Did you buy it here or there.how was the transport organised
Bought there. Booked with haulage company in NI. Low loader all the way incl. ro-ro Zeebruge to Dublin I think.
Don't think I've ever seen one of those, thought the 2640 was the smallest model, it looks immaculate!
Is it turbocharged?
Will you have to change the hitch?
Fcukin sweet. Someone was very sorry to see that tractor go.
Did it have many owners? How many hours?
No turbo. Straight 6 as God intended.
She has low level stool hitch and looks a solid job so probably wont change just yet. I wont be picking and dropping that often really.
Unfortunately have no history. Clock working and showing just over 7k hours but I'd be doubtful if that's right.
I don’t see the issue with trying to get a cheaper price if the cut is lighter.
lot less diesel burnt compared to a heavy crop
There we have it
I would agree. Less overheads, less investment, trying to employ labour as well. I always try to have a slurry contractor sepoto baler man as it's impossible to slurry spread for second cut otherwise.
Bales are coming in as cheap as put silage if you are back at 8/acre. You also have more control of the product with wilt and more options with storage.
Biggest issue is hauling them in. We make two cuts first cut is 150ish, 2nd is 100ish. Bessie and Bertie have them.in the yar in 4 hours. Bessie is a 2wd cx80 and Bertie is a CX90 4wd..
For larger scale operation where silage is being drawn distance the pit is the only option. However the cost is not being reflected in what is charged.
Is it saving the contractor more than 3-4 euro/ HA. If the draw is long for 30% of the crop is that reflected as well. I have heard of some lads drawing silage 40 miles now. The minute the tractor goes on a public road especially L-Roads the risk and time factor become an issue.
All drivers now want an hour as opposed to day rates and expect to be paid every Friday.
How could he charge the same amount- he could get tru twice as many acres an hour- grass is usually bone dry on these light cuts so trailers weigh half the weight- loader on pit is pushing half the weight - it’s so much easier on diesel for every machine- have you ever driven a self propelled?? Heavy cuts and machine is on its knees 14 hours a day
Most contractors are averaging their costs over the whole season. Probably the simplest way of doing it but maybe not the fairest. The lad with the light crop or short draw is paying too much and the lads with the heavy crops or long draws aren’t paying enough. Would the lads with the heavy crops be happy to pay €200 an acre so the light crops can be charged at €120 or so?
With the technology available on modern self propelled harvesters you’d think the fairest way to charge would be per ton per mile or something like that.
No dairy farmer around me is paying more than 100 an acre for light cuts- I know of 1 paying only 75
its standard practice in NI/UK/Aus/NZ to pay by the kg DM
Would mergers improve things for contractors, can swart up 50ft plus of light stuff, and maybe 20 ft of heavy stuff. Maybe charge per hour then rather than per acre. More Swarts more time picking it up.
Ok, the figures might vary in different parts of the country but the theory is still the same. Will the lads with heavy cuts accept a price increase in order to keep the price down in the light cuts?
I’m in the midlands and it’s €160-€180 per acre around here for a self propelled job.
50ft rakes are in every outfit around me
I’d be at second cut and some lads still wouldn’t have the first cut done- I don’t think the one cut man minds if I’m paying less tbh
It will keep better long term in a pit. If you roll it over into to the next year there will be a big difference between it and baled stuff
I saw stories from Australia that because of the drought there in the last few years, they were using their long-term buffers. But over there they bury it in a hole. And they were digging up some that had been there 20+ years and it was edible at least.
And I often have my third cut done when we’re still baling first cuts for lads, but, like your second cut statement, that means nothing to the question I asked you about charges.
The contractor has to try keep every customer happy. If the light cut men want less charges then the heavy cut men will have to pay more, regardless of what time of year it is they cut.
Lads with balers don't charge by the acre though either
I think that sums up the whole argument
We charge by the acre for mowing, tedding and raking. Obviously by the bale for baling and wrapping then. My question to stanflt was in relation to self propelled, not balers.
It’s a much fairer system the way baling is charged and that was why I said earlier would a per ton per mile not be a fairer system for self propelled’s considering most have the technology to give that information now.
Yes but they must be losing money baling very light cuts unless they are charging per acre for mowing/raking like DB above
Have a 2685 to sell here, would you be willing to share ballpark figure of cost? perfectly fine if not.
Is buying abroad a good option?
Are tractors cheaper? I see a lad on donedeal, seems to be a private seller who brings in tractors from abroad and sells them here.
What about taxes? Viewing etc?
There is another issue. Demand. The busiest period for silage is about the third week in May the second week in June. After that it slows down and never leaks again. Some summer dairy men will take second cut as bales. Therefore this gives more bargaining power to lads doing a large second cut that balances the strength of the large dairy man earlier in the year.
Most small and mid sized beef men have moved from pit to bale. You just have more control over quality. Traditionally these guys picked up the slack period from June on especially form mid June to start of the early second cut lads. But the contractors fleeced them and wanted to cut in the morning and be putting it in the pit by midday, it did not matter if the sun was splitting the rocks or it was snowing the contractor was putting it in the pit. Saw it many times in the FIL's place.
Now larger dairy men need to realise if they want put silage they will have to pay more for it. There is too many of them wanting it in a small window and that window shrinks depending on weather
If I was a contractor doing put silage I would be charging a 20-30/ acre premium for peak cutting season.
Never had a problem carrying bales over the winter. Quality might drop slightly but on the other hand I have seen a foot of waste at the front of pits. Another factor is even using a a shear grab unless you are getting a cross the face of a pit in a week you are losing quality
Everything about bales is handling and managing them. I was surprised by what lads said about the soft hand handlers however it makes sense. See up our way a good few lads have the elephant trunk ones but it's a hydraulic roller we use for stacking a bit slow but you get used to it.
For the smaller or mid sized operator bales beat put by a mile in both cost, quality, flexibility and management.
I used bales that were 3 years old last winter and not a bother on them, as good as they were the first winter. Only 4 layers of plastic but stacked with a roller handler 3 rows high. There was a tiny bit of waste along the edges of the outer bales but nothing worth talking about. I didn’t sample the silage but at a guess it was probably low 30’s in dm. The bottom bales were gone diamond shaped from the weight of the top rows and I love to see that because the bales have all bedded into one another then and it’s as good as a pit.
Go four high here and would love more reach to go another bale at least. Less bales exposed to crows and cats the better and any pinholes are sealed as they settle into each other. Take up less yard too.
