Oakley Farms

Heres one of my Bailey Rootmaster 14 tonner in yellow

Just finished fitting a mocap applicator to my Grimme triple bedtiller

Well its just for anybody who has twitter or that can be bothered, i can appreciate its not for everybody so for those who arent or dont want im on ftf too, not wanting to take anything away from ftf because its great!

Yes i can still post on here but i have trouble uploading pictures, i can upload pictures on twitter to show you all what im up too!

Keep up with progress on this 1/32 model farm by following on twitter @oakleydiorama regular tweets and pictures posted of machinery, sheds and general progress with this diorama based on a 3500 acre arable and potato farm.

Looking for a potato grader for my display, anybody got one for sale or could build one? ideally looking for a tong peal caretaker

What paint does everybody use for on plastic? Oil based? Acrylic?

Anybody got one for sale or knows when i can get hold of one PM me!

I have now taken delivery of three Richard Western RC14 trailers, two Bailey Rootmasters and a Richard Western flatbed all from Three Oaks, they are superb with good build quaility and i would highly recomend them.

Just a quick update, Still having trouble uploading pics, says im not permitted to upload this kind of file! Anyway, all potatoes are now in the ground after a delayed planting season due to heavy rainfall, so laying of irrigation pipes has begun, and herbicide applied before the spuds emerge. The wheat has now had all of its Nitrogen and T3 sprays are being applied between showers! Oakley are looking into renewing the sprayer, currently they have a John Deere self propelled which is around 4 years old, they have had an awful amount of trouble with it and as there arent many around in the area replacement parts are an issue, therefore a Challenger Rogator has been looked at and a Bateman RB35, both with biiger tank capacity and 36m booms, they would have a Bateman tomorrow after previously having a HI-LO before the JD but there is a long waiting list, and the farm is very cautious about the Rogator as again there arent many in the area and dont want the same issues as they had with the JD, so as it stands they are undecided. The OSR has finished flowering with harvesting expected to start towards the end of July however the new Lexion 770tt hasnt been delivered yet, it is somewhere between Germany and Oakley! With the crossover to tracks on the combine, soil compaction is an issue the farm are taking seriously, espically with the light soils after potato crops, the next tractor to be replaced is the John Deere 8530 and a Challenger MT765 is being looked at however they are nervous about changing due to a newly appointed dealer, different hitching system and it doesnt have a vario gearbox when bedtilling for potatoes, however watch this space! Finally a few other things going on around the farm include a general tidy up for Open Farm Sunday when the public can visit the farm with various activities such as guided tours and tractor rides, and Tim has been busy applying slug pellets to the potatoes in the T7.210.

Seem to be having trouble uploading pictures, any ideas where im going wrong?

6830 + Grimme destoner

This is something i have had planned for a long time but am struggling to find somewhere to build, i have alot of the kit already to go so i can post some pictures of current kit soon, i am based in Ilminster. The estate runs a fleet of John deeres, a 2008 8530 is the main work horse towing a 6 metre vaderstad rapide drill, vaderstad 4mtr topdown, grimme triple bedtiller, folding mcconnel shakerator, and triple grimme ridging bodies, there is then a 2010 6930 used for carting wheat and spuds, running seed around, slug pelleting and discing with a vaderstad carrier 500. Two 2011 6830's with different front linkages, one with siku, the other with high detail front linkage, both have a set of row crops for destoning and harvesting potatoes and can be changed back to there normal tyres when desired, main duties include towing a grimme combistar destoner, a grimme gt170 harvester, irregation and grain carting. A 2006 john deere 6620 completes the fleet which is mainly a spare used for the self employed staff and harvest students, it is used on the spud planter, a grimme gl32b so therefore also has a set of row crops which are then changed back to normal tyres for grain and spud carting. There is then an odd ball in the Oakley tractor line up, a newholland t7.210, chores include fertilising with a trailed amazone spreader, hedgtrimming with a spearhead trimmer, rolling with 10mtr rolls and hauling when combining or digging long distances away. We have 2 telehandlers, both jcb, a 531-70 and a tm310s, current trailers include x2 marston 12tonners and have just taken delivery of x2 richard western 14tonne rootcrops, we have planned to replace the 2 marstons as they are slightly old and seen better days so on order are x2 bailey rootmasters and a richard western 32ft flatbed to go with the 25ft flat we currently have. Finally the estate have taken delivery of a new combine this year, claas lexion 770tt with 12mtr header, previously it was a lexion 600 with a 9mtr cut which was 7 years old and it was decided to go bigger so to cope combining and digging spuds at the same time. Just an insight into some of the kit ready for the display, hope to get some pictures of the stuff iv mentioned on soon.

Oakley Estate Farms is a 5500 acre arable farm based in Somerset. Cropping consists of 300 acres of potatoes - 250 acres maincrop and 50 acres salads, oil seed rape, winter wheat, and Spring Beans, 400 acres of woodland, lakes and parkland. The farm rent 50 acres in nearby Hinton Park (about 5 miles away) for growing salad potatoes and also rents 400 acres called Bondip at Ilchester (18 miles away) for growing rape and wheat. Approx 3500 acres is owned by the home farm and the other 1600 acres is tied up in contract farming agreements with local farmers. Aswell as its own farm the estate also owns 3 other farms, 500 acre arable farm, and 400 acre dairy milking 300 cows, and a 120 acre dairy milking 180 cows, all of which are tennanted out. The farm employs a farm manager and 5 full time workers, Joe (under manager) Steve (head tractor driver) Mark, Maurice and Tim, and harvest students and casual labour in the summer for grain hauling and potato grading. Rotation on the home farm consists of Rape, spuds, wheat, rape, spring beans, wheat then returns to the start of the cycle allowing spuds in the same fields every 1 in 6 years, on rented land it mainly consists of wheat and rape. Oakley Farms is a complete agri business on the Oakley Estate based upon light silty loam soil. The manager is passionate about all things arable, attention to detail, 21st century farming, soil compaction, GPS RTK auto steering systems, a clean and tidy company image that spreads across the whole farm from buildings to machinery, increasing efficiency and profitability. Investing in the best kit on the market and keeping it regularly maintained and replaced combined with taking on some of the best employees in the industry delivers the best results. Oakley hall sits in the middle of the estate with ancient parkland surrounding it, this is the land owners residence, two business parks are also situated in the estate called Eaglewood and Ashwell along with Putcombe Sawmills conserving the estates woodlands and supping timber, fencing stakes etc and Christmas trees to the local churches, schools and villages.