Do you want to buy one ? or 2 .
Managing Flat 8's as efficiently as possible
- Thread starter Alistair Nelson
- Start date
grainboy
Member
- Location
- Bedfordshire
I was first , 
grainboy
Member
- Location
- Bedfordshire
Mine will be going scrap next week if not wss as nted
Friend of mine used to bale & load 60,000 bales every year, with two Welger balers with flat 15 Cooks sledges with hydraulic floors.
Bales slightly shorter than normal, 3wide on a wagon, a flat 15 is 8' square, and can be picked up either way on.
He could load a 45' trailer with a Sanderson 247 and never have to touch a bale.
Plenty contractors with bale packers within 20 miles of Nelson Towers, common charge 50p a bale
Them days are gone mate , £8 a bale maybe
How do you mean Bob?
Too much labour involved , I offer big bales or look elsewhere
One baler operator, one on the forklift, just like big bales
Who's driving the trailers
Same as who's driving them on big bales.
Indeed , but your getting 3 x the amount of big uns on a trailer , and little danger of them falling over
Flat 15's tied in don't fall over. Granted, big bales are denser and quicker to strap, for sure.
It all depends how good the loader operator is tbh
I wasn't allowing for strapping
- Location
- South Molton
But if you want to buy a individual cup of tea you pay a massive premium over the cost if the team bag for the convenience.
Ignore you customers at your peril.
- Location
- Scottish Highlands
Would they be the ones made by Bielzebub & Co Ltd? I had one of those.
- Location
- Portsmouth
We have moved from all little bales to 8 foot and 4 foot bales and 3.5 foot round bales.
We were woried we would lose loads of customers but had no choice as bad backs all round meant little bales was not possible anymore.
I think at most we have lost 5% of our customers.
It is easily worth that for the speed of clearing fields, loading sheds and not handing little bales.
We deliver with a transit tipper. Tipped as close as we can ge to where the customer wants. No more carrying small bales over an obstacle course to stack them for the customer.
In hindsight we should never have persisted with little bales and done so much damage to our backs for such litte reward.
We were woried we would lose loads of customers but had no choice as bad backs all round meant little bales was not possible anymore.
I think at most we have lost 5% of our customers.
It is easily worth that for the speed of clearing fields, loading sheds and not handing little bales.
We deliver with a transit tipper. Tipped as close as we can ge to where the customer wants. No more carrying small bales over an obstacle course to stack them for the customer.
In hindsight we should never have persisted with little bales and done so much damage to our backs for such litte reward.
betweenthelines
Member
- Location
- southwest
Don't "ignore" customers, "manage" them!
Used to work for a Dairy that had a salesman, he got lots of customers-2 litres/day, cash weekly, sale or return, delivery drivers would rotate and stock the display fridges that we supplied, delivered at the time the customer asked for, etc etc. The business made a profit about one year in five.
Business (inevitably) got taken over, and new owners sent in their sales manager. Within 6 months all orders were pre order only eliminating waste, all on BACS accounts so no cash handling, minimum order value, delivery when we are in the area. etc etc. Makes a profit every year.
We changed delivery times for over 100 customers and only lost one as the sales manager managed his customers. This allowed us to reduce the number of delivery rounds saving £50k a year-which was less than the annual spend of the customer we lost.
Manage your customers, don't let them manage you!
- Location
- South Molton
But you didn't tell the customer they had to have 6 litre bottles instead of 500ml ones.
You change the delivery time not the product.
You really couldn't make up how far off the mark you are.
