Claydon new user

[Flintstone]

Well, it arrived!!

 

[Flintstone]

And, it got unloaded....

 

[Flintstone]

And I set off....

 

[Flintstone]

And it grew...

 

[Rob Holmes]

Easy, isn't it?

 

[Flintstone]

330 acres drilled with a 3 metre drill in 5 days.
Wearing parts cost me £325.
Diesel cost me £856.
My time? Let's say £10 per hour - that's £650.

Total cost to establish (less fixed tractor overheads which are there anyway) was £5.55 per acre.

That's where I want to be.

Thanks to Jeff and his team. He replied to emails at 10pm, he offered to come down and walk my farm to see the soil type, and Mike (the regional main man) was truly excellent.

 

[Flintstone]

Joking aside about the way I've presented the decision I made, I can assure you it was well thought out, and over a lot of time.

 

[Hobbit]

330 in 5 days is good going! What is your average field size?

 

[Flintstone]

About 40 acres.

I still think that a mounted 3m can do as much as a trailed 4m with some determination.

 

[debe]

That looks very well! Fair going with a 3m as well. Looks like chalky soil, which downs are you hiding on?

 

[Shutesy]

Looks like its gone well @Flintstone Wish some of my land looked like that this spring!

 

[Flintstone]

I deliberated about whether to hold off and let things warm up before I started. Glad I didn't now with the rain we have had, and continue to get.

The picture of the crop was taken last night, and that was drilled on the 19th. Some of the last I drilled on the 24th is just greening up now, albeit slowly with these cool temps. We have even had a frost this morning!

I've only used the drill for a week, but I do like its simplicity and ability to just get on once set up. Yes, some consolidation behind the coulters would be nice, but I know that things are in the pipeline for that.

In my lighter soil, the seed boots would have lasted for hundreds of acres. In my stonier soil I worked out that one boot was individually doing 15 acres before needing replacing. They're not expensive at around £18 each though. This was in very stoney soil though, and I reckon in a soil with an average stone content, 25 acres per boot would be more like it. To put that into perspective, that's basically 300 acres of drilling with a 4m version, working out at 75p/acre in metal.

As for customer service, I can't fault it at all. there's not many businesses the size of Claydon where the business owner will text you at 10pm when he knows you're on drilling, and asks how it's going!!

 

[Mr Charisma]

Easy, isn't it?

No it bloody well isn't. ,,,,,,

 

[Brisel]

Sounds strange to be wearing seed boots before the A shares wear out first. Did @mike@claydon get you set up?

 

[Flintstone]

Sorry, that's what I meant!

 

[Flintstone]

Taken 17 days after above auto steer pic was taken, and in pretty much the same spot.

 

[Douglasmn]

Had a claydon and really liked it, but found it the opposite of easy! In terms on the tractor work, well there it's as easy as it gets. Low hp requirement, so easy to change the metal, no more rough field corners and ins and outs with the plough. I found brome quickly appeared where had never seen it before though. No doubt my own fault and someone more on the ball could have done a better job. Can't fault your photos though, looks top class. Something very satisfying about seeing a crop grow through the stubble like that with very little (hands on)work involved.

 

[Brisel]

@Flintstone How did you mark out your tramlines? Use the old ones? RTK?

 

[Flintstone]

New Holland Omnistar G2

(Poor man's RTK!)

 

[Flintstone]

Pass by pass it's good for 4cm, so I set the Intellsteer for 298 cm and it's bang on.