Successful machinery collaboration

[jackrussell101]

Does anyone do it with success?

Surely on paper if it's feasible participating farmers would save on capital costs and repair costs from dilution?

Obviously there are certain issues with narrow weather windows and people relationships, has anyone had bad experiences?

 

[jackrussell101]

Assuming something like a hedge cutter is much easier to share than a combine?

 

[robs1]

Shared a baler with my best mate and a wrapper with him and ex FiL.. Never had any huge problems with either except neither knew what a grease gun or maintenance was.

 

[7610 super q]

Nah, climate ain't good enough for that in this country.

 

[Wellytrack]

Mechanical knowledge on both sides essential.

Years back we shared a harvester and trailers. Sort of came about he owned the harvester and trailers and we owned the burnt out belts, broken flails and punctures.

 

[Princess Pooper]

I've a family member who is employed to run an 'in house contracting service' for 3 farms. Basically they own this separate company, which owns all the main machinery and employs the labour. It then supplies contract services to each of them.

Different soil types and crops allows a greater spread of workload and fewer clashes; they obviously try and plan the cropping across the whole 3 farms to make things as smooth as possible. Each individual farm may have an old tractor and few bits of kit for pottering about the yard, but all the major field operations are supplied by the contracting company.

 

[Adeptandy]

Been doing it for 3 years with a combine, some years its OK this year i suffered badly cutting after the storms. I'd happily go back on my own if I could get out of the arrangement.

 

[nick...]

I can never see this working.my late dad tried with a couple of local farms probably 30 years ago and it was a non starter.think you would need farms he same size too if it was to be a goer.everyone allways leaves maintenance to others and when things get damaged no one knows anything about it.
nick...

 

[Chae1]

Don't think it works. Was going to buy a sprayer off a farmer. He had agreement with neighbour, friend. He was going to do his neighbour's drilling. Neighbour do his spraying.

Saw someone else drilling at his neighbour's Sunday! Deal off. Had agreed a price subject to viewing.

 

[Bossfarmer]

Does anyone do it with success?

Surely on paper if it's feasible participating farmers would save on capital costs and repair costs from dilution?

Obviously there are certain issues with narrow weather windows and people relationships, has anyone had bad experiences?

youd be aswell just to buy 2nd hand?

 

[Netherfield]

Weather's your enemy, everybody wants the mower, forager, combine, trailers when the sun is shining, others can have them when it's raining.

We even tried sharing cost of fencing with a neighbour, still waiting for their share 30 years later.

 

[Tomr10]

Been doing it for 3 years with a combine, some years its OK this year i suffered badly cutting after the storms. I'd happily go back on my own if I could get out of the arrangement.

I was wondering if someone would tag you

 

[Chae1]

In my experience one party does all the repairing/maintenance. You go and pick it up and its unusable, broken. Nobody ever tells you this before.

Need one driver.

 

[Bald Rick]

Would you share your wife?

That’s your answer

(If yes, pm me ...)

 

[Tomr10]

PM sent I've had all the good years out of her

 

[HarryB97]

Everyone I no who has done such an arrangement has ended up getting out of it and buying their own kit. It only really works if you are both careful and good at maintenance and one of you is very relaxed and don’t mind waiting. Sounds like a good way to ruin a friendship

 

[Tomr10]

Probably better of as a contractor rather than owning half by something slightly better than you need for yourself and do a little contrating to make up for it

 

[puppet]

We share/ borrow kit from 3 neighbours, mostly tractors, trailers or some labour. . Work out a reasonable rate for activity and have a bill if it is unequal at end of the year. Use some grease and take care of stuff. If a hydraulic hose bursts then I will fix it even if has been rubbed through for years before to show some goodwill.

 

[marco]

The only way it works is if you agree a price per acre for each job and who does it. IE one guy mows and charges another picks up and some pushes up. So if one person starts doing bigger acres he is paying extra for it. Same with tillage, agree a price for spraying sowing etc. And at the end of the year sort out the difference. Sharing a piece of machinery doesn't work. Does the person who was using it when it broke pay for the repair or everyone? That's why people fall out, oh I wanted X brand and you bought y and I'm not happy.

 

[T Hectares]

I've a family member who is employed to run an 'in house contracting service' for 3 farms. Basically they own this separate company, which owns all the main machinery and employs the labour. It then supplies contract services to each of them.

Different soil types and crops allows a greater spread of workload and fewer clashes; they obviously try and plan the cropping across the whole 3 farms to make things as smooth as possible. Each individual farm may have an old tractor and few bits of kit for pottering about the yard, but all the major field operations are supplied by the contracting company.

I helped set up and manage a similar arrangement nearly 10 years ago and it’s still going strong
Arrangements like this are all about the People...