New combine cost

D

D14

Member
tw15 said:
It is getting to the stage that bums on seats is going to be cheaper than buying a 500 k combine and having one bum on a seat a year . Getting staff is not that hard and if you are prepared to put a bit of time in there are plenty of youngsters who want to get experience to help start there careers but would not get a chance to learn as no one in their right mind would let them lose on a 500 k machine first off . As we work them in the same field usually us older boys help them out and keep an eye on them . That gives me a idea combine training courses they can pay and play . Win win Might be able to afford a holiday in Bournemouth :D .
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We can't find decent staff so have altered the business to negate the need and we've saved ourselves the salary in the process. We had 4 come and start at varying times and 3 of them were totally useless and in fact dangerous. These were younger lads though not seasoned guys. We preserved with them but ultimately we could see it was an accident waiting to happen and something we did not want on our conscience so we let them go for their own safety. We were proven correct with one of them that went on to roll a fastrac just due to speeding.
The older guy was perfect but wanted £18/hour flat rate which we just couldn't justify as an annual cost because it would of been £50,000 per year.
 
D

D14

Member
Bossfarmer said:
Does anyone on here shift their combine regularly i.e every 5 years and what rough number is it to shift each time? Cant be much less than 70k a change? Can you get warranty for the 5 years?
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A good rule of thumb with a combine is 8-10% per year in depreciation, so a £300,000 machine after 5 seasons is now worth £200,000 but the new one is now £350,000 so £150,000 to change or £30,000 per year. Its scary stuff but farmers are their own worst enemy because they will be seeing wheat this year at £225/tonne but instead of leaving the profit in the bank due to the impending loss of BPS, they are all going to go out and spend on shiny new equipment.
 
jh.

jh.

Member
Location
fife
Bossfarmer said:
Would cattle back on the farm not have the added benefits of putting fertility back into the farm and having an extra income for years grain doesnt pay as well? Out of interest what type of combine have you gone for?
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I needed huge investment . The traditional main shed had pan tile roofs with eroded lugs so needed a complete re roof. The floor was the biggest problem as the farm was once a clay and tile works and our main cattle shed had a water wheel and tunnels running under it for the old works . The forklift would sometimes drop a wheel through the concrete into this tunnel with a drop of a few feet.

Soil wise I've had a rethink over the years . Back in the day , straw baled and fym spread plus rotational grass did help. Once we came out cattle , I sold every blade of straw for about 5 or 6 years and did notice the land suffering . I then did straw for dung deals with a few locals and chopping the rest rather than sell . I'd now rather chop the lot as I find it more consistent than dung which no one ever really knows what magic is in it . It saves all the extra traffic . I get folk saying you can't beat it for OM , I'd agree on farm's constantly baling but if it's never removed in the first place it should never need that big fym hit in years to come .
 
Bossfarmer

Bossfarmer

Member
Location
between Perth and Inverness
D14 said:
A good rule of thumb with a combine is 8-10% per year in depreciation, so a £300,000 machine after 5 seasons is now worth £200,000 but the new one is now £350,000 so £150,000 to change or £30,000 per year. Its scary stuff but farmers are their own worst enemy because they will be seeing wheat this year at £225/tonne but instead of leaving the profit in the bank due to the impending loss of BPS, they are all going to go out and spend on shiny new equipment.
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thats not normal cost though as a 300k one will be a big 35ft rotary? what rough figures for a 25fer? bought 5 years ago for 200k, 150 for it now but 220k for a new one?
 
Bossfarmer

Bossfarmer

Member
Location
between Perth and Inverness
jh. said:
I needed huge investment . The traditional main shed had pan tile roofs with eroded lugs so needed a complete re roof. The floor was the biggest problem as the farm was once a clay and tile works and our main cattle shed had a water wheel and tunnels running under it for the old works . The forklift would sometimes drop a wheel through the concrete into this tunnel with a drop of a few feet.

Soil wise I've had a rethink over the years . Back in the day , straw baled and fym spread plus rotational grass did help. Once we came out cattle , I sold every blade of straw for about 5 or 6 years and did notice the land suffering . I then did straw for dung deals with a few locals and chopping the rest rather than sell . I'd now rather chop the lot as I find it more consistent than dung which no one ever really knows what magic is in it . It saves all the extra traffic . I get folk saying you can't beat it for OM , I'd agree on farm's constantly baling but if it's never removed in the first place it should never need that big fym hit in years to come .
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interesting to hear are you adding a bit of extra bagged p & k now that your not applying muck? ive often wondered what would happen to yields if i went all cereals and chopped the straw my ground isnt heavy
 
Lowland1

Lowland1

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
LINCOLNSHIRE/KENYA
renewablejohn said:
This is what I cannot understand. We used to swath OSR and then pick up with a small header combine. It worked so well we extended swathing to wheat and barley keeping the small header just increasing the capacity of the combine. Others went down the bigger the header the better the combine route but we could never justify the capital cost of the big headers.
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There could be something in that. Just got a call from my Son he’s heading off with a replacement 35 ft header for someone who has just run his into a Telegraph pole.
 
jh.

jh.

Member
Location
fife
Bossfarmer said:
interesting to hear are you adding a bit of extra bagged p & k now that your not applying muck? ive often wondered what would happen to yields if i went all cereals and chopped the straw my ground isnt heavy
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Im not adding extra P and K . I have been adding N over the years but don't know if that is more modern varieties that are yielding better needing a bit more feed . I've just been using one of these old calculator charts for years for a maintenance dose
20210820_092643.jpg
 
D

DrWazzock

Member
Arable Farmer
Location
Lincolnshire
daveydiesel1 said:
How would it have 1000 engine hours and 63 drum hours
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Sadly I find combine engine and drum hour clocks aren’t worth looking at.
We usually put a new drum and concave into ours on purchase and as long as the engine runs reasonably sweet that’s good enough.
I don’t know what a drum and concave is nowadays but I think it was about £2k on our 6 Walker machine a few years ago. That’s not expensive in the grand scheme of things.
 
O

Oliveau

Member
Location
Indre et Loire, France
Watching the big Lexion here over the last few years I thought ‘ That’s the way to go.’

Now I’m not sure, and I’m beginning to subscribe to the argument for two smaller combines and another bum on the seat.
 
D

DrWazzock

Member
Arable Farmer
Location
Lincolnshire
Well it all depends on how much you have got to do, if you have a neighbour with spare capacity, whether you like spanner work yourself etc etc.
If was Mr Dyson I’d be buying brand new.
If I had 1000 acres plus to do I’d buy good newish secondhand dealer serviced.
Less than that and I think we are into contractor territory or an older “enthusiasts” machine, driven by yourself.
What scares me most about newer secondhand is the combination of electronics and mice etc. Simpler older machines are getting harder to find that aren’t cracking up with metal fatigue or are worn through the elevators etc.
I’d say it’s heading down the route of new purchases being for large commercial concerns. The rest using contractors. And then there are hobbyists like myself, tinkering.
 
C

case44

Member
Lowland1 said:
Our neighbour at home who does our combining runs a newish New Holland and a TX 36 this year his TX36 has broken down so he’s bought another TX 36 off eBay and when his other TX is fixed he’s going to run them all together problem is staff he’s the youth in his early’50’s everyone else is approaching retirement age.
As for new machines my son had never driven a combine in his life this year whilst moving headers and bits and pieces around he’s been on a Claas 8900 with a 13.5 header and he says it’s so easy he can’t understand why his Grandad used to make such hard work of it with his 15 foot cut Dominator 86.
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I could be driving your Grandad’s 86!
Cutting Wheat tonight.
 
S

SilliamWhale

Member
Location
Does it matter anymore how far WalterP is from me?
DrWazzock said:
Sadly I find combine engine and drum hour clocks aren’t worth looking at.
We usually put a new drum and concave into ours on purchase and as long as the engine runs reasonably sweet that’s good enough.
I don’t know what a drum and concave is nowadays but I think it was about £2k on our 6 Walker machine a few years ago. That’s not expensive in the grand scheme of things.
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You have a 6 walker with a 14ft header?
 

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