Day rate for tractor and agitator hire in mayo?

thenashlegend

Just wondering if anyone has hired a tractor for the day and agitator for a few hours to get some slurry out? What would the rates be like?

The contractor completely took the p**s after the first cut, so we're debating doing it ourselves by hiring the bits to do it.

Our tractor wouldn't be able to pull a tank so we'd be hiring the whole lot for a day!

Would it be worth while or what would the opinions be?

rs8

get another contractor to do it?

it will more than likely work out the same including your time as a keenly priced contractor

thenashlegend

Well to be fair there's nothing wrong with the pit he does and rather than getting someone else in to do just slurry we thought we'd do it ourselves.

aidanki

how much did he charge for tractor and agitator ? and what size of tractor and agitator did he have ?

ill try and guess a price per hour then

it may seem pricy but don't forget tractor the massive amount of fuel burnt per hour

could be 8-9 gals per hour if its a huge agitator

thenashlegend

aidanki wrote: »

how much did he charge for tractor and agitator ? and what size of tractor and agitator did he have ?

ill try and guess a price per hour then

it may seem pricy but don't forget tractor the massive amount of fuel burnt per hour

could be 8-9 gals per hour if its a huge agitator

The problem wasn't the price, it was just the way he went about it after doing the silage. Left the tanks for two weeks before arriving to agitate them!

aidanki

thenashlegend wrote: »

The problem wasn't the price, it was just the way he went about it after doing the silage. Left the tanks for two weeks before arriving to agitate them!

well its second cut season these days so contractor will be much quiter, so should be able to facilitate you

9935452

thenashlegend wrote: »

The problem wasn't the price, it was just the way he went about it after doing the silage. Left the tanks for two weeks before arriving to agitate them!

To be fair to the contractor, when the start of the fine weather arrived he was probably getting a load of phone calls with people roaring at him to cut their silage , then as the silage was being cut he was most likely getting phone calls from the people he just cut for roaring at him to agitate slurry and spread it, Thats probably why it took him so long to get around to you, silage in my eyes has to take priority for a contractor.

With regards to agitating and spreading it yourself, get your contractor to agitate it .it will be a lot handier, he has the power to drive the agitator properly. if you go at it with a small agitator it will take a hell of a lot longer, plus if you need water, you will have to take off the agitator, put on the tank , fill a load , empty the load , take off the tank, put on the agitator , mix for a while, then the tank is getting full , so u might have to spread a few loads , then draw back water again. Trust me its annoying as i have done it .
If you want to spread it yourself , borrow a neighbors tractor and tank as everyone seems to have a tank of some sort and you would only be using it for a few hours.

thenashlegend

9935452 wrote: »

To be fair to the contractor, when the start of the fine weather arrived he was probably getting a load of phone calls with people roaring at him to cut their silage , then as the silage was being cut he was most likely getting phone calls from the people he just cut for roaring at him to agitate slurry and spread it, Thats probably why it took him so long to get around to you, silage in my eyes has to take priority for a contractor.

With regards to agitating and spreading it yourself, get your contractor to agitate it .it will be a lot handier, he has the power to drive the agitator properly. if you go at it with a small agitator it will take a hell of a lot longer, plus if you need water, you will have to take off the agitator, put on the tank , fill a load , empty the load , take off the tank, put on the agitator , mix for a while, then the tank is getting full , so u might have to spread a few loads , then draw back water again. Trust me its annoying as i have done it .
If you want to spread it yourself , borrow a neighbors tractor and tank as everyone seems to have a tank of some sort and you would only be using it for a few hours.

Without a doubt silage takes priority for the contractor but if you're in the business of contracting and providing a service to farmers, then either job should not suffer because the other picks up.

Spreading slurry on a field two weeks after it was cut means another weeks delay in nitrogen being applied, in turn leaving the second cut and after grass up to two weeks later than if the slurry went out the day after it was picked. That could mean a lot to some people.

Thanks for the info though, either way ill be back when i get some figures to let ye know how it went!

lakill Farm

thenashlegend wrote: »

Without a doubt silage takes priority for the contractor but if you're in the business of contracting and providing a service to farmers, then either job should not suffer because the other picks up.

Spreading slurry on a field two weeks after it was cut means another weeks delay in nitrogen being applied, in turn leaving the second cut and after grass up to two weeks later than if the slurry went out the day after it was picked. That could mean a lot to some people.

Thanks for the info though, either way ill be back when i get some figures to let ye know how it went!

isnt there a smaller contractor local to you that doesnt do silage but would agitate and spread for you? you book him to arrive the day after the silage is moved. also keeps the silage lad on his toes as he knows you would move contractor if service wasnt up to scratch

The Nutty M

Whether it's worth your while or not is all dependant on the size of the tank/s,length of draw and the amount of water required. Each of these eat into the time taken to get the tank/tanks out.
Contractor charges vary for different things,agitating only,per bay,per load,per hour.How much you are charged vs renting out plant to do it yourself is a huge variable.
There are two people near us that rent out machinery but what they charge I do not know.
For your 4bay 14ft 6' tank for eg at a short draw we would be 400euro.

These would be my rough calculations for rental.
To rent out a tractor for a day would be 100/150 or maybe more being that it's a short rental.
Agitator 50/60 for the day
1600gallon could be 100 for the day.
Then there is diesel at 87/90 cent/litre.I'd expect you to burn between 100 and 150 litres.
All in you probably will work out cheaper but then you factor in your own time and it may not seem so cheap after all.

thenashlegend

Thanks for all that info, there's a four bay double tank about half full. The tank for hire is 80/day for a 2000gallon and it'll take about 13-15 loads to do the silage ground and maybe a few on pasture if they're to spare. I'd have figured the agitator to be 50 or so myself but the tractor would be the biggest expense!

Could really say tank and agitator at 130, tractor at 150 and diesel at 100 is 380. Good saving To be made provided those figures Didnt change!