New combine cost

[Steevo]

Well it all depends on how much you have got to do, if you have a neighbour with spare capacity, whether you like spanner work yourself etc etc.
If was Mr Dyson I’d be buying brand new.
If I had 1000 acres plus to do I’d buy good newish secondhand dealer serviced.
Less than that and I think we are into contractor territory or an older “enthusiasts” machine, driven by yourself.
What scares me most about newer secondhand is the combination of electronics and mice etc. Simpler older machines are getting harder to find that aren’t cracking up with metal fatigue or are worn through the elevators etc.
I’d say it’s heading down the route of new purchases being for large commercial concerns. The rest using contractors. And then there are hobbyists like myself, tinkering.

The funny thing is that a contractor should in theory be the most efficient method…..yet if you used a contractor for everything, it’s not easy to turn a profit based on commodity returns.

If you asked the average person on the street how much it would cost to harvest an acre of crop, cut it, thresh out the grain part you want, place the straw in a neat straight row and evenly spread the chaff across the full area…..I doubt many people would think it could be done for £40!

And then once they know that….I think they would be surprised that the machine doing it would cost a quarter of a million pounds to buy.

 

[Steevo]

A good rule of thumb with a combine is 8-10% per year in depreciation, so a £300,000 machine after 5 seasons is now worth £200,000 but the new one is now £350,000 so £150,000 to change or £30,000 per year. Its scary stuff but farmers are their own worst enemy because they will be seeing wheat this year at £225/tonne but instead of leaving the profit in the bank due to the impending loss of BPS, they are all going to go out and spend on shiny new equipment.

That would be even more scary if you worked out the cost for each acre cut in each of those first three years.

 

[SilliamWhale]

That would be even more scary if you worked out the cost for each acre cut in each of those first three years.

Or the first field in the first year!

 

[Lowland1]

I could be driving your Grandad’s 86!
Cutting Wheat tonight.

I don't know how you got it out the shed but make sure it's clean when you put it back.

 

[DrWazzock]

You have a 6 walker with a 14ft header?

Yes, rarely in less than 3rd gear. We had an 18’ header, old an earlier poor design. The only newer better designed header I could find was 14 foot. An 814.
The downside I suppose is bed edge losses but
It’s much easier in laid crops
I never need to take it off as it can get in and out the shed and through all the gate holes.
Our old baler can cope with the straw trails. They dry quicker.
The chopper can actually spread it to full width for once.
Can leave trailers on the headland as tank will hold a complete circuit of the field.
We just go faster but narrower. It’s impressive to see. I can’t keep up running after it.
I thought it would be a pain but it’s one of those things that turned out much better than expected. We haven’t actually lost any capacity in fact we have probably gained it in a catchy season as we are quicker getting into the field and started.
It’s a valid debate really about a lot of machinery. I prefer faster and narrower over wider and slower any day, yet the trend is always wider and slower, (and much more capital tied up).

 

[wanton dwarf]

Done a lot of road work, or been broken down along, 63 hours drum, and 1012 engine, hmm

Had the drum replaced. We did ours about 5 years ago.

 

[icanshootwell]

A good rule of thumb with a combine is 8-10% per year in depreciation, so a £300,000 machine after 5 seasons is now worth £200,000 but the new one is now £350,000 so £150,000 to change or £30,000 per year. Its scary stuff but farmers are their own worst enemy because they will be seeing wheat this year at £225/tonne but instead of leaving the profit in the bank due to the impending loss of BPS, they are all going to go out and spend on shiny new equipment.

It's either that or pay tax.

 

[DrWazzock]

The funny thing is that a contractor should in theory be the most efficient method…..yet if you used a contractor for everything, it’s not easy to turn a profit based on commodity returns.

If you asked the average person on the street how much it would cost to harvest an acre of crop, cut it, thresh out the grain part you want, place the straw in a neat straight row and evenly spread the chaff across the full area…..I doubt many people would think it could be done for £40!

And then once they know that….I think they would be surprised that the machine doing it would cost a quarter of a million pounds to buy.

Yes, read the John Nix book and and the farmers own charge is usually higher. So why don’t we always use contractors? Maybe we should. I know when I did a bit of contract harvesting it seemed to have been stuck at £25 per acre for years. It felt cheap from where I was sitting, though I know it’s a bit more now. Combines cost much more now though. Struggle to believe it adds up myself unless they can cover vast acreage with minimal breakdown costs.

 

[wanton dwarf]

It's either that or pay tax.

If you got the money in the season THAT's the problem. Not gonna see it back once it heads to London.

 

[Clive]

We are due a combine change and despite having plenty to do using contractors will be an option we will consider

it’s not just a question of machine cost, it’s about building the most efficient lablour profile possible to keep fixed costs low and profits maximised

 

[Chae1]

The funny thing is that a contractor should in theory be the most efficient method…..yet if you used a contractor for everything, it’s not easy to turn a profit based on commodity returns.

If you asked the average person on the street how much it would cost to harvest an acre of crop, cut it, thresh out the grain part you want, place the straw in a neat straight row and evenly spread the chaff across the full area…..I doubt many people would think it could be done for £40!

And then once they know that….I think they would be surprised that the machine doing it would cost a quarter of a million pounds to buy.

I've a relation uses contractors for almost everything. Spreads fert and cambridge rolls himself carts off barley and bales home. Does very well.

 

[Steevo]

We are due a combine change and despite having plenty to do using contractors will be an option we will consider

it’s not just a question of machine cost, it’s about building the most efficient lablour profile possible to keep fixed costs low and profits maximised

This is assuming that you can get a contractor when you need one.

I hear lots of big estates claiming they can call in contractors if they get stuck due to weather etc.…..yet if they are stuck then so is everybody else, including the contractors!

 

[d williams]

They didn’t make the CX8.80 in 1998….probably didn’t even make the CX880.

Surely that should be 2018…!

With those drum hrs compared to engine hrs the ad all wrong

 

[Steevo]

I've a relation uses contractors for almost everything. Spreads fert and cambridge rolls himself carts off barley and bales home. Does very well.

That is encouraging to hear!

 

[Steevo]

With those drum hrs compared to engine hrs the ad all wrong

Yes.

Correct machine is here…is it is a 2018 with 763 drum hrs.

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[Clive]

This is assuming that you can get a contractor when you need one.

I hear lots of big estates claiming they can call in contractors if they get stuck due to weather etc.…..yet if they are stuck then so is everybody else, including the contractors!

plenty people keen for contractIng work and if you give people a big enough area to cut so are important to their business they are fools to let you down

being fully in control is obviously best but can come at a cost, especially if that cost goes beyond the machine cost and means additional full time employees etc

 

[Al R]

plenty people keen for contractIng work and if you give people a big enough area to cut so are important to their business they are fools to let you down

being fully in control is obviously best but can come at a cost, especially if that cost goes beyond the machine cost and means additional full time employees etc

There’s surely something wrong if you can’t justify a combine on your acreage? Yes I fully understand the labour part but you do employ people, cheaper to get trailer drivers in and have the experienced employee on the combine, they’ll know where to go next, they also see the fruits of their labour for the year.

 

[kiwi pom]

We are due a combine change and despite having plenty to do using contractors will be an option we will consider

it’s not just a question of machine cost, it’s about building the most efficient lablour profile possible to keep fixed costs low and profits maximised

I thought you were the contractor on a lot of the ground you farm?

 

[Enry]

The funny thing is that a contractor should in theory be the most efficient method…..yet if you used a contractor for everything, it’s not easy to turn a profit based on commodity returns.

If you asked the average person on the street how much it would cost to harvest an acre of crop, cut it, thresh out the grain part you want, place the straw in a neat straight row and evenly spread the chaff across the full area…..I doubt many people would think it could be done for £40!

And then once they know that….I think they would be surprised that the machine doing it would cost a quarter of a million pounds to buy.

We were discussing this earlier - My Mrs had her nails done....paid nigh on what you'd pay to combine an acre of cereals! Nail girlie has a few bits of kit and took an hour or so...... no breakdowns, weather issues, works all year round...

 

[Clive]

There’s surely something wrong if you can’t justify a combine on your acreage? Yes I fully understand the labour part but you do employ people, cheaper to get trailer drivers in and have the experienced employee on the combine, they’ll know where to go next, they also see the fruits of their labour for the year.

i can easy justify the machine, it’s just a question of it creates the most efficient Labour profile for us. Only a fool puts temporary, lower skilled staff on modern expensive machinery these days and a business like ours has a high labour peak for just 6 weeks of the year that is becoming increasingly hard to fill

6 weeks of temporary Labour isn’t cheap / difficult to find work for when it rains all week and if students would be about to go back to uni soon despite a lot of harvest still to go here ! contractor rates for a big combine are not exactly including a big margin as already pointed out, why run your own if someone else is willing to work for not too dosimilr cost ? !

A good business should consider ALL options and not be driven by emotion