jordantaylor

well harvest finished yesterday for us, the contractors new holland TX68 was 3 hours away so he phoned some friends who bought a claas lexion 630 and 430 down to get the last 90 acres of wheat finished before the rain started. ive been baling last night and this afternoon and just beat the rain. i was very happy with the crops of straw off the wheat, one 32 acres field averaging 12.5 bales to the acre, got just over 400 round bales off it. we now have around 2500 round bales of straw now, about 600 left to cart off the fields. me and the boss shifted 270 this morning before i went baling.

i traveled up from bucks to shropshire yesterday to visit family while i have a few days offf and i was amazed when i hit the wolverhampton, telford and shrewsbury areas as to how much wheat and barley is left, every other field had a standing crop in it and quite a few wheat crops are not looking too good now. and i thought we were not doing to well down in aylesbury but after seeing all the lad back here we are well ahead of the rest. im going to try and get out to my ex employer at some point today and see how they are getting on as they look as they have a few hundred acres of wheat left and allot of barley

same this way, no combines on the go, took the baler off and been mintill cultivating ground ready for 2-3 year grass lays. hoping they combine will be rolling next week some time then i can get on baling again.

well its been nearly a month since i was properly on here last, i have been unbelievably busy at work, being the main tractor driver really is testing my working capacity but im loving every minute of it, i am doing basically everything machinery wise which has kept me busy everyday even in bad weather as ive had plenty of kit to clean and service. i have baled over 1500 bales since i have been here and i was out helping the local contractor the other day with 2 other lads as we were all baling hay and straw for various farms (you can soon clear some ground with 3 balers on the job). i have also been mucking out and spreading all the muck from the farms cattle sheds onto the arable ground which we are going to be putting 2-3 year grass lays on. i have also when finished baling been the second loader man loading all the bales in the fields and helping cart them aswell while the boss has been unloading the trailers at the farm. i am getting on very well the contractors and when not busy on the farm i am finding myself helping them out with various jobs from baling to grain carting and the boss is all to happy to lend a hand, all the farms in the area all chip in to help each other which i think is great. we have had our fair share of mishaps though from electrics problems with the tractors to sill things like workers breaking and damaging things and not saying anything, i went to get the kuhn rake from the other farm the other day to service it ready for 3rd cut to only find it had been bent in 3 different places and nobody had said a word, we know who it was as he was the only person to use it but that was an an extra job bending everthing back. but harvest is going well, we are getting on through, there are still problems on the dairy with cell counts being around the 300-350 mark but thats not my concern as its not my area to deal with, ill worry about the machinery and the fields and leave the dairy boys to sort their problems out anyway, enough blabering on, here are some photos from the past month

back window smashed whilst baling electrics (clutch) on massey 6265 and 6465 needed certain cables replacing new hydraulic pump on mf 6465 one of the dairy lads bent the new kuhn rake after it had only done 40 acres and never said anything main ram on marshall muck spreader kept twisting when trying the bring the door back so the door only came back half way, that was out of action for 2 days while the guys from the local dealer came to fix it kids from local estates have been cutting netwrap of round bales and rolling them out over the feilds and into the ditches, we have been having to work very late some nights just to get the bales cleared before the kids get to them contractors combine has broken down twice mf 168 radiator has blown 3 times after being overworked pulling tandem trailers carting bales and we still have a long way to go before this mad season is over , plenty more cereals, silage and still the maize to do yet

well ive been out for a drive this evening around the area. ive spotted a few combines on the move.

well we have been flat out at calley farm, in the past few days weve had mishaps and problems everywhere. i have baled over 500 bales in the past 3 days, all the rape has been done and the rest of the barley being done now, and i have also been loading bales in the fields while one of the other workers carts the trailers away and the boss is unloading them at the yard, we are currently running 9 bale trailers being moved by the jcb;s and the mf 3085, we did have the 168 on them aswell untill the radiator blew up this afternoon. the baler has been playing up, we had some dodgy netwrap in it that it didnt like and so had to be changed as it wasnt wrapping th bales but was wrapping everything else up. ive had to get the back window replaced on the baler tractor as a stone flicked up and smashed the window(this didnt stops me baling though). we have also had kids from the local estates being a pain and racing round the fields on dirt bikes and we had to call the police out as one of the contractors was stopped in his valtra and threatened with a knife and this was in broad daylight by the pub at the end of the lane tp the fields. me and the boss have also carted around 400 bales today and then i went and baled around 20 acres of a 40 acres field tonight of barley straw, i only did half as its right out the front of a rough housing estate and we are not sure off all the bales i have baled will be there in the morning as the kids like to cut the netwrap off and have set fire to them in the past

booked that date off with work so i'll be there again but not sure about having a display this year,i might see if i calnt whip a few small scenes together and bring them down though.

the farm where i am working have been combining on and off, they have cleared 45 acres of barley about a week ago that i have already baled, they have just harvested 60 acres of rape on friday night/ saturday morning, they still have a few acres of rape, about 80 acres of barley and 150 acres of wheat. i have got all that to bale but the weather is preventing that to. here are a few pics of them in action

well the past couple of days has been hectic. the 6465 broke down on the forage wagon thursday evening, we had to get the local dealer out who helped us get the forage wagin off the 6465 onto the 5465. the hydraulics had completely gone on the 6465, no steering, couldnt opperate the wagon or the link arms so a few hydraulic and oil jacks were used to unhook the wagon. the mower then had to go on the 3085. the 188 is still going strong on the rake and silage is finished now, we have at least 4 fields of good grass but not sure what to do with it as we have nowhere to put it so we are thinking of zero grazing it. the combine is currently parked up waiting for wheat and osr to be ready but the barley is finished. i have spent all afternoon on the round baler, my first time baling and i feel i did pretty well, the boss showed me what to do and left me to it. 153 bales off 20 acres, thats a grand total of 283 bales so far off 40 acres of barley ground. plenty of kit for me to grease, clean and service now, hoping to get clearing some muck out of the cattle sheds before long now before i get baling again and we have a few fields that need topping again

well been on the silage all day again today, mowed a few acres this morning and then been picking up from 8 untill the massey broke down at 9 this evening. we called out the dealer who is going to fix it tommorow, ive currently got the pottinger on the 5465 and the mower is now going on the 3085 while the 6465 is out of action. the contractors also bought the combine along to start knocking down the barley. carting was a valtra T202

well i was out topping tuesday morning and hit a few wet patches in the field. tuesday evening saw me out mowing with the 6265 and unfortunatly after a few times around the field the electrics decided to play up and so i found myself dropping the mower in the fields and being towed back to the other farm. this morning i was down the field at 6 with the 5465 and carried on mowing. the 188 was soon out with the rake as the grass was drying quickly and the pottinger sales bloke turned up and helped set the wagon up and the afternoon and evening saw me lifting all the grass i had mowed in the morning. ive still got about 12 acres of grass to lift and another 15 odd acres to cut, there are also some other fields that come to about 50 acres together that have a good amount of second cut on them but they are being left a few weeks to bulk up some more. we have already run out of room for silage and we have plenty left to come, we also have no room for the maize when we get to it either.

Cheers rob, yeah well i should start mowing tommorow or tuesday with the mf 6265, raking with the 188 and single rotor rake and picking up the silage with the 6464 and the new pottinger wagon. im mowing and picking up and the boss is raking on his belovid 188. plenty of photos to come including the new muck spreader in action and the new hedge trimmer. we should also get the baler out at some point on the straw.

the only piece of kit i wont be using anytime soon is the baler as the boss loves it and so he does all the baling, he will teach me but thats only incase he isnt able to use it for any reason

well here are a few pics from the other farm of some of the machinery, we have an un used pottinger faro 3500 silage wagon, a kuhn round baler, various sized bale trailers, a 4m power harrow, a grain trailer with wooden sides(not sure on the make), a set of rolls, a lely splendimo mower, we also have a small hay rake and a few attachments. also today i have been welding some feeders that the boss was going to scrap but he asked me if they could be sorted and so i took the challenge and they are now ready to be reused. and the last photo is showing the old cab filter on the 6265 after i cleaned it with compressed air and the new one i was about to put in

well here are a few pics from this evening around the farm. first up is the MF 6265 which i have just given a full service, changed the engine oil, given new air and oil filters and greased up ect... ready to go to the other farm and put the mower on to get back on the silage. we have also taken delivery of a new bomford 5m hedge trimmer that will be going on the 6265 aswell and we have been given some various bits and bobs to go on the tractor such as mesh and some other gurads. there is also a shot of some of the machinery in the one side of the barn, its all cramped together as the other half of the shed has been cleaned out and is being used as a temporary grainstore by the contractor who we have rented some of the arable ground to. the 188 is currently on the kuhn single rotor rake, she just takes it and is fun in the field especially when turning on headlands as its quite a weigt on the back but she handles it just. and we also have a panoramic shot of the farm from on top of the silage clamp . i will try and get photos from the other farm aswell at some point

It is a small world yes, calley farm is a fantastic farm and roger is a great boss, and im not one to take sides on how people act and what they are like, roger has placed allot of trust in me and im extremely gratefull. im an easy lad, i go to work, do my job to best of my abilities and i go home, i dont get involved in workplace arguments or dissagreements, im just a lad here to do my job and do it well. what roger used to be like is another story for another day. anyway my new muckspreader arrived today, im going to be the main person using it, the marshall bloke talked me through its servicing ect... so ive got a few sheds to muck out now so some dry weather would be great.

thanks barry, its a shame i dont really have time to get working photos. i will try and get photos when we get out with the new muck spreader and when we get silaging, hopefully a few harvest photos when the combines get rolling

A few more, the barley is ready for havest and so is secont cut silage

a few updated from work