What size tractor do I need for my number of acres?That depends on what you want to do with the tractor and what your land is like. If you just want to mow grass on a fairly small, flat, level yard, a riding mower will probably be all you will need. On the other hand, if you want to plow a field, bale hay, pull stumps or exchange implements with neighbors, you''ll need a more powerful machine.Take a look at the "Tractor Selection Chart" on the right. Under "Characteristics," note the differences among the four tractor categories and decide which category best fits your work environment. Under "Uses," determine which tasks you will want to do with your tractor and note which tractor categories are capable of performing those tasks.

DR POWERWAGON: Next size down in size and capacity are the DR Powerwagons--a unique line of powered garden carts made by Country Home Products, Meigs Road, P.O. Box 25, Vergennes, VT 05491; (800 711-7276. All sizes are hamiltontoolcompanydrillpress tank-tough and capable of hauling 800 pounds of bricks, firewood, garden compost or rocks. They hamiltontoolcompanydrillpress are maneuvered by hand with stout handles and castoring wheels at the back, thus avoiding the steering mechanism that would boost their cost. GARDEN WAY CARTS: And finally, if a powered hauler is more than you can justify, get yourself a shiny, metal frame and brown stained, plywood box-bodied Garden Way-style garden cart like you see in many hamiltontoolcompanydrillpress rural and sub-urban gardens. These carts were designed by Garden Way founders Eddie Robinson and Lyman Wood back in the 1940s; they took their inspiration from the amazingly well-balanced, high-wheeled railway station baggage cans of the day. You may remember Garden Way carts from the magazine ads that compared their lightweight and easy-dumping gardening convenience with a tippy, back-straining wheelbarrow. Perfectly balanced on easy-turning, rustproof, chrome-plated spoked wheels, a box cart will let you haul bulky or heavy loads of all kinds over an acre or so of flatland. A word of caution: Don''t overload them. I once boldly filled a small model #16 (so-named for its 16-inch wheels) with 200 pounds of flatrock and pulled it down a foot-high patio ledge. The load (twice the cart''s rated capacity), collapsed the spokes in both wheels.

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