While the coldest months of the year still impact the majority of the country, it is never too early to start daydreaming about green grass, blue skies, and of course, tractor projects.
We begin thinking spring at our Western New York facility once we take down our Christmas Trees (preferably with our Grapple!), but understand that the actual weather changes are still months away. Our team is already fielding plenty of calls from customers about upcoming projects and the best implements for the job.
We thought a great way to help educate first-time tractor owners and experienced operators alike was to throw together a few suggested attachment bundles for specific project lists.
Three of the most common project sets with the best-suited implements for those jobs are below, and we hope they help you narrow down which of our American-made products will help you accomplish your 2022 goals!
Driveway/Road Maintenance Implement Bundle
Avoiding necessary driveway, road, or trail maintenance can lead to unexpected repair costs to your tractor or vehicles. Regrading, repairing, and adding new material to gravel or dirt roads is an easy way to keep your homestead operating smoothly year-round. Better yet, the attachments needed to complete these projects are affordable and approachable for new and experienced tractor operators.
Landscape Rakes – Independence & Pinnacle Series
Landscape Rakes are entry-level attachments for road maintenance. We do not suggest these for roads or driveways that need extensive regrading or repair due to washout or other weather-related damage. A 3-point Landscape Rake, or York Rake, is perfect for clearing fallen sticks, limbs, or branches from your roads throughout the year and even comes in handy in fall for clearing away leaves or other debris.
By adding a Wheel Kit to your Landscape Rake, you gain added depth control of the tines and allow for the Rake to travel with added smoothness over the intended surface. The heavy-duty 1" tines, evenly spaced 1" apart, allow for improved debris collection and increase the amount of material you can gather before needing to drop into your brush pile.
Landscapes Rakes are available in both Independence (48", 60", 72") and Pinnacle Series (60", 72", 84") with six powder-coat color options and an optional Wheel Kit selectable when building your implement.
Box Blade – Independence & Pinnacle Series
Box Blades are the next level attachment for this project and are an incredibly versatile all-around implement for homesteaders looking to keep their roads in top operational shape. With a closed rectangular box design, dual-sided scrape blade, and adjustable depth heavy-duty ripper shanks, a Box Blade is perfect for roads that need an aggressive touch.
Gradually lower your ripper shanks to progressively revive compacted gravel or loosen material surrounding a pothole or damaged area. The scrape blade will then evenly disperse material along your path while collecting larger rocks or debris that you may not want in your road. Box Blades are also perfect for driveways that regularly require an influx of gravel or dirt, as the controllable depth and closed box allows you to transport material over greater distances.
Box Blades are available in both Independence (48", 60", and 72") and Pinnacle Series (60", 72", 84") with six powder-coat color options. Please get in touch with our Sales Team to order additional shanks or replacement cutting edges for your Box Blade.
Land Plane – Independence & Pinnacle Series
The Land Plane is the most advanced and specialized attachment for seasonal or year-round maintenance of roads, driveways, and trails. The unique open-ended design of these implements allows for the smooth and even distribution of revived material to spill freely over the back. The dual, angled, scrape blades provide twice the leveling precision over the Box Blade while incorporating the same heavy-duty, adjustable ripper shanks.
The Land Plane is one of our top-selling implements, specifically for homesteaders looking to keep their roads in top shape and reduce the need for the frequent addition of new material. After a heavy storm, this attachment can quickly repair washed-out areas and revive pothole trails not frequently traveled.
Land Planes are available in both Independence (48", 60", and 72") and Pinnacle Series (60", 72", 84") with six powder-coat color options. Please get in touch with our Sales Team to order additional shanks or replacement cutting edges for your Land Plane.
Property Maintenance Implement Bundle
Property maintenance projects typically entail the standard everyday tasks that every homestead needs to complete to ensure their property is well protected, maintained, and productive. The attachments from our other suggested implement bundles fall under this general category, but the compact tractor implements below are specifically selected to complete routine tasks and jobs.
Post Hole Diggers – Front-End Hydraulic & 3-Point PTO
Post Hole Diggers are essential attachments for homesteads with accessible property lines, livestock to protect, or additional outbuilding or fencing needs. Anyone who has dug a single post-hole, let alone several, will tell you that if the opportunity presents itself to replace that hard work with a powered auger, do it. The 3-Point Post Hole Digger is an affordable entry-level implement for smaller homesteads, sub-compact, or compact tractors. Powered by your PTO, the auger will cut through any soil type with ease and leave you with a perfectly sized hole in no time.
Although more expensive, the Front-End Post Hole Digger provides added control, downforce, and accuracy over the 3-Point option. This hydraulically powered auger easily cuts through soil and allows the operator to apply downward pressure to severely compacted earth. If you are looking to expand your fence line along several acres, we strongly recommend this attachment for the job.
Post Hole Diggers are available in 3-Point and Front-End Loader variants with several powder-coat color finishes and auger sizes. (Some auger sizes may currently be unavailable. Please contactour Sales Team with any questions regarding multiple auger sizes with a single purchase.)
Grapples – Sub-Compact Grapples, Brush Grapples, Root Grapples, Heavy-Duty Root Grapples
Without a doubt, Grapples are single-handily the most versatile and vital attachment you can pair with your sub-compact, compact, or utility tractor to improve your homestead. This attachment grouping outsells all other products we offer, not by a small number. Grapples are by far the "hottest" attachment out there, and we are incredibly proud of everything that has gone into producing our line of heavy-duty American grapples.
All of our Grapples incorporate Hardox® 450 steel into the design, adding incredible strength and abrasion resistance to an attachment that is not opposed to challenging projects or hard work. When paired with industry-leading cylinders, these powerful attachments can grasp, grip, and move boulders, limbs, and any other debris that might need relocating on your property. We've seen photos of refrigerators, old engine blocks, cars, and even Christmas trees in the impressive claw of our grapples and cannot wait to see what else homesteaders decide to move!
Grapples are available in both series and with several variants. We offer a 54" Independence Series Grapple for Sub-Compact Tractors for machines between 15 and 30 horsepower. Our Pinnacle Series Grapples have three designs, Brush, Root, and Heavy-Duty. We offer a 66" Pinnacle Series Root Grapple specifically for John Deere™ tractors with all other variants explicitly designed for Universal Quick-Attach (SSQA) style hitches. Please get in touch with our Sales Team with any questions or concerns regarding compatibility, tractor size, fittings, and working widths!
Brush Cutter – Pinnacle Series Only
Every homestead deserves a high-quality and durable Brush Cutter to keep the edges of their property and fields well-trimmed and maintained. Our American-made Rotary Cutters can cut up to 2" diameter saplings and has more than enough muscle to clear seriously overgrown areas in a single pass. Powered by your tractor's PTO, the Brush Cutter is easily adjustable to different heights via the wheel arm and is designed with safety in mind. Not only for the operator but for anything in the surrounding area.
Brush Cutters, or Brush Hogs, transfer power through a gearbox to dual blades and make mincemeat of anything in its way. We recommend taking a walk through any area you intend to cut before hooking up to your tractor and remove any large branches, rocks, or debris that may damage your implement. This is also an excellent project for a Grapple or our next recommended implement!
Brush Cutters are currently available in Pinnacle Series only and have three working widths, 48", 60", and 72". All six powder coat color finishes apply to this implement. Please get in touch with our Sales Team with any questions regarding PTO power, compatibility, or recommended size to best fit your tractor.
Rock Bucket – Pinnacle Series Only
As one of our most recent implement releases, we are increasingly excited to see more of these head out the door this spring. The Pinnacle Series Rock Bucket is an expertly designed attachment for homesteaders with large planting areas, potential garden sites, or fill dirt piles that need sorting. With 3" spacing between the heavy-duty steel teeth, the Rock Bucket acts as a sieve or filter to remove large rocks and debris from specific areas. They are clearing the way for additional planting implements to follow or break apart large clumps in dirt piles to create a finer topsoil material for landscaping projects.
The Rock Bucket is currently only available in the Pinnacle Series variant in two working widths, 66" and 72", with black as the only powder-coat color finish. This attachment is only available in a Universal Quick-Attach (SSQA) design. Prototype pending for John Deere™ compatible design, release TBD.
Garden & Planting Prep Implement Bundle
At the core of every homestead should be a productive and well-maintained garden. Garden and planting prep implements stretch much further than just food for personal consumption, as these attachments are excellent for building food plots or landscaping projects.
Rotary Tiller – Pinnacle Series Only
Tillers of all shapes and sizes have long been fundamental for cultivating and growing a bountiful harvest on your homestead. Our Pinnacle Series Tillers are perfect for you, whether you want to add a few small garden beds for your family or expand your chances of success with a food plot this hunting season.
PTO power couple with a gear-drive design turns the impressive tines of our Rotary Tillers at over 200 RPM in both forward and reverse directions. The heat-treated "C" shaped blades turn compacted soil into soft, supple, and easily planted earth for your garden bed. We offer a Category 3 Driveline with Slip Clutch protection and recommend between 20 and 45 PTO horsepower to operate this attachment at total capacity.
We offer three Pinnacle Series Rotary Tiller sizes, 43", 55", and 67" in all six powder-coat color variants. Unfortunately, this attachment is unavailable on our site due to supply chain interruptions across the country. We hope to have this item available for purchase as soon as possible. Please get in touch with us if you are interested in receiving a personal call when manufacturing starts again!
Cultipacker – Pinnacle Series Only
Cultipackers are simple in design and simple in function. These attachments are designed to break apart clumps of soil, prepare the ground for planting, and compact loose soil left behind from Rotary Tillers or other similar implements. Our 9.5" diameter rollers provide additional weight to the implement to improve the final results.
The Pinnacle Series Cultipacker is offered in three working widths of 60", 72", and 84" and all six powder-coat color variants. Unfortunately, this attachment is currently unavailable on our site due to supply chain interruptions across the country. We hope to have this item available for purchase as soon as possible. Please get in touch with us if you are interested in receiving a personal call when manufacturing starts again!
Back Blade – Independence & Pinnacle Series
The most fundamental and rudimentary of all implements, the humble Back Blade is a perfect implement for scraping away the top layer of sod or soil from desired planting areas, garden beds, or food plots. With several working angles, adjustable depth through your top-link length, and a rugged 6" tall cutting blade, the Back Blade or Rear Blade is excellent for the preparatory steps to most projects.
Truthfully, there are no limitations to the applications of a Back Blade, but it may be especially useful in garden applications and other projects mentioned on this blog.
Back Blades are available in both Independence (48", 60", 72") and Pinnacle Series (60", 72", 84") with six powder-coat color options.