How to Choose a Versatile Tractor for Your Leisure Farm or Large Estate

Compact utility tractors, while not as heavy-duty as row-crop tractors, can still handle livestock production on a smaller scale. These small farm tractors serve as utility vehicles, capable of being equipped with a range of attachments from mowers and tillers to buckets and augers, making them consistently useful on properties of a truly farm-like nature. Although small farms sometimes grow traditional crops such as corn, wheat, soybeans, sorghum, and hay, Mark Davey, compact utility tractor market manager, notes that most of their customers "prefer to grow their own food through gardening" and "also raise various animals, from cattle and horses to sheep, goats, and pigs." These are hobby farms. They focus on small-scale agriculture, primarily for enjoyment rather than as a primary income source. This lifestyle allows nature enthusiasts to get close to the outdoors and may even yield a secondary income. Customers of Kioti brand tractors are often small farmers, landowners, and hay growers. However, Joel Hicks, tractor attachment product line manager, says that in most cases "farming is not their primary source of income." Regardless of the purpose of smaller plots, their equipment needs will differ from those of commercial farms. Although compact tractors are smaller in size, they are sufficient to meet the various demands of this market. "These customers want to accomplish many different tasks on their land," Davey confirms. Common tasks performed by customers in this market include mowing, material handling, grading, tilling, digging, feeding livestock, haying, and arena maintenance. Hobby farmers have different needs when it comes to machinery. Below, we take a look at equipment options and applications for compact tractors.