Objective/Meaning  In order to solve the problem of insufficient internal incentive for farmers’ investment in agricultural machinery and promote the effective connection between agricultural mechanization and “rural revitalization”, the influencing factors and mechanism of farmers’ investment in agricultural machinery were analyzed based on the dual attributes of public goods and private goods of agricultural machinery.

  Methods/Procedures  Based on the mixed cross-section data of China Family Panel Studies (CFPS) in 2014, 2016 and 2018, the OLS regression and heterogeneity analysis were carried out on the village size and farmers’ investment in agricultural machinery from the perspective of free-riding behavior.

  Results/Conclusions  The results showed that the village size had significant negative impact on the level of farmers’ investment in agricultural machinery, but in the areas with high social trust or strong clan structure, the negative impact of village size on farmers’ investment in agricultural machinery would be moderated, which verified the correlation between the village size and the free-riding behavior. Therefore, it was suggested to supervise the behavior of farmers through the social restraint mechanism, adjust the negative impact of village scale on farmers’ investment in agricultural machinery, and promote the coordinated development of village scale economy and mechanization development.