smithy

Been mixing concrete again today with 2 diesel mixers working on shed for my E27N off to BROCKS at THAXTED tomorrow (Monday) to pick up 2 MICHELIN 480/80R42 rear tractor tires

Happy birthday Paul see you around somewhere soon me and Julie got a meal booked with your father end of the month which will be a good laugh nowing Brian

Back in November we carted 500 ton of sugar beet up this cartway  as it was wet we left a lot of mud on it its got a good brick rubble base so I got the mini digger out today and took the mud of the top as the frosts had made it let go from the rubble I plan on covering it with road planings

Dug out and prepared this base over Christmas concreted it today (sunday) its appox 10 feet by 10 feet and 6 inchs deep used 19 bags of cement not sure how much ballast as not able to weigh it sharp frost tonight so got it covered and a space heater running next to it

I have been busy spitting firewood and getting Christmas dinner sorted out the last couple of days

up at 5am to spray the oil seed rape with chemical called ASTRO-KERB while the frost is still in the ground it is to take out Annual grass &broad leaf weeds done by 9am and sun was coming out for a nice day so went and sprayed 22 acres of winter wheat with 3 chemicals called Exceed sx/ Omaha/ Supasect first two are for annual grass &broad leaf weeds supasect is for barley yellow dwarf virus finished by lunch time but ground was getting very sticky by then . in the afternoon I steam cleaned the tractor and sprayer washed out tank and topped it up of antifreeze as that's the last spraying for this year

Been working for my mates again at BARKING ENGINERING again first job was to cut in half 30 oil drums ready for the barbecue rush then I made 5 of the 10 panels and covered them in chicken wire and light steel sheet as they are to be used to keep some cats in

yes the tractor boys winning again was  pleasing today

nice picture of your neighbour drilling kale ol we could do with some of that dust over here at moment as while I was away over weekend we had 31mm of rain and another 11mm last night so will not be spraying the rape this week as more rain is forecast

only got back from Zwolle late last night so had a bit of a lazy day but have been swotting up on a few things as I have a sprayer/training day on friday

above post was meant to be attached /reply to light lands post

We get paid £31.67 per tonne based on the beet at 16% sugar (if 17% you get 1% more 18% you get 2%more and so on ) the factory take a dirt sample and take a bit back and also a bit if you leave to much green top on  so on a 29 tonne load you end up on average getting paid for 26 tonnes when you have filled your main quota the price for this year drops to £25 and same  deductions for dirt as above. next year the price is only £24 tonne main quota and about £5 tonne for the rest .

there is a late deliveries bonus of about 36 pence a tonne from the 1st January 2015 rising up to £3.91 a tonne if factory is open till march 2015.

W don't get the pulp back the factory sells this on we could buy some but has to be booked up a good 6 months in advance don't now the price at moment but it does sell out quickly the factory also sells topsoil and stones which is washed of the beet.

I normaly grow about 16 acres but next year will only be growing 10 acres as there is too much surplus sugar in the world

spent today loading the last of my sugar beet I have had 17 29 ton loads leave the farm which came of 17 acres so not a bad crop after all don't now at the moment what the sugar content is as the factory will post that to me after Wednesday this week

my son and granddaughter started building my shed to put my E27N fordson major in on Saturday

I have been allowing my 5-year old granddaughter to PLAY with some of my collection!   I am mad?  Possibly - but she was being very careful as requested and asked if she could take a few items out of the cabinet.  She also put back those she had finished with so I am happy.

my granddaughter JASMINE has been helping me with my collection since she was 4 she is now 8 and got a small collection of her own and like me rights them all down in a book

been d day for us with the wife's cancer results back today, very very glad to say they came back as all clear, so no more treatment required now ,to say we are happy is an understatement , been a long 4 weeks since our holiday with all of this happening so quickly so off into town tomorrow to get my euros for next weekend now we have the all clear to go

Glad to hear the good news Sean also looking forward to seeing you at Zwolle next weekend

I have been loading sugar beet for my neighbour as he also has been and lifted my beet with his HOLMER CHASER and HOLMER TERRA DOS T4 30 which I was told could be the only one working in the UK

I went and helped one of my neighbours by drilling 20 acres for him as his own tractor a CLAAS ARES 656 RZ has broken it crown wheel and pinion in its back axle also standing in his yard was his RENAULT 90-34 TRACFOR .The CLAAS 620 ARION was a hire tractor to cart his sugar beet into Bury St Edmunds beet factory

Forget the work Smithy i bet you was on the ale?

my two mates had a drink or two but I stayed on the soft drinks as I was also the driver,

I have been helping my mates at BARKING ENGINEERING we had to fit a liner inside a chimney then fit a double sided wood burner so it would heat both the bar and dining area .Working in a pub for two days was great  fun cherry picker outside to reach top of chimney was not so good as it was raining and bit windy

That's nice and straight Smithy

Thank you I don't always keep it that straight but that field is in full view to my neighbours that have got GPS so had to stay awake on that field

spent Saturday pressing the 26 acres I had ploughed on Friday with a 3-5meter Edlington Press and MTX155 MCcormick

Do you help with all 2000 then ? Or just the more local stuff to you

I normally just do the local farms but have done some of the distance farms in the past.When he is away lifting beet and his father needs a hand in his yard I go over and help load FIBROPHOS FERTILISER as he stores and blends it on the farm

must do some serious acres of beet to warrant buying that one smithy

Yes he covers about 2000 acres but it does depend on the weather and how long the campaign lasts this year Bury St Edmunds factory opens on the 15th September so he plans to start lifting on the 10th as the factory likes to how there is a stock pile of beet ready for processing

you didn't have any trouble with the NH baler did you?

No baler worked fine now an again sledge plays up if you are following a tramline .