Large scale harvest tips
- Thread starter ads96
- Start date
Honest john
Member
- Location
- Fenland
My biggest grip with the present generation is the Mobile phone.
As men can't multitask we make mistakes when doing two things at once.
If you where paying the wages how would you feel if your staff were on Facebook all day.
Drive quickly but with care. The whole job comes to a standstill when someone rolls a trailer or tips it in a ditch etc.
A young lad lost his life last year when he rolled a tractor & trailer.
Please don't let it be you.
I had a young lad one spud harvest that was driving without due care, I finished him straight a way before a disaster.
BB post was very good please take note.
One of my sons was with the Co Op for a summer, training week is good.
Good luck & stay safe.
As men can't multitask we make mistakes when doing two things at once.
If you where paying the wages how would you feel if your staff were on Facebook all day.
Drive quickly but with care. The whole job comes to a standstill when someone rolls a trailer or tips it in a ditch etc.
A young lad lost his life last year when he rolled a tractor & trailer.
Please don't let it be you.
I had a young lad one spud harvest that was driving without due care, I finished him straight a way before a disaster.
BB post was very good please take note.
One of my sons was with the Co Op for a summer, training week is good.
Good luck & stay safe.
Toad
New Member
- Location
- Staffordshire
Hi Ad,
I was in the same position as you two years ago. Working at Stoughton for the summer of 2013 would be my first large arable farm I worked on with modern kit. Whilst then it was under Co-op management and now Farmcare, most the of the staff are the same and all a great bunch with a lot of experience and knowledge. The training week at Stoughton was spent going through the standard health and safety, some tractor and trailer driving reversing practice, a manual handling course and a telelhandler course for those that didn't have the certificate. A relaxed week, where all new students due to work on Farmcare (then Co-op) farms met and then went off to their respective farms. I assume you are staying at Stoughton for the Summer?
I wouldn't worry about accommodation or food. There is an ASDA and Tesco a few miles away and a local-ish Co-op. If we were desperate for food back in 2013, the management were keen we told them and they would find us time to go and get some or there is the option of getting a delivery. Accommodation was great, big kitchen with a fridge/ freezer each, dishwasher.
In 2013 I operated the dryers at Stoughton and will be there again in a similar capacity this year. I look forward to meeting you!
PM if you have any more questions
Toad
I was in the same position as you two years ago. Working at Stoughton for the summer of 2013 would be my first large arable farm I worked on with modern kit. Whilst then it was under Co-op management and now Farmcare, most the of the staff are the same and all a great bunch with a lot of experience and knowledge. The training week at Stoughton was spent going through the standard health and safety, some tractor and trailer driving reversing practice, a manual handling course and a telelhandler course for those that didn't have the certificate. A relaxed week, where all new students due to work on Farmcare (then Co-op) farms met and then went off to their respective farms. I assume you are staying at Stoughton for the Summer?
I wouldn't worry about accommodation or food. There is an ASDA and Tesco a few miles away and a local-ish Co-op. If we were desperate for food back in 2013, the management were keen we told them and they would find us time to go and get some or there is the option of getting a delivery. Accommodation was great, big kitchen with a fridge/ freezer each, dishwasher.
In 2013 I operated the dryers at Stoughton and will be there again in a similar capacity this year. I look forward to meeting you!
PM if you have any more questions
Toad
ads96
Member
- Location
- Gloucestershire
cheers brisel ! much appreciated you posting on here and sharing tips and experiences with me !
ads96
Member
- Location
- Gloucestershire
cheers for that toad really useful , I will be at Stoughton for the training week but i'm at Down Ampney this year ! so see how that goes I do want to go for a harvest Stoughton , probably next year !
ads96
Member
- Location
- Gloucestershire
Where do you tend to recruit your students from out of interest ?
That doesn't seem to stop many farmers they seem to worry about that when you get there and put you up in an old grain trailer or something
ads96
Member
- Location
- Gloucestershire
we are only students sleepy ! sleeping is overatedThat doesn't seem to stop many farmers they seem to worry about that when you get there and put you up in an old grain trailer or something
ads96
Member
- Location
- Gloucestershire
that's fair enough , I was just interested as some estates and farmers I know or have been around are adverse to employing RAU students but other places don't mind, I guess it is personal preference , I live fairly close to the RAU and I seemingly always have to explain to farmers that I'm not their and going to Harper and then they relax a bit
What is the story with rau?
ads96
Member
- Location
- Gloucestershire
just that most local land owners , farmers and locals in Cirencester don't speak very highly of them because of the ag students reputation they have trashed quite a few pubs local The black horse in amberly being one of them. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/gloucestershire/7766526.stm then you have other delightful story's like this one http://www.wiltsglosstandard.co.uk/...ed_in_connection_with_serious_sexual_assault/
its very strange but when I establish with the owner or boss that I'm not associated with the RAU I get treated better and get more respect off them. I'm not slagging the place off but its just interesting how the RAU is viewed in farming circles especially locally
glasshouse
Member
- Location
- lothians
Is that the agricultural bullingdon club?
Suffolk Serf
Member
- Location
- Bury/Thetford
You never know what a harvest job might lead to. I only came to the estate I'm now on as a harvest student, then within a couple of years I was renting land from them and am still here about 30 years on, having seen managers come and go as well as other pig tenants.
As Ads96 described really. High jinks & a perception of too much tweed. I'm sure I could Google some scandal on Harper too.
I don't mind where my staff go to college/uni. I have been to Sparsholt & the RAU myself. You get good & useless people from any college, regardless of where or name. Good academic ability doesn't always translate into practical ability and vice versa.It's a shame there is a perceived stigma with some places.
Final bit of advice - don't read too much into the rivalry between Cirencester & Harper. It stared out a s a friendly bit of banter but got silly a few years ago with fights breaking out at a inter-uni rugby match. There have been many a fine graduate turned out of both places. A few plonkers too!
ads96
Member
- Location
- Gloucestershire
very well said Brisel , I remember a few students saying that at harper that fights broke out , its a shame really. I'm far enough away from harper so I don't hear about the scandal, I'm sure there will be somethingAs Ads96 described really. High jinks & a perception of too much tweed. I'm sure I could Google some scandal on Harper too.
I don't mind where my staff go to college/uni. I have been to Sparsholt & the RAU myself. You get good & useless people from any college, regardless of where or name. Good academic ability doesn't always translate into practical ability and vice versa.It's a shame there is a perceived stigma with some places.
Final bit of advice - don't read too much into the rivalry between Cirencester & Harper. It stared out a s a friendly bit of banter but got silly a few years ago with fights breaking out at a inter-uni rugby match. There have been many a fine graduate turned out of both places. A few plonkers too!
IH 684
Member
- Location
- durham dales/cumbria border
If your fields are that wet I don't envy your drying bill
Doesn't need to be wet. Up hill with no load on the drive wheels can stop you as well.
IH 684
Member
- Location
- durham dales/cumbria border
I got a bollocking when i was a kid for unloading going up hill, boss man went mad about the strain on the tractor and made a good point about if I had to stop and then try and set away again and ended up going backwards out of control. Them days consisted of a 2wd 956xl and a 10 ton trailer