PDH

Thanks Gav, I'll take a look at the website.

Very nice, thanks Gav, Whats the Xerion pulling? Don't recognise those colours?

According to Schuco now, well the official release date was actually September 1.

MF 9895 Combine now on the Schuco website.... http://www.schuco.de/uk/models/classic_collection/miniature_models_132/rtp/450765200/produkt_details.htm

Try looking here http://www.farmmodeldatabase.com/

Were they Bovine TB testing at the show then Tim?? ;D

it was still open a few weeks ago when I was Saturday shopping. It now only opens for a few hours a week and no longer has the quality of items it used to have. Still worth a visit though ifyou are in the area.

Sorry Tim but his first book was Britains Toy Tractors and Farm Machinery Published 1993 ISBN 0 9521078 0 5 P J Baron and Peter Baron are one and the same!!

Sean - Britains Massey Ferguson Toy Tractors by P J Baron and C Drakes ISBN 0 9521078 2 1 Also not shown/listed above is Britains Toy Tractors and Farm Machinery by P J Baron Published 1993 ISBN 0 9521078 0 5 Has a Green Card Cover

Yes he was in a good mood today. I think he's had a good couple of weeks sales wise at the various agricultural shows. Not a lot of stock on the stall today.

Farmer Ed Mark. He also had the new Claas with the front loader, I bought one off him.

Order processed and paid for on UTS. Thanks Barry for the good price. Hope you'll pick a good'un for me!

I didn't mention running gear Tris, just said, as James did, wheels/tyres and suspension. Perhaps you missed part of the conversation. He wasn't impressed with the cost/ease of repairing the brakes.The expensive tryres I thought were on the Topdown?

The Kuhn Axis 40.1 - presumably this is the same as the Raunch Axis 30.1 UH released a while back. Just a re-badge job?

The Xerion is not used for trailer haulage. Its roles on the farm are cultivation with the Vaderstad Topdown and Carrier and spraying. At harvest time the Xerion is closely following the combine and baling teams cultivating ready for sowing next years crop. If I recall correctly fro what James said the combines can cut around 150 to 200 acres a day if everything is right. The Xerion can cover around 70 to 120 acres a day. So having the Xerion cultivating asap is important. The impression I got from James regarding grain trailers was that the 'ideal' for him would be a 14t Richard Weston with an alloy body and Rolland suspension and wheels. The 2 18t Rollands will stay on the farm unless someone else in the Co-op group wants them, James just has to manage their use. The Axion was a nice piece of kit, James rated it highly and said it was the best tractor he had driven.

The problem with the 18t trailers seemed in the main to be the field performance and overall size. Required a big hp tractor in the field and were a problem on the B roads and narrow lanes around the estate. Also the cost of spares such as new brake shoes etc was far higher with these large trailers. The vast majority of grain haulage they do themselves, they have around 8 grain trailers. They use artics/bulk trailers for moving grain around the farms once its been harvested. So for example they will cut and drop the grain at another farm on the estate near to where they are cutting and then call in an artic to collect from the other farm and bring to Airfield Farm for the drier or to put into the big stores. They will bring in contractors if they need additional capacity.

The Lexion 570+ Montana which James fired up and showed us the suspension adjustment that it possesses. The photos show some of the positions James was able to set suspension at

The JD and Vaderstad drill Ares 816 and Bomford

The spraying setup and more of the Xerion and Axion - The Xerion front weight box. It was huge as hopefully you can tell from Jame's leg - weighs 2 1/2tonnes and is about 3/4 full of concrete. The remaining space is used as a tool box and the front and top fold out to form a workbench - we all reckoned Tris could live inside it quite comfortably!!

Some more trailers Two 18t capacity Rolland grain trailers which James reckon were too big for his operation (and this is a 5200 acre operation). He did rate the tyres and suspension though and hoped to specify this setup on any new trailer acquired. Richard Weston

Sorry I had problems with some of the photos I've added. FTF and Photobucket do not seem to be agreeing with each other. Some photos are showing upside down on FTF but are fine on Photobucket! Anyone know why? I've converted all the problem photo's to clickable thumbnails and that seems to have sorted the problem. Apologies for the odd presentation..........

A few more from the visit, hopefully not too many repeats. First up the main buildings on airfeild Farm. The grain pit/elevator which is linked to the drier The older grain store. Notice the now mainly disused overhead conveyor system from the grain pit/elevator/drier. In the main at harvest time the grain coming in is tipped in the yard and then either put the pit/drier or store depending on moisture content. They find it easier to use a telehandler and 2 1/2ton grain bucket for this. One of the newer grain stores again showing the overhead conveyor system

I'll try and post up a few photos in the next couple of days. Great day out....the Xerion was awesome.............

OK with me........... What sort of start time is being considered? Just thinking about the travel time to the farm.

Emailed you Tris.