Machinery for a 'smaller' farm?!

[Aspiring Peasant]

140ish acres all grass. Suckler cows and sheep
2017 Zetor Proxima 80
2013 Zetor Proxima 120 with loader
1995 Case 4210 with loader
1957 FE 35 Grey/Gold (Family heirloom)
Suzuki Quad + trailer
Krone mower
SIPP tedder
Fleming Rotaspreader
Tipping trailer with bale extension
Old MF trailer
Slitter/Aerator
Sheep trailer
Ifor livestock trailer
Flat roller
Grass harrows
Bale slicer
Usual loader attachments, bale grab, bucket, muck grab, bale spike, cage (very useful, gone off ladders)
Scraper
Vicon wagtail
Parmiter post knocker

Try and do everything ourselves apart from baling.

 

[Renaultman]

Another way of looking at this is to buy some big but old kit and spend less time in a cab and more quality time with family and perusing other interest maybe ?

That's what I tend to do, everything could comfortably cope with double the acreage but only the sprayer is new.

 

[le bon paysan]

78 hectares,55 suckler cows and between 8 and 15 hectares of cereal and forage crops like Moha and maize.
110hp Renault,
70 hp Kubota with loader,
mower,4 rotor tedder, single rotor rake and vari baler,
Bale trailer,
5t muck spreader,
fert spreader,
Erth panbuster,
Grassland rakes etc.,
Half a combine,
20% of a direct drill
12mt sprayer.
In the nettles an old plough and other old bits and pieces.

 

[Breckland Boy]

Great thread this for us nosey looking over the hedge wanna bees.
Just under 600 acres here,
About 150 for potatoes and onions.
60ish permanent grass/heath remaining cereals and beet.
1999 Class dominator 108 maxi
2013 JD 6150
1993 JD6200
2004 JD3420 loader
5 furrow V&N plough c/w minimat press drill
Spalding 4 leg subsoiler c/w home made press drill
Spalding terra disc c/w air seeder
Horsch 3m co drill
6m rolls
Amazone spreader
2003 houseman ar3000 sprayer
4 irrigators
Pots, onions and beet have specialised cultivations, drilling and harvesting by contractors.
Combine new to me this year also cuts a neighbouring farm.

 

[DRC]

Some of the acreages being quoted I would say are not small farms, but nice to see what folks are using all the same .
Can’t believe it’s 5 years since we posted.

 

[Massey mad]

400 acres of arable in total with contracting work done, 250 grassland various other contracting work done including 10k round bales a year including 5k silage bales and wrapping them (in most cases do the whole job from mowing tedding ect) 60 suckler cows and 120 ewes.

Nh tx 36 20ft
Mf 5460 with loader
Mf3115
Mf 699 with loader
Mf 3070 with loader
Manitou mlt 735
Welgar rp435
Lely mc 240 mower
Pottinger 7m Tedder
lely rotunde rake
And various arable equipment inc
4m toptith
4m power Harrow
Vaderstad rapid RD 400f

 

[ih1455xl]

View attachment 727770
I keep accumulating not getting rid

Someone else did there Christmas shopping at Holme wood hall sale then I had them other bout markers and the two stanhay beet drills

 

[Zippy768]

Some of the acreages being quoted I would say are not small farms, but nice to see what folks are using all the same .
Can’t believe it’s 5 years since we posted.

And you don't own the 108 anymore

 

[KB6930]

Makes for interesting reading this we're still using more or less the same size of gear to do 1200 acres of arable that we were to do 600 10yrs ago with the exception of the bigger combine and more up in tractors

It's good to hear there's still plenty smaller farms out there doing it themselves round here a lot of them have given up and being contract farmed by 2or 3 huge outfits

 

[DRC]

Makes for interesting reading this we're still using more or less the same size of gear to do 1200 acres of arable that we were to do 600 10yrs ago with the exception of the bigger combine and more up in tractors

It's good to hear there's still plenty smaller farms out there doing it themselves round here a lot of them have given up and being contract farmed by 2or 3 huge outfits

Yes, but according to some that’s progress.

 

[DRC]

And you don't own the 108 anymore

That’s true. Combine is yellow now, TX 63, but still a 20 year old one.
I have upgraded the 6070 for a T200, the JD telescopic for a Manitou and changed the combi drill for a disc one.

 

[Agrispeed]

I always thought I had too much kit but I guess I would be somewhere near the bottom.

140ish usable acres, 85 milkers & replacements. Do about 16ac forage crops, 350 bales and use 40t+ straw a year.

Case Farmall 115C & loader, muck grab, bucket and bale squeeze
Lamboghini Formula 115
Massey 35 (basically a quad)

8.5 cube rotospreader
7t trailer
16' bale trailer
8' topper
Haybob
12' & 8' roller (can't get the big roller up the steep part of the farm)
8' chisel plough
6m Einbock harrows
6m spike harrow

Currently considering getting rid of one tractor.

 

[jamesy]

300 acres here, 70/80 acres spring barley the rest at grass

NH T5060 & loader bought new in 09 still got it

KV 3 furrow reversible (ancient) bought for £1500 in 08 traded in for new Kuhn 4f reversible in 2014

Accord DC drill (ancient) £2100 in 09 still got it

Niemeyer 7ft drum mower (ancient) £700 in 07 gearbox went I’ll in 2014, contractor mows now!

Haybob bought new in 05 £1450 still got it but been parked in nettles for last 3 years!

KV static wrapper with remote (a fair age) £1750 in 06 traded in for new Mchale static in 2014

Trailer of unknown vintage £1200 in 09 still got but not used, new 10t Marshall bought in 2014

Claas Senator 80 £2240 in 13 still got, I loved her!!

Fraser 7" bruiser bought new in 97 traded in for trailed superior in 2014

Grey Fergie bought new in 56..... Drives the bruiser all winter. Still got but does nothing

NC cattle trailer bought new in 97 replaced with new graham Edwards this summer

Terex 960 digger bought 03 £22000 do a little hire work with it. Traded in last month for an 09 NH llb 110

In addition I added an 07 plateNH 6120 which I traded in last year for a new NH 6.155 with loader.

Quite happy to work with older/smaller kit as long as it makes financial sense. Also quite happy to call in contractor if needed because I can't do two things at once!.....This still remains the case!

Wow - 5 years on ive updated the original list

 

[Shropshire Farmer]

300 acres Arable all combinables 200 acres low input grassland 200 sheep and 50 cattle.

Fendt 313 Vario
Horsch Sprinter 3 metre
Kverneland CLC 3 metre
Kverneland TL Geo
Lemken Sirius Sprayer 24 metre
Kuhn Mower
Haybob
Kuhn Straw Chopper
Bailey Bale Trailer
JD 3800 Telehandler
Claas Lexion 540

 

[fiat 9090]

Im running 75 acres and a small contracting business with 4 tractors (60hp 2wd, 70hp 2wd with loader, 90hp 2wd and 110hp 4wd) 12ft combine, 3m combination drill, 12m sprayer, spreader etc, etc.
I think there is easy enough capacity amongst that lot to at least do double the acreage if i had access to it. Total value of everything stood in the yard probably comes to around 40k id imagine

All done by me with no help except the other half running me about harvest time to pick grain trailers up from outlying fields. All machines were paid for in full when they were bought, never had or intend to have finance on anything, ever! and when you start paying people to help you the profit soon vanishes, id rather take longer and do it myself personally, i always manage to get round everything even when there is contracting to be done on other farms

as has been said, do what suits your particular system, but keep as much in-house as you can to minimise costs. No point paying a contractor when you have a machine in the shed what will do same job, even if it may take you a bit longer

You left out a couple of important points in your one track biased answer

 

[Jon 3085]

120 acres arable,56 acres grass no livestock..

 

[Flat 10]

View attachment 728000120 acres arable,56 acres grass no livestock..

Good effort

 

[bobk]

You can never have too many machines , time is what we're short of .

 

[Zippy768]

View attachment 728000120 acres arable,56 acres grass no livestock..

You must hate unhitching kit

 

[Jon 3085]

You must hate unhitching kit

It does save a bit of time,just get off one and drive off on another.