Most versatile vehicle for my small smallholding

paddylonglegs

I plan to get as much out of my 1 acre as possible.with a small cottage on the land,i have a good amount of land to work on and plan to hold chickens,pigs,veg,spuds,trees for firewood,fruit trees,bushes.i don't plan to have a tractor but will have a trailer for lugging around god-knows.it will also be used day to day for other work,shopping,dogs,weekends away,nieces and nephews etc.i have been torn between an estate car and a 4x4 pick-up.what are boardsies smallholders thoughts on this?estate won't be as heavy on juice but you won't be able to stick a ton of sand in the back.thoughts?

Mothman

The ton of sand can go in a trailer and a mid size estate will pull it.

I've just got a Kangoo and carried 9 small bales of hay in it yesterday, won't pull the ton of sand though, but a van based car is very practical.

Ayla

+1 with Mothman's suggestion of a trailer for the odd time you'll need sand/etc.

We have a Skoda Octavia 4-dr estate and honestly I never knew the things could hold so much! The back seats fold completely flat & we have hauled bales, feed, animals (goats/weaners/fowl of all sorts), timber, loads of construction materials/tools, and firewood inside the boot with no bother. The odd time we had heavier loads (ie: taking the full grown pigs to the abatoir, etc) we pulled a trailer.

Best again is that when we're not hauling stuff around we can put the seats back up & haul the kids

Mothman

Octavia is great.
Have a 1.9D Octavia in the family which I've used to tow, handled the ton of sand with ease, great economy.....when not towing

But I really dislike estates that don't have a flat floor out tailgate. Don't know if this applies to latest Octavia.

Boardnashea

My Kango is about to fall apart and I would be delighted to go again. I drive and bike to work so the bike is standing in the back all the time. Nice height for loading. The wheelie bin can stand in the back to go to the top of the road on Tue morning.
A small negative is the dampers on the boot weren't strong enough and gave up the ghost so the boot lid needs to be proped with a piece of 2x2.

Is anyone using a garden tractor these days? My grandfather used to have (40 years ago) a two wheeled tractor (Merry Tiller I think) that could pull small trailer, rotavater, mowing bar and god knows what else.

Askim

Boardnashea wrote: »

Is anyone using a garden tractor these days? My grandfather used to have (40 years ago) a two wheeled tractor (Merry Tiller I think) that could pull small trailer, rotavater, mowing bar and god knows what else.

yeah the guy i rent my ground bought one 2 years ago, serious rotovator on it, hi son made a stearage hoe for it, i now sow all vegetables, except potatoes, on the flat at a boot & a half spacing & this hoe keeps them virtually weed free.

he also made a potatoe lifter, wedge that just goes under the drill & leaves most of them on the top, the trailer is cut out, just needs welding

would get one if i had my own ground

A

slowburner

paddylonglegs wrote: »

I plan to get as much out of my 1 acre as possible.with a small cottage on the land,i have a good amount of land to work on and plan to hold chickens,pigs,veg,spuds,trees for firewood,fruit trees,bushes.i don't plan to have a tractor but will have a trailer for lugging around god-knows.it will also be used day to day for other work,shopping,dogs,weekends away,nieces and nephews etc.i have been torn between an estate car and a 4x4 pick-up.what are boardsies smallholders thoughts on this?estate won't be as heavy on juice but you won't be able to stick a ton of sand in the back.thoughts?

With fuel prices the way they are, an estate would probably make most sense.
I doubt that there would be enough heavy loads involved in maintaining one acre to justify the expense of running a 4 x 4.
A van or vanette would be useless for you, if you need to ferry the rellies around.

I had to make the same decision about ten years ago.
At the time I had a beat up Passat diesel estate but when the opportunity came up to buy a 'proper' 4 x 4 (a Toyota Hilux Surf), I took it.
To be honest, there is no way in hell that I would go back to a car now.
Professionally, I need a vehicle with the grunt to pull a 3 ton trailer and the cabin space allows me to carry as much as a small van when the trailer's not in tow.
There have been many times too, when the jeep has got me to places and out of places, where a car would have been useless.
The last two winters in particular with snow and steep hills, the jeep came into its own - the neighbours were only too grateful for the meals on wheels service.
But the running costs are high; a round trip to south Dublin from south Wicklow costs about €25 in diesel and the road tax is over €1,000 a year now.:eek:

paddylonglegs

slowburner wrote: »

But the running costs are high; a round trip to south Dublin from south Wicklow costs about €25 in diesel and the road tax is over €1,000 a year now.:eek:

The biggest offput I would imagine. unless you get the newer efficient 4x4s (not gonna happen).

thanks slowburner

Chiorino

I'd second something like a Hilux Surf once you can put up with the running costs. They are cheap as chips to buy ( loads in the UK) and maintenance is also a doddle. They last forever too, mine shows no sign of stopping after 220,000 km.

slowburner

285 K on mine. I'm not sure about them being easy to work on though, unless you have small hands.
Mine's a Japanese import and has all sorts of bits and bobs tucked into every crevice.
That said, if you keep an eye on the rad and change the oil every 5 K, the vehicle should be good for another 200 K.
Rust will probably kill mine before anything else goes.
How many machines have cast iron engines these days?

I have never once met a Surf driver who would prefer any other machine.

slowburner

Mothman wrote: »

The ton of sand can go in a trailer and a mid size estate will pull it.

I've just got a Kangoo and carried 9 small bales of hay in it yesterday, won't pull the ton of sand though, but a van based car is very practical.

Great image.
It reminds me of Corbusier's brief for the design of the old 'Deux cheveaux' -
It was supposed to be able to carry two strapping peasants and a bale of hay across a stubble field.