Oakley Farms

Mark has fitted the row crops back on his tractor now and topped the first field of potatoes before falling back on rolling in rapeseed

Started drilling DK Camelot Oilseed Rape as well today, first outing for the 6 metre Horsch drill we are specifically using to direct drill rape straight into stubble, up until now we used to cultivate with the topdown and drill with the rapid but with this setup we are looking to reduce compaction by saving a pass as well as diesel, improve establishment of the crop and be more efficient saving time. Here is Steve calibrating the machine on the demo Challenger before setting off

Updates for Aug 20th Started combining some winter wheat last saturday before being rained off at 11am, restarted on monday, at Oakley we swath all the straw unless the weather is a bit unsettled, the manager doesnt like wet straw on the ground. Cadbury Park Farm has all the straw and bales it using a Fendt 828 and Krone big pack square baler, the manager asked them to bale and haul bales away right behind the combine as he has itchey feet about drilling rape. Here is Cadbury Park Farm's bale clearing setup, there own Jd6210R's with Bailey flat and they have borrowed Oakley's JCB TM310 and Richard Western flat Mark had to give them a hand to put the lade back on our trailer

yes you do, well spotted sean!

Thanks Dan, yes you will have to come over soon, im getting there now, working on a farm entrance at the moment

im glad iv inspired you, at the end of the day thats what its all about, getting ideas and making them your own, i look forward to seeing your potato store on here

Thanks to you all for the kind comments, iv throughly enjoyed every minute constructing it so far, more still to come. Iv really got into the forum too, posting updates and making friends with likeminded people, its a great hobby!

Finally we finished combining the rape on friday evening, thats 1200 acres down, 1600 acres of wheat to go. Here is the last load just before being tipped into the pit

Friday was a busy day with two deliveries, first is a Challenger MT765D on demo as the 8530 is due to be replaced this year This will be tried out on the new Horsch rape drill, see how we get on later in the week. Also our new JCB arrived, this should keep up better with grain store duties

Next iv made a small office on the side of the grain store which will be used as a grain lab with moisture recording and quality control, it also houses the drier controls etc

Some small updates this week, Tim has put the hedgecutter on ready as the combine is nearing the end of rape it will be onto winter wheat next with a quick turnaround to plant next years rape in behind so we try and tidy the hedges up first As Steve cant drive his tractor and the combine at the same time Maurice takes over and has been pulling the topdown through the rape fields to get any seed to germinate, these can then be sprayed off before wheat is drilled in october

no a chap from Ireland made it, did a first class job

Meanwhile back at the farm workshop Mark is servicing the spud harvester ready for action in September, a couple hours each morning before he is taken away on carting rapeseed

We leave the combine in a quiet corner of a field over night and Steve the driver takes the landy up each morning with the bowser to fuel and service her up In cab harvesting action shot!

Combine has now moved into a rented 460 acre block what we call Bondip, its about 25 miles away from the farm so we have a few extra trailers on including Cadbury Park Farms Fendt 828 and also a nieghbour Frogmary Green Farm with there Fendt 939 black beauty and AW trailer

Iv designed the grain handling so that grain is tipped into an underground tank through mesh which comfortably takes a 28t artic load in what i call the tip pit shed which has a high roof to accommodate tipping trailers, it is then augured out and if needs be can be put into two silos say if changing crops/varieties or wanting to segregate loads if wetter for example, then on into the fully automatic variable drier After drying, grain comes out the bottom of the drier and up through the wall of the store and onto one of two conveyors to either the front or back of the store where it then falls onto a cross conveyor and out through one of three hatches into the selected bay

The two lorries hauling were Devon firm M Way & Son and a local haulage firm Bonnings Transport

We also had Oakley's two 6830's on today, Maurice with the green 18t Bailey and Mark with yellow 14t Bailey after changing his wheels from row crops to standards, Tim joined them mid morning in the Newholland

Heres Cadbury Park Farms Fendt 828 with their 14t Bailey trailer and they also run two John Deere 6210r's seen here with two of Oakley's trailers on

Its been a busy week down here on the farm, we finished harvesting the first 200 acre block of early winter oilseed rape last friday and as the grainstore wasnt quite ready so we hauled up to Cadbury Park Farm which is about 20 miles away and managed by Jack Pollard, its about 1000 acres growing wheat, barley and potatoes, jack is the chap who has lent a hand building this diorama and has some kit hiself which will feature in some posts i make as both farms help each other out, anyway we started harvesting again yesterday after rain stopped play and now all grain is going into the new store, Cadbury Park Farm is starting on their barley tomorrow so today we have had 6 tractors and trailers on the road along with 2 lorries to bring back the rape stored there, this is now out of their way ready for their barley. Here is the finished grainstore (all except a roof!)

Thanks James, its been along time in the planning, im just glad its all coming together now, still alot to do though, after iv completed the grain store im going to work on the farm entrance. Then an unloading bay shed for potatoes, farm office and then im calling it a day building wise! Time to enjoy it and minor tinkering!

A wet day here at Oakley so installing the new grain drier, elevators and conveyors etc

On the nightshift with Oakley Farms knocking down OSR, rain tonight so pressing on

Many thanks, well i tried to base it on a 47 000 tonne store, it doesnt look quite as big as that but the grain is stored at a much higher depth, im now building an automated drier so the grain comes out at a consistent 15% allowing larger depth storage without spoiling issues, the drier also helps as i store for other farms in the area all grain comes out at 15% by sensing the % moisture before entering the dryer it automatically speeds up or slows down to achieve this, this means no over drying resulting in grain weight loss and only using the precise energy you need for a 15% sample, this will save the farm around £40,000 a year

She has awoken from hibernation! Harvest starts tomorrow with Cabernet OSR