As an engineer, and a beginning farmer, I often times find myself pondering one of these questions:
- What is it?
- What is it used for?
- How do you use it?
- How does it connect to the tractor?
- What did they do before it was invented?
- Is there an implement that will make this easier?
When we first arrived we did not have many tools that would handle the tasks around the farm. Yes, we brought all the tools in the garage in the city; but, we quickly learned that home improvement tools are no match for farm and tractor tasks.
Learning about farm equipment is both fun and interesting to say the least. Everyone has an opinion and those opinions are deeply rooted in the color of paint (signifying the manufacturer of the tools, tractor or implement) that is considered best. That green equipment is expensive, proprietary and somewhat complex to find in the used or refurbished market. The blue equipment is lower in price but not by much yet when you go to add-on the optional equipment it’s get pricey.
Having worked in the international technology field for my entire career, buying an international brand was fine with me. I found the TYM lineup of tractors and simply loved everything they offered: 1) fully loaded equipment, simple and straight forward pricing, great support from the dealer and a price that made sense. I found the core items at Larry Stoves and Equipment in Memphis Tennessee, implements at Everything Attachments in North Carolina, and of course, most used equipment at Brinkley’s Farm Auction in Idabel, OK.
https://www.everythingattachments.com/www.everythingattachments.com/Default.html
These three suppliers made it possible to get the tools and equipment we needed to get the farm up and running. Farming is not for the faint at heart, and be prepared to spend some money. Heavy iron costs money up front but is necessary to work the land, grass, plants and farm animals. It’s probably obvious to you by looking at the project photos, that when something should be fastened and a welder is on site, the torch and welder are up for duty; if its heavy and needs to be moved, then get the tractor; if it is too tall to reach, the tractor can lift easier than climbing a ladder, if its buried in the ground, wrap a chain around it and pull it up.
Here are some images of the equipment we found or purchased to work the farm: