Most costly mistake

jd06 · 29-11-2015 9:40pm #1

Hi all. Just wondering what was your most costly mistake eg. Getting into pedigrees, deer. Cows or was it a machine you bought or chanced that didnt work out
Or a venture you tried that left you out of pocket

huey1975 · 29-11-2015 9:48pm

Irish life and permanent shares

supersean1999 · 29-11-2015 9:52pm

Marriage

Bullocks · 29-11-2015 9:57pm

supersean1999 wrote: »

Marriage

Haha if she reads that divorce could be the next costliest thing !

Base price · 29-11-2015 10:01pm

supersean1999 wrote: »

Marriage

+1
For those that don't know me - I'm female.

Username John · 29-11-2015 10:10pm

Spending money on actual farming / reclaiming - when I should have bought entitlements.

RightTurnClyde · 29-11-2015 10:13pm

Going farming

jd06 · 29-11-2015 10:18pm

My neighbour paid 15000 for a foal
She fell into a percolation hole his son had dug for his new house
It wasnt fenced off properly

keep going · 29-11-2015 10:37pm

one off farm investment,50k plus down the drain,now that i think of it this thread will do nobody any good

Deepsouthwest · 29-11-2015 10:40pm

keep going wrote: »

one off farm investment,50k plus down the drain,now that i think of it this thread will do nobody any good

50k, feck me, im glad I've never had that kinda money hanging around!

Deepsouthwest · 29-11-2015 10:42pm

Built two new silage pits last yr, and then switched to all bales this yr, changed the feeder as well last yr. Two mighty fcuk ups, even by my own lowly standards!

Bullocks · 29-11-2015 10:45pm

Deepsouthwest wrote: »

Built two new silage pits last yr, and then switched to all bales this yr, changed the feeder as well last yr. Two mighty fcuk ups, even by my own lowly standards!

Could you roof the pits to use them as sheds instead ?

keep going · 29-11-2015 10:46pm

Deepsouthwest wrote: »

Built two new silage pits last yr, and then switched to all bales this yr, changed the feeder as well last yr. Two mighty fcuk ups, even by my own lowly standards!

eh which two decisions out of three,i take its the diet feeder and the bales:D

fepper · 29-11-2015 10:46pm

the taxman!!!!

poor farmer · 29-11-2015 10:47pm

The man that never made a mistake never made anything.

quader · 29-11-2015 10:49pm

Going into partnership with brother

whelan2 · 29-11-2015 10:51pm

Taking a loan out in 2009 to buy in calf heifers the majority of which died of ragworth posioning- total sickner. Took 5 years to get compensated

Deepsouthwest · 29-11-2015 10:52pm

Bullocks wrote: »

Could you roof the pits to use them as sheds instead ?

They're full of bales, stacked 4 high, so I needed a place for them where the effluent could be collected, so not a total waste, but 8 ft proper slopped walls on 3 sides was probably a bit overkill!

Deepsouthwest · 29-11-2015 10:53pm

whelan2 wrote: »

Taking a loan out in 2009 to buy in calf heifers the majority of which died of ragworth posioning- total sickner. Took 5 years to get compensated

Who compensated u?

Cavanjack · 29-11-2015 10:53pm

Deepsouthwest wrote: »

They're full of bales, stacked 4 high, so I needed a place for them where the effluent could be collected, so not a total waste, but 8 ft proper slopped walls on 3 sides was probably a bit overkill!

Why go all bales?

whelan2 · 29-11-2015 10:54pm

Deepsouthwest wrote: »

Who compensated u?

The lad i bought them from

Deepsouthwest · 29-11-2015 10:55pm

whelan2 wrote: »

The lad i bought them from

Sounds complicated, so we'll say no more

whelan2 · 29-11-2015 10:57pm

Deepsouthwest wrote: »

Sounds complicated, so we'll say no more

Part of the reason I will never buy in stock again, time to move on:cool:

kevthegaff · 29-11-2015 11:00pm

Bought 100 hols bull calves first year milking, should have gone the NZ bobby route!

CloughCasey1 · 29-11-2015 11:05pm

In farming nothing yet thankfully and not long enough at it. In life many things. You learn from them and they are part of life. What doesn't kill ya will only make you stronger.

memorystick · 29-11-2015 11:05pm

quader wrote: »

Going into partnership with brother

Got out after 19 years. No time for him.

Grueller · 29-11-2015 11:17pm

Strictly speaking it would be putting a lot of off farm earnings into the farm. Would I do it again? Yes, because having the set up makes my life very handy by comparison to before.
Pumping thousands into an irish lige pension was another serious mistake although I am young enough to hopefully see that turn around.

patsy_mccabe · 30-11-2015 12:00am

kevthegaff wrote: »

Bought 100 hols bull calves first year milking, should have gone the NZ bobby route!

Did you mean to buy heifers.

kevthegaff · 30-11-2015 12:02am

patsy_mccabe wrote: »

Did you mean to buy heifers.

Ya Feckenham up:-D

Nekarsulm · 30-11-2015 12:24am

Buying a rental property before the crash.

limo_100 · 30-11-2015 12:44am

kevthegaff wrote: »

Bought 100 hols bull calves first year milking, should have gone the NZ bobby route!

I wouldn't think the bulls would have as much milk as the heifers but they would have a high cell count

I said · 30-11-2015 12:56am

Leaving the immersion on

Deepsouthwest · 30-11-2015 1:04am

I said wrote: »

Leaving the immersion on

U must've left it on a couple of yrs for it to be ur costliest mistake!!

Birdnuts · 30-11-2015 1:56am

Spent 5k on a fiat brava for the wife that literally fell apart after less than a year. Ended up as a very expensive hen house:rolleyes:

foxy farmer · 30-11-2015 3:33am

Paid €1800 for a young ped Sim bull a few years back. Turned out to be a complete lunatic. Cattle off him were wired. Lost more cattle off him than i sold in last 3 years. Couldnt dream of keeping replacement heifers off him. Lucky to be alive after a few close calls when trying to seperate, handle, test them etc. Have a folder of death certs here that would make sad reading. Stock numbers currently at an all time low.

patsy_mccabe · 30-11-2015 10:42am

Mine has to be one Purebred Limousin heifer I bought just over a year ago. Didn't pay a fortune for her, but she went mad after calving. Tried to kill a relative first, then tried to kill me twice. Second time was a close one. I was in a hole in a ditch looking at another newborn that was stretched out. When I tried to get near it, it got a fright and let out a bawl. I had the quick thinking to leg it out. Just as I got out of the ditch, there she was running down the field at full speed. Fook, just got away from her.

I contacted the Limousin society and they said that 'they really only facilitated the sale and it wasn't a society sale as such'.:rolleyes: The previous owner, a well known breeder, didn't want to know about it it either. Seriously thinking about leaving the society now.

Cran · 30-11-2015 12:30pm

An expensive ram bought last year which nearly died 3 times and then back legs went, sent to the factory in the summer. Ended up with only 6 lambs after him all rams of which 4 were culled, other 2 are class sheep but kept myself for own commercials rather than sell to anyone to see how they winter. Lesson learnt though for future so maybe not as expensive as feels now....

Muckit · 30-11-2015 1:04pm

Going out to the mart with a limited budget and a certain number of cattle in my head that I wanted to buy. The result? Buying as my father aptly described, 2 'matchstick' heifers thinking l was going to make cattle out of them. One had enough after 2 weeks and stuck her 4 legs up in the air, the other never thrived all summer and l ended up cutting my losses and selling her for half what I paid for her.

l was better off if l had bought 1 'right one', but there was no talking to me at the time.

A great lesson. Quality not quantity from now on.

limo_100 · 30-11-2015 1:07pm

Muckit wrote: »

Going out to the mart with a limited budget and a certain number of cattle in my head that I wanted to buy. The result? Buying as my father aptly described, 2 'matchstick' heifers thinking l was going to make cattle out of them. One had enough after 2 weeks and stuck her 4 legs up in the air, the other never thrived all summer and l ended up cutting my losses and selling her for half what I paid for her.

l was better off if l had bought 1 'right one', but there was no talking to me at the time.

A great lesson. Quality not quantity from now on.

I know your pain :mad:

Count Mondego · 30-11-2015 1:14pm

Over four grand for a Limo bull a few years ago, that I offloaded 9 months later from 1500. C#nt never grew. Loads of stars though, wha wha wha.

whelan2 · 30-11-2015 1:29pm

most costly mistake so far today was not closing the back window of tractor when taking out blocked slurry pump. Also got glass in my thumb and blood everywhere

Greengrass1 · 30-11-2015 1:35pm

For us it definitely has to be the few yrs we stopped reseeding and spreading lime and p and k and only using the bare minimum nitrogen.
It really set us back.

Limestone Cowboy · 30-11-2015 1:54pm

Missed a year between reps 3 and reps 4. 12k out of pocket for it!

supersean1999 · 30-11-2015 2:24pm

Bullocks wrote: »

Haha if she reads that divorce could be the next costliest thing !

Hahaha no fear. Not that It would surprise her. She is well used to me. .

mfceiling · 30-11-2015 2:43pm

Like the farmer up our way who was asked what would he do if he won the lotto.

"I'd buy a bigger farm and I'd farm away for a few years until the money was all gone"!!

farawaygrass · 30-11-2015 2:44pm

Not doing what I wanted to do and taking advice from so called expert family members. Ended up with no qualification or trade instead of a great trade that I wanted. If I was left alone I would have been better off, although I would have made silly mistakes too, but you imo you have you make some mistakes yourself to learn. I guess my confidence was low as was young and impressionable.
It's one time I will be passing on to my own kids, do what you want and what makes you happy, and try make a living out of something you love doing and it won't feel like work.

foxy farmer · 30-11-2015 3:54pm

Just thought of another one. Employed a builder to put up a 5 bay slatted house back in 95 just after I taking over. Hewas putting up house for £39k. Roof was going up before i copped last bay was shorter than the rest. Whole house was over 4ft short. When i went looking for his drawings all hell broke loose. He blamed lads for cock up. I Withheld money from last payment, then his staff complained they werent paid. They even followed me one Sunday morning to try and get me to pay up. Had a fking match with builder one morning when house was finished. Wouldnt admit house was short even when we pulled out the tape. He said he gave drawings to readymix supplier to work out quantities. I Had even contacted solicitor just in case. In the end i held back 5k and told him to f off.
Have had issues with the house in recent years with welded plates cracking off rails, doors getting stuck due to rails sinking as they were put on backfilled ground. Concrete aprons around slats cracking and sinking.
Wouldn't let anyone in since. Put up another slatted house in 97 with the father and some local help. No issues but roof a bit too low in hindsight.

Milked out · 30-11-2015 4:25pm

whelan2 wrote: »

most costly mistake so far today was not closing the back window of tractor when taking out blocked slurry pump. Also got glass in my thumb and blood everywhere

Snap last week

Damo810 · 30-11-2015 6:36pm

farawaygrass wrote: »

Not doing what I wanted to do and taking advice from so called expert family members. Ended up with no qualification or trade instead of a great trade that I wanted. If I was left alone I would have been better off, although I would have made silly mistakes too, but you imo you have you make some mistakes yourself to learn. I guess my confidence was low as was young and impressionable.
It's one time I will be passing on to my own kids, do what you want and what makes you happy, and try make a living out of something you love doing and it won't feel like work.

Now yer talking, looking back the amount of ****e I was told from relatives, teachers etc I am glad I was never one to listen

Never would I have ended up in the situation I am in where I can't wait to get out working, had I listened I'd be in Dublin studying law or accounting and be pissed off with everything. Find out what ya want to do and go do it, simple as that.

howdee · 30-11-2015 6:48pm

Dug a 50 ft slurry tank in 07 to be cross compliant and hit rock after a foot down. Ended up giving near 20000 to the plant hire firm. I should have went across the yard as I dug a 115 ft tank practically beside the other one in September and it was done in 4 days.

Sam Kade · 30-11-2015 7:05pm

I went to that polska investment fund seminar in 2005 and couldn't believe my eyes seeing people almost falling over themselves wanting to invest in it. The seminar was very shabbily put together but that didn't put investors off, the whole thing went belly up and all the investors were left high and dry. There was a certain rag that also glorified the fund to high heaven at the time.

Most costly mistake

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