phil phoenix

its a bit late, both Claas & Deere have had their class11 combines available for three or four years now. I kid you not, but there are at least 11 (probably more) of the X9 1100's round here now (Norfolk, Suffolk, Cambs borders) Waldersley's, Caley's, Eubrinks, Eastern Farms & Agriserves all have a pair and some also have one S790!!! And a few 8900s around too. Mind you New Holland have sold/ hired quite a few yellow ones out of my local Littleport branch this year so not all bad news.

You will need to give the MXU a good polish Smithy, can't put those nice black rims on it if the red paint has faded. I've seen some Puma's with a nearly pink roof due to faded paint.

Well done Smithy, the young lady will love them on her MXM120😎

The sooner Claas launch the new wet weather "Hover trac" combine range the better😁

Liking that 8280 Deutz, Farm up the road have just bought a Java green version to go with the black 7250 last year🙂

"our new purchase! A 2011 Cat Challenger MT765C." I hope you have invested in a good set of ear defenders for your driver Alex😄 They do make a lovely sound but it could get a bit wearing during a long day's work! Good models those little USK 7 series Challengers, especially from the C onwards as the detail improved. I just bought an MT 943 and its a lovely solid model.

A few barley pictures from this week, Glovers new 2nd hand Lex 750 cutting next to the pigs. And one of their CASE Puma's with black rims (hint hint Smithy😄) Albanwise with their collosal 1380m convio header in transit ,followed by the 20 plate 8900tt

Finished detailing the Fendt crawler and putting some wear on the Bednar chisel plough. The crawler picks up the cultivator very well and holds it up easily, unlike the rest of the fleet🙄

So Smithy, are you going to get all trendy and spray them wheels black??🙃 I recall the old Case Magnums had partially black rims and our local Case user "Glover Agri" has several Puma's all on black rims now.

Its mid July on the farm and the rapeseed will be ready as soon as the weather drys up a bit. We had a last inspection today of the Claas Lexion 770 we bought to harvest our Norfolk crops this year. Our other combine the Lex 8700 is now working on our Suffolk unit and handling over 2000 acres there. We decided to hitch the new NH XD baler to our contractors Massey 8740S as it will have to cope with a few steep inclines and 400hp guarentees no pulling issues. We will probably hook our 2nd smaller Kuhn baler upto our JD 6250R when the wheat harvest starts in earnest. Our contractor Legge's recently decided to sell their Challenger 875E after 3 years use as its not really doing enough to earn its keep and its expensive to run. Besides he has also just bought a second MF 8S.265 and needed to balance his books before considering any other aquisistions. This however left me with a bit of a problem as we only have one big tractor presently, our JD 8R 410 to do a lot of heavy work this autumn having sent the big Claas Axion & Fendt 936 up to our Suffolk unit. Last year we hired in a Fendt 942 to help us out but I prefer a tracked unit for cultivating, especially with the Horsch tiger drill on the back of it in sticky conditions. So recently when visiting TNS our local Fendt dealer, I was asked if I was interested in an incoming Fendt MT 943 challenger with barely 3000 hours in three years on the clock. The machine was absolutely spotless and was traded in for a bigger 1100 series tractor due to a significant acreage increase. So a deal was struck, six months hire initially with an option to buy at the end of this period if we wish to take the offer up. The hire starts on August 1st when the tractor is delivered. The vario gearbox will certainly be more frugal than Bill's old 875E thats for sure. Having recently visited Cereals we took the opportunity to look at the working demonstration of CASE & Bednar equipment. We were impressed with Bednar's kit and especially the Terraland chisel plough which genuinely offers an option to ploughing. It leaves a nice weatherproof finish with its double discing arrangement. A on farm demo has been lined up for early August to put one through its paces and properly evaluate it. All our Maize is looking grand this year, most was drilled into good moisture and the last 500 acres or so which went in to drier conditions has since benefitted from plenty of liquid digestate and is rapidly catching up with the rest of the crop. Its going to be a busy autumn with lots of on farm orders of both liquid digestate and the dried material and first mixes of this with straw to provide a fertilizer alternative.

Didn't fancy the new style Puma 175 then Joe?

I see you have resisted the 1380 convio header again Alex🙃....................I followed one tonight being towed behind a JCB telehandler, it truly is enormous sat on its Claas trailer.

Well the Optum 340 has been out a little while now, but personally I prefer the new 260 Puma & T7.300 as they don't look like their on steroids😁

I've put a pin in across the bottom of the headstock so the tractors link arms pick it up. All USK Challengers have decent lift arms that are stiff to move up and with the weight of the models they can lift and hold up heavy mounted implements that other brands can't. I'm using a small bent copper pin at the top of the headstock to secure the top link. Also finished all the work on the cab, will piece it all together tomorrow when the painting has all dried.

The new Fendt MT is in the workshop for some detailing along with the Bednar chisel plough. All the rear of the cab roof should be black not white, so thats getting done. The wingmirror needs glueing back into position as its sagging. And the roof rail needs lifting higher at the back as its sagging too low as well. Wheelnuts on idlers need painting silver, dealer decals, security triangle and 2020 Reg plate as they switched to the fatter exhaust in 2021. Oh and warning boards above fenders, think thats all😁 Already taken it to bits and cleaned it. And the Bednar is getting a traditional linkage as Ive hacked off the UH version.

More Braemere, finished the dual axle bale trailer on saturday. Needed a mod to the drawbar James as it sits to low for my UH & Ros tractors, it ends up with the front wheels off the ground when glued as suggested. Also the wheel holes aren't low enough, or tyres are too big as they nearly touched the flatbed until I modified them lower. Pictures attached.

Been looking for one of these for a while, a 1st edition Fendt MT943 with the old challenger style exhaust. I decided I prefer this one to the chunky new exhausts. Its a lovely model which needs a few detailing touches to bring it up to par. It also needs a bath as it stinks of aftershave🥴...............last owner must have kept it in the bathroom next to the grooming mirror😁

Love the scene of the six 770s lining up at the end as it piss ist's down with heavy rain.

Nice Challenger, but that Fendt combine appears to be missing a few parts😄

She is very good at pointing out BBC hypocrasy, albeit in her own special way🙃..................I personally refuse too watch BBC news as I detest propaganda.

Northwest have one left in stock for a fair price. https://northwestfarmmodels.co.uk/products/universal-hobbies-5342-1-32-scale-amazone-catros-6002-2ts-cultivator

Maybe an Amazone Catros 6m Joe, thats what I bought, lovely model and a good few about. I like to see a packer or rings on the rear end of cultivator, not a crumbler like on the swifter. The Lemken is bigger and heavier than the Amazone and a no no with your limited space.

I agree Joe, the Trion is quite basic. I only bought it to pinch the 35ft header and tracks and both required plenty of work to get them looking right on the 770. I appreciate all the detail on the Wiking Lexion, except the fragile grain bin hinges!

A week before barley got cut they started on a big field of birds eye pea's. 4 x Ploeger machines and a pair of nice new Puma 240's😎.......................There was a lovely sweet smell in the air too, and I did pick a few peas and munched them while watching the harvest........very nice they were.

Thought I would catch up with a few recent pictures I had taken starting off with wholecrop. Not sure who these people were, possibly from Hertfordshire but with big modern kit. Notice the specialized Scania truck/ maize wagon. It seems that european transport methods are taking hold in the UK.