Christmas tree farming has the most lopsided calendar in agriculture: eleven months of field work and six weeks of retail chaos.
And the retail six weeks land in November and December, when the fields are at their wettest and softest of the entire year. That's the defining equipment problem in this business — you need to move a lot of cut trees across ground that's barely holding together, on the only weekends that generate revenue.
The Jobs You'll Actually Use It For
Harvest & Retail Season
- Moving cut trees from the field to the baler or lot
- Hauling trees to the loading area
- Loading customer vehicles
- Moving baled trees and staging inventory
- Loading wholesale trucks
- Handling pallets of wreaths, garland, and greenery
- Keeping lot surfaces and access passable
- Snow removal in the lot and on access roads
Off-Season Field Work
- Planting new stock with an auger
- Hauling seedlings, stakes, and supplies down rows
- Brush and vegetation control between rows
- Stump removal after harvest
- Field access road maintenance
- Hauling gravel for lot and road surfaces
- Removing culls and field debris
- Drainage and erosion repair
Wet Fields Are the Problem
Harvest happens when the ground is worst. That's not a scheduling failure — it's the crop calendar, and every grower deals with it.
Rubber tracks distribute weight across a much larger contact area than tires, which is the entire reason they matter here. A wheeled machine on a saturated field in December is a machine that ruts the field you're going to plant in spring and gets stuck on a Saturday you can't afford to lose.
Ask for ground pressure in PSI when comparing machines.
Row spacing is the second constraint, and like a vineyard, it's fixed by the planting. Measure your narrowest row before choosing a model.
Which Yellow Jacket Fits a Tree Farm
YJ1000 — the general-purpose farm machine
25 hp Kubota D1105 diesel. Diesel torque for loaded work and enough capacity for volume tree handling and field work.
Attachments That Earn Their Keep
Pallet forks — baled trees, wreath and greenery pallets, supplies, wholesale loading. The primary attachment in season.
Root grapple — cut trees, culls, brush, and field debris. Holds an armload of trees a bucket won't.
Bucket — gravel, soil, general material. Comes standard.
Auger — planting new stock.
Brush cutter — between-row vegetation control.
Harley rake — replant site prep and lot surface maintenance.
Snow blade — lot and access road clearing during retail season.
Universal quick-attach is standard on every Yellow Jacket.
What It Replaces
Carrying trees by hand. The defining labor of harvest season, done by seasonal help you're competing to hire during the holidays.
A tractor that's too wide or too heavy. Many farms own one and still can't get it down the rows or across the wet fields when it matters.
Seasonal labor you can't find. November and December are the worst hiring months of the year.
Field damage. Ruts made in December are the field conditions you're planting into in April.
Customer wait time. Retail season is judged on how quickly someone gets their tree loaded and gets home.
Christmas Tree Farm FAQ
Will it fit my row spacing?
The constraint that determines everything, and it's fixed for the life of the planting. Measure your narrowest row and call us — we'll tell you honestly which models fit, including if none of them do.
How does it handle a wet December field?
Substantially better than wheels, because tracks spread the load. Not immune — saturated ground stops everything eventually. What tracks buy you is a wider window of workable conditions and less field damage when you do go out.
Can it carry multiple cut trees at once?
With a grapple, yes — that's the main handling advantage over carrying by hand or dragging. Capacity depends on tree size and species.
Can seasonal staff operate it?
Yes, with training. Operating around customers during retail season needs a written policy — defined routes, controlled speed, and a rule that operators stop rather than work around foot traffic.
Can it plant?
With an auger, yes. Planting is a substantial spring labor event and augering beats hand-planting for anything but the smallest stock.
Can it remove stumps?
Small ones with a grapple or root rake. A dedicated grinder is better for volume stump work after a block is harvested.
Which model?
The YJ1000 is the entry point for lighter field work. Commercial models add capacity and hydraulic output for sustained loaded work.
Do you offer financing?
Yes, including options for agricultural buyers. See financing options →
Get Tree Farm Pricing
Tell us your row spacing, acreage, and whether you're choose-and-cut or wholesale, and we'll spec it.
Request pricing · Call (330) 825-2307