Combine and tractor replacement policy

[SilliamWhale]

We are twice the size of @SilliamWhale and have done all our drilling for the last 21 years with a 4.2m Dale drill and a 32 year old JD3350, it does less than 100 hours a year drilling. Light land and no significant hills though which does help.

Your not twice the size of me! Your a bit taller I grant you

That Dale has been a heck of a drill for you. 21 years of service..bet it only cost you £15k back then

 

[B'o'B]

Your not twice the size of me! Your a bit taller I grant you

That Dale has been a heck of a drill for you. 21 years of service..bet it only cost you £15k back then

I think it was a little bit more than that, but not much in the scheme of things. It'd be less than £1000pa depreciation even if it ended up in the scrapyard tomorrow. It certainly doesn't owe us much now, and still looks to have plenty of life left in it.
The tractor doesn't own us much either now!

 

[Renaultman]

Does anyone hire most of their tractors and or machinery.im guessing you could buy a direct drill,rolls,fert spreader and hire a tractor when needed.i think we all like to be independent.i could manage with one tractor on my small acreage but bought another to make life easier for myself.unfortuantly we can’t control the weather and its been a pain in the arse since 23 sept here And no amount of machinery would alter that
nick...

I hire one for 8 weeks, sees the biggest part of the grain cart and drilling, managed with 2 tractors for years but as they have got older I decided it was more economical to keep them and take take the pressure off with a hire tractor in the busy time, 2019 it was a godsend as lost one of my own for most of the busy time, replaced that one this year but still continue to hire as the other one is getting older and now dropped to mainly Spraying/rolling tractor with the capability to drop on to the other jobs if required.

 

[ajd132]

To those of you who are now direct drilling all of the ha’s your farm, will this significantly change your tractor replacement policy/costs? I appreciate that with sprayer,combine etc there may be no difference.

Drills should last a very long time if looked after. Combine it just depends on area but 5/6 years.
Sprayers should do 10k hours if you buy well, a Bateman or a sands. Not a hideous depreciating European monster like an agrifac or rotator.
rolls last for years if looked after.
Big tractor 8000hr warranty.
Smaller tractors 5000-8000hrs unless they become a liability.
Flexibility and ability to recognise a deal important.

 

[snarling bee]

I hire one for 8 weeks, sees the biggest part of the grain cart and drilling, managed with 2 tractors for years but as they have got older I decided it was more economical to keep them and take take the pressure off with a hire tractor in the busy time, 2019 it was a godsend as lost one of my own for most of the busy time, replaced that one this year but still continue to hire as the other one is getting older and now dropped to mainly Spraying/rolling tractor with the capability to drop on to the other jobs if required.

I had my main 3 tractors all out of action one day 2 years ago. Luckily 2 were going again by the end of the day. But it happens. It could have been pissing with rain and we would have got nothing done anyway.

 

[Renaultman]

I had my main 3 tractors all out of action one day 2 years ago. Luckily 2 were going again by the end of the day. But it happens. It could have been pissing with rain and we would have got nothing done anyway.

Mine was missing for 8 weeks

 

[bankrupt]

It could have been pissing with rain and we would have got nothing done anyway.

Historically, luck has usually trumped planning, close to the Pareto 80/20, all the way from Jutland to Covid.

Only time in the last 70 years we ever had a combine down for four days it rained hard the first three and dried out nicely the fourth, just in time to get going again.

Pareto distribution - Wikipedia

 

[e3120]

My farm isn't big (I only grow between 300-350 acres crop a year but I sometimes drill 400-odd a year because of double sowing etc) but my Claas Arion does all my drilling and spraying (and some grain carting/ muck carting) and it has done 2500 hours in 11 years. I could change it but honestly can't see the point.

If I doubled my farm size I would get a bigger drill and sprayer but I can't see my hours massively changing. With my direct drill the tractor doesn't use the pto so the only thing that uses the pto is the sprayer.

The money spent on moving soil and slurry in farming is mental!!

The moving of slurry is hard to avoid. If the livestock are a given, there's fewer tons to shift than if it was FYM. I know it's galling hauling 95% water, but centralised 1000 cow dairy units have evolved for similar reasons as x000t grain plants serving multiple blocks.

I agree with the rest of the post.

 

[yellow belly]

the biggest saving on notill is the less tractor hours done and labour needed
but the cost per hour only falls if the tractors are kept long

on a full cultivation system 800 plus hours per tractor is possible but on a no till farm 400 hours is more normal
cost per hor May go up unless you own tractors for much longer

 

[redsloe]

Historically, luck has usually trumped planning, close to the Pareto 80/20, all the way from Jutland to Covid.

Only time in the last 70 years we ever had a combine down for four days it rained hard the first three and dried out nicely the fourth, just in time to get going again.

Pareto distribution - Wikipedia

Does your combine only break down when it's raining then?

Something to tell the dealer next time that is.....