Quad only farming.

OneMan37

Considering selling our tractor and machinery. Maybe buy a small one. And purchase a quad and all the implements. Anyone try this, would make sheep farming much easier.

roosky

your caught for feeding bales and topping but if you had a good contractor or neighbor to do that work you dont need a tractor.....take that 15-20 k and put it into fencing and handling equipment !

Dinzee Conlee

OneMan37 wrote: »

Considering selling our tractor and machinery. Maybe buy a small one. And purchase a quad and all the implements. Anyone try this, would make sheep farming much easier.

Given you have a tractor and all the bits, why bother selling them? How big is your tractor?

OneMan37

roosky wrote: »

your caught for feeding bales and topping but if you had a good contractor or neighbor to do that work you dont need a tractor.....take that 15-20 k and put it into fencing and handling equipment !

I would purchase a topper for the quad. I don't make silage, and don't plan to make any more hay either. Altho if I had a smaller tractor I could always retain the haybob.

OneMan37

Dinzee Conlee wrote: »

Given you have a tractor and all the bits, why bother selling them? How big is your tractor?

I have a Same 90. I find the quad much easier to use, easier on the land and easier to store. I May replace my Same with a small Massey such as a old 135.

Lambman

Tractor is handy if you already have 1 I'd be keeping it... U didn't mention have u a Jeep or how do you shift sheep?

arctictree

I have no machinery here. Get a neighbour to do topping and spreading.

Was seriously thinking of getting a self powered topper to pull behind the jeep. Like this : https://www.fresh-group.com/paddock-topper-media.html

Then I might also get a small quad spreader.

I just don't like the idea of having another vehicle (quad) to maintain.

Am I mad?!

Dinzee Conlee

arctictree wrote: »

I have no machinery here. Get a neighbour to do topping and spreading.

Was seriously thinking of getting a self powered topper to pull behind the jeep. Like this : https://www.fresh-group.com/paddock-topper-media.html

Then I might also get a small quad spreader.

I just don't like the idea of having another vehicle (quad) to maintain.

Am I mad?!

Being able to spread a bit of fertilser yourself when you want is handy all right... I'd get a spreader before a topper...

Do you really need a topper?

OneMan37

Lambman wrote: »

Tractor is handy if you already have 1 I'd be keeping it... U didn't mention have u a Jeep or how do you shift sheep?

I have a Caddy van for shifting sheep.

Siamsa Sessions

Tried to farm 40-ish ewes with no tractor the last few years but ended up buying a small David Brown last October

Certainly not used every day but I don’t know how we ever managed without it

Biggest advantage is spreading fertiliser when it’s needed rather than chasing a local contractor. Transport box is very handy too for everything from carrying beet out to feed sheep in winter to bringing stakes and fencing stuff to different parts of the farm.

I looked into getting a quad and a compact tractor, but the regular-size tractor worked out cheaper. Having said that, I wouldn’t rule out farming with a quad in the future

Lambman

What size off trailer you pull with caddy? I'd imagine you wouldn't be supposed till have 2 many sheep on in a caddy with the weight restrictions?

carrollsno1

Could you get a bale unraveller for a quad?
Biggest disadvantage i can see to quad only farming is its a niche market for machinery so 2nd hand implements are not as easily available as implements that would suit an old 40hp tractor.