New machine

SomethingElse

I do some small-scale farming so I need a budget machine to do some work around the place. The two main functions I would have for it would be (i) carrying round bales of silage, and (ii) doing drainage and possibly using it to rootivate the bad land to get it ready for reseeding. Would some sort of a JCB be the way to go? I heard a Ford 550 getting an honourable mention on another thread, maybe something like that would be the way to go. The budget is very small, preferrably something between €2k and €4k. (I know, options will be limited with a budget like that! )

cj plant agri

the ford or the massey were a great tool maybe not just as good as the 3cx but a hell of a lot cheaper and will do the same job, some of the fords had a wonky transmission, its a long time since i sat in one, and along with that there is plenty of them both broken round the country for parts, i noticed alot of contractors who cannot afford loading shovels ,are removing the back actor off fords and using them for pushing in silage, that was the way 10 -15 years ago, and they are returning to this way again.
keep an eye on done deal and you will get one or the other for under 4k, i wouldnt worry about things like buckets if you get one or 2 the country is also full of them also, you would pick up a bucket for 50 or a 100 euro.

denis086

jcbs have larger rams and if they are getting tired they are very sluggish and moving around a yard can be slow my neighbour regularly picks up 50B's about one a year uses it for a year stacking scrap then strips it for parts and scraps the rest so they are getting gradually thinner on the ground :rolleyes: but masseys are much quicker than the jcbs of a same age saddly your too late to buy this years digger i stripped bits off it for our 165