Self-sufficiency is on the rise, with roughly 42 million American households now growing their own food — the highest numbers in over a decade. Maintaining a homestead, in particular, is a rewarding life path that requires dedication and work. Fortunately, certain machinery exists to make the process of running a homestead more efficient and successful.
Depending on the size of your homestead and how large your gardens are, some of the machinery mentioned will not be needed and others will become a necessary part of your homestead inventory. You must decide by priority and need which pieces of equipment are right for your situation and purchase accordingly.
Skid Steer
A useful heavy-duty compact loader, a skid steer has plenty of uses on a homestead. For example, with an s-tine cultivator or rotary tiller, a skid steer can get fields, gardens, or smaller food plots ready for seeding. This piece of machinery can make your gardening chores much easier on your homestead.
By fitting it with the right seeder attachments, you can then use it to plant a garden. Additionally, the rotary broom attachments let you clear leaves and snow, and sweep dirt from grass and paving, while also clearing straw from your barn, which again can make many homesteading tasks much easier.
Fitting your skid steer with the right tires is also a must for efficiency. Larger tires with a deeper tread, for example, will allow you to maintain stability over both rough and smooth terrain. It will also help during times of a significant amount of rain or snowfall on the homestead.
Harvester Machine
A harvester machine is a versatile piece of machinery, which can be used to winnow, thresh, and harvest crops. It can therefore save you much time, money, and energy, which you can then better pour into other areas of your homestead.
Ideally, you should invest in a harvester with heads specific to the type of crop you grow — whether it be corn, wheat, or potatoes. With the right harvester, you can ensure the best possible performance and yield and quality of your crop. This equipment is a true time and labor saver for many farmers and homesteaders.
Forestry Mulcher
If you have a lot of land to clear, a forestry mulcher is much more efficient than doing the job by hand. Forestry mulchers — also known as brush-cutters or masticators — shred all kinds of vegetation with large steel chipper teeth attached to a steel drum. The drum rotates and the steel teeth get to work clearing any plant material in the way and turning it into mulch.
Larger models can be used to quickly clear acres of land, while smaller models can also prove useful as your farm gradually expands and requires freeing up more land over time. This is a rugged piece of machinery all homesteads should own.
Final Thoughts on Machinery for the Homestead
Maintaining a homestead undoubtedly requires hard work and effort. With these helpful pieces of outdoor machinery, you can ensure you complete small and large tasks as efficiently and quickly as possible.
Purchasing this these type of machinery can be on the expensive side, therefore requiring you to budget and save for each one. Try choosing the most important and helpful piece of equipment first and gradually adding the rest as money allows. A good budget and savings can come in handy here.
Have you purchased any outdoor machinery for your homestead or farm recently? What equipment do you find most useful? Share with me your experience and opinions from your experiences in the comment field below so you can help others to make a good purchase decision.
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