Tractors & Diggers: Choosing Small Machinery for Your Property

This week we’re comparing the small machines that actually get used on homesteads, hobby farms and small properties: compact tractors, skid steers, walk-behind tractors and mini excavators. We’ll go through the real jobs — clearing, grading, digging, gardens, compost, firewood, moving material — plus what to rent vs buy, implement cost and swap time, PTO vs hydraulics, fuel, maintenance, where these things get tippy or annoying, and what we’d buy first if we could only afford one. In this episode: - Which machines are usually rented vs purchased - Compact tractor (about 25-40 hp) as the most practical first machine - Mini excavator as the strongest second machine for digging and tight garden work - Why mini skid steers / dingos rarely earn their keep on a homestead - Skid steer strengths (lift, attachments, speed) and weaknesses (price, fuel, visibility) - Walk-behind tractors for small-scale market gardening - Implement storage, used market and DIY builds - Dealer vs cheap import, plus the US sub-25 hp emissions cutoff - Listener question: starting welding - Tips of the week CHAPTERS 00:00 - Intro: best small machinery for homesteads, hobby farms and smallholdings 00:51 - Start with the job: raw land vs established property 01:26 - Heavy clearing and big root balls. Rent, don’t buy 04:46 - After infrastructure: when owning a machine starts to make sense 09:51 - Compact tractors, skid steers, walk-behind tractors and mini excavators 11:00 - Mini skid steers / dingos: great on job sites, poor homestead fit 13:55 - Tipping and stability (mini skids, then tractors) 14:13 - Compact tractors: Swiss Army knife, balance problems, counterweights 19:01 - Walk-behind tractors: cheap entry, high labour, fast implement changes 21:34 - Mini excavators: digging, gardens, drainage, compost, reach vs travel speed 33:01 - Skid steers: power, attachments, fuel, visibility, implement swap speed 35:07 - Tractor vs skid steer: pulling, road legality, cost, fuel, maintenance 43:53 - How implements are powered: PTO vs hydraulics 45:39 - Maintenance, parts and how hard each machine is to work on 48:45 - Buying strategy if you can only afford one machine first 52:51 - Size, emissions (sub-25 hp) and dealer vs import brands 55:45 - Audience question: how to start welding 01:00:51 - Weekly tips: stop procrastinating simple jobs + make test pieces 01:04:37 - Wrap-up \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\__ Welcome to the Greenhill Forge Podcast, with Eric from the Greenhill Forge YouTube channel, and my buddy Amal, a fellow builder of many trades. In this podcast we’ll talk about where the real world meets experiments in alternative energy, wood heating, metal fabrication, off-grid engineering and self sufficiency, so expect discussions about workshops, tools, fabrication, building, homesteading, and what it actually takes to make those dreams real. We’ll answer a question each week, so send yours to us at https://forms.gle/zNzKTtjDnBEupLBQA **WATCH** the podcast on Youtube at https://www.youtube.com/@GreenhillPod **LISTEN** on all your favorite podcast platforms. See you next week!