Urban AG

The Atlanta ToolBank has partnered with Food Well Alliance to launch Atlanta’s first Urban Agriculture Tool Lending Program. In response to the needs of local food leaders, and with the generous support of Whole Foods Market, community gardeners and urban farmers now have access to heavy-duty professional-grade tools.

Food Well Alliance Partnership

Food Well Alliance is a collaborative network of local leaders working together to build thriving community gardens and urban farms. Interested farmers, gardeners, and local food organizations can learn more about Food Well Alliance and the shared Urban Ag Tool Lending Program HERE.

BCS Two-Wheel Tractors

The Atlanta ToolBank currently carries 4 heavy-duty BCS tractors and 13 attachments. The BCS tractor is the power source that operates the range of attachments suited to our member agencies needs and circumstance.

The Wylde Center

Fun Fact: In addition to the Wylde Center borrowing ToolBank tools such as pickaxes and wheelbarrows to outfit their volunteers, they were also one of the first borrowers of the ToolBank’s new BCS tractor.

Program Stats

$ 943,941

Worth of Tools

Used by 32

Growers

To equip 2,585

Volunteers

$ 8,795

Actual Cost to Agencies

Inventory of Attachments

Tractor attachment: bed shaper

Used primarily to form raised beds that are uniform in size and shape. After preparing the soil, one pass with the bed shaper can create a raised bed approximately 3‘’ high and 30’’ wide.

Tractor attachment: buddy cart

Easily haul up to 450 pounds of material. Effortlessly maneuver through common 36" gates. The Buddy Cart measures 33.5" wide, 72" long (including tongue), and 27" high.

Tractor attachment: chipper / shredder

Can easily take limbs up to 3’’ in diameter. The discharge chute is equipped with a rod and lynch pin for quick removal of the discharge screen, and can be replace with rods to allow larger openings for wet material.

Tractor attachment: combo mower

A brush cutter capable of reclaiming overgrown areas and also suitable for maintaining your lawn. It features a floating deck to follow ground contours. The 1/4in thick fixed blade is 30in wide.

Tractor attachment: dozer blade

Used for moving and “dozing” gravel, sand, dirt, and other small debris, as well as leveling ground. The blade can be adjusted to five different positions to steer debris in a desired direction.

Tractor attachment: flail mower

Has vertically rotating ‘Y’ blades that pulverize plant material into a fine pulp that is evenly spread across the mowing width. A convenient control handle sets the cutting height from ½‘in to 4’in.

Tractor attachment: power harrow

The knives turn horizontally, stirring the soil. Helps preserve soil structure by not mixing soil layers and by creating a large particle size. Gently levels and compacts the bed with its metal mesh roller.

Tractor attachment: root digger

Used to harvest small-scale crops of root vegetables. The round tines extending from the implement sifts through worked soil, making most of the vegetable visible and can be easily collected.

Tractor attachment: rotary plow

Spinning blades on a vertical shaft that dig effortlessly into all types of soil. Debris is discharged to the right side, allowing the operator to build raised beds. Engages the ground up to 12in deep.

Tractor attachment: tiller

Great for busting sod, preparing seedbeds, precision cultivating and power composting spent plant material.

Tractor attachment: tiller w/ depth roller

The depth roller transforms the normal tiller into a hybrid attachment that combines the final bed preparation and cultivating of a power harrow with the vegetation-chopping and groundbreaking abilities of a tiller.

Tractor attachment: tool carrier

Attaches to tractor’s PTO, providing a strong and durable connection for drag implements such as the root digger. The adjustable tool carrier allows the operator to set the angle of the implement via the crank handle.