many farmers hate machinery???

shy_boy

do you think that you need to be mechanically and generally good with your hands(handy man) to be a farmer??

moy83

It might help but if you arent into that side of things its just as easy to have little machinery and get someone else to do the mechanical jobs for you .
My father is always welding or fixing something or buying something cheap because it needs work and its a vicious cycle . He is so busy doing that side of things for himself or others that he hasnt time for cattle at all

KatyMac

I know nothing about machinery, don't want to know anything about it. However, I do have a good mate who could fix a tractor if you brought it to him in a wheelbarrow. Therefore, I don't need to know anything!!!

lefthooker

It doesn't hurt to be a little bit useful, certainly better than paying some grease monkey €60/hour for a job you should be able to manage yourself. And sure as a tail on a cat something is going to break or stop on a sunday when you can get no one to do anything

pakalasa

I seem to spend a lot of time either making or fixing something. Welder and grinder always seems to be going here. Everything seeems to take twice as long as I plan, but usually worth it in the end. I find with machinery, if you look after it well, it will last a long time. A lot of stuff here is over 20 years old. Everything gets powerwashed and oiled for the winter. Outside of the engine, I would have a go at most stuff in the tractor. It does drain a serious amount of time though.

kevthegaff

im ok to fix things but have no patience:(

Conor556

I am able to weld and and do up old machinery to work again like an old dung spreader I replaced part of the chassis and patched up the main shaft, and with the price I paid for the spreader and bits of steel ect I used we wouldnt have got half the dung spread last year for the cost and even if it goes in sh#t on the first load this year what about it, ill still have a chassis for a bale trailer or sumptin.

blue5000

I do some welding/mechanical repairs myself, but the big jobs I leave to the experts.

I reckon you need to be a jack of all trades in farming today. You need to know about everything from accountancy to veterinary. Labour costs for trades eg 150 euro callout to unblock a drain is totally unrealistic from a farming point of view. Ok it takes time, but most of us have spare time outside of busy Spring/calving/lambing/harvest/sowing periods.

On the flip side there are immaculate farmyards with super buildings where cattle performance is absolutely dire because too much time is spent at concrete, there is a happy medium.

freedominacup

The two best grassmen I know haven't the hands to wipe their arse around machinery and no interest in it at all, excellent, profitable farmers though.

fastrac

Your either a driver or a drover


Mick Looney Agri Contractor, Mourneabbey, Co Cork.

whelan1

i do what i have to do, machinery wouldnt be my best point ...can feed, top , spread slurry etc but i wouldnt be rushing out to do it

Corvo Attano

Shade tree mechanics. You should know enough to fix the small problems that arise but the bigger problems can be handled by a mechanic.

jp6470

But surely if you have any machine long enough,take an interest in it and watch how works,read,and break things.you soon learn.
We're not big mechanics if tractor engine dies we worry,but any machine stops me dad are straight in under in with sledgehammer,sorting stuff out.lol

Culpepper

a good sized screwdriver with the handle halfway down the shaft and a small sledge hammer with a loose head goes a long way on a farm

Timmaay

I was an engineer previously, so use to do most the maintenance work on the farm myself, bar bigger things like tractor clutch etc, but I just don't have time anymore! I thankfully know two good reasonably priced independent mechanics, who any of the bigger jobs for me now. You'll still always will have stuff breaking on like Sunday morning etc, and small things its often handier just to fix myself when I know it will only take an hour or so. I find driving machinery fairly boring also, thankfully my dads happy enough to do all the fertilizer, topping etc. I use a contractor for almost all jobs like silage/slurry etc, there will almost never be anything in it between getting a contractor to do the job, and doing it yourself (certainly not if you value yourown hours on machinery at say 10euro/hr etc). That might all sound alittle lazy ha, but I'm in the process of setting up a part time business outside of farming anyways, I'd rather spend my time working at that business than sitting on a tractor for 1/2 the day etc!

whelan1

anyone find mechanic charge funny money, got 2 cv joints replaced on isuzu trooper jeep cost 150 euro:eek: i bought the parts

Timmaay

Some will happily charge what they thing they can get away with (and you being a women and all, good enough reason :P). My brother in law doesn't have a clue about cars, like he gets me to check the oil on his car every so often because he cant do it ha, but in fairness he's a fantastic businessman, the head-gasket in the car blew awhile back, I was able to tell him it was definitely that, I let him on to get it fixed himself, 1st garage quoted 1500, he tried 2/3 more, bargained very hard and ended up getting it done for about 400quid all in! I was well impressed, considering he didn't have a bloody clue what the head gasket even was!

freedominacup

whelan1 wrote: »

anyone find mechanic charge funny money, got 2 cv joints replaced on isuzu trooper jeep cost 150 euro:eek: i bought the parts

How long did it take? a good well setup mechanic would have as much tied up in equipment as any subby with a track machine and is entitled to at least as much per hour.

whelan1

see this is the point he took jeep away so dont know how long it took

stanflt

Vice grips lump hammer and a screw driver always in each cab of tractors and vans

1chippy

whelan1 wrote: »

see this is the point he took jeep away so dont know how long it took

well i presume it was 150 including vat so that would work out at 132. he took it away so thats say 1/2 hr drive
(pres uming) what would the cvs take 3-4 hrs? maybe a bit of hardship or messing with old seized bolts and we could say its 5 hrs. so thats 30 an hr including vat. i wouldnt say its bad for what you got. any factory job will give you holiday pay, sick, a pension and some form of rights allong with a regular pay check. it takes over 32 an hour plus vat to allow for everything and pull an average wage. Farmers are the only profession out there with massive asset that dont pull the average, we cant expect all other professions to just drop their prices just because were farmers.

freedominacup

1chippy wrote: »

well i presume it was 150 including vat so that would work out at 132. he took it away so thats say 1/2 hr drive
(pres uming) what would the cvs take 3-4 hrs? maybe a bit of hardship or messing with old seized bolts and we could say its 5 hrs. so thats 30 an hr including vat. i wouldnt say its bad for what you got. any factory job will give you holiday pay, sick, a pension and some form of rights allong with a regular pay check. it takes over 32 an hour plus vat to allow for everything and pull an average wage. Farmers are the only profession out there with massive asset that dont pull the average, we cant expect all other professions to just drop their prices just because were farmers.

TBH Teagasc quoting all the work that can be done by one labour unit when a labour unit by their definition can be working 24/7 doesn't help our case when we are pleading for price rises.

dar31

stanflt wrote: »

Vice grips lump hammer and a screw driver always in each cab of tractors and vans

Don't forget the baler twine or cable ties for those who can

Sam Kade

fastrac wrote: »

Your either a driver or a drover


Mick Looney Agri Contractor, Mourneabbey, Co Cork.

Why are Mourneabbey people so clannish?

delaval

Haven't hands to wipe my arse.
Only plug in power tools here are a mixer for milk replacer and a clipper for tails. Wife has a few in the kitchen and a hair dryer.
Tractor trouble dealer fixes. Loader was changed because other one was costing a lot of time and money to keep going and it was at 2010 bought new. All power machines fully comp insured so major components will be replaced, wear and tear not covered if course. With this in mind we change a machine when last payment is made.

Stock wise we can do most things. Only thing wound be a section. Broken bones or anything else We'd do ourselves, milk fever, Tetney etc the same.

It costs too much in our own time to be messing with repairs especially when I'd have to get someone else to fix properly later.

bob charles

dont hate it, but dont like it either. I havnt the back to be a tractor jockey. Dont mink working on concrete or driving for the feeding side of things, but perfer to be out of the fields. only field work I will do it spraying, and some slurry spreading when nothing on as I find it therapeutic:rolleyes: dont ask. I can fix things if I want but everything would be taken apart and left there as once animal work comes up im gone. Just dont have the time for it.when I was younger I used do everything, but Im a lazy sod nowadays

Sam Kade

I do as many repairs as I can and most of the building work. I even repair my own punctures.

Mulumpy

Brother in law a mechanic so get everything done at cost help him out with other stuff during the year. Not a lover of machinery so only keep basics here

pakalasa

In my day job I work on the design of new machines, so any practical experience I can get I value. It's small things like if someone can get in to weld or swing a spanner etc. I've seen machines and you'd know the person that designed them never lifted a spanner. Half the machine to be taken apart just to get at something small.

MFdaveIreland

Machines designed to make our lives handier , why would you not like them?

Sam Kade

MFdaveIreland wrote: »

Machines designed to make our lives handier , why would you not like them?

Because when they start giving trouble they are designed to make our lives miserable Even though if you maintain them they will last forever

Timmaay

This thread actually sums up nicely one of the good things about farming, it really is a jack of all trades, and you can play to your strengths, if you are fairly handy at fixing things and enjoy that whole side of things, you can get away with lower machinery costs, on things like capital costs, deprecation, interest on loans etc, but of course keep things simple on the stock side, have lower maintenance breeds, lower stocking rate etc. However if you prefer the stock side of things you can focus on this end of it, and just take the hit on paying more for good machinery.

dharn

Culpepper wrote: »

a good sized screwdriver with the handle halfway down the shaft and a small sledge hammer with a loose head goes a long way on a farm

What about the vicegrip?

shy_boy

freedominacup wrote: »

The two best grassmen I know haven't the hands to wipe their arse around machinery and no interest in it at all, excellent, profitable farmers though.

great now i know im on the right track!! my ould man is forever fixing things I wouldnt have the patients on a wet and cold january morning i would find better things to be at then stuck under a plough.. but the cattle side of things im all over !!