These are the 5 top tools we think should be on every Smallholder’s wish list:

Compact Tractor

“Essential for any land owner”

For maintaining pasture, a standard garden lawnmower simply cannot cope with the different demands of a typical smallholding. With a bit more power and flexibility, a compact tractor can be used with a whole host of handy implements.

Tractor Mounted Flail Mower

“Get the perfect cut every time”

You can’t go far wrong by choosing a flail mower, it does the job of a topper, cutting long grass and woody material, but it’s also suitable for short grass such as lawns leaving a good finish if used regularly. They leave the grass cuttings short which soon mulch down and provide a great natural fertiliser. A flail mower can handle rough, uneven ground, they’re manoeuvrable in tight spaces and easy to store in between cuts.

Drag Harrows

“Simple and easy to use piece of kit”

If you have land for grazing a drag harrow is useful for removing the thatch from grass. Leaving this job for more than a year will result in an unproductive paddock with the grass becoming choked with thatch, making for poor quality grazing. Drag harrows can also be used to aerate grassland to promote new growth, help spread fertiliser or droppings, to prepare seed beds, level soil (removing ridges, ant hills, etc.) and to remove weeds and moss.

Trailer

“Saves on heavy work all year round”

A small tipping trailer makes a big difference to the smallholder’s life; reducing the amount of wheel barrowing, and hauling in and out of vehicles you need to do. Look for trailers with wide tyres as these help to displace the weight more evenly and reduce tread marks. From taking feed out to the paddocks, moving logs, bails of straw and hay, transporting manure, it really does have year- round usage.

Stone Burier

“Create the perfect seedbed”

Finally, our last essential piece of kit is a stone burier. If you’ve got an allotment to prepare or an area of land to level out and lay grass seed, a good stone burier will do the job. The blades break up clumps of soil like a traditional cultivator and make light work of grass or old vegetable stems. These are buried with any large stones under a layer of lighter topsoil, ready to start planting out new crops.

Farm Tech Supplies Ltd offers a full range of compact tractor attachments, for advice and more details please call 01420 520510 or visit www.farmtechsupplies.co.uk