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Subject: Market Farming
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- From: KAKerby AT aol.com
- To: market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org
- Subject: Re: [Market-farming] BCS recommendations needed
- Date: Fri, 9 Mar 2012 03:16:46 -0500 (EST)
I've got about that size machine, but quite a bit older. I'd say I'm
happy with the amount of work it does, and with the way I can basically manage
it myself. I've used it in roughly 1/4 acre plots with 4' wide beds and 2'
wide walkways, and been pretty happy with that arrangement. I also tilled
the entire 1/4 acre area more than once and that went quickly enough that I was
satisfied. We did just get a normal four-wheeled tractor not too long
ago. But that's mostly for compost turning and other larger-scale
operations than what the BCS was ever intended for. We still intend to use
the BCS in the growing beds because of its more nimble nature and less expensive
operational cost. I can run the BCS tiller up one side of a growing bed
and down the other in the same amount of time it would take me to jockey around
the tractor for the first pass. That's partially because I didn't lay out
the growing beds with a full-sized tractor in mind. But I think you'll
very much appreciate how nimble the BCS is compared to any four-wheeled
vehicle.
The one thing that I don't like about the BCS, which I do like about
the tractor, is that I can get standard Class I three-point-hitch
implements for the tractor for dirt cheap (no pun intended). The BCS
implements are still rather pricey. Depending on your area, there might be
a good used market for at least some of those implements. I was able
to get a used 30" sickle bar blade for my BCS and I see those come up pretty
frequently for sale here in craigslist. But the soil-mixing implements as
listed in the catalog? Holy smokes I don't like the pricetag on the new
ones and I've yet to see them on the used market. That tells me that
either a) no one else wants to buy them new, and/or b) if they buy them new they
never sell them. The best deal would be to find someone selling their
whole BCS package, which is the direction we took. That's how we got our
BCS with tiller attachment for less than the cost of either alone. But yes
there are some tools in that catalog that I've occasionally thought would be
ALMOST worth it to have even at full price. Almost.
I also suspect that if you do get to farming several acres' worth of beds
or rows or whatever system you use, you'll eventually outgrow the BCS, or like
us you'll go to some kind of hybrid system. I'm still figuring out how
best to integrate both tools into our various farm operations, so that we're
using each as efficiently as possible for whatever task is at hand. But
for now, farming less than an acre, the BCS should serve you very well if the
two attachments you've listed are the only ones you need. And we've gotten by
with just the tiller for awhile now. The sickle-bar attachment will be
wonderful this coming year in keeping our rented pasture fencelines clear of
weeds. I can't wait to retire the line trimmer from that particular
task.
Looking forward to other people's comments on their BCS
machines......
Kathryn Kerby
frogchorusfarm.com
Snohomish, WA
Ruminations - essays on the farming life at
frogchorusfarm.com/weblog.html
In a message dated 3/8/2012 8:15:23 P.M. Pacific Standard Time,
andrea.m.davis AT gmail.com writes:
I am looking into getting a BCS walk-behind tractor this year and I'd like everyones suggestions (pro & con) on what model I should get. |
-
[Market-farming] BCS recommendations needed,
andrea davis, 03/08/2012
- Re: [Market-farming] BCS recommendations needed, Richard Robinson, 03/09/2012
- <Possible follow-up(s)>
- Re: [Market-farming] BCS recommendations needed, KAKerby, 03/09/2012
- Re: [Market-farming] BCS recommendations needed, KAKerby, 03/09/2012
- Re: [Market-farming] BCS recommendations needed, Two Onion Farm, 03/10/2012
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