Small but mighty — a comprehensive guide to the use of two-wheel tractors for highly productive gardens, landscapes, and farms
TWO-WHEEL TRACTORS are multifunctional, economical, practical, maneuverable, portable, and low impact. Yet choosing the equipment is only half of it; the other half is integrating the right machine and implements into your land-based enterprise and coupling it with innovative high-efficiency techniques. Coverage includes:
- Why you need a two-wheel tractor
- Two-wheel tractor essentials including tractor implement options and functions
- Equipment decision-making to suit your scale, context, enterprises, and budget
- Safety equipment, operation, and basic maintenance
- Innovative use strategies including micro-plowing, making ‘Permabeds, ‘ in situ mulching, the ‘Compost-a-path Method, ‘ crop guilds, scaling up, and diversified crop management
- How to start from scratch, clearing new land, scaling up your enterprises, and more
- Case studies and rich examples from suburban landscaping to commercial market gardens from Europe and North America
- ‘Pro tips, ‘ ‘design boxes, ‘ and other sidebars for rapidly elevating your skills.
The Two-Wheel Tractor Handbook shows small-scale growers how to leverage walk-behind tractors to maximize the productivity and profitability of their enterprises. This full-color, highly illustrated guide is a must-have tool for urban farmers, suburban gardeners, rural homesteaders, orchardists, landscapers, and market gardeners looking to boost production.
Table of Content
Liability Statement
Cover & Inside Material
Praise
Preamble
Introduction
This Book’s Format
About This Book
Small-Scale Profit Resilience
Chapter 1: A Story About a Horse
The Horse and His Boy
The Origin of Two-Wheel Tractors
Honoring the Two-Wheel Tractor
The Italian Two-Wheel Renaissance
Chapter 2: Two-Wheel Tractor Essentials
The Definitive Two-Wheel Tractor
Eleven Two-Wheel Tractor Benefits
The Types of Two-Wheel Tractors
Row Crop Tractor with High Clearance
Row Crop Tractor Features
Tractor Components: Form and Function
Powersafe Clutch and Transmission
Tractor Operation: Getting Started
Steps to Get Operating
Steps to Begin Implement Operation
A Bit of Tractor Safety
Chapter 3: Implements and Their Uses
Types of Implements
Selected Equipment Profiles
Chapter 4: Equipment Decision-Making
Scale-Suitable Equipment
Scale Phases
Equipment Guilds and Operation Cycles
Guild Enterprise Production
Guild Enterprise Brainstorming Template
Budgeting for Tractors and Equipment
Chapter 5: Selected Enterprise Examples
The Backyard Gardener (.25–5 APA)
Suburban Homesteader (1–3 APA)
Market Grower (1–3 APA)
Row Crop Farmer (3–6 APA)
Back-to-the-Lander (3–15 APA)
Groundskeeper and Landscaper (Various APA)
Grassland Farmer (8–13 APA)
Tree Nursery (3–6 APA)
Edible Ecosystem Management
Chapter 6: Permabed System for Two-Wheel Tractors
Permabed System 101
Permabed Architecture
Permaplot Design
Permaplot Layout
Compost-a-Path Principles
Permabed Soil Design
Using Equipment for Crop Rotation Management
Chapter 7: Growing from Scratch
1. Clearing New Land (or Reclaiming)
2. Garden Plot Layout
3. Micro-Plowing a Field
4. Permabed Layout and Bed Building Options
5. Building Beds with a Power Ridger
6. Refining Your Rough Permabeds
7. Seasonal Bed Preparation Operations
8. Succession Planting and Crop Guild Design
9. Other Seasonal Management
Chapter 8: Tractor Maintenance and Care
Tractor Maintenance Simplified
Essential Tools for Maintenance
Essential Maintenance Supplies
Maintenance Tips
Checking and Changing Honda Engine Oil
Two-Wheeling into the Future
Glossary of Common Terms and Jargon
Index
About the Author
About New Society Publishers
About the author
Zach Loeks is an educator, grower, permaculture designer, and edible ecosystem innovator. Director of the Ecosystem Solution Institute, he helps homes, farms, schools, and municipalities create more edible and diverse landscapes. He is the author of The Edible Ecosystem Solution and The Permaculture Market Garden. Zach lives on his farm in Ontario.
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