Do You Need A Walk-Behind Tractor?

Hey you old farmer, Jesse here. So, back like in 2014 or something, we bought a walk-behind tractor for our small farm, sometimes called a two-wheel tractor, but never really just called a tractor. I think I call my lawnmower a tractor more than I call my walk-behind a tractor. I've used one as our sole farm tractor for nearly a decade, so naturally, I have some thoughts. Today, if you were debating a walk-behind tractor, or you're just like, why the heck would someone buy a tractor that they couldn't sit on, couldn't sit on without an attachment, I'm going to discuss what I think they're good for, situations I think walk-behind tractors may not be great for, the implements we do and don't use in our no and low till operation, with some general pros and cons, you know, for goofs, and because it's helpful. So let's do it. First things first, if you're not subscribed to this channel, make sure to hit the subscribe button. And if you are subscribed, you're awesome. And hey, if this channel ever makes you some money, or saves you some money, or gets your garden even a little bit more productive, consider signing up to be a patron at patreon.com slash no till growers, or you can always support our work by picking up a copy of the Living Soil Handbook, or a hat, or other merch at notillgrowers.com, or go ahead and hit that super thanks button. That helps too. All right, so there are two main brands of walk-behind tractors available in my area, at least, Grillo and BCS. However, there are several others that may be available to you, wherever you are, and worth exploring, like the Tillmore, the Yagmore Blitz, which I guess has two different PTO speeds, which is kind of cool. Barbie Airy is another one. There are the Planet Junior tractors. There are a lot out there, and they're worth checking out. But the point of this video is not to compare all these different brands, though, if you want to buy me a bunch of different tractors, I'm happy to do that. Just be fun. But rather, the goal here is just to break down the utility of walk-behind tractors with an emphasis on the Grillo and the BCS, because those are the ones I have actual experience with, and are the most widely available here in Kentucky. Zone 6b, 50 minutes from the famous Earth Tools, famous if you're a farm nerd. Why even consider a two-wheel tractor versus a small riding tractor? Well, the obvious one is price. For the price of a relatively new compact riding tractor, you can purchase a brand new walk-behind tractor with many, if not all, of the implements that you need. In fact, the price of implements for regular riding tractors, especially ones that require a PTO, the thing that spins and, like, powers your rotary plow or your tiller or whatever, and I'm speaking generally here, but those implements are going to be considerably more expensive than the implements that you purchase for, say, a walk-behind tractor. That's not universal, of course, and there are more three-point hitch implements on the resale market than there are walk-behind tractor implements, but by and large, everything is going to be cheaper for walk-behind tractors than for riding tractors. Calling them riding tractors just sounds wrong, but that's what they are. In fact, that includes maintenance, because even people who are profound engine dummies, like myself, can fix a lot of the issues with the BCS. Another reason to choose walk-behind tractors is growing space. If you are working on limited growing space, you cannot afford to leave 10 or 20 feet at the end of your beds to turn your tractor around. With a walk-behind tractor, you just need a few feet, but with a larger tractor, depending on the brand and the size of the tractor and the implement you are using, you will need a pretty good amount of space at the ends of your beds to pull off fully, pull fully off the bed, turn all the way around, and come back for another pass, or whatever you need to do. So, in a situation where the land is restrictive in some way, and you can't just expand out indefinitely, it can be tough to utilize a riding tractor without losing valuable growing space. Moreover, in terms of space, riding tractors and their implements are larger in general and will require more space for storage. If we wanted a larger tractor, and believe me, sometimes we do, but we'll get to that, but if we wanted a larger tractor, we would have to build onto our existing sheds, or build a separate structure altogether to protect the investment from the weather, which notoriously just hates investments. It's a fun fact. One thing I really love about the walk-behind implements is that they are a lot easier to move around physically. In fact, one or two people can pick up the vast majority of walk-behind implements. Plus, you do not need a very hardcore trailer to transport a walk-behind tractor, just a decent ramp to get it up on there. Riding tractors often require a more robust trailer, not that you're moving them around a lot, but if you ever need to, it just requires more and more power to haul it. And while I'm piling on the pros to walk-behind tractors, and there will be some cons coming, but while I'm piling on the pros, I really like the implements that are available. There is a really nice array of different attachments one can purchase, rent, or borrow to do any number of things from mowing or bush hogging, to raising beds, to terminating cover crops, to breaking ground, even baling hay. There's a whole hay baling setup for the for the BCS. I've never got to use it, always wanted to use it, haven't got to use it yet maybe is what I should say, until you buy it for me. Anyway, in our no and low till plots, the flail mower and power harrow have become almost essential tools to production. I use the flail mower to mow crops and oftentimes I can just rake and replant. I've been using the power harrow to terminate cover crops, which notably is not really what it was built for, but it works really well. And I also use it for lightly prepping bed surfaces for establishing cover crop seed. The rotary plow helps keep our beds raised and above our heavy rainfalls we get here in Kentucky, zone 6b. It's also good for ditch digging if you need a good ditch somewhere, and honestly who doesn't occasionally, am I right? Similar to larger riding tractors, you can get stuff like log splitters and wood chippers and even snow blowers and finishing mowers. They even make hay baling setups, like I mentioned, including the mowers and the rakes for the walk-behind tractor. And all that is very cool, but in the name of balance, let's slide to the walk-behind tractor cons list for a second, because walk-behinds are not without their limitations. For one, there is not a hydraulic bucket or loader for a walk-behind tractor, at least not that I've seen. If you need to move a lot of material around or turn a compost pile, for instance, there is really no option for the walk-behind tractors at the moment. You can get carts and compost spreaders, you can even get a seat so you can turn your walk-behind tractor into a riding tractor, but nothing that will pick up the material and move it for you like a dingo or a bucket on a tractor or whatever. Also, walk-behinds are a bit limited in power. I don't think they go much over like 16 horsepower as far as I can tell. We own the BCS 749, which is 13 horsepower. Now, that does everything we need it to do in the garden, but if you're working on very dense compacted soils, for instance, it may be tough to use things like the subsoiler that you can buy if you really need to manage compaction on a larger area. It won't pull a tree around or anything else like super heavy. Another con is that walk-behinds are fairly demanding physically. The implements are far easier to attach in general than riding tractor, but turning the tractor around can take a fair amount of upper body strength. And, of course, it's a lot of walking and if they hit rocks or something while you're plowing, they can throw your whole body. The last farm that we had had a lot of rocks and I subsequently got a lot of bruises in my ribs when the rotary plow would find one. Thanks for that, rotary plow. I do like that walk-behind tractors are safer than riding tractors. Like, I don't feel in danger using a walk-behind tractor like you may using a big tractor and you have to be extraordinarily careful with both, but it is less likely to crush you or flip on you or any of those things. The safety handles they come with force the tractor to stop moving when you go. It's kind of annoying to deal with them, but they are safer. That isn't to say you shouldn't be cautious, of course, just to say it's not nearly as dangerous as riding tractors, for emphasis. Another note on the con side is that just because they are easily maneuvered sound like I said maneuvered. Maneuvered does not mean they are inherently great for small spaces like tunnels. For one, they do produce fumes so you have to be careful about working with a tractor in a tunnel, but they can also just be hard to manipulate into the corners and on the sides of the tunnels without harming or burning the plastic. Now that can be managed with how you design your tunnels and in walls, but it's something to consider if the tunnel is where you are most wanting to use the walk-behind tractor. A small mower and a tilter, for instance, may make more sense in a tunnel situation. In short, I love my BCS 749, but like all tools it has its limitations. There is no perfect tool, there never will be, except for the T-post puller. That thing is just the winner. So anyway, that's it for today. Let us know your thoughts and your experiences with walk-behind tractors, especially if you've used any of the other brands. Like this video if you like this video. Subscribe if you want to be awesome. Support our work by joining the Patreon page at patreon.com slash no-till growers. I'm not the patron type, you can always hit the super thanks button or go to no-tillgrowers.com and pick up a copy of the Living Soil Handbook or a hat or other merch. And lastly, join us over at the No-Till Growers Forum where I spend a lot of my time answering questions along with a lot of other great growers. Otherwise, thanks for watching. We'll see you later. Bye! What did the five-year-old tractor say to the crop ground when it saw it was getting weedy? Aww, I'm tillin'. But then the crop ground was like, have you ever heard of regenerative agriculture? It's really good for soil health and then it just like really devolved from there.