Contracting Costs

[Whitewalker]

Things are different here. If you had a 1000 litre tank here I think you would struggle to get diesel let alone a contractor.

Here in Northern Ireland, they will deliver into the hundreds of litres

 

[Wombat]

Well here if you use a contractor you would need to buy a bigger tank and plan a delivery so there is enough fuel on farm so the next guy is not inconvenienced. I imagine your are paying a hefty price for tiny deliveries. The saving on an annual delivery might just buy that big tank for you in a few years. My fuel comes from a long way away so delivery is a big factor in the cost.

We have a 1000l tank and our prices seem just as keen as everyone else’s in the fuel price tracker. Most companies have been good on next day deliveries (upto the latest panic buying) and we like to not have too much summer diesel in when it gets to winter

 

[Wombat]

Fair enough.
I can’t imagine running a farm with 1,000 lt fuel tank.
Tractor runs at 56 lts/hr

How many hectares though?

 

[Enry]

When I started out I had a friend of my dads ask me to do his arable ploughing - probably 100+ ac each year. Did it for several years and when he died, his son asked me to do the same. Come the first billing session under the new regime and we both realised I had been ploughing 20ac more each year than I thought.

When I was a student I drove a round baler doing silage one season. Weather was very catchy and baled silage was just getting going. Went to a new farm and managed to get all his bales done just before heavy rain. He was very pleased and off I went home. All bale counts were written in a notebook and I was meticulous - keeping note if the chamber had been opened for a blockage etc, and knocking however many times this happened off the counter figure. We also supplied bags, pre wrapping days, and ,y boss lent them a bale spike to move them with. Sent the bill for say 150 bales and bags and cheque came for 140 with a note saying he’d counted them as stacking, and that his son who was a teacher had also counted them! Boss checked with me and I said I was 100% certain what was in the book was right….they were stacked in a field corner so off we went and counted them…150! Boss then called and suggested to the farmer and his son that they come with him to count…..both rather sheepishly did and had to pretend they’d made a genuine mistake when it was clear that he was just pulling a fast one…

 

[nxy]

We have a 1000l tank and our prices seem just as keen as everyone else’s in the fuel price tracker. Most companies have been good on next day deliveries (upto the latest panic buying) and we like to not have too much summer diesel in when it gets to winter

Our problem here is that everything is a long way away, this is one of the least densely populated parts of western europe, my last fuel delivery came from 50kms away so delivery cost would be a much bigger issue here. Filling a contractors tractor up regularly might allow a small user of diesel to pay 5 to10 cents a litre less when he fills up because he buys a bigger volume.

Just for your own interest why not ask your supplier what the price would be if you ordered two or three times as much. It will cost you nothing to ask and I suspect in the near future the "just in time" way of buying essential stuff is not going to work for as many people as it did. Fuel is being rationed here at the moment we are restricted to half our last delivery and if your not a regular your name will be at the bottom of the list.

 

[czechmate]

Just for your own interest why not ask your supplier what the price would be if you ordered two or three times as much. It will cost you nothing to ask and I suspect in the near future the "just in time" way of buying essential stuff is not going to work for as many people as it did. Fuel is being rationed here at the moment we are restricted to half our last delivery and if your not a regular your name will be at the bottom of the list.

Ours normally comes from Lussac

A local farmer here pools us together and he can get quite a good discount when he gets over 10,000 lts. Hadn’t heard about the rationing thing

 

[nxy]

Ours normally comes from Lussac

A local farmer here pools us together and he can get quite a good discount when he gets over 10,000 lts. Hadn’t heard about the rationing thing

We were restricted to 2500 litres for delivery this week and won't know the price till the day before.

 

[Ted M]

When I was a student I drove a round baler doing silage one season. Weather was very catchy and baled silage was just getting going. Went to a new farm and managed to get all his bales done just before heavy rain. He was very pleased and off I went home. All bale counts were written in a notebook and I was meticulous - keeping note if the chamber had been opened for a blockage etc, and knocking however many times this happened off the counter figure. We also supplied bags, pre wrapping days, and ,y boss lent them a bale spike to move them with. Sent the bill for say 150 bales and bags and cheque came for 140 with a note saying he’d counted them as stacking, and that his son who was a teacher had also counted them! Boss checked with me and I said I was 100% certain what was in the book was right….they were stacked in a field corner so off we went and counted them…150! Boss then called and suggested to the farmer and his son that they come with him to count…..both rather sheepishly did and had to pretend they’d made a genuine mistake when it was clear that he was just pulling a fast one…

Had a similar situation when I went drilling for a guy several years ago.
Field was 20acres when he phoned about it. When I started getting tight for seed it"might"be 22.
When he was bagging wheat out of his bin in the dark it turned out to be 24!

 

[som farmer]

Had a similar situation when I went drilling for a guy several years ago.
Field was 20acres when he phoned about it. When I started getting tight for seed it"might"be 22.
When he was bagging wheat out of his bin in the dark it turned out to be 24!

pretty common subject, but why ? All it does is make farmers, who deliberately 'lessen' the size of fields, bale counts, and countless other 'little' misquotes, liars. The same people who do it, would be mortified, well some, to be called liars/dishonest etc. Yet most reading this, would know of many examples.
We sold our dairy 1999, on farm, dairy door was locked, so entry via parlour, all the bottles of a/b etc went. Sold the young stock following spring, filled up loads of empty bottles, with water, they went as well, as did all sorts of little bits. Just plain theft.

 

[Renaultman]

Rate charged based on fuel at 50p, then have a fuel suppliment figure to make up the difference

This is what we used to do in haulage last time fuel prices were this volatile. Luckily I have added a fuel proviso on recent quotes

 

[Werzle]

Contracting bills starting to arrive, i dont know what they were all whinging about they have passed all their increased input costs onto the farmer!

 

[tepapa]

Contracting bills starting to arrive, i dont know what they were all whinging about they have passed all their increased input costs onto the farmer!

Who else do you think was going to pay

 

[Bob lincs]

Contracting bills starting to arrive, i dont know what they were all whinging about they have passed all their increased input costs onto the farmer!

Why wouldn’t they !

 

[Werzle]

Why wouldn’t they !

Wheres all the "we are in it together" clan gone!

 

[Timbo]

Wheres all the "we are in it together" clan gone!

???

 

[Wombat]

Our problem here is that everything is a long way away, this is one of the least densely populated parts of western europe, my last fuel delivery came from 50kms away so delivery cost would be a much bigger issue here. Filling a contractors tractor up regularly might allow a small user of diesel to pay 5 to10 cents a litre less when he fills up because he buys a bigger volume.

Just for your own interest why not ask your supplier what the price would be if you ordered two or three times as much. It will cost you nothing to ask and I suspect in the near future the "just in time" way of buying essential stuff is not going to work for as many people as it did. Fuel is being rationed here at the moment we are restricted to half our last delivery and if your not a regular your name will be at the bottom of the list.

Just for info I did ask a couple of suppliers what the difference in price would be for say 2500l over 1000 and they said nothing till you start to get over 10,000 litre orders

 

[Farmer 83563]

Contracting bills starting to arrive, i dont know what they were all whinging about they have passed all their increased input costs onto the farmer!

I've had a few harvest bills in. Most around £35/hr inc. diesel for 180hp and top class drivers using my attachments (mowing, raking, hauling round bales on 4hr round trip etc.). Good value I thought. How does that compare?

 

[Fendt516profi]

Just for info I did ask a couple of suppliers what the difference in price would be for say 2500l over 1000 and they said nothing till you start to get over 10,000 litre orders

 

[vinnie123]

I've had a few harvest bills in. Most around £35/hr inc. diesel for 180hp and top class drivers using my attachments (mowing, raking, hauling round bales on 4hr round trip etc.). Good value I thought. How does that compare?

They need a better calculator ! That’s costing them ! Utter madness

 

[hoff135]

They need a better calculator ! That’s costing them ! Utter madness

Crazy. £20 an hour in diesel to run a 150hp tractor right now.

As a small contractor this may well be my last year, just too much going out in fuel, maintenance and everything else to make it worth while