Real machines. Real numbers.

Every issue answers one question: what does it cost to keep hiring this job done, and at what point does owning the machine beat it. Farm, ranch, shop and dock.

All issues

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  2026-09-21 · Field Report Lasers Only's CW 2000W Laser Cleaner: 35 Hours of Hired Blasting

  Green Mountain bills $300 an hour to blast metal, $500 minimum per visit. The $10,499 CW 2000W laser cleaner is 35 of those hours, or 21 callouts.

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  2026-09-19 · Field Report Harvest Right's Medium Freeze Dryer — and the $600 Step That Beats It

  Harvest Right's Medium freeze dryer is $2,395 and claims 3,000 pounds a year. At one batch a week it takes in about 650 — $3.68 a pound of capacity.

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  2026-09-17 · Field Report Thirty-Four Days of Rental. Or HUAYEE's HY14C Mini Excavator.

  El Paso Tool Rental charges $225 a day for the same class of machine. HUAYEE's HY14C is $7,499: break-even on the 34th rental day.

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  2026-09-14 · Field Report Smoky Lake's Dauntless Maple Evaporator Turns 95 Taps Into Syrup

  The Dauntless is $3,700.70. A Vermont farm ships a gallon of syrup for $98. At 95 taps the first season's gallon costs $109.12; the second costs $54.56.

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  2026-09-12 · Field Report Snow Clearing Without the Plow Truck: Yarbo's Snow Blower Robot

  A robot snow blower is $4,999. A Maine contractor bills $80 a storm and NOAA counts 16 storms a winter: break-even in 4 winters, on a 2-year warranty.

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  2026-09-10 · Field Report Jackery HomePower 3000: A $750 Step Up From the 1000 v2 Power Station

  $1,399 against $649. The extra 2,048 Wh costs $366.21 per kWh, and every cheaper step up Jackery's ladder ends at this same box.

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  2026-09-07 · Field Report EnergyLogic's 140H Waste Oil Heater — and the Oil It Cannot Buy

  A 140,000 BTU waste oil heater is $11,799. Each burner hour displaces $4.09 of propane: break-even at 2,883 gallons of your shop's own oil.

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  2026-09-05 · Field Report Baumalight's TX25 Generator Skips the Engine and Uses Your Tractor

  A 25 kW PTO generator is $5,997 — 37 days of a 17 kW rental at $165. It has no engine, and asks 42 tractor horsepower at full load.

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  2026-09-03 · Field Report The Well Has No Power. The RPS 400 Solar Pump Does Not Need It.

  A complete RPS 400 solar well pump kit is $2,039.99 — what 314 feet of new power line costs at a co-op's $6.50 a foot, and the line comes without a pump.

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  2026-08-31 · Field Report Wood-Mizer KD250: A Lumber Kiln That Comes Without a Room

  Wood-Mizer's KD250 lumber kiln costs $8,495 and ships without a chamber. Break-even is 14,159 board feet at a custom kiln's $0.60 a foot.

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  2026-08-29 · Field Report The Sawmill That Turns the Log for You: Wood-Mizer's LT35 Hydraulic

  Wood-Mizer's LT35 Hydraulic costs $32,995 and cuts 500 board feet an hour. Break-even is 120 hours at a sawyer's $0.55 — the $2,995 LX30 needs 39.

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  2026-08-27 · Field Report DK2's OPG777 Stump Grinder Costs 19 Days of Rental

  El Paso Tool Rental charges $100 a day for a 12-inch stump grinder. DK2's OPG777 sells for $1,899.99: break-even at 19 rental days, 16 reconditioned.

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  2026-08-24 · Field Report Wood-Mizer's LX30 Portable Sawmill — and Its 22-Inch Ceiling

  A custom sawyer charges about $0.55 a board foot. Wood-Mizer's LX30 costs $2,995: break-even at 5,445 board feet, before blades, fuel and your own hours.

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  2026-08-22 · Field Report The Garden Ripens All at Once. Harvest Right's $1,695 Freeze Dryer.

  Harvest Right sells a $1,695 freeze dryer and claims up to 1,800 pounds of food a year. That is 225 batches and roughly 5,400 hours of run time.

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  2026-08-21 · Field Report Virtual Fencing for Cattle: Nofence's $309 GPS Collar

  Four-wire fence runs $15,000 a mile — the price of 48 Nofence GPS collars. On a 360-head ranch, virtual fencing runs $89.80 per cow per year against $188 for wire.

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  2026-08-20 · Field Report QYSEA's FIFISH V6 Expert ROV Checks Hulls Without a Diver

  A commercial diver charges $250 per hull inspection with video. A 4K ROV rated to 100 meters costs $2,999. Break-even: 12 inspections, or five haul-outs.

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  2026-08-17 · Field Report Langmuir CrossFire PRO: A Plasma Table for One-Off Steel Parts

  A steel bracket costs $29 as a one-off from an online cutting service, $3 each in tens. A CrossFire PRO stack costs $5,133. Break-even: 184 one-off parts.

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  2026-08-16 · Field Report A Balcony Solar Kit You Plug Into a Wall — and Its 1,200-Watt Ceiling

  Plug-in solar costs $1.99 per panel watt — $2.28 per delivered watt — against $2.60 for a contractor install, and needs no permit in Utah.

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  2026-08-13 · Field Report Nobody Answers the Phone. ElevenLabs' AI Receptionist Does.

  ElevenLabs Reception answers a small business's phone for $22-$99 a month. A human answering service starts at $250, for fewer minutes.

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  2026-08-12 · Field Report EGO Nexus 1400 Turns Mower Batteries Into a Backup Power Station

  EGO's Nexus 1400W power station runs on the same 56V batteries as its mowers, costs $599-$799, and beats gas 5-to-1 on running cost. The catch is capacity.

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  2026-08-08 · Field Report Crop Spraying Without a Plane: DJI's Agras T100 Spray Drone

  DJI's 100-liter Agras T100 is in stock in the US. University of Missouri per-acre math vs. crop dusters, the licensing gauntlet, and what breaks in the field.

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  2026-08-03 · Field Report Segway Navimow X450: A $2,999 Robot Mower for 40° Slopes

  Segway's AWD Navimow X450 claims 84% (40°) grades on 1.5 acres. We verify the specs, pull the measured failure record, and run ROI against $99–$264 crew visits.

• 2026-08-03 · Note Why Wild Tech exists

  A newsletter about technology you can actually buy, doing work you can actually measure. Here's the deal.