Backyard Farming Forum
Bringing food production home

I've had a rotary hoe for a couple of years and have been thinking of making a plough for it. A small tractor would be nice but 18k for a JD is a bit too much for a toy that won't pull chicks.
Another bit I was going to make is a large wheel hoe blade for mowing the spare block. A walk behind tractor would be great but they seem a bit rare in Australia.

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To think before you act is a wise option. But not as funny.

can get 2nd hand japanese little tractors cheap.... but not from those guys who claim their units are all reconditioned.
I have a 2 cyl diesel 4wd tractor that has all the linkages etc, dif locks, low range etc., handy around farm
This unit only cost $2K
Saw an add for someone importing the walk behind tractors recently but cant find it again

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If you think you can,
If you think you can't,
Either will be true.
Henry Ford

When I was a teenager (back in the '70's), my neighbor was an organic gardener and he had this contraption called a "mule". It was a gas powered, single wheel, single blade plow. I ran it a couple of times; took a little while to get the balance worked out since it ran on that single wheel (about 24 inches in diameter), and it went so fast I almost had to jog behind it. I tried to find a picture on the internet, but couldn't so you'll just have to use your imagination...

The idea was to till the paths up to and including right up to the edge of the desirable plants to reduce/eliminate weed growth. Then you ran the mule down the tilled area to push the dirt back up around the base of the desirable plants. Because his soil was so rich from years of organic gardening he could work the entire garden (about 100ftx100ft or 33mx33m) in a couple of hours (tilling and rerowing) and he did this about every 4-5 days. Another big advantage was there was little compaction to the soil.

In recent years I tried to find one of these things, but sadly they are no longer made. One of the really old timers in my area has one, but he uses the thing every season and wasn't remotely interested in parting with it.

Dufflight, did you ever get one?

I just bought a Howard Terrier to rebuild. I use to have a Bullfinch which is smaller and then there are uch larger ones again. They are a bit of Australian manufacturing history. Mine has a Howard engine as well and is an early Terrier, number 876 of around 15000. It weight around 100kg and was likely made in the 50's.

It is currently all stripped down for a rebuild and unfortunately it needs a pinion gear which I suspect is going to be expensive. Might post up a thread on it's rebuild later. It has me hooked and I am already looking for more

Were they for the home gardener or small scale market gardens?

Man, what a weapon. Is it a 4 stroke? What CC?

Both mate, people had real backyards then!! I used the smaller Bullfinch I use to own as a kid in our home vege patch.

Charlie, I think it is about 200 cc, rated at 4.2 Hp but will check actual capacilty when my manual arrives.

Pretty excited about getting it all fixed up.

When you get a twin cylinder howard you you really talking

Im finding more and more uses for a tiller at my place, I really need to get one. More like the size in the first post though.