Man and tractor price??

John 1594 · Jan 8, 2017

ARW said:
the only money in the grass job is number of acres, pony paddocks are just pocket money and a pain in the arse, not as profitable as raking 100 acres of grass

All depends on the price

good hay down in conventionals often fetches 5 quid a bale during the winter, especially if its a bad year for hay

if the customer can make thier own for 2.50, having previously payed to have it sprayed and fertilised in the spring, it still works out cheaper than buying it in for a fiver a bale

Ive known some years where we have bought round bales of margin hay for a tenner each, and put them through the massey to get 10 conventionals out to sell for 3 quid each, such has been the demand for hay

james ds · Jan 8, 2017

ARW said:
the only money in the grass job is number of acres, pony paddocks are just pocket money and a pain in the arse, not as profitable as raking 100 acres of grass

I've never seen anybody make much money out of a horsy farm yet , they never seem to have money.

fiat 9090 · Jan 8, 2017

smcapstick said:
You're an angel

John 1594 said:
You miss my point...

the contractor with all the kit, and one new, always under warranty expensive tractor to go on the front of it, not always a fendt...

vs the other man, with the same amount of kit, and a few older tractors, one of which can be adapted to stay revenue ligal for very little cost

who is more likely to do the job, and more importantly, do it and make a profit

those lads that buy new tractors have done their sums because if you have the work you mind your tractor and get a good trade in and take into account you don't have to buy tyres and your repair bill should be small

Ducati899 · Jan 8, 2017

james ds said:
I've never seen anybody make much money out of a horsy farm yet , they never seem to have money.

In my experience they are the worst to do anything for

John 1594 · Jan 8, 2017

fiat 9090 said:
those lads that buy new tractors have done their sums because if you have the work you mind your tractor and get a good trade in and take into account you don't have to buy tyres and your repair bill should be small

Given the amazing amount of new contractors that suddenly dont contract anymore a few years after buying something expensive...i beg to differ

Bloke down here got too big for his boots, started out with a TM155 and a herder flail...got plenty of work, bought another matching rig, then a massey and a smaller flail...took so much on he couldnt get round it, people got pee'd off and changed to someone else,

and now he has gone back to running one small T6 series and flail and is having to pick it all up again from nothing

John 1594 · Jan 8, 2017

james ds said:
I've never seen anybody make much money out of a horsy farm yet , they never seem to have money.

You should be used to them then

given how you go on about bad payers all the time

smcapstick · Jan 8, 2017

james ds said:
I've never seen anybody make much money out of a horsy farm yet , they never seem to have money.

I bet the bloke that sold them the horses is doing all right

PB1507 · Jan 8, 2017

John 1594 said:
When your engaged to do a job, ie haymaking...providing a full service, right from fertilising/spraying the crop, through to cutting, turning and baling/loading said crop

i see no issue with using rebated fuel whatsoever.

Particularly so when said equestrain user also keeps cattle. Which then means the work is agricultural and not recreational

Good lad, I'm not trying to pee on your chips but some of the contributors to this discussion may be unaware of the pit falls of the niche market place. What may seem like a nice little earner may bite the unfortunate youngster in the arse.

Turra farmer · Jan 8, 2017

Shane s said:
View attachment 451164annoying stuff to be at here[emoji853] but I always wanted to do contracting after starting alevels last year and starting contracting starting to realise there no where near the money you think there will be in it and very hard to get started up and good customers but this alevels will always help so I can have money just to help do what I want which is contracting lol. You can make a good money in contracting but there is also a very large cost to it all and it leaves your profits very small

Pick what you do , some jobs are a waste of money doing

PB1507 · Jan 8, 2017

james ds said:
How do people think of such things , I'm going to do an hours work on a horse farm so I'll drain out the red diesel and use white , what a load of horse sh.te . Do you think that's practical.

Not at all practical but it can trip up the unwary and ignorance is no defence. It is also not just a case of swapping to white diesel you will need to change the classification tax of tractor and pay a higher level of road fund. I am not saying it is sensible but it is another thing the UK business man has to understand and work around.

smcapstick · Jan 8, 2017

Turra farmer said:
Pick what you do , some jobs are a waste of money doing

I agree with that one.

Ignore the awkward customers - they often bring a lot of headaches.

John 1594 · Jan 8, 2017

smcapstick said:
I agree with that one.

Ignore the awkward customers - they often bring a lot of headaches.

But save their phone number, usually with an !!! next to it in your phone

that way, when they ring you, its easier to remember they need ignoring

smcapstick · Jan 8, 2017

John 1594 said:
But save their phone number, usually with an !!! next to it in your phone

that way, when they ring you, its easier to remember they need ignoring

I have quite a few awkward (or worse) people saved on my phone for that very reason

Kevtherev · Jan 8, 2017

smcapstick said:
I have quite a few awkward (or worse) people saved on my phone for that very reason

I have a customer black list for that reason

james ds · Jan 8, 2017

Ducati899 said:
In my experience they are the worst to do anything for

That's what I was politely trying to say.

icanshootwell · Jan 8, 2017

John 1594 said:
You miss my point...

the contractor with all the kit, and one new, always under warranty expensive tractor to go on the front of it, not always a fendt...

vs the other man, with the same amount of kit, and a few older tractors, one of which can be adapted to stay revenue ligal for very little cost

who is more likely to do the job, and more importantly, do it and make a profit

I dont understand why you keep on having a dig at farmers who want to drive expensive kit, I need a reliable tractor, that holds enough deisel to last 15 hours,driver comfort wont go a miss either. I have driven tractors like you have & they were great in there day, but times have moved on, tractors are more productive now, yes, they are to expensive but i cant change that. When i am baling 25 miles from home, 5 miles down a farm track 10 at night, in a 50 a field. you dont want to be in an old bone shaker, been there & done it. I started with a case 856 xl from the 80s, & have slowly built up to a Fendt, Please dont say your older tractors & kit can do the work as modern ones, cause they cant, time is money and modern equipment is lots faster & better. Stand still or move forward.

Ali_Maxxum · Jan 8, 2017

ARW said:
the only money in the grass job is number of acres, pony paddocks are just pocket money and a pain in the arse, not as profitable as raking 100 acres of grass

I usually agree with everything you ever say ARW but for this I'm going to have to beg to differ. We're in a similar game to John, small acreage, pony paddocks, SSSI's, etc but we use new machinery, the bigger stuff i.e. tractor, baler, hedge trimmer usually on finance, as reliability and productivity is key.

Yes raking 100's of acres of grass is more profitable, but I need a £40k rake as opposed to a £3k rake. These smaller folks are more than prepared to pay to have the work done and are usually paying a premium (hourly rate of course) for us to do so. Plus I can be paid the day I finish rather than wait months or years for the money. Our kit is big enough to do larger jobs but still small enough to swing around in a half acre patch.

We must be doing something right as we've been able to buy a brand new in-line baler and new 6 rotor tedder. And who is our competition? No-one, because the rest are chasing the acres. We pride ourselves in doing a 10/10 job every time and people keep coming back. I'd 100% much rather be doing what we're doing and be able to sleep at night than having half a million pounds worth of kit to pay for and be worrying that the other 4 or 5 gangs in the area could undercut me over night. If you lose out on a 300 acre contract that's quite a significant blow, where as if I lose out on 3 acres well I'm not exactly going to choke on my tea.

There is another grassland job that we do which is our niche which the total cost of the outfit is what one 16ton silage trailer would be, so please don't say there's no money in the small jobs.

Hope this doesn't sound too narky, if it does I'm sorry, as I have utmost respect for all members on here!

rs1 · Jan 8, 2017

icanshootwell said:
I dont understand why you keep on having a dig at farmers who want to drive expensive kit, I need a reliable tractor, that holds enough deisel to last 15 hours,driver comfort wont go a miss either. I have driven tractors like you have & they were great in there day, but times have moved on, tractors are more productive now, yes, they are to expensive but i cant change that. When i am baling 25 miles from home, 5 miles down a farm track 10 at night, in a 50 a field. you dont want to be in an old bone shaker, been there & done it. I started with a case 856 xl from the 80s, & have slowly built up to a Fendt, Please dont say your older tractors & kit can do the work as modern ones, cause they cant, time is money and modern equipment is lots faster & better. Stand still or move forward.

Well said! I was just about to post near enough the same post.
I run some new and some older kit, the new kit is so much easier, I can take any job on with anywhere and you know you'll get it done. My older kit is fine and well maintained but you don't want to sit on a 20 year old sprayer day in day out, it's fine for what I do with it, about 250-300 hours a year. Some people with older kit seem to dislike anyone having new stuff.

James · Jan 8, 2017

John 1594 said:
When your engaged to do a job, ie haymaking...providing a full service, right from fertilising/spraying the crop, through to cutting, turning and baling/loading said crop

i see no issue with using rebated fuel whatsoever.

Particularly so when said equestrain user also keeps cattle. Which then means the work is agricultural and not recreational

And he still isn't VAT reg?

John 1594 · Jan 9, 2017

James said:
And he still isn't VAT reg?

Thats a decision for me and my accountant to make

Not you.

Every year i ask the question is it worth going vat registered, his reply is that while my customer base consists of the people it does, it will lose me customers and cost me more money than il get back

I think il take his advice over yours on that one.

Man and tractor price??

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