New Self Propelled Forage Harvester for a Farmer?

Barleycorn

Member
BASE UK Member
Location
Hampshire
We cut 800 to 1000 acres of silage a year. We have plenty of labour, regular and family, and are currently running a 1998 Claas 850. She is in good nick, on about 5500 hours, but we do have regular breakdowns, which involve 6 or 7 blokes watching and scratching their arses as it is mended.
I don't want to rely on a contractor, as with the current mad weather patterns I want to go when I want to.
With the current favourable tax thing, I have looked at new machines.
I have looked at trailed foragers, but our biggest tractors are 150 HP, so we just wouldn't get the output, and wholecrop would be difficult/impossible.
Is there a smaller, simpler, farmer-friendly SPFH made? I enquired about the smallest Krone and that is something like £220,000 with a header.
Then perhaps an arable farmer would justify a combine of that value on a similar acreage?
 

tr250

Member
Location
Northants
We cut 800 to 1000 acres of silage a year. We have plenty of labour, regular and family, and are currently running a 1998 Claas 850. She is in good nick, on about 5500 hours, but we do have regular breakdowns, which involve 6 or 7 blokes watching and scratching their arses as it is mended.
I don't want to rely on a contractor, as with the current mad weather patterns I want to go when I want to.
With the current favourable tax thing, I have looked at new machines.
I have looked at trailed foragers, but our biggest tractors are 150 HP, so we just wouldn't get the output, and wholecrop would be difficult/impossible.
Is there a smaller, simpler, farmer-friendly SPFH made? I enquired about the smallest Krone and that is something like £220,000 with a header.
Then perhaps an arable farmer would justify a combine of that value on a similar acreage?
What sort of tons an hour are you getting with your machine? We have a jf1350 on 200hp and I’ve worked out from very un precise methods of the clamp dimensions to estimate tonnage that I was chopping 60-70 tons an hour of grass from 20ft swaths. Made me wonder what a small sp would do
 

Steevo

Member
Location
Gloucestershire
We cut 800 to 1000 acres of silage a year. We have plenty of labour, regular and family, and are currently running a 1998 Claas 850. She is in good nick, on about 5500 hours, but we do have regular breakdowns, which involve 6 or 7 blokes watching and scratching their arses as it is mended.
I don't want to rely on a contractor, as with the current mad weather patterns I want to go when I want to.
With the current favourable tax thing, I have looked at new machines.
I have looked at trailed foragers, but our biggest tractors are 150 HP, so we just wouldn't get the output, and wholecrop would be difficult/impossible.
Is there a smaller, simpler, farmer-friendly SPFH made? I enquired about the smallest Krone and that is something like £220,000 with a header.
Then perhaps an arable farmer would justify a combine of that value on a similar acreage?

Sounds a lot of money to spend to me.

Surely something 10 years old with lower hours than your current model could be quite a bit less to shell out for much more reliability?
 

tr250

Member
Location
Northants
Sounds a lot of money to spend to me.

Surely something 10 years old with lower hours than your current model could be quite a bit less to shell out for much more reliability?
I’m not so sure as they have all been in the hands of contractors that aren’t in control of what lumps of concrete and steel gets left in silage fields and are worked hard whereas it’s fairly easy to find a loved 10 year old Combine
 

balerman

Member
Location
N Devon
We cut 800 to 1000 acres of silage a year. We have plenty of labour, regular and family, and are currently running a 1998 Claas 850. She is in good nick, on about 5500 hours, but we do have regular breakdowns, which involve 6 or 7 blokes watching and scratching their arses as it is mended.
I don't want to rely on a contractor, as with the current mad weather patterns I want to go when I want to.
With the current favourable tax thing, I have looked at new machines.
I have looked at trailed foragers, but our biggest tractors are 150 HP, so we just wouldn't get the output, and wholecrop would be difficult/impossible.
Is there a smaller, simpler, farmer-friendly SPFH made? I enquired about the smallest Krone and that is something like £220,000 with a header.
Then perhaps an arable farmer would justify a combine of that value on a similar acreage?
You can make the figures justify it if you want to.1000 acres a year at £25/acre contractor rate.In 10 years you will have paid for a £250k machine,ok I know you will have had all the other costs,fuel ,insurance,finance etc. But there would be a considerable residual value at the end to more than cover that.
 

Martyn

Member
Location
South west
You can make the figures justify it if you want to.1000 acres a year at £25/acre contractor rate.In 10 years you will have paid for a £250k machine,ok I know you will have had all the other costs,fuel ,insurance,finance etc. But there would be a considerable residual value at the end to more than cover that.
I'd go new on the acres covered
 

YELROM

Member
Location
North Yorkshire
What sort of breakdowns are you getting, daft annoying things or fairly major things
We run a trailed forager doing 500-600ac a year and keep thinking of getting a small self propelled but am concerned that if we got a bad one it could cost use a lot to keep going
 

dave mountain

Member
Livestock Farmer
We cut 800 to 1000 acres of silage a year. We have plenty of labour, regular and family, and are currently running a 1998 Claas 850. She is in good nick, on about 5500 hours, but we do have regular breakdowns, which involve 6 or 7 blokes watching and scratching their arses as it is mended.
I don't want to rely on a contractor, as with the current mad weather patterns I want to go when I want to.
With the current favourable tax thing, I have looked at new machines.
I have looked at trailed foragers, but our biggest tractors are 150 HP, so we just wouldn't get the output, and wholecrop would be difficult/impossible.
Is there a smaller, simpler, farmer-friendly SPFH made? I enquired about the smallest Krone and that is something like £220,000 with a header.
Then perhaps an arable farmer would justify a combine of that value on a similar acreage?
that acreage i would be trying to find a nice ex demo machine with good saving off new, they do exist (probably as soon as you buy something else 🤣) new holland would be high on my list.
 

Exfarmer

Member
Location
Bury St Edmunds
Our contractor used to have claas trailed like that.
Output wouldn't be in region of SPFH.
I would rhink most of the older converts were using ex combine engines which would have been 150- 200 hp at max. Many were nearer 100 hp being 6 pot perkins, even so the output of these were a match for the early SFPs but of course nothing like a 800+ machine today
 

Fendt516profi

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
Yorkshire
How far are you hauling grass? If it is only silage your doing why don't you just make the job really simple and buy a forage wagon?
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