The Official Farming Thread...

[SpaceBus]

View attachment 298986

Got just under 200 picked up today.


I’d say it was a productive day, but I managed to *s-word all over that idea..

Had a bale drop off the pile in the barn while I was stacking them with the skid steer.
Bounced into my front door on the cab and shattered it..

That’s gonna be spendy...

That's a bummer. This year I've broken two check chains and a $300 pto shaft. Not as bad as a cab door, but I can sympathize at least.

 

[Mastermind]

View attachment 298986

Got just under 200 picked up today.


I’d say it was a productive day, but I managed to *s-word all over that idea..

Had a bale drop off the pile in the barn while I was stacking them with the skid steer.
Bounced into my front door on the cab and shattered it..

That’s gonna be spendy...

You rich farmers and your fancy toys. LOL

That's a bummer. This year I've broken two check chains and a $300 pto shaft. Not as bad as a cab door, but I can sympathize at least.

I run a bunch of old junk. In the last four years I've spent about 10K on repairs and upgrades. But I'm still way ahead of what I would have spent on three new tractors, and a new baler.

 

[Hedgerow]

You rich farmers and your fancy toys. LOL



I run a bunch of old junk. In the last four years I've spent about 10K on repairs and upgrades. But I'm still way ahead of what I would have spent on three new tractors, and a new baler.

Have you ever gotten to use one of those tip trailers? For round bales? If you get a chance, try one out. They are fantastic for guys who are a one-man band.

 

[Mastermind]

Have you ever gotten to use one of those tip trailers? For round bales? If you get a chance, try one out. They are fantastic for guys who are a one-man band.

Never seen one before.

 

[SpaceBus]

You rich farmers and your fancy toys. LOL



I run a bunch of old junk. In the last four years I've spent about 10K on repairs and upgrades. But I'm still way ahead of what I would have spent on three new tractors, and a new baler.

I looked at used tractors, but there was nothing worth my money. Not a lot of used attachments around here either. For the prices of most used equipment and the cost to ship I am better off ordering new in most cases.

 

[Mastermind]

I looked at used tractors, but there was nothing worth my money. Not a lot of used attachments around here either. For the prices of most used equipment and the cost to ship I am better off ordering new in most cases.

I traded cattle for the JD 2640. They were all born on my place, so I didn't have much in them.

 

[SpaceBus]

I traded cattle for the JD 2640. They were all born on my place, so I didn't have much in them.

Starting out with a farm helps. I hope to leave our farm to descendants who can then start from a stable place. I joined the army at 17 fleeing my crazy family. My wife and I stayed in NC after I got medically retired from the army and worked for two years while living in an RV on my friend's land. After a lot of searching we found our current property online and came up to Maine for two weeks in summer 2018 to look at several other places as well. We picked this one and moved up here in November 2018. I cashed out some of my life savings and bought the tractor and most of the other equipment in spring 2019. The house is/was a total basket case and I had to replace the framing in most of the first floor. Totally worth it tho.

 

[Mastermind]

Starting out with a farm helps.

LOL

I didn't start out with anything. When Glenda and I got married, I owned two pairs of jeans, and two tee shirts. I have no idea why she was willing to marry me.

We've both worked hard to scratch out a living here in the middle of nowhere.

 

[Hinerman]

View attachment 298986

Got just under 200 picked up today.


I’d say it was a productive day, but I managed to *s-word all over that idea..

Had a bale drop off the pile in the barn while I was stacking them with the skid steer.
Bounced into my front door on the cab and shattered it..

That’s gonna be spendy...

If I were operating the skid steer that wouldn’t have happened, just saying…

 

[Only the Tony]

If I were operating the skid steer that wouldn’t have happened, just saying…

No. You would have dropped the bale on top of it and crushed the whole thing. LOL

 

[Only the Tony]

Never seen one before.

Been using one for several years. Push on with tractor and take it where you need it and then dump. If you want to spend some coin they now have them that will load without a tractor.

 

[Only the Tony]

https://cloverdaletmr.com/bale-carriers/
This would be so nice, but I don't do enough to justify the $27k cost. If I were doing custom baling maybe.

 

[JimBear]

https://cloverdaletmr.com/bale-carriers/
This would be so nice, but I don't do enough to justify the $27k cost. If I were doing custom baling maybe.

That looks handy, I will share that vid with my buddy to put on the list, along the self-propelled mo-co I told him he needs to invest in.

 

[Hedgerow]

No. You would have dropped the bale on top of it and crushed the whole thing. LOL

Tru dat...

 

[Hedgerow]

That looks handy, I will share that vid with my buddy to put on the list, along the self-propelled mo-co I told him he needs to invest in.

I really like those self-propelled mower’s. I realize it’s another engine and transmission to care for, but I love the visibility of those machines. It’s like running a small combine.

 

[SpaceBus]

LOL

I didn't start out with anything. When Glenda and I got married, I owned two pairs of jeans, and two tee shirts. I have no idea why she was willing to marry me.

We've both worked hard to scratch out a living here in the middle of nowhere.

So you raised the cattle without a tractor or equipment? Your parents/family didn't leave you anything?

 

[Mastermind]

So you raised the cattle without a tractor or equipment? Your parents/family didn't leave you anything?

No. I traded a 66 Ford Fairlane that I had owned since 1987 for my first tractor. A Massey Ferguson 135. I bought a used sickle bar mower for it, and used a square baler that I rebuilt from a junked baler. My dad died when I was 18, and my mom died two years ago. When mom died she had about 10,000.00 in total assets. So each of her 5 sons got about 2k.

I didn't start out with anything of value except the will to work hard, and enough common sense to never get too far in debt. We bought a 12 acres tract of land and a couple of cows.....then in a few years we bought another 12 acres. We leased our hay ground at the time. Now we lease about 100 acres, and only own about 35 counting the land we live on. We also have some land we cut hay on just to maintain the property for the landowners.

I traded the little Massey for a loader tractor that was pretty worn out. Sold it.

Bought a JD 1120 for 6k. Still have it.

Traded cows for a JD 2640. Still have it.

Bought a Massey Ferguson 175 last year for 3500.00 because my 2640 was in the shop. Used it to do the second cutting with last fall with no brakes. Got my 2640 back last winter, and had the Massey's brakes fixed. Still have it too.

Now we have 46 head of cattle. 38 of those are female. After slowly investing and never making any profit, we are finally at the point where we will be able to start holding and selling our offspring.

Sorry for the long post.....but you seem to be under the impression that I was born with a silver spoon in my mouth....and nothing could be further from the truth.

 

[SpaceBus]

No. I traded a 66 Ford Fairlane that I had owned since 1987 for my first tractor. A Massey Ferguson 135. I bought a used sickle bar mower for it, and used a square baler that I rebuilt from a junked baler. My dad died when I was 18, and my mom died two years ago. When mom died she had about 10,000.00 in total assets. So each of her 5 sons got about 2k.

I didn't start out with anything of value except the will to work hard, and enough common sense to never get too far in debt. We bought a 12 acres tract of land and a couple of cows.....then in a few years we bought another 12 acres. We leased our hay ground at the time. Now we lease about 100 acres, and only own about 35 counting the land we live on. We also have some land we cut hay on just to maintain the property for the landowners.

I traded the little Massey for a loader tractor that was pretty worn out. Sold it.

Bought a JD 1120 for 6k. Still have it.

Traded cows for a JD 2640. Still have it.

Bought a Massey Ferguson 175 last year for 3500.00 because my 2640 was in the shop. Used it to do the second cutting with last fall with no brakes. Got my 2640 back last winter, and had the Massey's brakes fixed. Still have it too.

Now we have 46 head of cattle. 38 of those are female. After slowly investing and never making any profit, we are finally at the point where we will be able to start holding and selling our offspring.

Sorry for the long post.....but you seem to be under the impression that I was born with a silver spoon in my mouth....and nothing could be further from the truth.

Ha, not a silver spoon, just thought you might live on ancestral land. Nice to read about your progress, it's taken you quite a while. I hope to even have a profitable farm by the time I'm done. Are you raising dairy cattle or meat? You never specified breed. The overwhelming majority of folks that own farmland inherited it, so please pardon my assumption that you also live on the same land your parents managed. My *pretty boy family sold our ancestral lands back in 2007 when my widowed grandmother died, a 300 acre corn farm (the fields were leased at the time) in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains in western VA. I could have had a silver spoon, but my family sold the land for less than 1/3rd of what it was really worth.

 

[Mastermind]

Ha, not a silver spoon, just thought you might live on ancestral land. Nice to read about your progress, it's taken you quite a while. I hope to even have a profitable farm by the time I'm done. Are you raising dairy cattle or meat? You never specified breed. The overwhelming majority of folks that own farmland inherited it, so please pardon my assumption that you also live on the same land your parents managed. My *pretty boy family sold our ancestral lands back in 2007 when my widowed grandmother died, a 300 acre corn farm (the fields were leased at the time) in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains in western VA. I could have had a silver spoon, but my family sold the land for less than 1/3rd of what it was really worth.

We have Angus and Hereford. Meat cattle. Our younger cows and heifers run with an Angus bull that makes a smaller calf, so less chance of having birthing problems. Our older cows run with a Hereford bull that makes a bigger, fast growing calf.

 

[SpaceBus]

We have Angus and Hereford. Meat cattle. Our younger cows and heifers run with an Angus bull that makes a smaller calf, so less chance of having birthing problems. Our older cows run with a Hereford bull that makes a bigger, fast growing calf.

My grandfather raised meat cattle on the 300 acres, but the land was changed over to cornfields after his death. He died when my mother was a teenager and by the time I came into existence the only remains of the cattle operation were empty barns and sheds.