Getting started at Westbridge Hills

Griphos
Posts: 83
Joined: Tue Jun 24, 2014 2:14 am

Re: Getting started at Westbridge Hills

Post by Griphos »

Yes it is. I appreciate everyone chiming in. Hard mode for me next farm! I'm thinking of creating a MR mod folder with just the four basic MR mods that I can swap out with my my current small selection of choice mods and start Hagenstedt with that way of playing. Looks very interesting.

I'd found the quantum 3800. I have enough money to buy it now, but no real need yet. I'm not sure where I would store all the grass, since it would be way more than what the trough would hold. I suppose that's what balers are for, but then we're talking a lot of equipment - rower, Tedder, baler, bale wagon, and then some way to turn the bale back into forage for the trough, right? (Wish I could just put round bales in the pasture for free choice eating which is what I do IRL).

I'm afraid the estate agent idea is not clear to me. I'll do a little research on that.
FarmerJeff
Posts: 259
Joined: Mon May 27, 2013 10:43 pm

Re: Getting started at Westbridge Hills

Post by FarmerJeff »

The grass can be sold as is at several different locations in Westbridge Hills. They're those mounds of what look like Straw, which is what I tried to do at first, sell my Straw there. There's one at the Cow farm, opposite the milking station. You can sell your grass there at 5 cents per liter on Hard mode, so the 31,800 liter Claas can sell a load of grass for $1,590, I guess twice that at Normal mode.

The cows in Westbridge Hills aren't as enlightened. "What does he expect us to do with this? How can we eat this? It's so ............ round. Doesn't he even know that? Doesn't he care that we'll all starve? Moo! Boo! Moo!"
Last edited by FarmerJeff on Tue Jul 01, 2014 5:29 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Griphos
Posts: 83
Joined: Tue Jun 24, 2014 2:14 am

Re: Getting started at Westbridge Hills

Post by Griphos »

:-)

Yeah, I'd suspected I could sell the grass. What I wish for is a place to store it so I could load it as needed for the troughs. That makes sense, right?
FarmerJeff
Posts: 259
Joined: Mon May 27, 2013 10:43 pm

Re: Getting started at Westbridge Hills

Post by FarmerJeff »

Oh, I see. Yep, the game makes you use bales to feed. I use a number of Ursus pieces of equipment that are working out well for baling. With the automatic bale loading and un-loading wagon, I was stacking bales before I needed to buy a front loader. I love using all these pieces of equipment with a purpose around the Cow farm.
Griphos
Posts: 83
Joined: Tue Jun 24, 2014 2:14 am

Re: Getting started at Westbridge Hills

Post by Griphos »

I bought the Ursus DLC on sale last week, so I'll give that equipment a good look when I get further along.

If the Westbridge Hills livestock aren't as "enlightened," they're not so far behind RL cows or sheep, especially cows (which don't appear to be much smarter than my chickens, despite having brains roughly a million times larger), although mine have always known what to do with a big bale of hay without any coaching!!

I never really gave this sim any thought in the past. I only got it because a friend kept nagging me about it. It's surprisingly addictive. IRL I've never done what I would call real farming (row crops, etc). I have about 25 acres of mostly rock and raise goats or sheep and at times a cow or two (mostly to eat) and have chickens. I've done plenty of feeding, but my hay experience has been restricted to buying it (at exorbitant prices lately) and putting it out to feed. I can handle a front loader and bale spears, but that's about the extent of my equipment as well. It's delightful to simulate an experience I was always close to but never fully involved in during my life.
Griphos
Posts: 83
Joined: Tue Jun 24, 2014 2:14 am

Re: Getting started at Westbridge Hills

Post by Griphos »

So, help me out with bales. I just couldn't resist the little JD baler (for less than $3000) from the classics mod pack. I have an old bar mower as well. I was thinking I would mow around the bar ditches under "contract" with the county and bale up the grass, and also bale up the straw from harvests. It's the small square bales.

Would I just store them until I get a shredder? How would I turned baled grass into silage? Can I bale grass if it hasn't been tedded? I think not. I guess I need a tedder. But, say I get one, and ted and then bale the grass, which will then be hay. Can I just stack them anywhere until I get a mixer and then use them to feed the cows when I buy some.

I'm thinking it was a silly whim to buy that baler! But I'd kind of like to experiment with it to learn a bit before investing in the big stuff. I have a Bobcat with implements, so could stack them around somewhere if that is possible and have a head start on feed when I get cows. Yes?

EDIT: I bought an old New Holland rake that was sitting out back of the store, neglected. It's 3m wide, and not only tedders the grass, but windrows it too! A steal of a deal! I got 13 smail square bales just out of the strip of bar ditch between the sheep pens and the farm along the south edge of Field 11. The county may not renew my contract, though, as I knocked down the speed limit sign at the southwest corner of that field. I just barely bumped it with that rake! Wood post must have been rotten!

When I sell my next crop, I'll buy that ancient Lizard bale loading wagon that was out back with the rake. $9000, so it isn't cheap, but it seems like it will get the job done. Until then, I'll just let those bales sit in the bar ditch. I've got to figure out where to store them anyway.

My second crop of canola should be ready to harvest day after tomorrow. After those foolish purchases (I should really stay out of behind the store in that old old bargain lot!), I can't afford to hire help for the harvest, so I'll have to do it myself. I harvested the first crop alone. Takes a bit longer with a lot of running across the field to retrieve the tractor and wagon, but it gets done.
pigpen
Posts: 609
Joined: Thu Dec 20, 2012 10:47 am
Location: North Carolina Coast

Re: Getting started at Westbridge Hills

Post by pigpen »

put a mower on the front of your tractor and the New Holland rake on the back then you can mow, tedder and windrow all at the same time saving a bunch of time. as for the John Deere baler to me its a pile of s**t there is no loading trailer that will pick these bales up. the Ursus baler is much better but costs 40000 Dollars.
Alienware PC.
Griphos
Posts: 83
Joined: Tue Jun 24, 2014 2:14 am

Re: Getting started at Westbridge Hills

Post by Griphos »

The Lizard bale loading wagon won't load these bales? The Ursus or Deere 864 is on my "to buy" list.

A mower on the front is a good idea, but I need a tractor that has a front PTO. Neither my Schluter or Ford do.

EDIT: Okay, I convinced the dealer to let me "test drive" the Lizard. He wasn't getting much interest in it anyway! And, sure enough, those little bales are too small for it, I guess, or the internal workings (FS mod scripts of the bales) just aren't suited to each other. What a shame! I liked that little baler. I should have resisted that buy impulse! Things are cheap for a reason!

Still, for the cost of $800, the dealer let me have a fork that would fit my Bobcat and work on those bales. Since I'd laid them in a long row along the bar ditch, I actually just poked the first one end on and then proceeded to "stack" them in line pushing them all down to the other end of the field. Got all twelve of them lined up and pushed that way. Saved a lot of driving. Looked pretty funny too. I just forked them and stacked them by the sheep pen for now.

I suppose I could buy that old Fahr baler he's got back in the back. That would work with the Lizard, but that's $18,000 for making and gathering little square bales of hay. I can spend about twice that and have the Deere 864 and a nice round bale loader/wagon like the Ursus or the EuroDZN RBT-8. Handling those little bales is pretty tedious! I think I'll sell the little Deere baler (money down the drain) and wait until I can afford the round bale equipment.

Anyone know if the Deere 864 makes bales that work with either the Ursus or EuroDZN?
Bootdancer47
Posts: 381
Joined: Thu Feb 20, 2014 10:47 pm

Re: Getting started at Westbridge Hills

Post by Bootdancer47 »

pigpen wrote:put a mower on the front of your tractor and the New Holland rake on the back then you can mow, tedder and windrow all at the same time saving a bunch of time. as for the John Deere baler to me its a pile of s**t there is no loading trailer that will pick these bales up. the Ursus baler is much better but costs 40000 Dollars.
On ls-modding there is a trailer(UBT? new and used models ) that claims to auto load the JD 24T bales. I downloaded it a couple days ago but haven't been able to test it out yet since my disc player needs to be re-placed first(it is on the floor just waiting for my son to come over to do it--he is my own personal computer IT).
pigpen
Posts: 609
Joined: Thu Dec 20, 2012 10:47 am
Location: North Carolina Coast

Re: Getting started at Westbridge Hills

Post by pigpen »

I like the New Holland baler from the mod contest but my loading trailer treats them as large bales and stacks them oddly. for a person that is starting a new game the Ursus pack can be a lifesaver. start by buying a front mower the New Holland rake and Ursus baler the Ursus bale wrapper and the Ursus loading trailer. these wrapped bales make over 5000 dollars per bale. on the Westbridge map I baled around field 15 and got 4 bales wrapped them and made over 20000 dollars.
Alienware PC.
Griphos
Posts: 83
Joined: Tue Jun 24, 2014 2:14 am

Re: Getting started at Westbridge Hills

Post by Griphos »

I'm leery of mods from somewhere other than Mod Hub and FS-UK. But I'll look for the one you mention. I have the Ursus pack so that may be the way I go.
pigpen
Posts: 609
Joined: Thu Dec 20, 2012 10:47 am
Location: North Carolina Coast

Re: Getting started at Westbridge Hills

Post by pigpen »

totally agree with you about the mod sites. I will download a map once in a while and I like the ih and Ford force mods other than that I rarely download mods. have you tried the old family farm map?
Alienware PC.
sfy
Posts: 1104
Joined: Mon Jan 14, 2013 9:08 am

Re: Getting started at Westbridge Hills

Post by sfy »

there are actually some good mods to be found on Mod Hoster, but you really need to watch their 5 star rating system.
there was a nice JD 7R series http://www.modhoster.com/mods/john-deer ... 7r-9-l-set and http://www.modhoster.com/mods/jhon-deer ... -6-8-l-set

between them they have 285,000 downloads. and they are hosted on modhoster, instead of one of the "other" download sites that no one trusts. these 2 are just an example of course, but they demonstrate there is good stuff out there, you just have to really look for it, and maybe find a mod maker/ mod team that puts out good stuff
Griphos
Posts: 83
Joined: Tue Jun 24, 2014 2:14 am

Re: Getting started at Westbridge Hills

Post by Griphos »

I'll take a look. Most things there seem to described in German. Are the help menus and info at the store in German also? Guess I could try one out to see, huh?
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