Silage time again.

Jaysus Christ

Tips for farmers to make the contractors life a little easier.

1. Cover yer own pits.

2. Cover yer own pits.

3. Cover yer own pits.

Brown Podzol

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=8tPOKgrUftM

Alibaba

Jaysus Christ wrote: »

Tips for farmers to make the contractors life a little easier.

1. Cover yer own pits.

2. Cover yer own pits.

3. Cover yer own pits.

Tips for contractors to make farmers life easier.

1. Cover their pits

2. Cover their pits

3. Cover their pits

😀😀😀😀😀😀😀😀

Waffletraktor

Alibaba wrote: »

Tips for contractors to make farmers life easier.

1. Cover their pits

2. Cover their pits

3. Cover their pits

😀😀😀😀😀😀😀😀

Who pays the bill.

greenfield21

They love the exercise after sitting down all day

Alibaba

Waffletraktor wrote: »

Who pays the bill.

They've often done it for me.
Once you have everything ready , plastic , tyres.

Bunch of lads would be done in half an hour.

Usually no charge. Complimentary...

farmerjj

Jaysus Christ wrote: »

Tips for farmers to make the contractors life a little easier.

1. Cover yer own pits.

2. Cover yer own pits.

3. Cover yer own pits.

If our contractor doesn't help covering the pit he wont be our contractor for long, its a must even if its only to dump the tyres on the pit, my back,s more important than 15mins out of the contractors day.

Sam Kade

Jaysus Christ wrote: »

Tips for farmers to make the contractors life a little easier.

1. Cover yer own pits.

2. Cover yer own pits.

3. Cover yer own pits.

Do you have anything positive to say about farmers? By any chance would you have two boards accounts?

Waffletraktor

Alibaba wrote: »

They've often done it for me.
Once you have everything ready , plastic , tyres.

Bunch of lads would be done in half an hour.

Usually no charge. Complimentary...

Sorry, wasn't clear.. Can't see why if farmer is organised a contractor wouldnt help get the sheet on and a few tyres to secure it at the edge and normally dump a few on with loader for the top. If the farmer is paying the bill customer service and all that.
If it's a case of pee taking with farmer not having plastic to size/ready to go that is different of course.

X6.430macman

Tips to contractors,

It's a PROFFESIONAL business your running, treat it that way and act it in every thing you do.

foxy farmer

The silly season i call it! When usually calm sensible people lose the plot over a green plant. Once the "magic day" arrives the calendar is forgotten about and it's replaced with the clock!
Some lads wouldn't be ready if they had to wait till xmas. Dung still on slabs, tyres everywhere and plastic covers mixed with everything.
Was in a yard this week with 60 acres shoehorned into a tiny pit. Getting to the top of the pit for man or machine was like climbing Croagh Patrick. Plenty new gear in the yard but they still cant see the need for a bigger pit.

rs8

You could lose a hours chopping every pit, say you do 9 jobs in a week thats nearly a full day your losing to cover pits!! Farmers dont reailse this and complain about not getting there cause your covering the last guys pit!! It has a knock on affect!! You should have to be a contractor before you become a farmer!! ðŸ˜႒

Timmaay

rs8 wrote: »

You could lose a hours chopping every pit, say you do 9 jobs in a week thats nearly a full day your losing to cover pits!! Farmers dont reailse this and complain about not getting there cause your covering the last guys pit!! It has a knock on affect!! You should have to be a contractor before you become a farmer!! ðŸ˜႒

That's also a full day a week during the only 2 or 3weeks of the year that your 1/2 a million worth of kit can pay back for itself ha! My contracter has never had to cover our pits, then again most his kit is 10 yrs old ha, but he is priced keenly enough, and usually gives a tidy enough discount once I pay up reasonable sharp. If I'm under pressure I've a friend who I pay to come for afew hrs to help out.

freedominacup

Waffletraktor wrote: »

If it's a case of pee taking with farmer not having plastic to size/ready to go that is different of course.

It's always that way. Standard is farmer disappears into a leanto somewhere around the yard with about four foot of dung in it. He'll reappear anything up to a half an hour later with a part rolled, part folded eventually balled up heap of dung, dribbling some of the most hideous sludge ever seen on a farm. All covered in rat pi$$ and cow sh1te. With a foot square rip in every square meter that you know he's going to want to try to repair every time he meets one.
"Give us a hand with this lads" will come the shout.

It's no wonder contractors have no interest in doing it. If you had new sheets of the right size a half dozen lads would have them on and anchored in a couple of minutes but it almost never happens.

I can never understand this tbh. Farmers spend thousands on fert, sprays, rent and contractor fees and then start scrounging on the last few quid for proper covers to help preserve the whole thing. One of the most important tools to ensure your pit is covered properly this year is a good sharp felt knife last Dec to cut the plastic off the pit as your opening it.

MF290

I must be the only one who half enjoys covering the pit! That said, I wouldn't like to have to cover every put in the parish

Muckit

I much prefer covering a pit that bobbing around in a tractor cab handling bales like eggs!

With bales the job is only starting when the baler goes out the gate!

RightTurnClyde

After spending most of my school and college weekends during winter forking of the best crops of grass growing in dung off silage pits, and then the days leading up to first cut opening old sheets up out in the field to clean them off to then have to roll them up on my own, once I took over all old sheets got dumped and new ones bought for every cut. Needless to say the old boss wasn't very happy initially, until he saw how easy it was to cover the pit with new sheets only. Pet hate of mine, saving the old sheets. Makes it hard to strip the pit and hard to cover it.

( who remembers that, cleaning out the straw bedding and putting a foot of dung onto the plastic to cover the pit. Then the progressive farmers would spread a bag of grass seed onto it to make it "easier" to clean off. Oh god they were the days)

jfh

Muckit wrote: »

I much prefer covering a pit that bobbing around in a tractor cab handling bales like eggs!

With bales the job is only starting when the baler goes out the gate!

Same here, we never get contractor to cover.
Actually enjoy it.
It's going back in a weeks time to tighten sheets is the killer

stanflt

Contractor gets paid going out the gate when the pit is covered- 4 years ago a contractor left without covering the pit- said he was too busy- he hasn't done my silage since

darragh_haven

RightTurnClyde wrote: »

After spending most of my school and college weekends during winter forking of the best crops of grass growing in dung off silage pits, and then the days leading up to first cut opening old sheets up out in the field to clean them off to then have to roll them up on my own, once I took over all old sheets got dumped and new ones bought for every cut. Needless to say the old boss wasn't very happy initially, until he saw how easy it was to cover the pit with new sheets only. Pet hate of mine, saving the old sheets. Makes it hard to strip the pit and hard to cover it.

( who remembers that, cleaning out the straw bedding and putting a foot of dung onto the plastic to cover the pit. Then the progressive farmers would spread a bag of grass seed onto it to make it "easier" to clean off. Oh god they were the days)

Fcek me but your making me feel old. I was young enough that I only ever covered 2 pits in my life with dung and grass seed. Such a carry on.

freedominacup

darragh_haven wrote: »

Suckling a carry on.

Fcuking autocorrect.

Bullocks

jfh wrote: »

Same here, we never get contractor to cover.
Actually enjoy it.

Oh man you're a header ! How can you enjoy that job

jfh

Bullocks wrote: »

Oh man you're a header ! How can you enjoy that job

It's rare that you see the fruits of your labour so quickly. A nice covered pit is something to saviour☺️

Miname

jfh wrote: »

It's rare that you see the fruits of your labour so quickly. A nice covered pit is something to saviour☺️

There's something seriously wrong with you. Every year I'm finding it harder and harder to fool young lads into helping.

Bullocks

jfh wrote: »

It's rare that you see the fruits of your labour so quickly. A nice covered pit is something to saviour☺️

We will be late this year but your welcome to give us a hand throwing tyres , the boss man insists on truck tyres so it's twice the fun !

freedominacup

Bullocks wrote: »

We will be late this year but your welcome to give us a hand throwing tyres , the boss man insists on truck tyres so it's twice the fun !

Haven't you a telepoerter?

jfh

Bullocks wrote: »

We will be late this year but your welcome to give us a hand throwing tyres , the boss man insists on truck tyres so it's twice the fun !

I hated it for years, we usually put on 3 if not 4 sheets, father is very exact, we'd take the sides off again a week later, found myself looking forward to it last year, that moment, I figured I'm turning into him.

I didn't realise so many contractors covered pits to be honest

freedominacup

jfh wrote: »

I hated it for years, we usually put on 3 if not 4 sheets, father is very exact, we'd take the sides off again a week later, found myself looking forward to it last year, that moment, I figured I'm turning into him.

I didn't realise so many contractors covered pits to be honest

It's the one job I absolutely don't want the oul boy near. I covered the second cut with the eldest lad and one of his mates in an hour and a half last year. We stripped this pit for the third cut. The fcuking row wasn't finished in an hour and a half when it came to recovering it. Only difference, the oul boy was in the yard.

freedominacup

darragh_haven wrote: »

. Such a carry on.

I thought the language was a bit more unparlimentary than that.

homingbird

It will be the middle of june before any first cut is taken how can anyone have meadows now after the year we had . one of my inlaws works for a farmer who keeps dumping fertilizer on meadows last dump was a week ago & is cutting it tomorrow because that is what some farming org. is telling him to do . I would give him 6 months.

freedominacup

homingbird wrote: »

It will be the middle of june before any first cut is taken how can anyone have meadows now after the year we had . one of my inlaws works for a farmer who keeps dumping fertilizer on meadows last dump was a week ago & is cutting it tomorrow because that is what some farming org. is telling him to do . I would give him 6 months.

Sighs.

Bullocks

freedominacup wrote: »

Haven't you a telepoerter?

I sold the teleporter a few years ago because it wasn't worth having for work when it got quiet and bought an older matbro farm handler , the transmission went in that and I gave up trying to fix it , sold it to "Jimmy the Egyptian" .
I'll pick up something again, but I have filled up one side of the pit to within 3' of the top of the wall where I'm putting a new shed so the tyres can be thrown there now and I'll scoop them on with the track machine easy enough then

Bullocks

homingbird wrote: »

It will be the middle of june before any first cut is taken how can anyone have meadows now after the year we had . one of my inlaws works for a farmer who keeps dumping fertilizer on meadows last dump was a week ago & is cutting it tomorrow because that is what some farming org. is telling him to do . I would give him 6 months.

Going on holidays until the 13 June and we will be time enough cutting here by then aswell

longgonesilver

I can take it that none of you remember making silage before plastic sheets were invented. I dont either but my father told me about it. Early 1960s I think. Pits were small, roll every day, twice a day to try to stop them heating until you could no longer get up on them. The top them turned black and formed a seal. pick the waste off in winter time and feed what was left with a wheelbarrow.

Count Mondego

How many sheets do ye use. We use one new one and two old ones. I fu€king hate arsing around with the old sheets. Had to roll them out and roll them up there Saturday, hoor of a job. Would two new sheets be enough, are any more a waste?

RightTurnClyde

longgonesilver wrote: »

I can take it that none of you remember making silage before plastic sheets were invented. I dont either but my father told me about it. Early 1960s I think. Pits were small, roll every day, twice a day to try to stop them heating until you could no longer get up on them. The top them turned black and formed a seal. pick the waste off in winter time and feed what was left with a wheelbarrow.

Know a cattle finisher about 20 miles from here who never uses a sheet. He cuts about 400 acres in one cut, 2 very large walled pits. About 6 to 8 inches across the lot rots and seals it off. He maintains it works out cheaper than plastic.

darragh_haven

Went down to the farm this evening. My dad has grass mown. I thought we were waiting till tomorrow but he said the cork vs tipp game was so sick to watch that he went out and started mowing

9935452

foxy farmer wrote: »

The silly season i call it! When usually calm sensible people lose the plot over a green plant. Once the "magic day" arrives the calendar is forgotten about and it's replaced with the clock!
Some lads wouldn't be ready if they had to wait till xmas. Dung still on slabs, tyres everywhere and plastic covers mixed with everything.
Was in a yard this week with 60 acres shoehorned into a tiny pit. Getting to the top of the pit for man or machine was like climbing Croagh Patrick. Plenty new gear in the yard but they still cant see the need for a bigger pit.

Sure there is no need for a bigger pit because the contractor keeps fitting in for him. The joke with our loading shovel driver is throw him 20 quid and he will always fit in a few extra acres

RightTurnClyde wrote: »

After spending most of my school and college weekends during winter forking of the best crops of grass growing in dung off silage pits, and then the days leading up to first cut opening old sheets up out in the field to clean them off to then have to roll them up on my own, once I took over all old sheets got dumped and new ones bought for every cut. Needless to say the old boss wasn't very happy initially, until he saw how easy it was to cover the pit with new sheets only. Pet hate of mine, saving the old sheets. Makes it hard to strip the pit and hard to cover it.

( who remembers that, cleaning out the straw bedding and putting a foot of dung onto the plastic to cover the pit. Then the progressive farmers would spread a bag of grass seed onto it to make it "easier" to clean off. Oh god they were the days)

I find it a bit retarded that a farmer might cut 100 acres , pay the contractor 10 grand to bring it in, have spent 5 or 6 grand in fertiliser,( he might even have rented the land too) and then be tight to save a couple hundred euro to put on an old sheet of plastic.

Bullocks wrote: »

We will be late this year but your welcome to give us a hand throwing tyres , the boss man insists on truck tyres so it's twice the fun !

One of the lads who we work for uses only truck tyres. He has them stacked neatly and puts them on with a hydraulic bale handler. He has walls too so it makes it handy to cover the pit for us.

jfh wrote: »

I didn't realise so many contractors covered pits to be honest

They all do. If they say any different i wouldnt believe them.
One big contractor near us claimed they cover very few pits.
A friend worked for them a year later and complained that they were covering nearly all the pits . lol

I work for a small contractor and have gotten away with murder for the last few years. I normally mow ahead of the wagons and when i get a day ahead , pick up a wagon and start drawing. When we get finished, its time to head off mowing again to get ahead again

foxy farmer

9935452 wrote: »

Sure there is no need for a bigger pit because the contractor keeps fitting in for him. The joke with our loading shovel driver is throw him 20 quid and he will always fit in a few extra acres

Well when the pit is higher than any building in the yard with sheer sides and a 16 ton loaderon it the HSA wouldn't want to call.

keep going

Something thatcould feed your herd for 1/3 of the year and you put a bunch of lads on 8 euro an hour in charge, hmmm

keep going

darragh_haven wrote: »

Went down to the farm this evening. My dad has grass mown. I thought we were waiting till tomorrow but he said the cork vs tipp game was so sick to watch that he went out and started mowing

Have you told mike yet hes covering the pit this year

darragh_haven

keep going wrote: »

Have you told mike yet hes covering the pit this year

Ha ha. I'd only see a trail of dust going out the lane if they were asked to cover the pit..
i don't think there are many contractors covering pit in our part of west cork. Ive only heard of it in exceptional circumstances.

Base price

Bullocks wrote: »

We will be late this year but your welcome to give us a hand throwing tyres , the boss man insists on truck tyres so it's twice the fun !

The most hateful job in the world. Throwing the previous years tyres onto the pit and them filled with putrid smelling slop that ends up all over you :mad:
The best lesson on keeping your mouth shut :eek:

Miname

I've yet to see a contractor cover a pit or even know of anyone who got one covered. Where abouts are contractors doing this.

Dawggone

Yours truly did some silage contracting back in the day. Covering 3 or 4 pits a day can be a form of torture, not to mention the time wasted...

I put an extra loader on the road just for covering pits. Farmers were delighted as the loader and driver would stay all day if needed...when the bill of £20/hr arrived there was phuckin war...farmers are some mean bunch.
Let's face facts, silage contractors are actually subsidizing Irish farmers....

Jaysus Christ

Or when they hold you to ransom, after workin all day with feck all to eat and then the farmer says "the tea will be ready as soon as the pits covered".

mahoney_j

Fear of a contractors hole ,here I have 2 new sheets ready ,truck tyres beside pits 20/30 minutes with 6/8 lads pit covered .there always fed and few cans of cold beer thrown in and more or less fully paid going out the fate .if they don't cover the pit they won't be comming back
I will say I wouldn't pull the piss with old sheets probably crawling with rats and rats piss and god knows what else .sent over 600 wraps and covers from pit to recycling for 60 quid 2 weeks ago .couldnt be arsed been a Scrooge mikeing around trying to save sheets through the winter

mahoney_j

Fear of a contractors hole ,here I have 2 new sheets ready ,truck tyres beside pits 20/30 minutes with 6/8 lads pit covered .there always fed and few cans of cold beer thrown in and more or less fully paid going out the fate .if they don't cover the pit they won't be comming back
I will say I wouldn't pull the piss with old sheets probably crawling with rats and rats piss and god knows what else .sent over 600 wraps and covers from pit to recycling for 60 quid 2 weeks ago .couldnt be arsed been a Scrooge mikeing around trying to save sheets through the winter

A cow called Daisy

Don't know of any contractors in this area of cavan that cover/help to cover pits. Maybe if one started doing it the others would copy as they seem to copy other with having the most up to date machinery.
Unless you've covered a pit on your own you haven't lived.
Main reason I switched to all bales. Easier to get less to drive tractors than throw tyres.

blackdog1

mahoney_j wrote:

Fear of a contractors hole ,here I have 2 new sheets ready ,truck tyres beside pits 20/30 minutes with 6/8 lads pit covered .there always fed and few cans of cold beer thrown in and more or less fully paid going out the fate .if they don't cover the pit they won't be comming back I will say I wouldn't pull the piss with old sheets probably crawling with rats and rats piss and god knows what else .sent over 600 wraps and covers from pit to recycling for 60 quid 2 weeks ago .couldnt be arsed been a Scrooge mikeing around trying to save sheets through the winter

I generally cover it but contractor provides loader and man for and hr. Dump tires roll sheet and dump tires again. 2-3 hrs have it fairly well covered.
You gotta feel for contractors this year a lot of them get paid last instead of boys paying them something every month . Unfortunately some farmers are in desperate state. Heard of on with 65 cows buying 4 tonnes of meal a week for 3 months ....how is he going to recover?. Heard a very big farmer was culling 300 cows but that's a rumour.

bogman_bass

Never had help cover a pit here