Operators courses?

[PowderedToastMan]

Hi everyone
I'm a 17 nearly 18 dude, just finished an L2 in Ag-engineering and am doing an L3 in September. Just interested if all you UK folks could give me a bit of advice.

I live in Shropshire, it's a very agricultural county and to give me a bit more experience I would like to do some driving during summer or something.
Stuff like carting, combine driving it whatever is available. The only problem: I don't live on a farm, my only connection to farming is my college and course.

So here it is:
Is there any sort of way to get into that sort of stuff, like combine operators courses?
I'm learning to drive soon so tractors and telehandlers are cool on that front and will go well with my RTITB telehandler operator's license.
If anyone is a combine driver or tractor driver How did you get into it and what roads did you take to get it?
Thanks.

 

[John]

Think you might of left it a bit late this year. When we were looking we advertised in colleges see quite a few jobs on Facebook or on here.

 

[PowderedToastMan]

Think you might have left it a bit late this year. When we were looking we advertised in colleges see quite a few jobs on Facebook or on here.

I primarily am looking for something next year when I leave college if I can't find anything I might just go straight to a service technician job.
I still want to give it a try though.

 

[Shutesy]

I don't think there are specific courses out there on learning to drive a combine, most dealers do refresher courses for more experienced combine drivers but half of what they talk about might make no sense to someone whos never driven one before. Also you have to be 21 to drive a combine on the road, I would think most farms would want someone over the age of 21 due to maturity driving something so complex and expensive and the ease of not having to get someone else to take the combine down the road.
My suggestions would be to get a job on an arable or mixed farm and do all you can to learn about the combine from the manual, the current operator or any mechanics that come out. If you take enough interest you may be allowed to run it for an hour or 2, then perhaps a day if the normal driver is away and go from there. Don't be afraid to offer to help blow down, fuel up, grease or help fix the combine to help the driver out. Combine driving is far from just sitting in the air conditioned cab and if you show good initiative to help out you might get your chance. If you get the chance, get in the cab with the operator and ask questions, most will happily answer any queries, perhaps not for 3 hours on the trot, but 10 minutes here and there would be fine.
Nobody would deny you the chance in the winter to go through the combine manual, sit in the cab or get under the panels and see how things work, you have to put the effort in though.
I would also say join the combine operator groups on Facebook and pick up some tips on there from other operators discussing different things.