 | Home > Pictures & Video > And we're off...Harvest '16! Post your harvest pics... |
 
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| JWL Member Since: 26 Oct 2011 Location: Hereford Posts: 3443   
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Now that was a damned good explanation
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21st Jul 2016 7:13pm |
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| Cupboard Member Since: 21 Mar 2014 Location: Suffolk Posts: 2971  
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A new Fendt for £45k? You'd be lucky.
We bought a small one (412) ex demo for £50k ten years ago. A new 720 (200hp, mid sized) you're looking something like £80-90k. But... the residuals are good, better than a Defender sort of good. Our combine is about 20 years old now but still does the job. It was a big one back then but is small compared to most that are about these days. Only does 150-200 acres of ours, then about 250-300 acres we do for our neighbours so it's not worked hard, it's well maintained and we've had it from new. Still has what is probably the best name that's ever been given to a bit of kit, it's a Dominator Mega. Merlo are, I think, the only people that combine a tractor and a telehandler but most tractor makes will fit loaders if you want. Whenever you combine the two you end up with compromises. Tractors with loaders don't have the reach or the lift capacity and you're putting all the forces on the front axle - that's a problem because the front axle is a much weaker axle than the back one (where you might have a 10t or more lift capacity) and the front axle is the one that pivots and has suspension. In contrast, a telehandler front axle is solid and it's the back one that pivots and if it has suspension (which they usually don't), has suspension. If you try and use it as a tractor though, you've got a load of extra guff in the way and much shorter wheels so less ground clearance and traction (and a smaller cab with worse visibility). Some tractor makers actually supply rear end loaders and you can spin the whole seat round. Loaders tend to go on small, basic tractors so they'll have a transmission with clutches and loading work isn't nice for clutches either. Telehandlers are either hydrostatic or have torque converters. |
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22nd Jul 2016 7:21am |
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| Captain Speaking Member Since: 23 Jan 2012 Location: Oxfordshire Posts: 159 
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THREAD DRIFT!
Interesting though |
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22nd Jul 2016 8:27am |
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| Harry.O Member Since: 25 Jul 2014 Location: Warwickshire Posts: 716 
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Cupboard that is a brilliant explanation above!
Taking this off on a complete tangent what do you think to CAT telehandlers? We have a Merlo and more recently some Bobcat telehandlers but considering CATs next time around. |
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22nd Jul 2016 10:06am |
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| Ads90 Member Since: 16 Jun 2008 Location: Cots-on-the-Wolds Posts: 812 
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 Click image to enlarge On a friends farm a couple of summers ago - just finished a field of rape seed, very dirty crop! Starting this years harvest tomorrow (North Cotswolds). |
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22nd Jul 2016 12:01pm |
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| Cupboard Member Since: 21 Mar 2014 Location: Suffolk Posts: 2971
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Grain store cleaned and bombed yesterday, harvester going out today. I'm just having lunch and then going back to doing some large scale plumbing down a hole, leaving the people that are actually good at driving tractors to drive the tractors!
Click image to enlarge Trailer 1 cleaned (that's the only one we usually fit a sheet to, we chance it with the bigger one) Click image to enlarge The two harvesters together, haven't had a chance to clean the forager out yet. Click image to enlarge A rather dodgy picture of the fire extinguisher having been installed. We share the one between both harvesters on the grounds that we don't have enough people to set fire to both of them at the same time 
Yes, they have been used in the past too. The things in the background are the maize header for the forager and some cubicle partitions for the cows. |
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22nd Jul 2016 12:18pm |
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| custom90 Member Since: 21 Jan 2010 Location: South West, England. Posts: 20517
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What is it that normally makes them catch fire? Just blockage abd heat build up?
I've seen Fendt's with front PTO's as well before, but not on many on others I've seen around. Last edited by custom90 on 22nd Jul 2016 1:22pm. Edited 1 time in total |
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22nd Jul 2016 12:24pm |
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| blackwolf Member Since: 03 Nov 2009 Location: South West England Posts: 17492 
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Fascinating stuff, thanks Cupboard for taking the time to post and explain things so clearly.
Agriculture has clearly changed a lot since the days whan I used to drive an MF 135 and baler to earn a few bob! It didn't even have a cab in those days (did have the newfangled rollover hoop though), and was hot and dirty work! |
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22nd Jul 2016 12:27pm |
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| JOW240725 Member Since: 04 May 2015 Location: Suffolk Posts: 7908 
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Great education from Cupboard, I do think its important people understand modern farming as it often gets a bad press. Modern farm equipment is very big, hi-tech and phenomenally expensive! But I still watch it in awe.
The combines especially work in very dusty conditions and its a combination of dust blocking radiators/ventilation and an abundance of very dry, chaff,straw and dust that makes combines particularly susceptible to catching fire! James MY2012 110 2.2TDCi XS SW Orkney Grey - http://www.defender2.net/forum/topic43410.html MY1990 110 200TDi SW beautifully faded Portofino Red - https://www.defender2.net/forum/post743641.html#743641 MY1984 90 V8 Slate Grey - https://www.defender2.net/forum/post744557.html#744557 Instagram @suffolk_rovers |
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22nd Jul 2016 1:04pm |
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| Captain Speaking Member Since: 23 Jan 2012 Location: Oxfordshire Posts: 159
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Last year's straw and the odd bird's nest! We always cleaned ours out thoroughly straight after harvest to make sure they were thoroughly dry before any ice could form in the winter. Beware pressure-washing a combine when it's minus 5 |
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22nd Jul 2016 1:07pm |
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| custom90 Member Since: 21 Jan 2010 Location: South West, England. Posts: 20517
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It's a wonder the air filter doesn't make a perfect birds nest, especially if it's a cylindrical type.
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22nd Jul 2016 1:24pm |
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| Cupboard Member Since: 21 Mar 2014 Location: Suffolk Posts: 2971
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An air filter would make a great nest although I'm pretty sure the inside is the clean side (after all the secondary filter goes in the middle) so the bird would have to nest in the outer section.
Fires? Grot getting tied round spinning things - that caused a minor fire on our grass cutter and on the loader earlier in the week. Bearings going, that's caused us fires before. Flints are a pain round here, if you pick one of them up in the baler and it hits some metal that can set the baler off, particularly if you have a chopping baler as we do. We had one guy set fire to a shed three years ago putting some fresh straw through the straw blower for cow food. Flint on one of the knives, dry straw, 6ft flames out the side of the shed that he didn't notice until someone else drove past and pointed out that he was adding lots more fuel and fanning the fire quite efficiently. Brakes seized on our combine last year - it's a hydrostatic drive that does very little road work so the brakes hardly ever get used. They were used in a field for some reason, one locked on and set fire to the dust around it. Finally arson is a big issue for farms. It's quite pretty when a straw stack goes up. Thankfully we haven't had much serious yet but it's so easy for things to go up - that's why we have a fire extinguisher on all our main tractors and the harvester. Some combines have an automatic blow out system that blasts air round them to clear dust. Our forager has a built in compressor for the sole purpose of cleaning it down. The tractors all have compressors for air brakes but we use them to clean stuff too. On board air is really useful
The forager has got a big rotating screen in front of the radiator to catch any big bits before it can clog the radiator up. That then gets cleaned off by a combined scraper/vacuum arm thing. One of our telehandlers has a reversible fan so when you're doing something mucky and it's clogging up the radiator intake you can push a button and blow it all out backwards. This time of year is one of the few times I finish before the arable boys, it's nice 
Until something breaks and I have to go and muck in! |
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22nd Jul 2016 5:14pm |
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| custom90 Member Since: 21 Jan 2010 Location: South West, England. Posts: 20517
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Probably a good idea to have a fire extinguisher in the Defender too.
Hasn't been long since the silage was done here, looks mostly like Italian Rye to me. A bit of hay too in places. |
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22nd Jul 2016 5:24pm |
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| Maris Widgeon Member Since: 11 Dec 2013 Location: Cotswolds Posts: 216 
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We are busy with the green harvest at present, silage making for the dairy cows and beef cattle.
Good weather helps to raise the sugar levels in the grass and make good quality forage which means we can get more production from the silage and feed less expensive concentrate. Click image to enlarge Front power take off makes a tractor more efficient and increases it's output whilst also being better on fuel. Click image to enlarge This is a crop of red clover which naturally fixes nitrogen and means that we don't need to use any artificial fertiliser and the nitrogen converts into protein for a very palatable, feedstuffs for our livestock. Click image to enlarge Once cut with the front and rear mower, it is then raked up two rows at a time then picked up with the forage harvester and quickly taken back to the farm and put into a large clamp to store it for the winter. During the clamping period we remove the air to allow the grass to go through a fermentation process, (that's why we need the sugar) which helps preserve the crop. Nick |
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23rd Jul 2016 7:17am |
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