Noted. At the moment it's mostly mowing grass. I was on the mower the other day thinking I wonder if there's anyone out there who'd like to come along for this ride... It is a weirdly fun problem trying to real-time determine the most efficient path to cover what needs mowing.
An appropriate sized tractor can pull a finishing mower that will get the job done considerably quicker than even a good zero-turn riding mower. The nice thing too is tractors and implements hold their value far better than riding mowers, so the total cost of ownership is actually lower at the price of a larger up front capital investment.
And once you have the right tractor, you get to go down the rabbit hole of all kinds of implements, including fun things like backhoes.
True. I'm curious how the labor:profit ratio of a tractor compares to grazing animals. The profit of a tractor is essentially zero unless I invest in the equipment for making hay, which would also increase the labor and skill requirements. Animals on the other hand can be raised at the scale necessary for the available land and also be harvested for food.
I don’t know a thing about draft animals if that’s what you mean. I know some Amish communities still use them for tilling and plowing though, so it can certainly be made to work. They have the advantage of huge families though, so there is no labor shortage like there is for more secular farmers.
Draft horses and oxen eat grass too. Since we were talking tractors I figured you meant animals to do both.
Sadly, I really don't know how many grazers you need to keep an acre of field from getting overgrown. Grass doesn't really grow during the winter though, so you'll need to have some way to feed them then. Also overfeeding is a concern. A buddy of mine has had a horse get obese from eating too much grass.
