Splitter Sat
Managing my Smallholding in France by Peter Smith
When viewing my new property in France, little did I realise that behind the crumbling honeyed stone buildings above the lavender fields and olive groves lay a number of groundcare problems relating to managing just the fields and paddocks.
I realised that I needed a machine to keep the grass cut, and the weeds, nettles and docks under control, not to mention cutting back the brambles. Searching on the web I discovered that the machine I needed was a compact tractor.
On arrival, it was ready to use, all I had to do was turn the key. I couldn’t wait. The Operators Manual is brilliant, and within five minutes, I was cutting back the undergrowth and jungle, leaving a pleasing swathe of cut grass behind me. The Topper worked from the PTO shaft, and it reduced head high nettles to tiny pieces. Three days later, I cut the field again, doubly chopping the previous cut grass and weeds, and with the effects of the sun, within four days it had dried and withered away to nothing, new growth was coming through, and this time, with the tractor and topper I kept it cut to a pleasing low growth.
My love of the little tractor grew and I began to find reasons why I should be sat on it driving around the fields. I went back to the brochure and looked at all the attachments that would fit onto the tractor and be powered by the PTO shaft or the hydraulics. A Topper or Mower of some kind was essential just to keep the grass down to a reasonable level. I had quickly realised that ride on mowers just aren’t up to the job. More importantly, if you try cutting fields and paddocks with a ride on mower then you’re going to ruin it. What is needed is a compact tractor with a Topper on the back. Mine is 5 foot wide, and cutting my fields used to take a full weekend on the ride on mower. Now I cut four acres with ease before lunch.
A log splitter just begged to be bought, how many hours had I spent splitting logs? Some were easy, others were tough and knotted. I made up my own Confucian saying. ‘man who chops logs stays a damn sight warmer than man who sits in front of them when they’re burning’. A link box or some people call them transport boxes are probably the best thing you can ever fit behind a tractor. They are the best labour saving device. I carry virtually everything in mine now, fencing poles, coils of wire, chainsaw, drums of oil, bales of hay, bags of feed, new born lambs, the dog, and the grandchildren. It serves as a rubble mover, the uses are endless.
Since I bought this small tractor, it has given me days of my life back. Why I didn’t buy one earlier I don’t know. When a Front End Loader is fitted, the range of work you can undertake with it increases incredibly. Use it for mucking out stables and loose boxes, moving rubble on the house we’re renovating. One of the great benefits of these tractors is that the front end loader is extremely powerful and able to lift over 700kilos, this means we remove the quick release standard bucket, and fit pallet forks on the front, so we can unload feed delivery vehicles and building supplies that come into us.
Managing my property is also going to be much easier in the future because the compact tractor can also take a more than capable backhoe, or back actor as some people call them. I need to dig a trench to get water to one of the buildings I’m converting, and because there’s a selection of different bucket types, then the backhoe is my next purchase.
Overall, the compact tractor and a few attachments have revolutionised my working life, especially as I am supposed to be retired. I cannot recommend Mahindra tractors enough.
About the Author
Peter Smith is a freelance writer who owns a small holding in France. For more information on compact tractors he recommends you visit www.compactractors.co.uk
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