multi power
Member
- Location
- pembrokeshire
Martin Pugh would be the man to get your tractor home, I will see if I can find a phone number
Selectamatic's Farming Thread.
- Thread starter Selectamatic
- Start date
Selectamatic
Member
- Location
- North Wales
A 1394 of the same spec, 2WD, Hydra Shift would weigh near enough the same. 3000kg odd.
DeeGee
Member
- Location
- North East Wales
I remember in the seventies there was a 1212 (I think) that had some sort of power shift lever on the lower dashboard, with numbers from 1 to 4. Was that the Hydrashift?
If so, was it reliable/ successful, because I don't recall it being further developed or in widespread use?
If so, was it reliable/ successful, because I don't recall it being further developed or in widespread use?
Ray996
Member
- Location
- North Scotland
Lovely machine ,dad got one new in 1976 just before q cabs,wouldn't mind getn one like that again,
Selectamatic
Member
- Location
- North Wales
Yes, that was the Hydrashift, four clutchless changes in three ranges, the first production built powershift transmission.
It was used by David Brown until the last days of production in 1988. Your a Massey man, think Dyna 4 from the 70's.
Was it reliable? It was if it was looked after, nursed if truth be told, it would not stick any sort of abuse. Back then it was a brilliant thing for baling, forage harvesting, ploughing etc etc etc. At the risk of staring a war on here, it was the best non standard gearbox of it's time in many people's opinion compared to Select-o-Speed, Multi Power, Torque Amplifier etc
It was developed from the Autodrive gearbox, a concept brought out on the red 990's, the worlds first CVT transmission.
DeeGee
Member
- Location
- North East Wales
I do know that David Brown were well known for the quality of their gearboxes. I think they were also involved with Aston Martin: hence the nomenclature Aston Martin DB4 etc.
However I would have thought that the Massey Ferguson Multi Power was an earlier clutch less transmission that was far more popular than Hydrashift, SelectOSpeed, and Torque Amplifier.
Okay, we all know that it had no engine braking in Low and was thus potentially dangerous on hills: but if you understood it, Multi Power was a revolutionary advance in transmissions in the early sixties, giving seamless up or down clutchless gear change under load.
Selectamatic
Member
- Location
- North Wales
So was Hydra Shift, but it gave four gears rather than two, each one with engine breaking.
multi power
Member
- Location
- pembrokeshire
What you need to remember is David brown were a gear and transmission company long before they ever built tractors, and I believe they still do a lot of gear cutting
FonterraFarmer
Member
- Location
- Waikato, New Zealand
DeeGee
Member
- Location
- North East Wales
There goes the crankshaft, "engine braking" ffs not "engine breaking"
He was talking about David Browns, so the spelling was correct.
Selectamatic
Member
- Location
- North Wales
Got some B&B guests for a few weeks to keep the grass down around the shed, they seem quite happy in the shade even through it's bloody hot!
In spite of some blazing hot weather and not a drop of rain, things look surprisingly green, the barley is looking very well, and the spuds are slowly coming out. Could do with a drop of rain though.
I have noticed that some of the barley plants have a single yellowed leaf, Im not too worried about this as there is relatively few in the scheme of things, but curious to know what it is, would anyone on here know?
In spite of some blazing hot weather and not a drop of rain, things look surprisingly green, the barley is looking very well, and the spuds are slowly coming out. Could do with a drop of rain though.
I have noticed that some of the barley plants have a single yellowed leaf, Im not too worried about this as there is relatively few in the scheme of things, but curious to know what it is, would anyone on here know?
New Puritan
Member
- Location
- East Sussex
Looking good. Out of interest, who do you grow the spuds for? Do you just sell them to people you know? How much picking / sorting do you have to do, and have you got scales etc. for bagging them up? I keep thinking of growing some, but am put off by the amount of work that seems to be necessary, and justifying the extra tools and equipment. That makes me sound lazy and/or mean, but y'know how it is! The prospect of a lot of fiddly intervention isn't appealing when I already have plenty of that in other areas of my life - e.g. hand roguing.
NP.
NP.
Selectamatic
Member
- Location
- North Wales
I grow the spuds to sell to mainly friends and family. I used to work for a large company, where there were approx 3000 employees under one roof, some of those knew my farming background and always asked for a bag of spuds. It's not quite as simple now, but between Mrs S and I we manage to get rid of them!
The spuds are on their last warning this year, if they don't pay then I'm giving them up! When I say they don't pay, it depends on how you value your time, as they take up a lot of it, I spray them against blight every week, they then need harvesting, storing, picking into bags, carrying about before finally selling, all for £7! Compare to swedes, barley, hay etc they are very expensive and labour intensive, and when they make you less money for more effort, it takes the shine off the job a bit!
They are sorted on the harvester during harvest, and then again by me as I bag them from the boxes. I sell them in 25 and 12.5kg bags in everything but name, as I have no scales, I just fill the bag until they are full!
I enjoy the day where they go in the ground, and they day they come out, but the rest of the work seems a bit of a faff!
Still, it's an interesting way to loose money!!
New Puritan
Member
- Location
- East Sussex
You could say that about my whole operation... So is it £7 for 12.5 kg or 25kg? I think I might have a go next year, it will at least stop me wondering about it. I've got a Fergy ridger and a very old Ransomes spinner knocking about in the yard, so I just need a planter. Do you sell them all as soon as you have harvested (give or take), or do you store them? They seem like a bit of a nuisance to store, especially in bulk. I've got a few friends who always say they'd like to buy produce from me, but unless they want to buy wheat by the tonne I haven't got much to offer them. Potatoes seem like a good scalable option for local trading, but I'm sure there are plenty of pot-holes for me to fall into with them.
NP.
Selectamatic
Member
- Location
- North Wales
£7 for 25kg, £5 for 12.5kg. No one moans about that, most come back for more.
My golden rule is that I don't ever knowingly sell bad ones, if they are knocked about, disease ridden, misshapen to the extreme, damaged in anyway, they go in the pig feed pile, regardless of how many, how good or bad. If you sell bad ones, they will be the last you ever do sell.
If you've got a Fergy ridger, your nearly there, I plant mine with a ridger with the planting gizmos built around it, what you will need is a tractor smaller than your JD 3050, something like a DB 780, Dexta, 135 etc, with narrow wheels set out to fit your rows.
I sell them as soon as I can, I try to get rid of them before the frosts set in, as I keep them in ton boxes buried in the hay.
You will need labour, ideally some handy friends who will do a day's work for you for the novelty value of it, I'm very lucky in that respect, my labour cost's me a free curry and few pints after the work is done.
Loads of pot holes, it could very easily go to pot, especially so as I believe that you farm organically (will you be allowed to spray for blight?). They dont like wet, they dont like dry, they get eaten by bugs, they get some scabby skin nonsense, they go green, they go off, the dont grow, they grow too much, they cry when you shout, they take a lot of looking after to do the job properly.
Saying that, your selling your own produce to people who eat what you have actually grown, that alone gives me a bit of a buzz!
New Puritan
Member
- Location
- East Sussex
That's a good summary! Yes I wouldn't use the potato kit on the 3050, it would wreck it before the end of a row... I have the occasional use of my landlord's Ford 3910 which would be alright on it I think. I just need to find the right gear - I'm sure it's there, but the gearbox doesn't give up its secrets easily.
So the Fergie ridger plus a box and 2 chutes equals a planter? Someone mentioned that on another thread. Getting hold of the other bits might not be easy.
I've been growing spuds for years on allotments and suchlike, so I know some of the problems they can give, but scaling up will no doubt bring its own troubles. Yes I'm organic, so that might just make the whole thing unviable, but I'd like to find out for sure (it's easy to say that now).
Thanks, this has been really helpful
NP.
So the Fergie ridger plus a box and 2 chutes equals a planter? Someone mentioned that on another thread. Getting hold of the other bits might not be easy.
I've been growing spuds for years on allotments and suchlike, so I know some of the problems they can give, but scaling up will no doubt bring its own troubles. Yes I'm organic, so that might just make the whole thing unviable, but I'd like to find out for sure (it's easy to say that now).
Thanks, this has been really helpful
NP.
Selectamatic
Member
- Location
- North Wales
Yes, it does, but ideally you need a bell ringing wheel too, its a wheel that attaches to the ridger that follows behind as it is in work.
There are dimples on the wheel, that ping a bell as they contact, each time you hear a ping, drop the spud down the shoot. Simples!
DeeGee
Member
- Location
- North East Wales
It could be a touch of BYDV (Barley yellow dwarf virus) spread by aphids.
I wouldn't panic about it, it is unlikely to impact hard on the yield. We have got a touch of it here, and often have had in previous years.
Merfyn Parry will tell you better than I, but IIRC the aphids have already done the damage and I don't think you need to spray insecticide unless your crop is plastered with greenfly (aphids).
Next time you walk the barley just look under some of the leaves to check there are not large clusters of very pale green aphids, each not much larger than a pinhead. If there is a heavy infestation you can spray them, I think it is with cypermethrin which is quite cheap to buy.
If you do find large numbers of aphids get professional advice from Merfyn rather than I, as I could be wrong.
suffolksmallholder
Member
- Location
- Suffolk
I was once sat on the back of a similar planter, but it didn't have a wheel or bell. The tractor drive used to just shout 'drop'. But it was generally the same principle, he shouted at a regular intervalYes, it does, but ideally you need a bell ringing wheel too, its a wheel that attaches to the ridger that follows behind as it is in work.
There are dimples on the wheel, that ping a bell as they contact, each time you hear a ping, drop the spud down the shoot. Simples!