how big of a tractor do i need?

Dickie10

need to upgrade the tractor to spread my own slurry and agitate, putting in another tank so i want to cut out the contractor. how big of a tractor do i need to do this work. im not looking for anything too old i dont want to have to go out spending money again in a few years. currently have a case 685 think its 75 hp

Korat

A Massive Ferguson?

..i'll get my wellies.

Muckit

I think u should leave it to contractor. They'll have it done in hours what will take u days.

mf240

Muckit wrote: »

I think u should leave it to contractor. They'll have it done in hours what will take u days.

What's the panic. Slurry won't go stale

Shpudnik

Korat wrote: »

A Massive Ferguson?

..i'll get my wellies.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6zXDo4dL7SU

Muckit

mf240 wrote: »

What's the panic. Slurry won't go stale

No but it's hours that a lad mightnt have or could be at something else. Like silage I'd leave it to the professionals.

Base price

Muckit wrote: »

No but it's hours that a lad mightnt have or could be at something else. Like silage I'd leave it to the professionals.

+1
Add the cost of upgrading the tractor plus buying an agitator and slurry tanker.

Nekarsulm

Flat land or hilly?
1300 gallon tank or 2000 gallon?

1300 gallon and hilly land , 90 to 100hp 4wd.

Flat land 110hp for a 2000 gallon tanker.

(PS. People with flat land often think they have hills. They don't! )

Muckit

Umblical systems are taking over around here. Even with fragmented bits, it's tankered to it with 2600-3500 gal tankers.

Very efficient and very little impact on ground. It suits everyone big or small, hilly or flat land.

A 1300gallon tanker is like drawing bales of silage with a single bale carrier. It will get the job done but very very slowly.

Sam Kade

They are trying to bring new regulations where all splashplates will be banned :mad: You'll need a band spreader on the tank. It would make all old and smaller tankers obsolete as the cheapest band spreader for smaller tanks will set you back €7k, the macerator is the most costly part. So op my advice is wait and see what happens first before you go splashing out money.

Just saw this after posting the above, someone saw sense.
http://www.agriland.ie/farming-news/splash-plates-are-in-the-clear-following-government-discussions/

Muckit

They are testing things out with LESS (low emission slurry) measure in Glas.

It really is a super job compared to slashplate. Slurry getting down to where it should and not coated on grass leaves.

You'll see in time it will go the way of spraying and you will need a licence to spread slurry as it is also a potential contaminant.

The need for this licence coupled with mandatory trailing shoe or band spreading will leave 90% of slurry spreading to the contractor.

patsy_mccabe

Sam Kade wrote: »

..... So op my advice is wait and see what happens first before you go splashing out money....

OK to go splashing money, just not slurry.:rolleyes:

J.O. Farmer

patsy_mccabe wrote: »

OK to go splashing money, just not slurry.:rolleyes:

Well nobody will complain if you splash out money on them. Slurry on the other hand........

cute geoge

I do all my own slurry from 60 cow and followers and my silage ground is 1 and half miles away .I use a 1600 gal. tank and have a big agitator .I used to have a 390t but have upgraded to a 110 /90 .The 1600 gal. tank tended to bully the 390 a bit and it was a rough ride .
A small bit more comfort with the fiat .I have seen plenty of lads hauling 2000 gal recessed tanks with 100hp .I wonder would a sprung drawbar on tank make the hauling tractor less bouncy .I hear about all this guff about it being a waste of time for farmers to spread slurry but a contractor is a least €45 /hour and it cost most farmers depending on a contractor more to spread slurry then to cut their silage!!!

Grueller

I think all of this talk of slurry being too costly for farmers is coming mainly from the wetter areas of the country. The weather window is so short and the risk of damage to the ground so large that alternatives to a small tractor and your own tank need to be found.
Where I am I never struggle with ground conditions bar a very very wet year. I can empty all tanks with my own gear in two days or about 4 evenings after work. I would have to give a contractor about €700 per time or between €1400 and €2100 depending on the length of the housing period. That is a substantial Bill every year that I can avoid with owning an extra €5000 worth of gear, which I can write off against a tax bill.

Mooooo

Have you land in one block., if so umbilical is the way to go. Contractor came in spring and had 260k gallons out in a day

Grueller

Mooooo wrote: »

Have you land in one block., if so umbilical is the way to go. Contractor came in spring and had 260k gallons out in a day

No. Three blocks but one of them never gets slurry as it is about 8 or so miles away from the yard.

yellow50HX

Dickie10 wrote: »

need to upgrade the tractor to spread my own slurry and agitate, putting in another tank so i want to cut out the contractor. how big of a tractor do i need to do this work. im not looking for anything too old i dont want to have to go out spending money again in a few years. currently have a case 685 think its 75 hp

What's your budget for the upgrade (tractor and tank)?

Are you looking to change the tractor you have or are you happy that it does everything else you need it for OK?

If your happy with it then look to get an big old tractor and a 2000gal tank. You won't be doing massive hours on it and there are better bargains in the 120-150 Hp bracket. Some thing like a ford 8210 or jd 3350 would set you back about 10-12k for s good one and they have pulled plenty of big thanks round here for years.

MFdaveIreland

120/130 horse for 2kgallon.
100 horse for 1550 is grand as long as tyres are decent. Nice to have extra weight for ballast. Mf 5465 is a cheap 120hp tractor. Or new holland TM 135/140

blue5000

Dickie10 wrote: »

need to upgrade the tractor to spread my own slurry and agitate, putting in another tank so i want to cut out the contractor. how big of a tractor do i need to do this work. im not looking for anything too old i dont want to have to go out spending money again in a few years. currently have a case 685 think its 75 hp

How far do you have to go?
Is it flat or hilly?
Is ground wet or dry?

Lots of variables I know. If there is a good reliable contractor in the area, IMO you would be better off to use them while you are paying for the slats. For years I spread slurry with a 2wd 80hp tractor and 1300 gallon tank, TBH I didn't know any better:o

Now using a fiat 110/90 and it's well able to put slurry on my steepest ground, only gripe is the hand clutch for the PTO is a pain. The 5000 still gets an odd day on the tanker, and I have to say it's a pleasure to just reach in from ground level to turn off the PTO, but that's where the pleasure ends! As my brother said one day after spreading a load 'You'd want a special licence to drive that yoke'.

To answer your question, a 1600 gal tank and 100hp 4wd would be the minimum for less than a mile of a draw. There is a lot of bigger 3000 gal tankers working around here and I wouldn't like them on my land in January or Feb, that's 13.5 ton of slurry + the weight of the tractor and tank.

_Brian

Dickie10 wrote: »

need to upgrade the tractor to spread my own slurry and agitate, putting in another tank so i want to cut out the contractor. how big of a tractor do i need to do this work. im not looking for anything too old i dont want to have to go out spending money again in a few years. currently have a case 685 think its 75 hp

Would the case you have not agitate and pump slurry ?

We run all old kit here on a small scale and the DB996 65hp will happily agitate a 3 bay tank and pump slurry into another tank if needed, might take a bit longer but it's our own time.

Spread with a 900g tank behind the 8854wd, probably 80hp.

visatorro

blue5000 wrote: »

How far do you have to go?
Is it flat or hilly?
Is ground wet or dry?

Lots of variables I know. If there is a good reliable contractor in the area, IMO you would be better off to use them while you are paying for the slats. For years I spread slurry with a 2wd 80hp tractor and 1300 gallon tank, TBH I didn't know any better:o

Now using a fiat 110/90 and it's well able to put slurry on my steepest ground, only gripe is the hand clutch for the PTO is a pain. The 5000 still gets an odd day on the tanker, and I have to say it's a pleasure to just reach in from ground level to turn off the PTO, but that's where the pleasure ends! As my brother said one day after spreading a load 'You'd want a special licence to drive that yoke'.

To answer your question, a 1600 gal tank and 100hp 4wd would be the minimum for less than a mile of a draw. There is a lot of bigger 3000 gal tankers working around here and I wouldn't like them on my land in January or Feb, that's 13.5 ton of slurry + the weight of the tractor and tank.

Contractor was spreading with 2500 gal and big tyres, was wet weather but he wasn't doing too much damage. I tipped out with a load of dirty water with 100 hp and 1300 gal tank with Russian tyres. Made **** of the place. Half the load and twenty times the damage!!

lakill Farm

105hp 4 cylinder here.

1800G redrock tank and NC2500 agitator. Land is flat but loads of hills on the roads especially from piggery.

you would probably buy an old 40K same antareas 130 and a 2000/2200G tank as cheap as a decent 1600G and cheap 100hp.

yellow50HX

Had same conversation ironically enough with a neighbour at a match last night. He has upped the cows from 60 to 110 in the last 2 years and is spreading a lot more. Has enough storage for the closed season but needs the tank empty before the housing and in jan feb too, also needs to empty the dirty water tank during the summer. Bought himself a loader and diet feeder 2 years ago for the extra feeding work so not in a position to make big machinery buys again for a few years and will prioritise the funding for new storage tank (probably an over ground). What he has noticed is that while his 6610 and 1300 tank will empty away happy out it takes ages and he has got caught a few times now with the contractor being tied up on other jobs especially in early spring when everyone want the slurry out at the same time. The other big issue he has is when empting everything in one go in the spring that the grazing area is tied up so he would prefer to spread in batches.

Anyway he was looking at a NH 8340 that a local tillage lad is selling and a 2000 gal tank in a local garage. Like he said yes it would be cheaper to get a contractor but one wont always be ready for when he wants it.

As for the weight we use a contractor with a 170hp tractor and a 2250gall tank with floatation tyres and there is very little damage. I have put some out with a 7610 2wd and a 1300gal tank and did a lot more rutting.

Bass Reeves

yellow50HX wrote: »

.Like he said yes it would be cheaper to get a contractor but one wont always be ready for when he wants it.

Have so far never an issue with contractor. He will aslo spread in batches. I usuall spread slurry in 3 goes. At some stage in February, when silage paddocks are closed and Again In September to empty tanks before housing.

I have hear of issue with umbilical systems as operators need to add loads of water to slurry so it is easy to pump. As well some want to spread at 3-4K gallons/acre to keep costs down and to speed up operation.

However slurry spreading is a zero sum game. OP I would be reluctant buying a tractor and tanker especially for slurry. You could be doing a lot of work for 5-10 euro/hour, The other issue is the splash plate. At present it has been put on the back burner. But an EU directive could ban them or if Ireland has issues with climate change targets they could still be banned.