Niels

A block of land doesn't have to carry 3 crops in one year. Your farm has to have 3 crops minimum, that is something different. You can still have wheat and OSR plus 5% something else. Maybe with these rules people will realise a lot of issue they get from blackgrass, broome etc.. you name it is due to the fact that they lack a proper crop rotation. It would solve (or at least help) a lot.

That looks very nice! Lot of hours must have gone into that model. Does the levelling work like on the real thing? If I could have a little criticism I'd say the cab glass and layout are New Holland? The glass is much more curved than on the Vista. Other than that well done. I see the stairs are seperate and you have to weld them on yourself?

Plenty of new brochures have come in recently. To start with all the new ones from Claas. New styling and I didn't have them yet. Sadly not the Axion 900. Also some McCormick brochures and ErtlErik kindly gave me some US brochures of the Case IH line up. Axial-Flow, Magnum, Rowtrac and Quadtrac/Steiger.

Nice story once again Alex, you are keeping it very realistic well you just showed yourself! I used to do the same thing when I was a carpet farmer . Sadly I lost all my accounts/drawings/books so I cannot look up which piece of carpet we'd cut on the 15th of August back in 1998. I do remember my mum complaining when I was little that I should get out in the middle of summer. I was busy combining though! Mum couldn't understand such things didn't happen during winter, when it was quiet on the model farm as well. Your rape drill looks good but I do think the spacing is to wide really. 60 cm maybe but 70 is really pushing it! With the Claydon we've found the normal row spacing (18cm band sow) does a better job compared to every other coulter blanked off. Personally I would like to leave tramlines untouched and keep them in the same place year after year. Well something that is done with your CTF system of course. I'm very curious to see how you will get along with it. You'd better start building a 12 metre Dale Eco drill!

Why not something like this Alex as Ol was suggesting: http://www.fwi.co.uk/assets/getasset.aspx?itemid=7305064

I reckon it'll just chuck the seed down a pipe behind the leg and roll it in? Will that tractor stay in front of it?

Nice story and pictures again Alex. What's up with the milk churns at the entrance??

Thanks to a very friendly and helpful forum member I got these four brochures that I cannot get in Holland sadly. Case IH Axial-Flow 230 series, Case IH Quadtrac 600 Tier 4 Final, NH T9 and the Basildon 50 years booklet.

Nice idea really!

There's also the Väderstad Seed Hawk, Lemken Solitair, Amazone (various models), Dale Eco Drill, Sumo DTS. Some hefty building skills required though to make any of them!

Nice update again Alex. How is your quest for a baling and spreading contractor getting along?

Another envelope came from the UK with some brochures: Knight mounted sprayer for JCB Fastrac Whitsed Highlander potato & bulb harvester Whitsed Unitate MK2 self propelled potato harvester Gruse VL 19 potato planter Vicon Steketee single row beet harvester user manual

Very nice models! Were they constructed from plasticard?

The problem is Alex that a machine like the Heath, which uses a bar on the front linkage, is offset so it doesn't run in the same wheelings as the tractor does. So not good for CTF. Machines like the Walston and Big Bale Stacker don't have one as you'll probably know and you need to drive sideways to pick the bales up. I see one farm has found a solution by modifying a bale chaser: http://ctfeurope.com/2013/henred/ Not a very easy subject to be honest!

Having recently invested in a four wheel drive Fiat 640 and Claas Markant baler I might be able to meet your requirements . I do offer a unique low ground pressure! Joking aside it shouldn't be particularly difficult for someone to come up with a fleet? Plenty of tractors and balers about. Would need to check track widths to match 3m I think? Then you have to build yourself a bale chaser I think! Or one of these would have quite some capacity as well: http://www.bouwmachines.nl/public/image/verschoor3(1).jpg Depends how far the concrete pads are around the estate? Aside from the fact that i'm based 490 miles from you my building skills cannot come up with a bale chaser or two in 2 months time! Shame though. I have enough balers and tractors sitting around.

Didn't knew there were two different Quadtrac ones Paul! I have the top one. Think you send it to me?

Now that does look very nice!

No new brochures but have bought a Vicon-Steketee beet harvester user manual/parts book aaand a Hosier's Farming System book (from 1951) on Fleabay. Especially the book I have been after for a very long while.

I would say the Dutch and UK are all the same. They usually are! Western European market is one bunch. Picked up some brochures this morning at the local Valtra/JCB dealer: Valtra T-3 range, N-3 and A series plus a general Fastrac brochure.

Well I haven't got either! So will have to go on a hunt I think.

Oh I hadn't seen that one! Another I miss then. Grrrr! Here's a shot of the T8 brochure that I picked up last week. Was issued 09/13. It also covers the new T8.420. The other one I have is with the slurry tank and a plain one for the T8 Auto Command.

Will get a picture for you Paul. Have you seen this: http://newholland.webdesign.net.nz/i/files/t8brochure.pdf New Zealand edition but it looks all European.

The ones I got were a T6 with a Bogballe fertiliser spreader and T8 carting maize silage. I saw the two you posted on here recently but they are probably newer?

Visited the New Holland dealer and got the latest T5, T6 and T8 brochures but sadly no 50 year Basildon brochure. Maybe it's a UK release only?

Will have to try and get my hands on one! Looks nice.