The most universally capable modern homesteading machine we know of is a commercial-grade compact diesel tractor. We like Kubota tractors, John Deere''s 20- to 48-hp 2000 class and New Holland''s Boomer line. Even the smallest models--which look like sturdily built lawn tractor mowers--are equipped with powerful diesel engines and industrial quality transmissions and running gear. They also sport a three-point rear hitch that will mount commercial farm land plows, harrows and rakes and provide attachment points for a hay or field corn cutter bar or silage chopper, a sprayer or buzz saw. These tractors include a hydraulic system that will power remote motors on the chopper''s flails, the sprayer''s pump or the saw''s blade. They''ll also mount hydraulic cylinders to pull the plow up or dig it in and hold it down and will run any number of other hydraulic attachments such as a front-end snow thrower or plow blade, a bucket loader to carry soil, gravel or building bricks, a rear-mount backhoe to dig trenches, a forklift to raise bay bales into your barn loft, an electric generator to power the house and barn if the power lines go down in a storm, or a pump to fill a pond or empty the cellar after a flood. A modern, small diesel tractor is a major investment for a ranch or truck-farming operation--but one that will expand your homesteading capabilities beyond muscle-power, and will pay off every day for a lifetime or two of strenuous use.

In 2002, the Denver group teamed up with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory to build a home that generates a portion of its own electricity from sunlight using photovoltaic modules. Habitat also has collaborated with the Buildings Technology Center at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, a research and development group focused on promoting energy-efficient and environmentally sound building technologies, and the U.S. Department of Energy''s Building America program, which has built more than 14,000 homes with energy-efficient and affordable features. An initiative in Louden County, Tennessee, fostered Habitat''s construction of several Zero Energy Buildings. Structural insulated panels in the floors, walls and ceiling create a tight building envelope and provide insulation, allowing a smaller air conditioner to be installed. A heat-pump water heater saves about 60 percent in water heating energy costs. Solar-electric panels installed by the Tennessee Valley Authority provide power to the house and reduce demand on the utility grid. Some Habitat affiliates have begun to take their homes to even greener heights by incorporating more environmentally responsible building materials.

Other books in the series: Farm Appliances * Farm Blacksmithing * Farm Conveniences * Farm Machinery * Farm Motors * Fences, Gates and Bridges * Handy Farm Devices * Harris on the Pig * The Homestead Builder * Shelters, Shacks, and Shanties * Village and Country ResidencesThe Lyons Press has put out an extensive series of reprints of practical books in the spirit of the Foxfire books. Like them, this series of classics comes from the source of old-timey know-how. The books present immense detail and practical and complete references, particularly since most in the series (which includes fourteen titles) were intended as textbooks. The original texts were first published between 1880 and 1937, but the bulk of the information is as applicable today as it was a hundred years ago.

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