Selectamatic's Farming Thread.

[Storeman]

I turned my hay today, saw it had come on well, so baled it this evening! Little 880 is a brilliant little tractor, I've said before, I smile every time I sit on it!

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Surprising how much greener the hay looked in it's bale, I'm sure it will heat up a bit, but it should be ok.

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Keeping an eye on the weather, it looks like it's a dry spell for a good few days, so I cut my own hay. Nothing's been on it since I took hay from there last year, It's surprised me how much of it there is. Next on the shopping list is a Mower Conditioner. I'm a bit worried that it's a struggle to show it all to the sun, but it will come, hopefully!

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Is that mower a PZ cm-165?

 

[Selectamatic]

Is that mower a PZ cm-165?

Yes, it is.

I have never worked out how basically the same mower was made by PZ, Fahr, Bamfords etc etc, who owned the original patent, PZ i think? Fahr and all the rest were made under licence?

 

[Storeman]

Yes, it is.

I have never worked out how basically the same mower was made by PZ, Fahr, Bamfords etc etc, who owned the original patent, PZ i think? Fahr and all the rest were made under licence?

I'm not 100% sure, but I believe that PZ had the patent and the rest, as you say, made it under licence.

I spent several years through the mid 80s' using one on the sheep farm that was just up the road (now a housing estate ). It performed well in both mowing and topping. This may be due to the fact it had the optional 'welded-up-break-back'

 

[Av Gorritt]

Lots of pics of the DB's please, was brought up with them and learnt on them, good luck with the ground

When I started , I couldn't even afford a DB . My neighbour had two , a 990 and a 995 and I envied him summat rotten. I did manage a "cropmaster a bit later on (an old one ) that promptly ran away down a steepish hill when that silly ratchet affair for a handbrake shook off . It literally broke in half in the deepest jungle of an old lady's garden . This old lassie was lying in bed ill , when the tractor whistled past her bedroom window . When I went to see her about getting the bits out , she was only worried that it would have damaged a newly planted rose bush . I was that relieved that there was no more damage , I subbed her for six - yes six- new ones , and a new garden gate as well . All heart me !

 

[Selectamatic]

Busy few days, making hay for myself and some others! Lovely haymaking weather, but that seems to have gone for now, wind and rain is back!

I was surprised to get 510 small bales of hay from 3½ acres! Nice stuff too, smells nice, no rain, not too heavy, it's come on well.

Found a home for it all, straight off the field, so it's gone and under cover now.

 

[Selectamatic]

Hello everyone,

It's been a busy time recently, but I found a chance to take some photos of mu spring barley today.

It's come along well, the head is not huge, but there is a nice bit of straw.

Considering the weather, it seems to be holding out ok, not the boldest grain, but it should be ok.

Not fit yet by any means, but not long now, a week or so I'd think...

 

[Selectamatic]

Busy weekend! Like a Cereals event from the 1970's!

Not cut anything like this before, the crop seemed ready to cut, to the point where it was lodging in patches, it was flowing nicely through the combine, but it was a big problem trying to get the whiskers off the grain, deawning plates in, and never really a problem until today. I blame the weather, was my crop dead, rather than ripe?

I recon about 7t of grain from just under five acres, but i'm yet to weigh it.

The straw was lovely, if a little scarce, and was put through the baler, press as far as it would go, still light enough. Lovely stuff. About 80 bales to the acre.

 

[ShooTa]

great thread - just caught up. got some tractor envy - we've an old ford 4000.

 

[Selectamatic]

Dragged my stubble up today, and put in some stubble turnip mix before the rain. Gave it some 20-10-10 as well to encourage them on a bit!

Brilliant little bus, this 996, goes like a little train without being a big, heavy cumbersome thing.

 

[New Puritan]

@Selectamatic - should the Brown's thing have some folding arms on it, or is that it?

 

[Boohoo]

Dragged my stubble up today, and put in some stubble turnip mix before the rain. Gave it some 20-10-10 as well to encourage them on a bit!

Brilliant little bus, this 996, goes like a little train without being a big, heavy cumbersome thing.

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You young boys and your big, fancy tractors! Your dad would've done all that with the 880!

 

[Selectamatic]

@Selectamatic - should the Brown's thing have some folding arms on it, or is that it?

Usually, yes, but they did offer a titchy one as well.

I brought a small one as its a handy thing for dragging about in awkward horsey paddocks and the like

I would have used my chain harrow, but this was already there.

 

[New Puritan]

Is the bar sticking up on it to fit a Stocks Fanjet?

Chain harrows are alright until you make a tight turn and it rides up the back tyre (so a friend told me )

 

[Selectamatic]

Is the bar sticking up on it to fit a Stocks Fanjet?

Chain harrows are alright until you make a tight turn and it rides up the back tyre (so a friend told me )

Yes, it is.

 

[Flat 10]

You didn’t roll the turnips?

 

[Selectamatic]

You didn’t roll the turnips?

No, I've learnt from my mistakes that rolling is a bad idea.

It's sandy soil, but is silty as well, and will cap on nothing, a heavy downpour is enough for it to cap where there is a single tractor wheel mark, so no, I've kept the roller away and just brushed them over with the harrows.

 

[Selectamatic]

Now then, where's my tin hat...?

I am going to reseed one of the fields, and against popular opinion that it did not need ploughing, I ploughed it! Only shallow, about 4ins deep. My reasoning was I wanted some fresh, clean soil, rather than the stubbly mess I had with sowing the turnips, yesterday.

After ploughing, I borrowed a Cambridge Roller and squashed it down. That's where it will stop for today, I am waiting on seed, and will take a soil sample to see whether it needs to be limed or not, I suspect that it does...

 

[haggard143]

wish i had soil like that,always look out for your next post, my favorite thread except maybe the oooh'thread keep up the good work

 

[Selectamatic]

wish i had soil like that,always look out for your next post, my favorite thread except maybe the oooh'thread keep up the good work

Very kind, thank you.

Just come back from the lime man, I'm surprised to see that pH is around 7 - 7.2. So there is no need to lime them. Lovely!

Why though, I don't remember it ever having lime, and I have had three crops of barley from it now, surely it will have turned a bit acidic by now?!

 

[DeeGee]

We’ve got several fields that have been in continuous barley for over forty years, have never had lime and the ph is still around 6.5 to 7.

Some fields here however do need lime occasionally even though all our fields are within a few hundred yards of each other. So there seems to be no inherent alkalinity right across the farm nor any correlation of acidity to any particular cropping.