2022 Sugar beet price not enough

DrWazzock

Member
Arable Farmer
Location
Lincolnshire
The addition of Blench guide arms and Opel wheels replacing the front wheels was a major step forward. Uncles used to put me as a 12 year old on the Cadet side platform to steer the thing with that metal pole.
The cadet had what looked like rollers with discs then Opel wheels from what I recall. The steering lever worked on the disc/rollers.
Father fitted guide skids to the Standen trailed machine which were quite effective. It had no independent steering. We had to poke the tank out with sticks on clay land and pick lumps of clay off the discharge elevator. The tipping tank of the cyclone and much more accurate control of Opal wheel depth eliminated the problem of harvesting clods. A big step forward. You could steer it much more precisely and so run at shallow depths plucking the beet out of wet clay very cleanly with practice. You just didn’t have the required vision and level of control on the trailed machines to do that.
 

Hindsight

Member
Location
Lincolnshire
The cadet had what looked like rollers with discs then Opel wheels from what I recall. The steering lever worked on the disc/rollers.
Father fitted guide skids to the Standen trailed machine which were quite effective. It had no independent steering. We had to poke the tank out with sticks on clay land and pick lumps of clay off the discharge elevator. The tipping tank of the cyclone and much more accurate control of Opal wheel depth eliminated the problem of harvesting clods. A big step forward. You could steer it much more precisely and so run at shallow depths plucking the beet out of wet clay very cleanly with practice. You just didn’t have the required vision and level of control on the trailed machines to do that.


Uncles used to tie four stone weights on the cleaning chain at top of digger web to make the beet rumble a bit longer. We always had knotgrass or Pigweed (Hedge Mustard) which wrapped around the top flicker bearing. I used as a boy to help with a penknife cut the blasted stuff out. Would get hot enough to set grease on fire. Goodness the days.
 

thorpe

Member
Uncles used to tie four stone weights on the cleaning chain at top of digger web to make the beet rumble a bit longer. We always had knotgrass or Pigweed (Hedge Mustard) which wrapped around the top flicker bearing. I used as a boy to help with a penknife cut the blasted stuff out. Would get hot enough to set grease on fire. Goodness the days.
some memories are sh!t arnt they, why the feck did we carry on growing beet? nowt but hard work cold cracked hands arthritis and grief. suppose its better today with the kit, but we knew no dfferant.
 

DrWazzock

Member
Arable Farmer
Location
Lincolnshire
Still sometimes have the joys of bindweed winding in for miles round that top flicker if I’ve missed a bit with the sprayer. We fashioned old Turner times into sharpened cutting hooks to pull it off.
Was somewhat reassured to see it wrapped solid round the cleaning spirals of a 6 rower at a beet demo day near Redbourne a few years back. Driver busy cutting it off. New machine but bindweed still lives up to its name.
 

DrWazzock

Member
Arable Farmer
Location
Lincolnshire
And the other big advantage of the cyclone over the trailed machine was because it was offset, you didn’t have a large tractor wheel going both sides of the beet squeezing the clay onto it before it was lifted. Made a big difference. The “powered” Opel wheel of the cyclone was also supposed to screw or twist the beet out of the ground in wet conditions lifting it more cleanly. It was a good idea in theory but can’t say I notice much effect in practice, the slip clutch of driven wheel probably losing any of the effect especially in hard ground.
On our machine I replaced the hexagonal steel transfer roller between lower conveyor and rear conveyors with a set of star cleaners off a potato harvester. This prevented flints from repeatedly jamming in there and was, if I say so myself, a vast improvement.👍
 

DrWazzock

Member
Arable Farmer
Location
Lincolnshire
I have actually been looking at Tims. Saw one at Firby but it was sold before I got a look at it. 3 rower, tipping tank, looked the business but I’ve no experience of them.
 

spin cycle

Member
Location
north norfolk
I have actually been looking at Tims. Saw one at Firby but it was sold before I got a look at it. 3 rower, tipping tank, looked the business but I’ve no experience of them.

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thorpe

Member
I have actually been looking at Tims. Saw one at Firby but it was sold before I got a look at it. 3 rower, tipping tank, looked the business but I’ve no experience of them.
they are agood machine as ive said above the good points . if you look on you tube every body uses a big tractor , we claas axos set at 60 inch manouverability power adequate untill coditions get challinging. if you get to looking at one buzz me having had 2 ill tell you what to look for.
 

spin cycle

Member
Location
north norfolk
they are agood machine as ive said above the good points . if you look on you tube every body uses a big tractor , we claas axos set at 60 inch manouverability power adequate untill coditions get challinging. if you get to looking at one buzz me having had 2 ill tell you what to look for.

used nash 885xl on 60 inch...trailer making a mess was limiting factor wet wise
 

alomy75

Member
they are agood machine as ive said above the good points . if you look on you tube every body uses a big tractor , we claas axos set at 60 inch manouverability power adequate untill coditions get challinging. if you get to looking at one buzz me having had 2 ill tell you what to look for.
We used to have a 3row one when we lifted our own beet; pulled behind a zetor 7745 we had from new. What were they, 80hp? Didn’t take any pulling. But we are dead flat in the fens. I’ve seen a Marshall 804 pull a 6row Garford victor. But as you say; when conditions deteriorate…
 

SFI - What % were you taking out of production?

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  • 100% I’ve had enough of farming!

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Red Tractor drops launch of green farming scheme amid anger from farmers

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As reported in Independent


quote: “Red Tractor has confirmed it is dropping plans to launch its green farming assurance standard in April“

read the TFF thread here: https://thefarmingforum.co.uk/index.php?threads/gfc-was-to-go-ahead-now-not-going-ahead.405234/
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