While you can use all kinds of heavy equipment on your farm, you may not know where to begin. Below is an equipment list for agriculture businesses to help farmers better understand the best equipment available for farming tasks.

1. Tractors

Modern tractors can be equipped with various attachments to help farmers complete different farming-related jobs. Due to their numerous uses, tractors are often a go-to purchase for farmers.

There are various tractor types, each with its own advantages at a farm. Some of the common types of tractors you can find at a farm include:

• Wheeled tractors: These tractors are general-purpose, which allows you to get the most out of your equipment. They can meet various farming demands, such as pulling equipment, material handling and tilling. Wheeled tractors have a wide range of specifications, with variations in size, horsepower, lifting capacity, cab style and control, allowing you to pick a tractor that works best for your needs.
• Compact tractors: These tractors are small but high-powered, allowing you to complete the basic functions on a farm. Compact tractors are ideal for working in confined spaces and material handling tasks.
• Orchard tractors: These tractors are specifically adapted to work best in orchards. These tractors are more slender than other models, allowing them to fit between trees while still providing powerful performance, allowing you to keep up with maintenance and landscaping.
• Tracked tractors: These tractors utilize rubber tracks instead of tires, which helps create a smooth ride for operators. Tracked tractors are also ideal when working on uneven terrain.

2. Utility Vehicles

Utility or all-terrain vehicles are ideal for farmers who need to travel across their properties quickly. Utility vehicles can move across rough terrain easier than others, allowing you to navigate various locations across the farm.

You can also equip utility vehicles with different attachments to make them more efficient on the farm, including mowers, small trailers and spreaders. Utility vehicles have many of the same benefits as trucks but are more compact and affordable.

3. Pickup Trucks

Pickup trucks have been a staple on farms for decades. Pickup trucks are ideal for hauling, whether you're moving materials in the truck bed or with an attached trailer. These trucks can help you carry building supplies, feed and tools to different locations, and a trailer attachment can help you carry livestock, crops, produce and other heavier materials.

4. Sprayers

Sprayers are used on farms to spray insecticides and herbicides, which can be essential to preventing pests and weeds from damaging crops. You can get many types of sprayers for your farm, including handheld sprayers, which are ideal for smaller crops. Other kinds of sprayers include:

• Engine-driven sprayers: These portable sprayers are powered by an engine and set at a low angle.
• Trolley pumps: Trolley pumps are ideal for farmers with a lot of property to cover, allowing more product to spread over a large area of land in a short period.
• Trailer sprayers: These sprayers are mounted on trailers or tractors, making them easily portable across farms. Farmers can mount these sprayers and transport them to specific areas to treat their crops.

5. Combine Harvesters

Combine harvesters help make harvesting crops more efficient, even for small-scale farmers. This equipment utilizes a complex system comprised of belts, blades, gears and wheels to turn crops into grain. Combines can achieve this by using three main processes:

1. Reaping: Reaping refers to the process of cutting the plant, which is accomplished by utilizing the header, reel and cutter bar. The header on the combine collects the crops, and the reel pushes them toward the cutter bar, which enables crops to be cut at their base.
   
2. Threshing: This process involves separating the edible parts of the crops from the non-edible components. The threshing drum helps achieve this by beating the crops to separate the useable crop from the stalk.
3. Winnowing: Winnowing involves separating light chaff from the grain using the combine's threshing drum and sieves. The chaff passes through the sieves to help separate it from the grain.

There are various combines and attachments to help meet the needs of different agricultural farms. Some newer models can even track data, showing which areas of the field performed the best and which didn't, allowing farmers to address these issues in the next year.

You can take the potential of your equipment further by utilizing attachments that can help you complete more tasks or improve the efficiency of your equipment. Some of the best farm equipment attachments include the following.

1. Tractor Attachments

Using tractor implements can add new levels of functionality that can significantly benefit agriculture businesses. Some of the best tractor implements include:

• Plows: Plows are large attachments set behind the tractor, equipped with blades to cut furrows in the soil. Plows help loosen the soil while eliminating any surface vegetation. You can attach various types of plows to your tractor, including disc plows, moldboard plows and chisel plows.
• Harrows: Harrows help further agitate the soil so it can be prepared for farming work. Harrows help break down soil clumps, ensuring the soil is level and crops are redistributed, making it easier for plants to grow.
• Spreaders: Fertilizer spreaders help distribute fertilizers across a field, which is an essential step to ensure crops are in the best conditions to grow. Spreaders can help ensure an even and quick spreading of fertilizer.
• Seeders: These attachments help spread seeds quickly along large plots of land. Tractor seeders are most often used in large-scale farms, and there are various types of seeders, including air seeders, planters, broadcast seeders and box drill seeders.

Other tractor attachments include wagons, trailers, balers, rakes, sprayers and cultivators. Each implement has unique benefits for your farm, so it's essential to look into the specifics of each one to determine which would be the best for your business.

2. Blades

Blades are versatile and essential equipment that can benefit every farm.

Specifically, box blades are ideal for leveling land, grading the ground, creating paths or spreading dirt, making them a versatile choice for your agriculture business.

Rear blades are also helpful on farms, helping you maintain gravel roads, digging ditches and smoothing driveways. For some farms, rear blades can also level out gardens.

3. Front-End Loader Attachments

You can double a compact tractor into a compact loader by utilizing a wide selection of front-end tractor attachments. Front-end loader attachments can help you move, scoop or dump soil, rocks or manure.

You can also attach pallet forks to help you move heavy or bulky objects easily across the farm. Pallet forks can be combined with a bucket to handle loose or large loads.

If you're dealing with a lot of brush or timber, a debris grapple attachment can help you move all these materials into one pile.

4. Post-Hole Diggers

Fencing is essential for many farms, especially if you have livestock you need to contain and protect. Fencing your crops can also help keep pests out.

A post-hole digger can help save hours of hard labor. This attachment can be used to build decks, pole barns or machine sheds. You can also use post-hole diggers to plant trees and create holes for fencing.

Once you've chosen what type of equipment you need, how do you determine if you want new vs. used farm equipment? Choosing new equipment has many benefits, such as access to the latest technology and untouched equipment. Still, there are many advantages to choosing used farming equipment, including:

• Lower initial costs: Used equipment generally costs less upfront than new equipment, which is one of the main benefits of buying used farming equipment. When buying new equipment, part of its value is due to its newness. Used equipment is priced based on value, and well-maintained used equipment can be just as valuable to your business as new equipment.
• Less depreciation: The value of your equipment will lessen over time, and the most depreciation occurs in the first few years of a piece of equipment's life span. Buying new equipment means the value of your equipment will decrease quickly, whereas used equipment will have a slower depreciation rate.
• Better selection: The used heavy equipment market is massive, meaning a large selection of equipment is available. When you buy new, you're usually limited to what's released that year or the year before, which means you might be unable to find what you want or need from your equipment. Buying used allows you to pick equipment from any release year, making it more likely for you to find equipment that's best suited to your business.
• Reduced insurance rates: New equipment typically has higher insurance costs since it's brand new. If something goes wrong with your new equipment, you could pay even more for your insurance premiums. Used equipment typically has lower insurance premiums, helping you save even more on your overall equipment costs.
• Reduced learning curve: While new technology is a good thing, it can introduce a learning curve that can slow your processes down. If your workers are used to using a specific model and year of equipment, they may not have the knowledge to work with brand-new equipment and innovative technology. You can help improve uptime by buying used equipment your operators are familiar with.

If you've decided to buy used equipment, look no further than Cat® Used for all your agriculture equipment needs. We have a wide selection of farming equipment, from tractors to utility vehicles. There are many benefits of buying from Cat Used, including:

• Reliable equipment: Caterpillar equipment is built to last, so you can rely on our used equipment to help you with all of your farming needs. Most used inventory comes from the Cat dealer rental fleet or lease returns. Every dealer handles this process differently, but in most cases, Cat Used equipment is inspected, appraised, cleaned and filled with fluids, giving you peace of mind. Our equipment also has extensive capabilities, ensuring you get the best performance from your purchase.
• Cat dealer support: When you buy from Cat Used, you can access certified dealer support. Cat dealers can help you determine what type of equipment is best for your applications and budget and offer the same support you would get when purchasing brand-new equipment. Cat dealers also provide excellent after-sale support and parts availability to help your equipment perform.
• Long-term value: Cat equipment typically holds its value longer than other brands, especially due to the longevity and re-buildability of the equipment.

Cat Used is a reliable source for used farming equipment, allowing you to buy used in confidence. We have a wide selection of farming equipment available, and you can even sign up for email alerts on our website to be notified when the equipment you want becomes available.

Our equipment is ready to work when it comes off the lot, allowing you to get started as soon as possible. You can find a dealer near you to talk with a representative and see the equipment in person, or you can browse our inventory online to find what you're looking for.