Farmer Tools Names: 16 Farm Tools and Machine Costs

Farmer tools names fall into four groups: hand tools (hoe, spade, shovel, rake, sickle, scythe, pitchfork, trowel), tillage and planting tools (plough, rotary tiller, seed drill, no-till drill), crop-care and harvest machines (sprayer, combine harvester) and power units (tractor, drone). That is 16 tools in all. Each is listed below with its job, who needs it and, for the big machines, what it costs.

The money side is where this page differs from a plain list. Manitoba Agriculture’s 2026/27 machinery guide puts the purchase price of a mid-size front-wheel-assist tractor at C$350,000 and a large four-wheel-drive tractor at C$775,000, and University of Illinois economists report that new tractor prices rose 21% from 2020 to 2023. Further down you will find charts of those numbers and a calculator that tells you when it is cheaper to hire a machine than to own one. For photos and a deeper look at how each tool is used, see our companion guide to farm tools and their uses with pictures.

Farmer tools names at a glance

Use the table to find the English name of a tool and its main job. The groups run from simple hand tools to machines that need a tractor. Prices for hand tools vary a lot by brand and shop, so we do not print them here; check your local supplier. Machine costs are in the sections below, with dates and sources.

Hand tools: names and what each does

Hand tools still matter on market gardens, orchards, nurseries and small mixed farms, and every large farm keeps a few for repairs and spot jobs. They cost little, need no fuel and let you work close to the crop.

Hoe, spade and shovel

The hoe breaks the soil surface, cuts weeds and draws furrows for seed. The two common forms are the draw hoe, which you pull toward you to chop and move soil, and the scuffle hoe, which you push and pull just under the surface to cut weed roots. The spade has a flat blade and a straight edge, which suits digging a clean hole, slicing sod and edging a bed. The shovel has a curved, scooped blade made for lifting and throwing loose material such as compost, sand or mulch. If you only buy one, choose by the job: a spade for digging and cutting, a shovel for moving piles.

Rake, trowel and pitchfork

A garden rake with a flat head levels soil and breaks small clods before sowing. A leaf or bow rake gathers debris and spreads mulch. The trowel is a small hand shovel for setting seedlings and for weeding close to a plant. The pitchfork has three to five tines and lifts hay, straw and compost; it lets air into a compost pile and does not carry fine soil well, so keep it for coarse material.

Sickle and scythe

The sickle has a short curved blade and cuts grain stalks or grass in small amounts. The scythe has a long curved blade on a long handle and cuts a wide swathe of grass or tall weeds with each swing. Both cut without fuel or noise. Beyond a small plot a machine does the job faster; Manitoba Agriculture’s machinery guide lists swathers and mower-conditioners with custom rates per acre (see the cost section below).

Hand tool safety

Keep blades sharp, since a dull blade makes you push harder and slip. Wear gloves and sturdy boots, store tools off the ground with blades covered, and replace cracked handles. Check the safety guidance from your national or local farm safety agency before using any powered hand tool.

Tillage and planting tools

These tools prepare the seedbed and put seed in the ground. They are pulled or driven by a tractor, apart from small walk-behind tillers.

Plough

The plough cuts a slice of soil and turns it over, which buries residue and loosens the ground. The main types are the moldboard plough, which inverts the soil fully, the disc plough, which suits sticky or hard soils, and the chisel plough, which loosens without turning. Ploughing is fuel- and time-heavy and leaves bare soil exposed to wind and rain, which is why many farms now use less of it.

Rotary tiller (rotavator)

A rotary tiller has spinning tines that chop and mix the soil into a fine seedbed in one pass. It is common on vegetable farms and in gardens. Passing it over the same ground many times can break up soil structure, so work the soil only as much as the crop needs.

Seed drill and no-till drill

A seed drill drops seed through tubes into the soil at a set depth and row spacing, which gives an even stand. A no-till drill does the same job but opens a narrow slot through the crop residue left on the field, so the soil is not ploughed first. Both are sold in many sizes, and the right one depends on your seed size, row spacing and tractor power.

Conservation tillage is widespread in the United States. USDA’s Economic Research Service reported in 2018 that conservation tillage, which keeps residue on the surface, was used on 67% of wheat acres, 65% of corn acres and 70% of soybean acres in the most recent surveys it cited, but on only 40% of cotton acres. See the USDA ERS chart of note on conservation tillage. Those figures are survey results from before 2018 and are not a forecast for any one farm.

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Sprayers and combine harvesters

Sprayer

A sprayer applies liquid crop-protection products or fertilizer through nozzles on a boom. It can be a small backpack unit, a tractor-mounted tank, a self-propelled high-clearance machine or a drone. Pesticide, dose and legal rules differ by country and state; always follow the product label and local rules, and use the personal protective equipment the label lists.

Before you spray, calibrate the sprayer. Ohio State University Extension describes a simple boom method: measure a set travel distance per nozzle, catch the output of each nozzle over the time it takes to cover that distance, and the ounces collected equal the gallons applied per acre (Ohioline FABE-520, 2016). That check takes minutes and helps you avoid applying too much or too little.

Combine harvester

A combine cuts the crop, threshes the grain from the stalk and cleans it in one pass. It is usually the biggest single machine purchase on a grain farm. The University of Illinois farmdoc team writes that harvest costs often make up more than half of total machinery costs on Illinois grain farms, and that their 2025 estimate for combining corn at 3,600 acres is US$43.40 per acre. They suggest 3,000 acres a year as a benchmark for an economical combine; below that, sharing a combine or hiring custom harvest may cost less (farmdoc daily, October 2025). Those numbers come from central Illinois corn and soybean farms; your yield, crop mix and prices will differ.

Not all farms hire the same way. The chart below shows what Manitoba Agriculture’s 2026/27 guide suggests as farmer-to-farmer custom rates per acre for several jobs, including the machine, its tractor, fuel and labour.

Chart

Farmer-to-farmer custom rates per acre

C$ per acre; machine, power unit, fuel and labour; Manitoba guide, selected jobs

Tractors and power units

The tractor is the power unit that pulls the plough, tiller, drill and sprayer and drives the baler. Tractors are sold by horsepower and by drive type: two-wheel drive, front-wheel assist, four-wheel drive and tracked. Larger machines cost much more, as the chart shows. The guide’s purchase prices are planning assumptions for a new machine in Manitoba, in Canadian dollars; actual dealer quotes vary by brand, options, trade-in and date.

Chart

Planning purchase price of a new tractor

C$ thousand, by drive type and size; Manitoba guide assumptions; engine horsepower for four-wheel drive, PTO horsepower for two-wheel drive and front-wheel assist

Check the age of a tractor and whether it has a rollover protective structure (ROPS) before you buy. The Great Plains Center for Agricultural Health at the University of Iowa states that tractor overturns are the leading cause of fatal injuries on US farms, with an average of about 130 deaths a year (University of Iowa tractor overturns page). Ohio State Extension adds that ROPS do not prevent rollovers but are 99.9 percent effective in preventing death or serious injury when used with a seat belt, and that OSHA requires ROPS and seat belts on tractors over 20 horsepower operated by employees (Ohioline AEX-892.2.56, 2018). The OSHA page limits that rule to tractors made after 25 October 1976. A 2024 note from the University of Nebraska Medical Center, quoting NIOSH, says about half of the 4.8 million tractors in use on US farms have no rollover protection (UNMC press release). If an older tractor lacks ROPS, ask a dealer about a retrofit kit. The OSHA farm hazards page lists the employer rules.

A tractor is also a fixed cost that rises with new-machine prices. The next chart tracks the index of tractor prices paid by farmers, as reported by the University of Illinois using USDA NASS data.

Chart

Tractor price index (2011 = 100)

Prices paid index for tractors, selected years

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Drones and digital tools

Drones, GPS guidance and satellite maps are the newest items on a farm tool list. They do not replace the plough or the sprayer; they help you decide where to use them. A survey summary from USDA’s Economic Research Service (February 2023, using survey data to 2019) found that auto-steer and guidance systems are used on well over 50 percent of US acres planted to corn, soybeans, winter wheat, cotton, rice and sorghum, up from minimal use in the early 2000s (5.3 percent of corn acres in 2001), while yield maps, soil maps and variable-rate technology were used on only 5 to 25 percent of winter wheat, cotton, sorghum and rice acres, and drones and other aerial tools are less common still (USDA ERS EIB-248). The report links adoption to technology cost, farm size and expected productivity gains.

If you fly a drone for work in the United States, you need a Remote Pilot Certificate under the FAA’s Small UAS Rule (Part 107): you must be at least 16, pass the FAA knowledge test and complete recurrent training every 24 months (FAA remote pilot page). Spraying with a drone needs more: Part 137 approval, usually an FAA exemption for heavy drones, and a state pesticide licence (UF/IFAS EDIS AE608). Spraying with a drone adds more rules: University of Florida IFAS Extension explains that heavier spray drones fall under Section 44807 or FAA Part 137 agricultural aircraft rules, and that you need a state pesticide applicator licence (UF/IFAS AE608). Always follow the product label. Rules differ in Canada, the UK, Europe and Australia, so check your national aviation authority before you buy.

Satellite maps are one way to scout. The Farmonaut Satellite + AI Farm Monitoring System shows vegetation index maps for fields you draw, so you can see which part of a field changed between images. A map shows that something changed, not why; walk the field to find the cause. Purdue’s Center for Commercial Agriculture reports in a February 2026 episode that research on large autonomous machines for corn and soybean farms finds most farms are not yet in the economic range where they pay, with labor cost as the main swing factor (Purdue AgCast 206).

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What farm machines cost to own and to hire

Machinery is a large share of the cost of growing grain. The University of Illinois team reports that machinery-related costs on central Illinois farms rose from US$136 per acre in 2021 to US$171 per acre in 2024, a 25% rise, about the same as the rise in USDA’s tractor price index. Depreciation is the biggest piece, followed by repairs, fuel and oil, and machine hire. These are costs on high-productivity corn farms in one part of Illinois, so treat them as a pattern rather than a rule for your farm.

Chart

Machinery cost per acre, central Illinois, 2024

US$ per acre, corn on high-productivity farmland; total US$171

The calculator below compares two choices for one machine: own it, or hire the job done. Enter your own prices. Manitoba Agriculture also lists rental rates for equipment alone (without tractor, fuel or labour), for example C$142 to C$207 per hour for a large square baler and C$577 to C$828 per hour for a high-clearance sprayer, so ask a neighbor or dealer what rental or custom hire costs where you farm.

Try the numbers for your own farm below.

How to choose farm tools

1. List your jobs first. Write the field tasks you do in a year, with acres or beds for each, before you look at any tool.
2. Match the tool to the acres. A scythe or hoe suits a garden; a drill or planter suits hundreds of acres. In between, a rented or shared machine can be cheaper than buying.
3. Start with the tractor you can power. A drill, plough or sprayer needs a tractor with enough power, hydraulics and a safe frame with ROPS.
4. Compare owning with hiring. Use the calculator above with your own quotes. If you use a machine fewer hours than the break-even, hiring wins.
5. Check safety and rules. Look at ROPS, guards, sprayer labels, operator training and drone rules before the first day of use.
6. Plan upkeep. Sharpen blades, grease moving parts and store machines under cover; Manitoba’s guide includes a repair and maintenance cost for every machine.

How we checked the numbers

We checked machine costs against Manitoba Agriculture’s 2026/27 Cost of Production Farm Machinery guide and the University of Illinois farmdoc daily article of 14 October 2025. The Manitoba figures are guideline rates for farmer-to-farmer hire, not a price list for commercial custom operators, and the guide assumes diesel at C$1.20 per litre, a 6.25% equipment loan rate and labour at C$28 per hour. Prices are in the currency each source uses. Safety and adoption numbers come from University of Iowa, Ohio State, UNMC, OSHA, FAA and USDA pages, each dated where the source gives a date. Where a source did not give a figure, we left it out; that is why hand tools have no prices.

FAQ

What are five basic farm tools?

For a small farm or garden, five basic hand tools are the hoe, spade, shovel, rake and trowel. The hoe breaks soil and cuts weeds, the spade digs, the shovel moves loose material, the rake levels soil and the trowel sets seedlings.

What is the difference between a spade and a shovel?

A spade has a flat blade with a straight edge for digging clean holes and cutting sod. A shovel has a curved, scooped blade for lifting and throwing loose material such as compost or gravel.

What are the main machines on a grain farm?

A tractor, a tillage tool such as a plough or tiller (or a no-till drill), a seed drill or planter, a sprayer and a combine harvester. Many farms hire some of these jobs rather than own the machine, as the cost section shows.

Which farm tools help protect soil?

A no-till or reduced-tillage drill leaves crop residue on the surface. USDA ERS reported conservation tillage on a majority of US wheat, corn and soybean acres in surveys it cited in 2018. Check what suits your soil and climate with your local extension office.

How can satellite images help with farm tools and machinery?

Satellite vegetation maps show which parts of a field differ in plant growth, so you can plan where to scout, sample soil or run a sprayer. They do not show the cause. Confirm with a field visit, and follow the label and local rules before any spray.

Related pages on our site: fleet and equipment tracking, carbon footprint tracking, product traceability, crop loan and insurance monitoring, farm admin app, field data collection tools, drone-based precision farming in California, satellite and weather API documentation, developer API.