Stone damage to harvester

[benferg]

I think by the above comments I can pick who are contractors & who farmers....

We run a rockstop & they are great, but we still get damage. you can't stop the small stuff going through & the big stuff can still damage the feed rollers as that's the part that does the detecting.

The good farmers will take responsibility for whats inside their fields, the bad ones haven't a clue where half the troughs are....
I've seen a farmer pay a $60,000 bill to rebuild a drum & he still uses that contractor. That's a client/farmer/contractor worth looking after I think.

Another farmer I know would pay the repair bill if it happened at his place. He mows the outside round of a paddock as a starting point.

 

[Mr Charisma]

This is the first year due to conditions that we were unable to roll the seeds due to conditions ,,,,,,, had a very nervous time whilst they were picked up as we would feel oblidged to rectify any damage

 

[kiwi pom]

Lots of things to consider.
How did you get the problem jobs, are they other contractors cast offs?
How good are the customers, good payers lots of work etc.
Whos doing the mowing and raking, if its you that should be your early warning that there's stone etc in the paddock so you can have a discussion before you chop it.
I've mown well rolled stony paddocks with no problem then the rake drivers come along and flicked them all out of the ground next cut it was a nightmare..
Now you've had a problem you should probably talk to all your customers before you do the work so everyone knows where they stand.

 

[holywell farmer]

Depends if he's rolled his fields or not

Some can't be bothered,

 

[massey765]

Back in the day i used to get the customer to insure the cutterhead for foreign object damage until somebody said a stone in a feild is not a foreign object
So we got them to insure the cutterhead for damage


It's all in the small print

 

[spikeislander]

this is a tough one, we do contracting but not grass, I think if I hit a stone while combining it would be my problem and unless the farmer offered I think I would have to use my insurance. I have a feeling if I said at the start that any damage I do to my machines would have to go through their insurance they would a) look a bit sideways or b) look elsewhere.
I think its a risk of the job, if it keeps happening at the same farm then address the problem or walk away

 

[BobGreen]

When I was contacting over 20 years ago and using 10x s which had just come out had two major blow ups in one season. One due to a fork tine the other stones. Both times it put blade straight through back door of trailer. £ 6000 a time
Insurance paid out but there was a £1000 excess on policy which was passed onto customer and every customer was warned that so they could roll fields if they chose to !
Thing was though sometimes a stone would crack a knife unnoticed which would let go at next farm so perhaps that customer wasn't really responsible but I never told them that
Second machine had metal detector but stone damage was always a problem especially on some farms where the roller didn't move from one year to the next

 

[james ds]

Farmers have to be held responceable for everything in their fields , stones should not be in silage fields , how can you expect contractors to survive hitting foreign objects , and it's not even the replacement parts cost but the lost working time . Contractors can't be breaking down due to lazy useless farmers who don't give a f....

 

[Dead Rabbits]

Farmers have to be held responceable for everything in their fields , stones should not be in silage fields , how can you expect contractors to survive hitting foreign objects , and it's not even the replacement parts cost but the lost working time . Contractors can't be breaking down due to lazy useless farmers who don't give a f....

Wow I am blown away reading this thread. Never even considered that a farmer was liable for damages to a hired machine. I used to foreman a combine crew in the US, and that is NOT how it works. Never did a silage crew but can't see why it would be any different here.
The amount of sh!t we picked up, including rocks, was incredible. Farmer not liable one bit, if he was considerate he might mention a few of the hidden objects. One farm we essentially rock picked every year by collecting the rocks on the feeder house that we took out of the header. Ever seen how fast a rotor will wind up electric fence? Hidden 8 inch well casing vs draped head?

 

[T Bourne]

Wow I am blown away reading this thread. Never even considered that a farmer was liable for damages to a hired machine. I used to foreman a combine crew in the US, and that is NOT how it works. Never did a silage crew but can't see why it would be any different here.
The amount of sh!t we picked up, including rocks, was incredible. Farmer not liable one bit, if he was considerate he might mention a few of the hidden objects. One farm we essentially rock picked every year by collecting the rocks on the feeder house that we took out of the header. Ever seen how fast a rotor will wind up electric fence? Hidden 8 inch well casing vs draped head?

Still, doesn't mean it's right.

 

[mushnt grummmble]

Wow I am blown away reading this thread. Never even considered that a farmer was liable for damages to a hired machine. I used to foreman a combine crew in the US, and that is NOT how it works. Never did a silage crew but can't see why it would be any different here.
The amount of sh!t we picked up, including rocks, was incredible. Farmer not liable one bit, if he was considerate he might mention a few of the hidden objects. One farm we essentially rock picked every year by collecting the rocks on the feeder house that we took out of the header. Ever seen how fast a rotor will wind up electric fence? Hidden 8 inch well casing vs draped head?

This post contradicts its self

 

[deere 6600]

This post contradicts its self

I agree Mr farmer should roll his fields etc part of what I think is their part of 'the bargain' but with the best will in the world stone damage can still occur if a rival contracter has a rock stopper then sorry chaps if it means farmer does not have to take responsibility for damage he is goin to get the job appreciate will just encourage more to no bother rolling if the fields etc are a bomb site don't go back Or buy a wagon ,oh crap what have I just said . I was carting alongside a self prop one year when it hit a stone holy sh!t what a fright

 

[Bumble Bee]

this is a tough one, we do contracting but not grass, I think if I hit a stone while combining it would be my problem and unless the farmer offered I think I would have to use my insurance. I have a feeling if I said at the start that any damage I do to my machines would have to go through their insurance they would a) look a bit sideways or b) look elsewhere.
I think its a risk of the job, if it keeps happening at the same farm then address the problem or walk away

We've had damage to our combine due to stones (and customers not being bothered to pick stones). One resulted in a complete new 30' header auger. No chance of getting customers to stump up for the repair bill.

The most frustrating thing is when customers insist that the field has been rolled/picked and tell you to keep the header down as we need the straw. I now have a policy that if this is the case and I fined 1 stone the customer is informed, shown said stone and the header gets lifted up to at least 4 inches of the ground! At least the header then has a chance to rumble over the stone.

A lot of years ago I remember gathering up a lot of stones with our old Deutz combine. The customer insisted that they had picked all stone but it was blatantly obvious that they hadn't. As I was cutting the elevator chain out of the stone trap with the gas axe his father came along and said "well you don't need to bother picking stones when you use a contractor" and he meant it. Needless to say that somebody now cuts his crops.

 

[newhollandkid]

Farmers have to be held responceable for everything in their fields , stones should not be in silage fields , how can you expect contractors to survive hitting foreign objects , and it's not even the replacement parts cost but the lost working time . Contractors can't be breaking down due to lazy useless farmers who don't give a f....

Exactly right if these boys had to pay for the damage out of thier own pocket and listen to the phone hopping on a sunny week and you sitting broke because of thier laziness theyd change thier tune. And its these type of people who would go get someone else because your broke and cant cone on to them when they want

 

[kiwi pom]

Exactly right if these boys had to pay for the damage out of thier own pocket and listen to the phone hopping on a sunny week and you sitting broke because of thier laziness theyd change thier tune. And its these type of people who would go get someone else because your broke and cant cone on to them when they want

So have you spoken to your customers about it yet?
When you had your blow ups did you ask the farmer to pay before you claimed on your insurance?

 

[Pebd99]

Was a close one

 

[Speedstar]

Exactly right if these boys had to pay for the damage out of thier own pocket and listen to the phone hopping on a sunny week and you sitting broke because of thier laziness theyd change thier tune. And its these type of people who would go get someone else because your broke and cant cone on to them when they want

Why do you not go & roll the farmers silage fields & lift the stones etc like we do for some people, or buy a rock stopper, it is that simple

 

[Dead Rabbits]

This post contradicts its self

No it does not. Just of the opinion that things must be very different over there between custom harvesters and farmers. Never even considered that a farmer is liable for a hired machines damages. Never heard of a case of a farmer paying outright for a hired machines repairs. That's why A farmer hires it done right? No repairs.

 

[Speedstar]

No it does not. Just of the opinion that things must be very different over there between custom harvesters and farmers. Never even considered that a farmer is liable for a hired machines damages. Never heard of a case of a farmer paying outright for a hired machines repairs. That's why A farmer hires it done right? No repairs.

If we have a muck spreader out on hire & has a big stone or some thing in it then the farmer foots the bill as the machine is on self drive hire to them & they will have signed for it & the terms and conditions that go along with it

 

[Dead Rabbits]

If we have a muck spreader out on hire & has a big stone or some thing in it then the farmer foots the bill as the machine is on self drive hire to them & they will have signed for it & the terms and conditions that go along with it

That's understandable, it's stated in a contract and the farmer is driving it. None of the harvesting I ever did had a contract. Everything handshake deals