We make about 600 a year. Bit laborious because pitch forks are the only way to collect them. We have a couple of old flat trailers which reduce the need to rehandle them.
Here's said Renault on the mower back in summer
Is there a 'Classis Farmer' magazine?
3 drivers, wev 2 yards which means a need for some more kit aswel, theres probably 6 main workin tractors in that cant be done without, another couple 1 thats just a runabout with linkbox and cattle trailer other sits on hedgecutter all winter, the rest is vintage and doesnt do much
but we did find a solution to that in the end.
I'm glad there's someone out there with a love for the 62 series fergies.I sometimes have to shake my head in disbelief at how I’ve gone from 3 tractors to 7 plus 2 manitous.
First additional tractor was a MF6245 2wd to go on the straw chopper, before that I used my main tractor on it most of the time but at busy times would either be unhooking daily to use it or using the loader tractor to both load and drive it, neither option ideal .
A change of dairy and handling set up meant a scraper tractor was needed, up until then we had auto scrapers right up to the back of the old parlour and anything else wr had managed fine with the loader bucket but that wasn’t at all suitaowith the new set up so bought a MF410 for scraper duties.
Next came a manitou, loader tractor was clocking up the hours and as it’s essential on a livestock farm it was time to think about changing it, it was cheaper to buy a second hand manitou and keep the tractor and loader.
The next series of deals got a bit complicated, with the manitou now doing the loader work I looked again at changing the loader tractor, but the one job the loader tractor does do daily in winter is bed the cubicowith a sawdust dispenser. I had found a good second hand MF5613 at the local dealers but it had no loader so I bought a rear linkage kit and a 30 year old MF3060 to do that job from a dealer from away with the intention of selling the loader tractor. Only had the 3060 a couple of days and there were some issues with it, dealer from away was excellent, they fetched it back to sort the issues out……..but the night they fetched it back I was browsing their website again and they’d just got an e very low houred 5613 in for not a lot more than the one I was intending to buy but hadn’t done a deal on at the local dealers, so had a word with the dealer from away and traded the 3060 straight back against their 5613. Dimensions and power wise it was just what I wanted but I couldn’t take to the cab layout or gearbox so after a lot of searching I traded it in for a Case MX 150, the first non MF tractor we’d Bought in 40 years. So in next to no tine I’d gone from buying a 30 year old extra small tractor to a 4 month old tractor as equal biggest alongside my 7480.
Then came another manitou, again clocking hours up and essential on a daily basis, although fairly reliable, should I change it? The rough figures were I could buy another one the same, a couple of years newer than the other with less hours for about 40k less than buying a new one, although older machines do have occasional issues, I will probably reach retirement before I spend 40k on repairs, and there was no absolute guarantee of reliability or no repairs with a new one.
The latest addition has been a Valtra N154, it really should have been a replacement for my 6270 but I couldn’t bare to part with her, I have now accepted the reality that my 3 remaining MF 6200 series are working classics and that one day……….if I live long enough to retire in some shape or form I would like to restore them to as new as possible/funds will allow.
Nothing is clocking too many hours now so shouldn’t need replacing for an awful long time………unless I get the itch……and if one gives issues there’s always another to stand in as replacement at the drop of a hat, apart from the 410 on the scraper……..with its obsolete front stub axles at 17 years old as I found out
Having plenty of spare capacity does have its benefits, a lot less hooking and unhooking of implements, especially when you know yore going to be using that machine again in the not too distant future, as well as having a back up on hand in a breakdown.
I guess the alternative would be two main tractors, a scraper tractor and a handler but I’d want/need to keep 3 of them fairly new, I’m pretty sure that would cost me more and with the oldest being the 6270, it’s far from an unpleasant place to be, she’s still my favourite, just a shame I didn’t stump up the extra £1000 for closed center hydraulics when she was news’s she’s a bit slow tipping an 18 ton trailer but sounds great pulling it
Doubt it, the newer ones are always having emissions related issues
. Did splash out on a brand spanking 7000hr T7.210 this year to replace the god awful fastrac though. 
probably all the q fit bracketsNH 8340 x2
Ford 8200 and pair of 8100's.
Filling tanks with diesel is a monthly event, if that.
Loadall 527 58 does a bit more.
Guess 400 hours a year between all of them.
It's the depreciation that hurts.
Just had a tot up, 19 attachments for 3 jcb's two loaders but not currently on tractors
I always find my self in the heat of summer convincing my self I need more then this time of year I sit there thinking do I really need two new ones
We're about the same as you 2 put together. Running at 10+ buckets on various brackets. Into double figures of adapter plates too, and we're not even the same acreage as your grass margins and sfi sponsored weeds.