Farm tractor

Compact tractors are a bump up from sub-compact, albeit a small bump. Compact tractors are offered in Cat-0 or Cat-1 hitches. A 4×4 seems to be standard at this size, as does a three-cylinder diesel engine, which is good news. All compact tractors I’ve seen are compatible with reasonably robust bucket loaders. Robust or not, these bucket loaders are still rated for under 900 pounds at the bucket, so take that into consideration.

The compact class bridges the emissions gap, meaning many of these tractors offer horsepower ratings on either side of 27 hp, which is the cutoff for non-emissions-controlled engines. Why should you care? Emissions systems on tractors are a relatively new technology and have yet to be proven in reliability and longevity. Years down the line, you may be looking at expensive emission system repairs, and the inclusion of these systems drives up the purchase price. If three or four pony powers don’t make a difference to you, and the compact class is where you’re shopping, shoot for a non-emissions tractor for now.

Compact tractors sit in a precarious spot, bridging both the emissions gap and hitch categories, which means many compact tractors will be a little too wide for a Cat-0 implement but underpowered for many Cat-1 implements. Despite this, I would advise leaning toward a Cat-1 equipped tractor since I’d rather have the latter problem.