Get The Most Bang For Your Buck: Siromer’s Ultimate Equipment Tier List.
So you’ve officially bought the tractor of your dreams and life is good…
Until that nagging feeling hits.
You know that getting the most out of your tractor means choosing the right equipment for the tasks you require.
Sounds simple right?
Well, that is until you begin research and you realise that with so many possibilities it is impossible to know where to begin!
You just wanted to transport materials easily and now you are down a 3 day rabbit hole about whether a front loader, backhoe, or transport box would be your best option. And don’t even get us started on deciding between different brands, models and sizes.
As smallholders ourselves, we know that your time is precious with so many tasks around your grounds.
But we have good news.
At Siromer we don’t gatekeep.
With our handy blog we are here to give you the rundown of the best tractor equipment for you. As smallholders ourselves we have tried and tested every piece of equipment from the swiss army knife to the niche and we are here today to let you know what is a must have, a nice to have, and what is for speciality use only. No sales, just our real life experience.
Our Tractor Must-Haves
Number 1: The Front Loader (or Backhoe)
Now there is a reason that ⅓ of all of our tractors are sold with a front loader and why we have placed them at number one on our list. Simply put, they really are the swiss army knife of tractor equipment.
With its immense versatility, a front loader turns a basic tractor into a multi-use machine that can not only lift heavy*, but also saves you hours of manual labour.
For example, did you know that you can shovel your soil 5-10X faster with a front loader?
With the ability to scoop, carry and dump, front loaders are perfect for many basic smallholding tasks like moving heavy feed, silage and bedding, clearing fallen branches, spreading mulch, cleaning manure, grading farm roads, helping with snow removal, moving hay bales and much more.
*Our complete range varies from a max lift capacity of 500kg all the way up to 1000kg.
And the help doesn’t stop with the 4-in-1 bucket. With so many attachments including pallet forks, bale spikes, muck forks and bale squeezies, the front loader really is your tractor’s best friend!
But hold on a minute, how does a backhoe come into the equation?
A backhoe, whilst being considerably smaller, does have some clear advantages.
If you need to do a lot of deep digging (e.g to make trenches or foundations), require a lot of property maintenance, or have very tight spaces a backhoe might win out here. Whilst front loaders are excellent workhorses, they tend to only be able to shallowly dig and are significantly larger.
However, with this being said, if you need to move heavy materials quickly, a front-loader is your best bet here.
So how do you choose?
Whilst some people prefer to weigh up their options by deciding between the importance of weight and speed vs. digging ability, others prefer to have the best of both worlds at hand and purchase both.
In our opinion, the right decision for you here will be decided by your land type and the types of jobs you will require, but so long as you have either or you are off to a great start!
To check our our wide range of 5 front loaders (including video examples) then click here.
To see all 3 of our backhoe models in action then click here.
And to learn more about our front loader attachments then click here.
Number 2: A Good Mower
Now whilst we are sure there will be the odd exception out there, we are pretty sure that if you are reading this, and are a smallholder, that you have grass.
In fact, you probably have a lot of it.
And maybe like us, whilst listening to friends and family with normal gardens complain about mowing their lawn, you have sat and thought ‘you don’t know the half of it’.
And herein lies our 2nd most useful piece of equipment: a mower.
When you have a sizable acreage, attaching a mower to your tractor is simply a no brainer. For yards under ½ an acre, you could probably get away with a normal push mower, but for yards 1 acre and more, we would say save yourself the hassle and invest in a mower for your own sake!
Not only can attached mowers save 2-3x as much time as a normal mower, but they also save your body from pushing your mower up and down in the elements all day.
And if you are worried about the results then have no fear! Our mowers are actually used by several customers including golf clubs and rugby pitches to ensure their grass remains as pristine as it does functional.
To learn more about Siromer mowers and golf clubs then watch out Youtube video below.
And we forgot to mention the best part! With everything from chain harrows, rollers, toppers, flail mowers, finishing mowers, verge mowers, atv mowers, and robotic mowers, no matter the result you are looking for you can 100% achieve this with a Siromer mower.
To learn more about our full collection then click here.
Number 3: The Hedge trimmer
And this same logic follows here.
You are a smallholder, you have land, you have grass, and very likely, you also have hedges.
And truthfully, hedging season can really feel hellish if you are still trimming all of your greenery by hand. Trimming hedges is hard on the body, takes ages, and as soon as you’ve finished it can feel like all of your shrubbery starts sprouting up again like mad.
And let’s be honest, no one wants to live like Sisyphus.
And for this reason, we would always recommend buying some kind of hedge trimming equipment if you have a sizable number of hedges on your small holding.
Whilst trimming equipment will of course increase your efficiency, you will also be able to achieve higher reach (without the use of ladders), achieve better results with increased visibility and safety, and save money twofold.
By owning your Siromer hedging equipment, not only will you save money by not having to hire outside contractors for regular maintenance, but you will save on repairs as your kit will be fit for the job (as thick branches and dense foliage tend to break weaker and smaller tools).
And with such a massive range including finger bars, flail bars, and flail trimmers, and all with different potencies and measurements, you truly can’t go wrong.
Very helpful for some!
And now onto our helpful for some category!
As the name suggests, these bits of equipment will not apply to all smallholdings, but for those that they do, they often prove invaluable.
So take a look through, keep hold of what works for you and your smallholding, and let go of what doesn’t. Afterall, at Siromer we are not here to sell you every piece of kit that we stock by insisting your life will be impossible without it. Instead we offer fair and honest advice to help you achieve your best case scenario in a simple and affordable way. No fuss, just fair.
Number 4: Some kind of transport system
Now as the name suggests, a transport system is very good if you have a lot of material to transport.
Whether this be in the form of a transport box, trailer, pallet forks, or hydraulic transport box, this option works fantastically if you need to transport items that are larger, heavier or bulkier than your front loader can handle like fallen wood and building materials.
Whilst each has a slightly different function, with our full collection you are bound to find that missing piece in your smallholding.
With a max lift capacity of 1000Kg, our Siromer pallet forks are ideal for landscapers and farmers where the transportation of pallets does not require stacking or justify the use of a forklift.
Meanwhile our transport box is perfect for those looking to carry and maneuver heavy loads easily with its removable backdoor. Alternatively, our hydraulic transport box works great for those looking to be able to tip contents without the need for a back door.
And finally, our trailers are fantastic for heavy duty work with a 2.5 tonne lift capacity and side height of 30cm.
As you can see, these transport systems are really for the smallholder who is looking for something more heavy duty than a normal front loader. So have a think about what you need to transport on your smallholding, and if you might fall into this category!
If you would like to learn more about our full collection, then select each option below:
And transport boxes.
Number 5: A Robotic Mower
Now, whilst a robotic mower might sound like a bit of a wild card, they can actually prove incredibly useful to a number of people.
If you are someone who has:
tricky , uneven or slippy ground
mobility issues
or several steep hills on your smallholding
then a robotic mower can absolutely help!
Made for the jobs you’d rather not ride, a robotic mower is a fantastic accompaniment for a regular mower to help keep areas that are not accessible by a traditional mower tidy and safe.
If you’d like to learn more about the in-depth features and benefits of a robotic mower then read our follow-on blog here.
And to see the full spec of all four models then click here.
Number 6: Soil Prep and Groundskeeping
As a smallholder you are likely already preparing your soil and maintaining your grounds, however select equipment can make these tasks much easier.
So why is this not in the essentials category?
Simply put, it depends on how often, how large and the type of function you need your grounds to comply with.
For example, the prep needed for a smallholding that focuses on equestrian activities vs a kitchen garden will be very different. Whilst some soil prep and groundskeeping can be done by hand and with your regular tractor equipment, some prep needs more specialist equipment. This is particularly true for agricultural farming, land clearing, landscaping and construction site preparation.
If you are in the market for some more heavy duty kit, we would absolutely recommend the Siromer rotovator, stone burier, plough, harrow, landscape rake, box grader, ripper tine, muck spreader and plough.
However, to learn more about exactly which pieces of kit would work perfectly for your requirements then please give us a call on 01253799029 to speak to our expert team.
Number 7: Baling
To bale or not to bale, that is the question.
Now whilst we have covered if doing your own baling is the right decision here, if you are deciding to go your own way then Siromer equipment is the right choice!
With drum mowers, hay rakes and belt rakes, balers and wrappers we are your one stop shop!
Baling is of course a multi-step process, but there is no reason that this needs to feel laborious with the right equipment.
Now of course, if you buy your own bales and are curious to see if making your own is beneficial then please check out our blog above! Whilst a fair return of investment of the initial equipment can be made, this will depend heavily on your bale usage throughout the year, so make sure to research heavily before taking the plunge.
Number 8: Woodchipper
And our final item in our ‘helpful for some’ list is our handy woodchipper.
Whilst for the Siromer family the woodchipper is invaluable, this is also due to the large amount of trees on our grounds as our branches have a real habit of falling after windy nights.
And personally we love being able to make this fallen wood into something useful, whether we use the woodchippings for mulch, weed prevention, compost, animal bedding or for our fires. Not only does this save us money, but also makes use for something that we would have otherwise had to find space for or take to the dump.
Now, of course, a woodchipper will only really be useful if you also have a smallholding with a fair amount of forest to warrant the investment, but if you do, we would absolutely give you the go ahead here.
To learn more about our woodchipper then click here.
Speciality Purchases
Number 9: Speciality Equipment: Paddocks, Potatoes and Logs
Now whilst we love all of our equipment equally, we do stock some equipment that is for specialist use only. For example, with paddock cleaners, log splitters, potato diggers, cement mixers, post-hole borers and menage levellers, whilst all extremely useful in their own way, these products will likely only apply for a number of smallholders.
However if you do make up part of our audience who owns horses and paddocks, splits their own logs for fires and grows potatoes on a large scale then boy do we have a treat for you.
We can verify that each piece of kit works fantastically for its designed purpose and will truly make your life so much easier.
I mean who would choose waking up at 6am on a Sunday to shovel poo when a paddock cleaner can do it for you?
If you are in the market for a more speciality piece of equipment then we would love to talk you through your options and how you can best combine this kit with your more standard set to get the perfect combination!
And to check out our full range of equipment then click here.
And so there we have it!
We know this was a bit of a long read, but we hope that you have learnt something new and found this all helpful on your smallholding journey.
And if you have any questions or doubts about any of the points raised today, equipment talked about, or tasks within your smallholding then please do not hesitate to give our friendly team a call on 01253799029 or pop us over an email to tractors@siromer.co.uk.
We can’t wait to hear from you!
Siromer, with you with every turn of the wheel.
