jakescot

I have had this discussion with friends several times recently, we always end up never resolving it and I keep forgetting to ask anyone on here but given the size of all the kit that seems to be going round in Holland and the cost of it all how do farmers make a decent living.........how many hectares do lots of these farms have and does anyone also know the sort of average size of farms in Holland overall?........ certainly must be something very different from a lot of the uk I`d suggest. We are all in the EU so commodity prices shouldn`t be wildly different, I know there will be currency issues but even still.......I`m confused anyone care to enlighten me, thanks

thank you very much..yes I had already sat the PA1 before we started outside on the PA2 part......... we were warned that this assessor did like you to understand the plumbing of the machine and I got why when he explained his reasoning behind this. It was mainly safety.... ..........he`s a practical guy, a farmer ,and he said the risks associated with machinery breakdown were pretty high in terms of potential operator contamination and pollution so if whilst in the process of using it, the sprayer happened to breakdown and you knew how it works,ie where the relevant hoses go to and where they come from ,how the pump operates, what`s a suction hose, what`s a pressure hose etc,if you have to take it apart you know where the greatest risk of getting cotaminated comes from. Upon knowing how it works , a practical guy can "PERHAPS" fix it himself thus avoiding travelling back to the yard with chemical mix in the tank, without getting anyone else coming to fix it, who is likely to be less well trained in safety using pesticides....he added how many mechanics do you know that do this course,contaminated with spray, avoid leaving a mix too long in the tank where it may settle or solidify as in the jellying effect of some substances, avoiding having to wait on someone coming to fix it when you had ideal weather conditions given our often rather small weather windows .......... I sort of got his thinking. he referred to it in the first section of the assessment under the part relating to and here I quote from the assessment schedule.......... "Identify applicator controls and components, demonstrate knowledge of liquid flow,action of the applicator in filling,application and circulation modes" that part was quite confusing for me despite some training,given my no knowledge of using a sprayer ! It did show , well it was obvious to me anyway that I wasnt totally comfortable with all how the sprayer actually worked. I did tell him I hadn`t sprayed and that my machine at home was very different to the one we had. He replied well that may be but basically most sprayers work on the same principals so your knowledge would be expected to transfer to most machines and it is part of the assessment that you should know how it works, see above quote...... he was fine however, we got on well enough,he was`nt too hard to please, for instance I never had to measure the 100m for calibration, nor did I have to measure out the bouts using marker poles as we were on grass (just using water)The sprayer has no foam marker ,no GPS on the tractor and no tramlines to follow, I just explained how I would go about measuring it out. I never had to clear a blocked nozzle,no filter check and no re check of the flow rate to achieve the exact amount he asked for as the minute calibration test didnt match the required flow rate I was asked for.It was a marked difference at 0.88 l/min compared with the 1.2 required. I said well we could adjust pressure, slow down or change the nozzles which I`d prefer to do given its quite a large change needed and the latest label recommendations for the product we had been given now state we shouldn`t exceed 2.5 bar ( Barclay gallup 360) this wasn`t on the label example we were given to use for the assessment. got a bit of a nod and a wink for that extra info on giving advice to anyone else going to do it I`d say go for it, it`s not horrendous but be well prepared..... do remember the old adage PERFECT PLANNING PREVENTS POOR PERFORMANCE

well thats me passed the Sprayer cert tests...32 out of 33 in Pa1 and he said only a odd very minor thing to do with the workings and the pump of the sprayer......told me I was an excellent candidate too

sorry I`m going off topic here but that make you guys trip away sound a bit like one I know of. 5 young scots set off for a big football match decided that rather than waste the opportunity, make it all a rush and risk being late, missing connections,misssing even the match they would make a nice wee break out of it all ...leaving just as you say significant others and gf`s at home the scene was set for an enjoyable time . Thursday duly came and off our intrepid handful set. scarves bobble hats,kilts.all the things you need for a trip to spain in june!!!!! in 1982 !!!! goodbyes were said all but one who`s parting shot was ..............silence......as the door shut behind him.Staying for the whole competition was beyond all possibility and what with it being well televised,our heroes should have been a bit more prepared. Upon their return, red as lobsters,skint,rather despondant about said football and totally knackered after a good few days on the beer and whatever else .it appeared no genuine record of events existed...some remebered one thing, others remembered something else...none of them forgot that best little cathouse in........ahem we`ll leave that there. It sounded like they had all been away on different holidays, none actually got in to see the game..........All lead to some serious grovelling,humble pie eating contests and an even more expensive paybacktime,forgivemeI`m sorry shopping spree on the part of their significant others afterwards..................the joys eh

it`s a wonder you can`t see me grinning from where you are.............got back from lakeland model show about an hour ago...........my first ever model show and I have to say i really enjoyed it..Some fantastic displays put my previous attempts well to shame I can tell you.............Nice to put faces to a few names..........well worthy of the rush to get down there and back. Perhaps my highlight, no genuinely my highlight, was seeing Damian`s work in the flesh.. well deserved red rosette and silverware.now for those of you who havent seen it, it`s stunning.the workmanship and his obvious eye for all those little extra details, was, in my very humble opinion, worth the trip in itself. Yet another very talented forum member. Didn`t get to speak to you, you were deep in conversation when we were there however. This isn`t meant to detract from the dozen or 15 other great layouts.....everyone who takes the time and trouble to show their collections and dioramas off,all who come along to sell a wide variety of models artworks and accessories deserve praise.the long hard hours setting up and the travelling show a real dedication to our chosen hobby so a big thank you to everyone, not forgetting the organisers who too , will have a heap of work behind the scenes most of us never see. here`s hoping my next model show visit isn`t too far away.

was still hopeful of making it down as its only 90 miles or so from me but really all depends on work, whether I get my Claas back from the workshop tomorrow or not.if not then I`ll be still feeding cattle via the 2wd 590....not so handy and certainly no as fast. Of course too , all depends on what the livestock are up to. Would probably be afternoon before and if we get there.

I don `t have the brown one & never knew of the red version either til I read your post here Bill. I do have the yellow one minus it`s box and a couple of green ones minus boxes though now I come to think of it I might have one boxed with the scraper in the set . T To that end the yellow one would be the first released if i`m correct followed by the brown, I seem to remember them turning to brown. that`s as much as I know.

I`d say thats fair comment...there`s a big dairy farm up the road from me, they`ve just bought a claas 640 over their usual brand , New Holland. I would say too they arent unique in their change with what used to be the old estate home farm always running IH, mainly because of the dealer , so when they changed to Valmet , they went there and he had 3 of them,The dealer in question , "Gordons" ,changed to Claas which they then changed 2 of their 3 main tractors to but by the time the 3rd one came for change they have actually gone NH from an entirely different dealer "Lloyds" brand and dealer loyalty isnt what it used to be, perhaps that`s as much a refelection of the state financially of the industry

very good thank you young fella, looks like its been another excellent show, now excuse me if I missed it but which pics are of your layout? I recognise some of graham`s masterpieces in there...........thank you again

bit of everything with us up here ........many one man bands where they used to have either a stockman or shepherd if the farmer himself was into tractor work or vice versa if he was a stockman he might have employed a tractorman. some of the bigger farms have several employees and for instance spraying with the rules and regs, they might just put one guy through the spray test, one or two might have their telehandler ticket. most have one guy who drives the chopper, one who cuts and one whos always on the pit,the rest of the gang just do whatever... we had a lad I was at school with in yesterday spreading lime for the main local contractor who does lime, sorry no pics, camera still not turned up out of the packing boxes and he cuts hedges and spreads lime all winter unless there is a mad slurry rush on. He has worked for them for ten years , has a 2 and a bit yr old JD 6830 premium due for a change as its over 6000 hours, He reckons it`l be changed for a Valtra or MF . he was using a transpread custom built 8t spreader new 3 months ago . He was just saying very similar to Marcus , the technology has moved on and allowed the younger guys to come in one or two rungs up the ladder.Less physical work to do too and all the kit now is big. They run 8 tractors nothing smaller than 125 hp, do silage contracting , lime spreading, fert, some slurry, hedges and some cultivations. they wont spray other than for themselves and dont combine.he 2 i/c to the boss so would be the nearest to a head tractorman we`d see here at home when I left school in 85 dad did a lot of the tractor work but was choosy......the stuff he didnt want to do was done by the guy I learned a hell of a lot from who worked for us. He had contracted with another farm for years and was one of those now increasingly rare breed of guys who could turn his hand to anything from digging drains by hand , how he started his working life , to milking cows , drawing fat lambs , combining, spraying and all the other tractor work you can name. he repaired all kinds of stuff in the workshop, did dyking and fencing., everything....... Dad was having trouble with his back at that time so tended to do less as I learned to do more, wee brother joined us in 87 and we contracted at round baling and wrapping, cutting silage etc. when graham retired in 90, brother took over his seat on the tractor and as I was bigger , I still got the heavy jobs and of course my share of the paperwork off dad. this continued pretty much til brother left us at the end of 99 when I got all the loader work to do, still wrapped bales and took the 2nd turn on the baler if dad had had enough or had to be away. The guy that works with me now does the 2nd man tractor work.it took me 4 yrs to learn him to wrap bales!!!, he refuses to cut silage as he says he will make a mess of it. I used the rake to row up as I dont trust him with it yet.... he will stack bales if I`m not there will use the loader, does the topping but I do the fert and its me who will spray. next door over the river have a shepherd and a tractorman besides the boss who helps out a little, up the road have a working stockman manager, tractorman /2nd stockman and the 3rd guy does all of his work at his own farm ....his own tractorwork except the fert................they get contractors in for the silage...used to be us but thats another story . The other estate are similar having one man at each farm who does his own feeding, fert, cultivating.they get contractors for chopping and raking the silage but cut their own, one guy cuts most of it and another is on the pit!the rest of them all take a trailer.they all help out each other and work together with the cows , they have psycopathic suckler cows !!!!!one got cows took off him beacause he wasnt good with them however. they have a shepherd and the bossman runs all over but helps out anyone who needs it.neighbours the other way are a one man band who gets contractors in to help him, a very capable and clever stockman in the next hill sheep farm who does evryday jobs but gets contractors in for silage. other one above me is another hill sheep farm but a younger guy not long moved to our area in it who gets ploughing and spraying done for him along with his round baling and wrapping. as you can read above its a mix up here but that might be more to do with the type of farming we have round here.

oh very nice paul.a very nice pair indeed, not something I`m used to sayin to a fella !

common problem nathan for me however today the broadband connection is hellish, I can post here,view various different websites but cant view our google mail nor cant log in and do anything on ebay and I know Im outbit on a slug pellet broadcaster which I was hoping to buy to say i`m annoyed is an understatement,its a fraction of new price !

great pics and videos Gav ,have you had any more demos recently?

I`m pleased too , you have been bullied.........er I mean " puppied " :laugh: into this one. very impressive so far Mr C can`t wait to see it finished

well the good lady of the house today was tiling the back lobby and I was out the front diggin and shovelling starting to get the site ready for the hot tub........been in storage since this time last year since we sold the caravan in town !.bloomin knackered I am too , I dont do enough physical work nowadays.

Tris I have to agree, not that I dislike the green ones, but they aren`t ripe !!!! ;D ;D but it is about time we had more to choose from so our british faves should be available

oo err missus :P I think thats too much information for us of a sensitive disposition seriously mark, thanks for sharing these photos, very good of you to quite obviously forego a lot of your own show browsing time to allow the rest of us who can`t make it ,enjoy, if not the atmosphere, the models on show and sale......thanks heaps again

we might try and get there again this year after last years failed attempt!!

these are cracking models.....great to see and a definate very special addition to any layout or display cabinet

thank you .............thought it looked kind of like a chopped up volto

;D speakin of conversions.. but slightly off topic............it is german !!!! sorry ...........is this real or a conversion?... ..http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/HEUWENDER-KUHN-GF-6502-1-32-SIKU-UH-NO-SONDERMODELL-/120627016986?pt=Spielzeugautos&hash=item1c15ee351a

oh many happy retuns gav...........were you workin today?only field work round here was water skiing !!!!!

sounds like fun..................never seen a catfish in real life but i know they can be huge.anything else exciting in there?

me too, ive no been so excited since the first show after I found the forum........probably because this time I had really hoped id get there

no chance of me getting there despite a genuine hope that I .we.could combine a belated honeymoon with a trip past spalding this time........we wont get away this month now full stop. so plenty of pictures all who are goin please!