Aborting studies to help gramps farming in Calmsden

Share your creations with us!
humbe
Posts: 1364
Joined: Sat Jan 18, 2020 9:33 pm

Re: Aborting studies to help gramps farming in Calmsden

Post by humbe »

Finally got the forage harvester working...

Image

With a 2m pickup, we don't need to windrow as precise as when we use the baler either..
humbe
Posts: 1364
Joined: Sat Jan 18, 2020 9:33 pm

Re: Aborting studies to help gramps farming in Calmsden

Post by humbe »

And then we have the new grassfield where the cows are grazing.. They don't seem to eat much of the grass there, so better chop it down and make it into useful food.

Image

I'm wondering what my neighbor is doing on the field over there.. Does he have a grudge against headlands on his field? He sowed the entire field, but then refused to harvest the headland, cultivate and replant the headland? Looks strange.
humbe
Posts: 1364
Joined: Sat Jan 18, 2020 9:33 pm

Re: Aborting studies to help gramps farming in Calmsden

Post by humbe »

Both grass fields mowed, and contents put into silage pit next to cow barn.. Currently mid May.. Lets see how long it takes to ferment.

Image

Hmm.. Seems once I blanket the silo, I can no longer see how much is in there..

I bought the used compactor, but it wasn't very compatible with our tractors. If raising it, I end up on my back wheels, and if lowered, I still have virtually no ability to turn with the tractor. But as I payed 2.5% extra to have it delivered right next to the pit, I managed to use it somewhat. I had to turn it off to drive onto the pit, but could turn it on when sliding back down.. So pretty useless, but as I'm going to get a bigger tractor soon, I think I'll just hang onto it and it'll be easier next time around..

Another strange detail.. I thought I'd see contents and compaction rate where you normally see field info, but field info was showing cow barn state, so I had to open the shortcut windows (F1) to see the silo details
humbe
Posts: 1364
Joined: Sat Jan 18, 2020 9:33 pm

Re: Aborting studies to help gramps farming in Calmsden

Post by humbe »

Have been looking at used adds every month now, and surprised to not have seen a single decent tractor in there.. But while waiting for our Canola to be ready for harvest we finally found some interesting ads at least.

Image

The Pottinger mower there is the expensive part of the pair of mowers going in front and behind a tractor for a nice set with 10m working width total. We can't even use it alone with out current tractors, but if we don't see a used tractor for sale very soon, we'll be buying a new one in to be able to seed the field in August. The windrower is also very nice. It is far from the biggest one, but by far the biggest of the cheap ones. For working width per dollar invested this one is awesome. The tedder has 9m working width opposed to our current with 4.4m, so that one is also very tempting to buy at that price.

After thinking about it for a while, we buy them all. That mean we already have taken up a £15.000 loan, before likely having to buy a new tractor very soon, but we hope for silage, canola and wool to sell well, so we can pay of quite a lot of loan during winter time. With a new tractor, we can buy the fairly cheap front of the pottinger mower, and thus mow, possibly ted, and windrow efficiently. That mean we only lack an efficient way to bale or get grass to/from silage pit to be fairly efficient with the grass.

Oh.. And we also saw a TMR for sale used earlier, but it was bought up by someone before we had thought it through. It would be nice to make TMR, but not highest priority yet.. So hoping one can come back later.. We see that hay is listed as 80% efficient food. Not entirely sure what that mean. Production is at 100% so I guess I get all the milk I can get, but I guess they eat more food if food isn't 100% efficient to compensate?
User avatar
Spunky_Dogg
Posts: 249
Joined: Tue Aug 11, 2020 11:55 pm
Location: Illinois

Re: Aborting studies to help gramps farming in Calmsden

Post by Spunky_Dogg »

I am really happy to see more people doing stories on here. This is very good and your dedication is inspiring, keep it up!
See you up the road!

- Spunky Dogg Logging
humbe
Posts: 1364
Joined: Sat Jan 18, 2020 9:33 pm

Re: Aborting studies to help gramps farming in Calmsden

Post by humbe »

Spunky_Dogg wrote: Mon Jan 31, 2022 3:46 am I am really happy to see more people doing stories on here. This is very good and your dedication is inspiring, keep it up!
Thanks.. Nice to hear people like to read it ;) I've been lurking in your thread too. Nice with blogs one can look skim through and the internet can index, rather than youtube bits I'll never bother watching ;)

Starting early in August, getting up at half past five to get going with harvesting. We'd like to prepare the field and sow a new crop here in August too, so we need to take advantage of the time we have, as our equipment is small and time consuming..

Image

With the small 3540 liter grain tank on the old Bizon, I didn't manage one complete headland row before it was full. I coulda reversed a bit and made a bit wider space for the first offload, but right above here there is actually a small access road, so while we were driving a bit into the bushes here to position, it worked out ok. Just had to wait until the harvester had finished headland before I could start positioning for second drop. As long as I'm doing both jobs myself, it doesn't really matter if the grain tank is small, as the trailer is parked just a bit short of where I get full, and as the headland circles get smaller and smaller, it get closer and closer for now when tank is full. I can fit 5 tanks into the 18.000 liter trailer, and it looks like I might get less than three hauls of that trailer to our silo, so trailer size isn't a big concern either..

The old Bizon is working fine, though I'm glad I have noise cancelling headphones so I at least can hear some music while harvesting, cause this engine is roaring in this cabless old thing. A higher working width so I could finish a bit faster would be nice though..

Image

I've set drawing distance to 300% manually in game xml file, to improve immersion by not seeing the circle around me that easy.. As can be seen here, the poor quality crop painting is pretty close to the good quality one at long distance, so I don't really notice that switch, but the cut crop is showing up way too yellow at a distance, so that sadly doesn't look good at all. I guess it's hard to get it right for different lighting conditions and different angles. I actually thought I remembered it as brown past the circle earlier. Have they changed it but overdone it, so it's different the other way around?
paul_c
Posts: 414
Joined: Thu Nov 25, 2021 4:13 pm

Re: Aborting studies to help gramps farming in Calmsden

Post by paul_c »

Are you keeping notes of the time it takes to do things? It would be handy to know the rate you can silage (in Ha/hours) to compare - mine is about 0.25 for the small awkward field 27, and 0.64 for field 31. That's with a 3.1m mower and includes everything (mowing, windrowing, baling/wrapping in one, picking up bales, rolling afterwards).
humbe
Posts: 1364
Joined: Sat Jan 18, 2020 9:33 pm

Re: Aborting studies to help gramps farming in Calmsden

Post by humbe »

paul_c wrote: Mon Jan 31, 2022 10:12 pm Are you keeping notes of the time it takes to do things? It would be handy to know the rate you can silage (in Ha/hours) to compare - mine is about 0.25 for the small awkward field 27, and 0.64 for field 31. That's with a 3.1m mower and includes everything (mowing, windrowing, baling/wrapping in one, picking up bales, rolling afterwards).
No.. I've had plenty of time so far with little land. As I don't do contract work at all, my work is limited by the grass growth in sheep and cow pen and growth on field 23. Though I guess you might be talking real world time and not game time? I only do optimalizations vs game time :)

31 is about 2 hectares I think.. So 0.64 should be around two hours to complete the field.. I think I've used more than that, but been using 2.4m mower, 4.4m windrower and manhandlings hundreds of small bales, so takes a bit of time..

With my updated grass gear, the next one around, providing I get me a tractor able to use it, should be a lot easier.. Talking about that, there's a new used add here that looks very interesting.

Image

That baler is really nice for the price, especially as it also wrap the bales, so I can avoid using the silage pit if I want to make silage. If I get that one, all I'm lacking for updated grass gear is a bale wagon.

I'm already loaning £15.000 from the bank and want to get a tractor with considerably more horse powers this time around though, so doesn't feel like the best spot to take up extra loan. Though the opportunity looks too good to be missed..

The harvester would also be awesome Especially as I got game crashes harvesting with the Bizon harvester. Not sure if it is related to mod or harvesting in general or what though. But at $148k too much currently. Also, I see nothing justifying the price of the T560 compared to the Deutz Fahr Topliner 4090 HTS.
humbe
Posts: 1364
Joined: Sat Jan 18, 2020 9:33 pm

Re: Aborting studies to help gramps farming in Calmsden

Post by humbe »

Finally done with harvesting field 23.

Image

Drove headlands around and around clockwise to always have pipe outwards. Just tried to keep the speed up at all times, and then drove 45 degrees up towards the corners afterwards to take what I missed when turning last. That way I managed to harvest at full speed almost all the time..

Would be great if i managed to get a modern harvester with higher working width, but next autumn sounds a bit too optimistic I'm afraid. But we'll see what happens.

Afterwards we drove to the repair shop to do some maintenance..

Image

Wasn't that easy to get the Bizon up on the ramp, but what's worse is that I can't find the mechanics handbook anywhere? I thought the great thing about this old piece of **** is that it's cheap to maintain because you can do almost everything yourself with simple parts, but I need instructions.. For some reason, the maintenance shop don't want to recognize that the Bizon is here, even though I've tried many positions around the shop. I notice tractors, and whatever implements is connected to tractors, but if I disconnect the tractor from the implements, I don't seem to see the implements here either. Strange.
humbe
Posts: 1364
Joined: Sat Jan 18, 2020 9:33 pm

Re: Aborting studies to help gramps farming in Calmsden

Post by humbe »

In total we got 52.023 liters of canola, which should make us a nice income. Price is already around £1700 per liter, and it is supposed to be low at this time of year. Prices expected to be high already in November, so hoping to get well over £100.000 selling that.

Hmm.. The mechanic in the shop don't know how to repair this old Bizon either. Ich.. I guess that mean we'll have to get a new harvester sooner than expected. It's at around 70% state now, so should manage at least one more harvest of field 23. I guess we'll just see how long it last.
paul_c
Posts: 414
Joined: Thu Nov 25, 2021 4:13 pm

Re: Aborting studies to help gramps farming in Calmsden

Post by paul_c »

humbe wrote: Mon Jan 31, 2022 11:19 pm Though I guess you might be talking real world time and not game time? I only do optimalizations vs game time :)
............
31 is about 2 hectares I think.. So 0.64 should be around two hours to complete the field.. I think I've used more than that, but been using 2.4m mower, 4.4m windrower and manhandlings hundreds of small bales, so takes a bit of time..
............
Also, I see nothing justifying the price of the T560 compared to the Deutz Fahr Topliner 4090 HTS.
My estimate of area of field 31 is 1.5Ha, but its a rough estimate. In any case, the silaging was done in 2h 20mins. My strategy is to do something, anything, with what I can afford (hence field 27). Then as I expand the sizes I'm working, the slowest step which needs improving with clearly reveal itself. Like you, I identified bale handling (so bought the autolift trailer). Probably the next rate increase will come from mowing (currently 3.1m but looking at butterfly mowing with a decent tractor).

There is nothing magical about the T560 but when my American cousin was busy in the summer over in Elmcreek, he noticed that after a few seasons use, the Deutz was getting slower and slower, and needed more and more repairs. Harvest days were busy so it was awkward/inconvenient to keep stopping and repairing. The JD would be unphased running an 8m header and the extra capacity was a boost too. But on somewhere like Calmsden, its strengths are no real benefit. I chose the smallest, the little Rostelmash Nova 330 (5m header) because of cost - its £/width (thus £ per litre of grain harvested) is the lowest of them all. That its more compact and is easy to fit through gates, turn on tight headlands etc is a bonus which just makes harvest day more smooth.

Maybe later on, when you're harvesting much more land, the T560 would be okay, but with the price of land around there, that will be a long way off for us both I suspect!!

ETA I've always driven things up to the glowing spanner, rather than onto the ramp. Did the header fit through the door? I had to back mine in on the trailer...that was fun....
humbe
Posts: 1364
Joined: Sat Jan 18, 2020 9:33 pm

Re: Aborting studies to help gramps farming in Calmsden

Post by humbe »

paul_c wrote: Mon Jan 31, 2022 11:41 pm ...
ETA I've always driven things up to the glowing spanner, rather than onto the ramp. Did the header fit through the door? I had to back mine in on the trailer...that was fun....
The small header on the Bizon (4.2m ww) fit through the gates (tight fit) on the road and all the doors, so that part is very nice at least. A missing mechanical handbook is a big issue though ;).. Yeah.. I hate header trailers. All of them have this free front axle, and thus is hellish to backup, so once you actually get into too tight a spot, it's tricky to get out again. Not sure where our harvester plans are long term, but one someone knows how to repair, which has a cab and a radio in it would be nice ;)
paul_c
Posts: 414
Joined: Thu Nov 25, 2021 4:13 pm

Re: Aborting studies to help gramps farming in Calmsden

Post by paul_c »

Smaller header trailers are close-couple axle(s), its the bigger ones which are dolly and a PITA to reverse. When I worked on an actual farm, there was more reversing than there should have been (because the farmyard was quite compact, no space to do curves or turns) and after a while reversing trailers was a not-too-bad task, but dolly trailers would have been a complete pain and unworkable. It wasn't just the steering its getting through tight gaps backwards.
humbe
Posts: 1364
Joined: Sat Jan 18, 2020 9:33 pm

Re: Aborting studies to help gramps farming in Calmsden

Post by humbe »

Hmm.. A new tractor..

Our seeder handbook says it requires 270 hp. And we also got the extra seed storage on front, which adds a bit of load on the engine too. Guessing those requirements aren't strict, but want to get a tractor at least able to be upgraded to 270 hp if needed. Hmm.. Buying that seeder will make this tractor purchase a lot more expensive than we first thought.

We also now have the back part of a mower setup that will draw 230 hp, and that requirement is strict I think. Looking at plows, which we will hopefully be able to upgrade before 3 years is up, we see the Kverneland Ecomat requires 220 hp, and the bigger Lemken requires 300.

So... Min 270 hp. And for the mower setup to work, we need a front 3 point with PTO. Also.. We'll likely keep the old tractors for a while for utility use, but at some point we will sell them, and it would be nice with some utilities on new tractor. So the possibility of a front loader would be nice. And if we can find one that can equip narrows that would be good too.

So what's the alternatives? None of the small tractors are strong enough.

- Class Axion 870 - £230.000. Got front 3 point and PTO, and can use narrows. No front loader alternative.
- Massey Ferguson 7726 S - £227.000. Front 3 point and PTO and narrows here too. And front loader to boot.
- Massey Ferguson 8S series - This one also has all the utilities. £232.000 for 285 hp .265 version, but this one we can actually start of with .205 at 225 hp and £202.000 pound and upgrade later if needed, all the way up to 325 hp if wanted.
- John Deere 6R - An alternative for JD fans, but I'm no fanboy and can live with less leather in the cab, so to me it seems MF has the edge on usability.
- Fendt 930 Vario - This would be a kickass alternative. 296hp.. And can be upgraded ro 415, but starting at £280.000 and without several of the utility bits, we'll skip it this time.

We're paying the bank a visit and they agree to loan us money for a MF 8S.205.. This'll be awesome..

Some of our used buys are also still awaiting being picked up here..

Image

Getting back on the farmyard, we see that the front wheels of the new tractor reach above the bonnet of my old ones ;)
humbe
Posts: 1364
Joined: Sat Jan 18, 2020 9:33 pm

Re: Aborting studies to help gramps farming in Calmsden

Post by humbe »

This is something else. CVT gearbox, cab that dampens sound and has air-condition. A radio and a comfy seat. We delayed the engine upgrade a bit, thinking we'd test out performance at 225 hp first. We're seeding at 13 kph, even downhill, but only 12 kph going up.. So quite a bit away from the 17 kph advertised for the seeder, so an engine upgrade will be good. And likely required for mowing later.

Image

We saw that we should have time to seed oilseed radish in time to seed canola next month, for a cheap fertilize layer, but after starting on the headlands we noticed that the areas where we had spread canola remains actually provide a fertilization layer. Thus it seems wasteful to drive an extra round for oilseed, as we can provide second fertilization layer while seeding with our new awesome seeder. We won't get 100% coverage for that first layer of fertilization though. As can be seen from image after harvest further above, there are stripes between where we were driving, and some holes where we stopped or turned.. But we'll see if we manage to ignore it and not waste fertilization with large overlap to cover those areas.

We seemed to be able to redrill canola where we just drill oilseeds, so lets hope that works out.
Post Reply