... - Land Clearing Equipment
Clearing land is easy to start and hard to finish. The equipment you choose depends on what is growing, what you want left behind and how you plan to... - Brush Clearing Attachments
Overgrown fence rows and thick brush call for tools that can take a beating. The attachment you pick sets how much you can cut, how long it lasts and... - Forestry Mulcher Basics
A forestry mulcher turns standing brush and small trees into chips where they stand. It is fast, but it is also a loud, high-energy machine that... - Chainsaw Safety for Land Clearing
Chainsaws injure more people than most farm tools get credit for. Clearing land means leaning trees, tangled brush and tired hours, which makes... - Logging Equipment for Small Woodlots
Managing a small woodlot is part forestry and part machinery. The equipment you need depends on how much timber you cut and how far you have to move... - Firewood Processing Equipment
Firewood is hard work any way you do it. The right equipment saves your back and your time, but only if it fits how much wood you actually process. - Wood Splitter Buying Guide
A log splitter is one of the best investments for anyone who burns wood. The wrong one can be slow, tiring or dangerous, so choose with care. - Wood Chipper Buying Guide
A chipper turns brush piles into mulch, but it also pulls whatever you feed it with no mercy. Pick one that matches your brush and uses safety... - Stump Removal Equipment
A stump looks harmless until you try to move it. The root system is bigger than most people expect, and different tools leave very different results. - Post Driving Equipment
Driving posts by hand is slow and hard on shoulders. The right equipment gets a long fence line done in a fraction of the time, but it adds new... - Auger Attachments for Fencing
A post hole auger turns a miserable day with a hand digger into a few hours of steady work, but only if the auger, the tractor and the soil all... - Landscape Rake Uses
A three-point rake with a row of tines on a toolbar is one of the more useful attachments a property owner can pull behind a tractor. It levels,... - Rock Rake vs. Landscape Rake
Two rakes look alike from across the yard, but they do different work. Knowing which one fits your ground can save you a season of frustration. - Harley Rake Basics
A powered soil conditioning rake pairs a rotating tine drum with a leveling bar and a roller, and it turns rough ground into a seedbed in one or two... - Overseeding Lawns with Equipment
Thin turf can often be thickened without starting over, if the seed actually reaches soil. The equipment you choose matters less than the prep work... - Lawn Roller Use
A lawn roller is a simple drum on a handle or hitch, and it is easy to misuse. Used at the right time, it presses seed into soil and settles small... - Aerator Attachments
If water puddles on your lawn or pasture and the grass looks tired even though you feed it, the soil may be tight. An aerator attachment opens that... - Dethatcher Attachments
Thatch gets blamed for a lot of lawn trouble. Sometimes it deserves the blame, and sometimes the real problem is somewhere else. Learn to check... - Mowing Equipment for Large Properties
Mowing ten, twenty or fifty acres is a different job than cutting a yard. The right machine depends on what you are cutting, how rough the ground is... - Zero-Turn vs. Tractor Mower
A zero-turn is fast and nimble. A tractor does far more than mow. Which one is right depends on what else you need the machine to do. - Finish Mowing with a Tractor
A tractor can cut a lawn as neatly as a garden mower if the finish mower is set up properly and you drive it with patience. The details are mostly in... - Road Maintenance Equipment
A private road is a long, thin piece of infrastructure that fails slowly and then all at once. The right equipment and a steady routine keep you... - Culvert Installation Equipment
A culvert looks simple, a pipe under a driveway. Done wrong, it washes out the road, floods a field or blocks a stream. Plan the job before you pick... - Drainage and Ditching Equipment
Wet ground costs you hay, pasture and gravel. The tools for moving water are simple, but where the water goes matters as much as how you dig. - Gravel Road Repair
Potholes and washboard come back if you only fill them. Repairs hold when you fix the water and the base underneath. - Erosion Control with Equipment
Erosion is easier to prevent than to repair. The equipment you already own can reshape slopes, spread seed and mulch, and slow water before it carves... - Moving Dirt Efficiently
Moving dirt is mostly planning and habits. A good plan saves hours of trips, and good habits keep the machine upright. - Excavation Safety
A trench can look harmless and still kill in seconds. Excavation safety comes down to a handful of rules that you follow every single time. - Utility Locating Before Digging
Hitting a buried line can cut power, rupture a gas main or injure you. A phone call and a few days of patience prevent most of it. - Working Around Septic Systems
A septic system is buried and easy to forget, until a tractor crushes a pipe or compacts the drain field. Know where it is before you move any... - Equipment for Small Homesteads
A five-acre homestead does not need a barn full of iron. It needs a short list of machines that match the jobs you actually do, and a plan for the... - Equipment for Rental Properties
Owning rental property means someone else's family lives on the ground you maintain. The equipment question is partly about tools and partly about... - Equipment for Landscaping Businesses
A landscaping business lives on uptime. Every day a machine sits broken is a day a crew is paid to wait, so equipment choices come down to... - Winter Equipment Maintenance
Winter is when equipment gets fixed or forgotten. A few hours in the shop now saves a breakdown in the first week of spring. - Spring Property Maintenance Equipment
Spring arrives all at once. The owners who have their machines ready and a work order in mind get the best of the short window before grass and mud...