We have a 10hp and a 14hp, we use the 14hp a lot more than the 10hp BCS on our 4 acre market garden and my advice is to get one that is at least 12hp to do an acre. One huge advantage to a BCS over a 4 wheeled tractor is you will use a lot less fuel. We use around 18 gallons a year for all our tilling and mowing. With a tractor you will 10x as much (at least)

and you can get used parts and attachments via Earth Tools in KY

Here is a link that might be useful: Earth Tools BCS

I don't remember exactly what price the new BCS tractor was that I seen this February, but the price was much lower than I expected. Much less than a new Kubota.

The bcs will be easier to work in a hoop house and should be able to get much closer, especially if you don't have high side walls.

I snooze I lost that deal. so i'm looking for another used bcs. my wife says just buy the new 853. (tax deduction) i'm not so sure.....

I too did extensive research on the BCS and Grillo both from earth tools not sure how far they are from you 8 hours for me I would only buy from them. any way in my talking with earth tools I found out the grillo is a better tiller and the bcs is a better mower but both do each well all in all. .get a model with the differential clutches for ease of turning. i never bought one. i only have 1/2 acre and i have perm grow areas and do it alll by hand now
but i could use a mower for compost crops in a nearby area
just my 2 cents

I would wait for a used one, new ones are pretty expensive. I got my current 710 with an 10hp acme engine for $300. That was 5 years ago and have had countless hours with little problems. I've also had a 14hp years ago, but trashed the engine by running it low on oil.
Like Boulderbelt said, one acre is a lot to do with only 8hp but you could always rent a tractor for a day each spring for initial tillage and then use the BCS for the greenhouse and secondary field work.

-Mark

I disagree with the comment on fuel. There's no way that Jay's 18 hp Kubota will use 10X the fuel of the BCS doing the same work.

True that you will use less fuel with a BCS, but I doubt it's significant enough to influence your decision. I can till a 1 acre patch with 6' tiller behind my tractor and I don't go through more than 1/2 a gallon of diesel I bet. 1 acre would still be hours and hours of tilling with a BCS

if you use more fuel with a tractor it's probably because you're going to use it for a lot more tasks. Also, a small diesel tractor can also be pretty frugal with the fuel.

Chris

I agree, my little Kubota is light on the fuel. On Tuesday I tilled everything at my house and laid mulch and did some spot mowing. My tractor ran from 9:45 until 5:45, it never shut off. I probably used between 1 and 1.5 gallons estimated. The fuel tank hold 3.4 gallons and it was well above half when I quit.

Jay

I agree, my little Kubota is light on the fuel. On Tuesday I tilled everything at my house and laid mulch and did some spot mowing. My tractor ran from 9:45 until 5:45, it never shut off. I probably used between 1 and 1.5 gallons estimated. The fuel tank hold 3.4 gallons and it was well above half when I quit.

Jay

The only real difference in my thoughts would be with the taller crops. It would be hard to cultivate between crops larger than two feet with a tractor. A tiller would go between any height crop. The BCS is simply the Cadilac of tillers. So I would say which is your need and how much money do you want to spend up front for the tools needed.
James

Before buying ANY high dollar equipment, you need to figure out HOW LONG you plan being in this business. If you are only planning on a few years, go with used, well maintained equipment. If you are planning on doing this for 10-15 years, buy new.

If you are only staying with 1-2 acres, you can stay with the smaller equipment, but if you think there is a possibility of expanding into 5+ acres, seriously think about the tractor.

Keep in mind, once you get the tractor, you will find all kinds of things to do with it. If you are only planning on using the tractor for tilling, then find out if you can rent one.

We didn't have a tractor for years and years, but if we had, there would have been LOTS of things done that didn't get done. Plus working with a tiller, wore us outs. The BCS would have extended our energy longer.

Marla

Tractor all the way. The reason---time. I use my New Holland utility tractor endlessly. I can turn a huge pile of compost with it in two minutes and haul away the finished product in no time at all. You can till in minutes what would take hours otherwise. Now, I do have a small Poulan Pro rear tine as well, but It doesn't get used much at all anymore. You can bush hog, grade, plow snow, push out or pull up trees, and a thousand more things you can't do w/a walk behind. You can make a quick job of any dirtwork you have. I'm working 4 acres year round with it, and I honestly don't burn 15 gallons of diesel a year.

i have a small ford tractor (and 4' tiller) and a small troy built rear tine tiller. i use the tractor a lot more for tilling than the troy built. but a lot depends on what you grow and how you grow it (beds?rows?). i initially tilled our beds with the tractor but now we just add compost and hit it with the broadfork. but for crops like potatoes when you grow more than a couple of hundred feet the hilling and digging would be impossible without the tractor.
i like having both tools but i can live without the troy built.