Tools of the Trade :: The Hydraulic Hog Cart

I have one question for you ... Can you think of anything more cool than a six foot by fourteen foot hog pen on a platform that you can pull around with your tractor and make it lift from ground level up about four feet or so (commonly known in the agricultural world as a hydraulic hog cart)? Actually, now that I read that it really doesn't sound that cool, but it really something that I'm pretty excited about. In fact I would almost go as far as to say that it is a tool that I wouldn't farm without on a small woodlot based pig farm like mine.

For approximately the past nine months I have been "borrowing" a hog cart from a good friend ... if you can call having it for that long "borrowing"! I've actually spent some time searching for one of my own, but never found one that was in decent shape and still in my price range. Last Friday though I thought I would try another "wanted to buy" ad on Craigslist and this time I actually had over five responses that were all relatively close to the farm. I was VERY glad to find this one in good shape and I'm sure my friend is glad to have his back (it was very, very, very helpful of him to loan it to me).

This is such a helpful piece of equipment because I move and load pigs fairly often and most of the time  I'm loading them out of a large paddock of woods and pasture, so anything I can do it make it easier I do. The other reason these hydraulic carts are so great is that they drop all of the way to the ground ... in general pigs like to keep their nose to the ground and are not big fans of stepping up so having the cart on the ground makes it easy peasy!

It's just one of those things that makes life on the farm just that much more enjoyable ...

A Beginning Corn Farmer's Shopping List?

If I'm going to do this whole open-pollinated corn experiment I need to start getting serious ... and fast! Of course I'm going to need to get some corn (if I can even find any this late in the game ... I remember some suggestions in previous comments), but I've also been thinking about the "shopping" list of equipment that I'm going to need in order to pull of this feat. As I build my shopping list it becomes very evident that there are really two lists that I could build. A list based on my labor/patience/time and a list based on a more mechanized approach. I thought I would share both lists and see if anyone had any suggestions. Before I get to the lists though I thought I should share what I'm working with. I'm thinking of planting in two areas that will total roughly five acres of ground I believe. Both areas have been winter lots or "sacrificial areas in  the past and don't have very much grass covering the ground right now. But, they both should have some good nutrients to work with. Now for the lists ...

Small-Scale :: More Labor

• Soil Preparation ~ Rear-tine garden tiller (I have one, but it would require lots of time/patience)
• Planting ~ Simple one row garden planter (Again, I have this one ... see above for requirements)
• Cultivating/Weed Control ~ Rear-tine garden tiller
• Harvesting ~ I've got two hands right and a wagon right?
• Storage ~ Haven't quite figured that one out yet ... open for suggestions ...

Small-Scale :: More Machinery (less time needed)

• Soil Preparation ~ 2-bottom plow (I have this one and plowing might not be a bad idea to take care of some of the brush) ... and then disc/harrow (I don't have a disc ... probably can get a harrow without much trouble)
• Planting ~ 2/4-row planter (Don't have and would need to do some shopping or asking around)
• Cultivating/Weed Control ~ Cultivator (Again, I don't have one ... I would think if I could locate a smaller three-point cultivator it wouldn't cost too much)
• Harvesting ~ Two hands and a wagon still sounds fun, but I know a guy with a two-row picker ... maybe I could work something out
• Storage ~ See above list ...

As you can see the "more machinery" list is also going to be the "more money" list, but is it also the "more practical" list considering a town job and all the other demands of life? I would love some input ... or even leads on equipment ;)

Equipment for the Small Farm

This morning I was checking out the Practical Farmers of Iowa website to see if they had any information up on this year's field days (they didn't, but I'll keep checking). But, I did find an interesting workshop, in Fairbury, Illinois, sponsored by the Illinois Farm Beginnings program. The workshop is on Saturday, May 23rd from 10:00 AM until 2:00 PM and it is all about equipment for small farmers. According to the description at this link they will talk about how the small farmer can us old and new equipment in creative ways and how you can even do it inexpensively.

I doubt that I will be able to make it to this event considering that it is about 300 miles away, but if you happen to be in that area it might be something to check out. It does bring up a good discussion question ... if you feel like discussing today?

What are some pieces of equipment that you feel the small diverse farm needs to get going, and are there any creative ways that you can use older equipment? I know one thing for sure, if you keep your eyes open and look for the smaller equipment (horse drawn or otherwise) you can often find a good deal ... or even better pick up something for free.

So far on our farm we have the tractor, small plow, haybine, rake, baler, post hole digger, two barge boxes, two hay racks, and we are in the process of picking up a small disc (that needs a little work). With this equipment that we have acquired for a relatively small amount of money (excluding the tractor) we will be able to provide our own hay from the farm, set up fences, work the garden up, do general work around the farm, and even save some feed bill money by buying corn directly from the field at times. I am pleased with our small line of equipment.