I’ve been a fan of propane-powered internal combustion engines ever since I saw how clean the inside of an old propane International Harvester tractor’s engine was when a friend had one apart in his shop. So imagine my delight when I learned that one of my least favorite (due to noise and exhaust) tools to use, the 2-cycle string trimmer, was finally available with a quiet propane-fueled 4-stroke engine on it. Imagine also my surprise when I learned that this new machine was built by a company I had never heard of before – LEHR Incorporated.

 LEHR is the brainchild of Captain Bernardo J. Herzer who spent many a long night converting gasoline engines to run on propane, while cruising the North Sea aboard the vessel Sea Surveyor. Captain Herzer is committed to the application of environmentally friendly technology and finding green energy solutions for retail and commercial products. LEHR products are affordable but definitely not throw away junk.

Over the past couple of months I have been able to spend some quality time with both the curved- and straight-shaft versions of the LEHR Eco Trimmer – thanks to LEHR the string trimmer is no longer my least favorite tool to operate. The LEHR Eco Trimmer is quieter than the 2-cycle versions of the string trimmer that I have experience with and it vibrates less, so my hands don’t buzz for an hour after trimming the road ditch. But the most noticeable and delightful aspect to the LEHR Eco Trimmer is that it emits no smoke and since propane readily combusts to carbon dioxide and water, there isn’t any hydrocarbon smell spewing at you either. And come to think of it, fueling the LEHR is as easy as strapping in a propane canister and attaching the fuel line. Only a very small amount of propane escaped during the process that I never even smelled it – try that while mixing and pouring 2-cycle engine fuel.

Make no mistake the LEHR Eco Trimmer is a heavy duty unit that’s capable of motoring its way through heavy grass and the 40 or 50 species of coarse-stemmed weeds that grow along the corral fence at my farm.  The trimming will be easier for me next time because with the LEHR Eco Trimmer I am much more likely to actually stay on top of the job rather than avoiding it, which I did with the 2-cycle trimmer that’s hanging in my barn. I prefer the LEHR Eco Trimmer because of the lower impact it makes on my immediate environment while operating it. The machine is quiet and not smelly. But as it turns out, the LEHR Eco Trimmer is easier on the broader environment too. And I don’t care what you think about climate change, where’s the harm in helping keep hydrocarbon vapors and other nasty stuff out of the air and soil?

If you are tired of smelling like an oily smoke bomb and tired of having your hands vibrate and tired of mixing gas, then you most definitely want to check out the LEHR Eco Trimmer. You can find them online and at some lawn and garden centers. You can also get a Craftsman-Branded LEHR Eco Trimmer at your local Sears outlet. Go for it and we’ll all get to breathe a little easier.

August isn’t the month that I usually start thinking about winter, but with the lows in the high 50s last night, it definitely felt a bit like fall. And fall does get me thinking about winter preparations – and wondering how much snow we’ll get this year. Snow makes me think of snow handling tools and there’s nothing quite as satisfying as blasting the stuff out of your lane with a tractor-mounted snow blower.

To help with this year’s snow wrangling, Deere and Company’s Frontier Equipment group has released a new front-end loader-mounted and a pair of SB12 Series 3-point-hitch-mounted snow blowers.

The 76-inch wide SB2176 Snow Blower mounts on any current John Deere 400 Series Loader and gets its power from a PTO-driven, 3-point hitch mounted, hydraulic power pack that’s fully independent of the tractor’s hydraulic system. And if you need a bit more traction with the blower mounted, the power pack can be fitted with suitcase weights for added rear ballast. Operators use the tractor’s loader hydraulic controls to adjust the snow blower’s cut height and pitch while moving snow.

“The SB2176 has an industry-exclusive system that automatically monitors the torque applied to the impeller. The auger automatically slows when maximum torque is sensed and this allows the impeller to move away excess snow and helps to reduce plugging during operation,” says Michael Horrell, Frontier Equipment marketing manager.

For farmers and acreage owners who own utility tractors, Frontier also announced 74- and 80-inch, 3-point-hitch-mounted, . These machines are more traditional PTO-powered tools, but they are built to move a lot of snow very quickly.

“This is a commercial-duty snow blower for customers with compact-utility or utility tractors between 30 and 80 horsepower. It’s a great fit for large property owners or contractors who desire to own a commercial-grade snow blower at an economical price,” says Horrell.

I have yet to need a snow blower here in Kansas, but when I farmed in South Dakota, there were plenty of days when I could have made good use of any of these new Frontier machines. Pushing out 10-foot tall drifts isn’t that much fun with a loader – especially when the wind rebuilds them faster than you can remove them.

If you live in the snow-belt or are considering a snow-removal side business, you just might want to head down to your nearest John Deere dealer and have a look at these new snow blowers from Frontier.

When it comes to digging in new waterlines, setting cistern tanks, creating small ponds, excavating footing trenches for new buildings and even planting large trees at your place, nothing can beat the compact excavator for efficiency. These digging machines are designed to do one thing and they do it well. I recently spent some quality time with the Bobcat 418 compact excavator – it is really on the miniature end of the compact excavator range – and found it to be capable and a breeze to operate. In fact, I wouldn’t mind having a Bobcat 418 compact excavator of my own – just to play in a big-boy’s sandbox with. Seriously, I can think of plenty of uses for the machine around the farm.

The Bobcat 418 compact excavator is small enough to get into barns for digging in that new water hydrant and it’s narrow enough (with tracks retracted) to easily scoot through a 30-inch gate. A skilled operator could get the machine through a 28-inch wide opening, but I know I would scrape something in tight conditions like that. If you think about it, you could pretty easily drive the Bobcat 418 compact excavator through the front door of your house and tear up the living room floor to excavate footings for that new masonry chimney you have planned.

Don’t be fooled into thinking that the Bobcat 418 compact excavator is too small to get much useful work done. Nothing could be farther from the truth. This excavator weighs in at more than 2500 pounds, has a digging depth of 6 feet and a bucket breakout force of 1,865 pounds per foot. Tree roots, stumps and thin limestone layers are no match for this excavator. The Bobcat 418 compact excavator also swings within the footprint of its tracks when they’re extended, which eliminates tail overhang and decreases the possibility of the excavator’s weights and engine compartment coming in contact with buildings, fence posts or other nearby objects.

Operating the Bobcat 418 compact excavator was a breeze, thanks to a pair of joysticks that controlled everything from swing to boom crowding to bucket curling. The seat is comfortable, the noise level is low and in the event that you do wind up topsy-turvy, this excavator is equipped with a tip-over protection system (TOPS) that will keep you from landing on your head.

If you have a significant amount of backhoe work to accomplish in a relatively short period of time, I would recommend renting a Bobcat 418 compact excavator or another machine in the same class. If you anticipate a lot of backhoe work over a long period of time, it might make more sense to purchase the little excavator new or used. Check with your Bobcat dealer for more details.