Selectamatic's Farming Thread.

[Selectamatic]

Well Ladies and Gentlemen, after many years of wanting to be one, I am now a Farmer, a small one that only rents a small patch of ground, but nevertheless I consider myself to be a Farmer.

If anyone has any interest, I will take some photos of stuff that I do, grow, keep, etc etc.

Warning, for those who David Brown Tractors, or older kit in general causes migraines, look away now, Dad is a contractor who still keep himself busy with his machinery, so, hopefully, most of the work will be done by my father and I, but with older kit.

TFF is a great resource, so if I can give someone some interest and entertainment (!) by putting some pictures up here as a token thank you I'm more than happy to do so. Any comments, questions, encouragement, criticisms, warnings, suggestions etc etc gratefully welcomed!


Pictures to kick off, the Landlord asked if I could tidy a piece of hedge for him, overgrown and unkept, it was the final piece of hedge there that was not being looked after. My father knows a bit about hedge laying, and with me as his apprentice, we laid this piece, not to win any awards, but to tidy the job up a bit.

 

[GTB]

Best of luck with your new project. Keep the pics coming. How many acres?

 

[FonterraFarmer]

Good luck with your new enterprise, keep the pictures coming, but remember we only poke fun at the 94 Series

 

[uztrac]

Excellent chronicle,keep them coming please.

 

[GTB]

but remember we only poke fun at the 94 Series

...and John Deeres

 

[Selectamatic]

Best of luck with your new project. Keep the pics coming. How many acres?

Thank you,

6 acres. A corner of a field to some, but a start for me.

 

[yellowbelly]

Congratulations on becoming a farmer. It's downhill all the way from now on.
Good luck and keep us posted.

 

[J 1177]

Keep em coming it will be good to see.

 

[GTB]

Thank you,

6 acres. A corner of a field to some, but a start for me.

Don't worry, some of the best farmers I know started with nothing. Some of the worst started with hundreds of acres handed to them on a plate and they still f**ked it up.

 

[Henarar]

Don't worry, some of the best farmers I know started with nothing. Some of the worst started with hundreds of acres handed to them on a plate and they still fudgeed it up.

plenty in that

 

[rob1]

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

 

[Selectamatic]

Did a bit of ploughing today...

The ploughing will, after the bad weather thats forecast, will be worked down and Barley will be sown, next week sometime I hope...

Just fitted the genuine depth wheel to the plough, I was left the plough in the will of a friend, since then I found a set of auto reset trips for the legs, and more recently a depth wheel. the last one was a home made affair which worked ok but looked a bit Heath Robinson.

It's a great plough for ploughing little or awkward fields, I would have dreaded ploughing something like this with the reversible, there would have been more headland than field!!

The tractor is our 1494, (some ex Harper students might recognise it?). It's one of the many front line tractors, usually the 1212 is used on this plough, but that was attached to something else, and the 1494's cab is a nicer place to spend your day.

Sandy soil in good condition, soft, damp and turning over well. Looks like a good time to be ploughing...

 

[David.]

Don't worry it will still grow even if it is not straight.
Burying nicely.

 

[Selectamatic]

Don't worry it will still grow even if it is not straight.
Burying nicely.

Camera must be playing up...

 

[multi power]

Not much wrong with that ploughing

 

[spin cycle]

Don't worry it will still grow even if it is not straight.
Burying nicely.

certainly my motto

 

[Selectamatic]

After a lot of rain yesterday, the sandy soil that I ploughed had dried nicely and surprisingly quickly, so out came the cultivation and sowing toys!

Selectamatic Senior was feeling a bit under the weather, so Mrs S came to give me a hand instead, (Thanks Mrs S! ) she is much more artistic than me with camera, below are some of her photos, I'm the ugly one with the hat on!

I borrowed a neighbours flat roller to go over the furrows pre Power Harrowing, and for a old roller with a home made frame, it did a very good job!

After the roller came the Power Harrow, yes, I know, its a nasty light duty Lely with a nastier still crumbler roller, but it goes ok, the tines are good, and for the modest acreage that I do, it does the job fine. This was mid morning with a bit of sun on it's back, it went through lovely and dry.

After the Power Harrow was put away, and I'd scoffed some dinner, I brought the drill out, which brought on the black clouds. As I was nearing the end it started to rain, the soil becoming tacky of the wheels.

I've sowed just under 75kg/acre of Hacker Spring Barley (I'm pretty sure it was that, the name just escapes me at the moment, it's been a long day!) with our Wartsilla 2.4m Combine Drill. Dad brought this drill new in the 70's and by now it's done thousands of acres for us, all relatively trouble free too. These days no one bothers to put Fert down the spout while sowing, I did not today either, as I think that the land is in fairly good heart as it is.
The 996 is a great little tractor for sowing, light and nimble, and a totally different tractor when the loader is taken off. It spends most of it's days stuck on the loader as a yard tractor, so a little workout wont do it any harm!

I was going to roll it with a cambridge roller once finished, but that was a fruitless task after the rain. Now then chaps, if it does not dry up soon, how long would you leave it before rolling? I know of a few around here who shut the gate once the drill is done, but our habit always had been to lightly roll after the drill. Suggestions, anyone?

 

[spin cycle]

you can wait until it's 3-4 true leaves if you want...better than panicking and rolling wet...mind you if it keeps raining i wouldn't bother at all as the soil will settle naturally under the action of the rain

 

[Selectamatic]

Well, good news and bad news...

Good news, the spuds are in!

Lovely evening tonight, dried nicely over the past few days, so in they go.

Hitched the old Howard 70ins Rotavator to the 996, I doubt it would last to do many acres, but it does ok for the small patches like this that I do. It certainly gave the tractor a good workout...

Last time I tried to plant potatoes, I had a Ransomes faun thingy, and could not get on with it at all, I found a Fergie potato planter, recommended by Mr S Senior, who had one many years ago.

I hitched it up to the 780, which has been in the middle of restoration for many years! It goes like a little rocket, wheel widths set to fit the spud planter. Thanks to Mr S Senior and Mrs S for their help with the planting!

Set at about 18ins between plants, I have sown three varieties, a Row of "Red Duke of York" which are, apparently earlies, the remainder are Pentland Crown, and King Edward. Im looking forward to see what comes of them...

Bad news, I'm worried about my barley.

It was a fortnight last Sunday when it was sown, toward the end it turned a bit wet, after drying out well, I rolled it with a cambridge roller, problem is, it went chucked it down with rain since then until a few days ago, the bits that have just had a roller over them are coming out ok, but where the tractor has been, headlands etc look poor, nothing to be seen, and the ground looks capped.

Am I worrying unnecessarily, and asking too much too soon, will it pop out soon? Or is it stuck in a hard bed and wont come out?

Suggestions, anyone?

 

[spin cycle]

headlands probably gone down tight.....there was no reason to roll it....if you really wanted to you should've waited until it was up
did you drill headlands first...or cultivate back up then drill last?

spuds look good