Sowing peas...!!

[Kiwi Pete]

Rotavator here ...............

What size and size tractor do you use?
I honestly can't figure why every man and dog has a power harrow (one trick pony) and not some type of rotavator/rotospike.
Especially with a seeder piggybacked on top... then you have an awesome machine
But folk all want their own powerharrow strikes me as odd.
Farmers strike me as odd, which is why I'm not a farmer, I'm a part-time rancher, hippy, and resident forum loony

 

[Bury the Trash]

What size and size tractor do you use?
I honestly can't figure why every man and dog has a power harrow (one trick pony) and not some type of rotavator/rotospike.
Especially with a seeder piggybacked on top... then you have an awesome machine
But folk all want their own powerharrow strikes me as odd.
Farmers strike me as odd, which is why I'm not a farmer, I'm a part-time rancher, hippy, and resident forum loony

72 hp on a 72 inch one which is not too bad .....its holding it back really as the rotor tries to push the tractor forwards ..

we have got 2 powerharrows too

one reason they went to power harrows was because they dont pan the ground in damper or wetter soil conditions......a rotavator is alright for one pass when its nice and dry ...which is actually when one should be tilling the anyway..........in theory at least....

 

[Kiwi Pete]

72 hp on a 72 inch one which is not too bad .....its holding it back really as the rotor tries to push the tractor forwards ..

we have got 2 powerharrows too

one they went to power harrows was to not pan the ground in dmper or wtter soil conditions......a rotavator is alright for one pass when its nice and dry ...which is actually when one should be tilling the anyway..........in theory at least....

Yes there are some awfully strange ideas in farming certain parts of the world
One of my favourites is "I don't have enough grass for rotational grazing" closely followed by "it's always too wet on our farm so that's why direct drilling can't work here"


Yet a pan is something you cook chips in after a big day pulling 8 furrows through the slop- ah well, not my trainset.

That compaction can sell horsepower is the paradox of our time

 

[Bury the Trash]

i do know of some one who put a box drill on the back of a wider rotavator .......he preferred this to a powerharrow which is a bit more vulnerable on bad stone patches and really hard ground .....
its easier to get hold of secondhand powerharrows than rotavators now of course which is part of the thing

 

[Bury the Trash]

chucking chicory on the fields as and when as they are reseeded into the ley part of the rotation is easy and cheap way to sort out cultivation weight / damage and to structure ....its done its job by the time it dies out ......as long then you dont plop about with big silage kit .easier said than done ...when its wet conditions which is quite often in the wrong season here ....

 

[hendrebc]

Swap with us for a year Average rainfall here is around 640mm but a dry year would be 500 or less.

Otoh in winter 2000 we recorded over a metre near here.

The climate it be-a-changin'

Thats a kind offer but im ok thanks ive.grown quite fond of my patch if mud id love to come visit one day though
Im not sure they let the welsh that far over the border either
Climate yes i think so. I think we get the same amount of rain as we used to just now we get it all at one then none for a couple of months. Usually when you are waiting for a crop to grow and need water for it then it starts raining as your ready to cut it and forgets to stop for a long time

 

[Kiwi Pete]

Thats a kind offer but im ok thanks ive.grown quite fond of my patch if mud id love to come visit one day though
Im not sure they let the welsh that far over the border either
Climate yes i think so. I think we get the same amount of rain as we used to just now we get it all at one then none for a couple of months. Usually when you are waiting for a crop to grow and need water for it then it starts raining as your ready to cut it and forgets to stop for a long time

It says a lot for the good old permanent pasture system really... low tech and uneventful but uber-reliable in this ever-changing world.

As said at the very start of this thread a crop is a hell of a risk in my opinion... luckily we've had just enough drizzle and the odd shower which has kept it goung, tractor tyres were constantly wet while mowing kinda shows there is no substitute for green covers really.

We should have a small sweepstake on how many bales I'm going to get...
35 would be a good start, that's a bale per day for 5 weeks

I may get Ricky to keep them smallish in size to get a few extra bales - what's everyone's guess?

It's about 5.4 acres/2.18 ha going by my calculations

 

[Dead Rabbits]

It says a lot for the good old permanent pasture system really... low tech and uneventful but uber-reliable in this ever-changing world.

As said at the very start of this thread a crop is a hell of a risk in my opinion... luckily we've had just enough drizzle and the odd shower which has kept it goung, tractor tyres were constantly wet while mowing kinda shows there is no substitute for green covers really.

We should have a small sweepstake on how many bales I'm going to get...
35 would be a good start, that's a bale per day for 5 weeks

I may get Ricky to keep them smallish in size to get a few extra bales - what's everyone's guess?

It's about 5.4 acres/2.18 ha going by my calculationsView attachment 615846

Pete it looks good and all, but if you really wanted to establish yourself as the neighborhood loon, you should have grazed it and trampled 75%. Then you could be known as THAT guy. The one who wasted all that feed in a drought.

 

[Kiwi Pete]

Pete it looks good and all, but if you really wanted to establish yourself as the neighborhood loon, you should have grazed it and trampled 75%. Then you could be known as THAT guy. The one who wasted all that feed in a drought.

You mean like this guy....


Strange how a reel of polywire can grow more grass than a big bag of nitrogen...
Also strange how many farmers are in denial and what that costs them

 

[Farmer Roy]

It was only going to be light grazing in winter or early spring nothing too heavy. Some varieties are more suited to grazing than others but i havent read into it much was just one of the many ideas rattling round in my head

Quite common here, with dual purpose barley & wheat, for grazing & grain. Specific long season varieties that have a "winter" habit ie, they don't run to head early.
Grazing starts once good root system established & plant is anchored & tillerinf. Grazing can continue until head initiation & it starts to move up the stem. If left too late, then no grain. Generally get 2 - 3 months grazing. We also have dual purpose canola ( OSR ) used for grain & grazing.
Next year I am planning on planting at least half my cereal area to a dual purpose wheat ( assuming I can get water organised ) & buying in store cattle to graze it.

 

[Farmer Roy]

Err, I see nothing that looks " dry " in any of those pictures

 

[Farmer Roy]

Yes there are some awfully strange ideas in farming certain parts of the world
One of my favourites is "I don't have enough grass for rotational grazing" closely followed by "it's always too wet on our farm so that's why direct drilling can't work here"


Yet a pan is something you cook chips in after a big day pulling 8 furrows through the slop- ah well, not my trainset.

That compaction can sell horsepower is the paradox of our time

There is always a problem for every solution. . . .

 

[holwellcourtfarm]

Thats a kind offer but im ok thanks ive.grown quite fond of my patch if mud id love to come visit one day though
Im not sure they let the welsh that far over the border either
Climate yes i think so. I think we get the same amount of rain as we used to just now we get it all at one then none for a couple of months. Usually when you are waiting for a crop to grow and need water for it then it starts raining as your ready to cut it and forgets to stop for a long time

If you're mad enough to come to London in the next 5 years with an hour spare then shout, we'd happily host. You can be here by train in 25 minutes from Kings Cross.

By then we may have grazing worth showing you!

.
We should have a small sweepstake on how many bales I'm going to get...
35 would be a good start, that's a bale per day for 5 weeks

I may get Ricky to keep them smallish in size to get a few extra bales - what's everyone's guess?

It's about 5.4 acres/2.18 ha going by my calculationsView attachment 615846

The mower swaths look thick but could wilt quite a bit of bulk being more than just grass

I'll jump in with 38 as a prediction (subject to bake size/weight leaving me wriggle room)

Err, I see nothing that looks " dry " in any of those pictures

Now you're just boasting

 

[holwellcourtfarm]

i do know of some one who put a box drill on the back of a wider rotavator .......he preferred this to a powerharrow which is a bit more vulnerable on bad stone patches and really hard ground .....
its easier to get hold of secondhand powerharrows than rotavators now of course which is part of the thing

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Rotavato...587515?hash=item4d6a29843b:g:Eh8AAOSwHmNZwNzo

They are still about.....

 

[JD-Kid]

i do know of some one who put a box drill on the back of a wider rotavator .......he preferred this to a powerharrow which is a bit more vulnerable on bad stone patches and really hard ground .....
its easier to get hold of secondhand powerharrows than rotavators now of course which is part of the thing

put a pre ripper on in front and the jobs all done
rotospikes do hate stones tho mind you most things pto driven are not too keen
had both a powerharrow and a rotospike like the rotospike better in some areas

 

[Kiwi Pete]

put a pre ripper on in front and the jobs all done
rotospikes do hate stones tho mind you most things pto driven are not too keen
had both a powerharrow and a rotospike like the rotospike better in some areas

What sort of rock do you have up there on them hills of yours?
Is it that hard white stuff that makes sparks or greywacke?
Down here by the sea it's mostly that soft blue stuff and the 'spike just blows on through it.
Kiddy rocks was one of the many reasons I was so keen to move down here and not further inland.
Don't like rocks unless I'm getting mine off

 

[hendrebc]

Im going to jump in with a maybe optimistic 50 bales.
HCF as much as i would like to come going near London might mean i probably wont come ive never been but it sounds like a truly awful place! But who knows stranger things have happened

 

[JD-Kid]

hard rocks hahahaha formed by fire
big thing i find is powerharrow i had used to have a flosting packer so ppowerharrow could jump up if it hit anything rotospike fixed packer so trys to eather thump rock in to ground or lift whole machine up

 

[Bury the Trash]

not mine btw.... but...been there done that,worst thing was volunteers.......soon .after combing to save time (cost difference per acre wasnt alot (using contractor anyway ).........barley all grew and smothered the greencrop...
so went back to ploughing which buried enough of the wasted barley to allow the turnip rape etc to start without comp.

but worked over once as in false seedbed or over wintering the stubble bit like in this vd would be better as volunteers would have been eaten or grown out so different matter.
also not evident in this vid but its not quite so level for putting down a ley either,.... for grazing ok .....but for cutting just not quite as level for the mower etc....than plough and harrow.....

 

[Bury the Trash]

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Rotavato...587515?hash=item4d6a29843b:g:Eh8AAOSwHmNZwNzo

They are still about.....

thats way too expensive for what it is ........

........using bought right old/rebuilt kit is the best option to contractors for the smaller chap imo...trouble is got to wait for few years for the best cutting edge (proven ) kit to filter through the system ...ie jd750a .....
what also doesnt help the whole thing is if yer a bit impatient (read frustrated ) 'waiting' for that opotunity being as using contractors is against yer religion.....