The Two-Wheel Tractor Handbook - Zach Loeks

The Two-Wheel Tractor Handbook

Small-Scale Equipment and Innovative Techniques for Boosting Productivity

(Autor)

Buch | Softcover
240 Seiten
2023
New Society Publishers (Verlag)
978-0-86571-984-2 (ISBN)
36,15 inkl. MwSt
The Two-Wheel Tractor Handbook shows small-scale growers how to leverage this versatile, affordable, yet under-utilized tool to maximize the productivity and profitability of their enterprises. Required reading for urban farmers, suburban gardeners, rural homesteaders, orchardists, landscapers, and market gardeners.
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.

Zach Loeks is an educator, grower, second-generation permaculture designer innovating and specializing in Edible Ecosystem Design. His passion is demonstrating how small actions – strategically linked – can create big change. He is director of the Ecosystem Solution Institute, where he consults widely with homes, farms, colleges, schools, and municipalities across North America and around the world. His purpose is to help people create more edible and diverse farms, gardens, and landscapes while enhancing food security, community well-being, and societal resilience. Zach manages an award-winning farm featuring diversified food forest products, heirloom garlic, and a hardy tree nursery. His innovations have earned him three provincial awards. He is the author of The Edible Ecosystem Solution and The Permaculture Market Garden. Zach splits his time between his rural farm in Ontario and a sister urban farm in Winnipeg, Manitoba.

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

Erscheinungsdatum
Zusatzinfo 200 Illustrations, color
Verlagsort Gabriola Island
Sprache englisch
Maße 191 x 229 mm
Gewicht 408 g
Themenwelt Sachbuch/Ratgeber Natur / Technik Garten
Weitere Fachgebiete Land- / Forstwirtschaft / Fischerei
ISBN-10 0-86571-984-5 / 0865719845
ISBN-13 978-0-86571-984-2 / 9780865719842
Zustand Neuware
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