JEP

looking great John,  That 171 is looking a bit of a beast!!

Ps the 8070 is coming along very nicely.

11 hours ago, smithy said:

I finished my own wheat on Friday, some yields were average , some was poor and some bits i dont wont to talk about   

If it's any consolation Smithy, some of the wheat round here not good, unfortunately weather dictates to a large degree, conditions when drilling were awful, followed by 2/3 months of drought.....

Hopefully, fingers crossed the spring barley will be better.

The TX is still looking good as ever, and loving the photos of the TX and 40 parked up together! 

9 hours ago, smithy said:

Last couple of days we made a start on the wheat , not a lot of straw this year ,not a lot of wheat in some places do to the wet winter ,the baler moved in to day ,JEP do you recognise the field ? 

I certainly do Smithy, frightening that it is 2 years ago (just checked photos, very similar time - 3rd August), great couple of days spent with you and Julie.

Need a good catch-up asap! 

As all of the above, absolutely top quality trailers you have produced, and a fascinating insight into the whole procedure.

Many thanks for posting up and sharing all the photos, and details, a really informative topic.

Keep up the great work!

6 hours ago, 844john said:

Also made a start on a Meijer flat 8 sledge, this outfit did all the baling when I was young, covering a fair number of acres of hay and straw every year....happy days!

Liking that a lot John, likewise we had one when l was younger, spent hours with Dad in the late 70's on a Ford 6600, Bamford baler and meijer, as you say - happy days. 

There was a trader at Zwolle 3-4 years ago selling decent scratch built versions, l had a wander round the show with the intention of picking it up later on, but they had sold out when I went back. Kicking myself for not buying when I had the opportunity . 

Really coming along John, looks very imposing when alongside the 121, another fantastic build in the making, will make a very impressive line up of M.H's when finished. 

That looks great, l've steered away from some of the 3D printed kits that I've seen in the past, but the quality of that one looks excellent. Lovely paint job also 

11 hours ago, alf aphid said:

John, when do you sleep?

My thoughts exactly Alastair! Just don't know how you do it John.... 

Again another classic that will be a great addition to your fleet. Love your choice of builds, some real iconic 70's and 80's tractors you are producing. 

Ps lt would be great if you were the universal hobbies product manager!!  

That's looking great Alastair, really brought it to life! 

Liking that very much! 

Which will it be - 66?

7 minutes ago, SPN said:

My spreadsheet has only 3x2140s in 1987, and the last 3140 gone by 1992. I also have a Fendt GTA turning up in 1978, but no record of it being disposed of.

1978 would be my favourite year, with a Ford 3000, 5000x3, 6600x3, 7600, 8600, Deitz 8006x2 and Deutz 10006x2, Schluter 7800x2 and Fendt GTA.

Although 2010 was agreat year too - all the yellow wheels were out the gate by 2010.

 

Given how they keep records, would of thought they would have plenty of old photos - would love to spend an afternoon browsing through the 70's and 80's photo albums of thriplow! 

Indeed 1978 would have been a good year to have a look around. If you look on YouTube - farming diary part 1, (about 22 mins in total) it is the 1980 harvest, with footage of the two dominator 85's, and the 105, plus a demo/evaluation IH 1460. Also a Schulter 7800 pulling a big set of  discs. Great era for farming/machinery. 

Must admit, I find it interesting looking back at old tractor/combine fleets on big estates - to see what type of fleets they ran. Used to get some good overviews/articles in magazines now long gone - like crops and arable farmer magazines.

Looking at the Walston reports - (and looking at previous buys/sells) it appears the 1987 tractor fleet consisted of all John Deere (x12) - 2140 (x4) 2850 (x2) 3140 (x1), 4040 (x1), 4240S (x1) 4650 (x2) 4850 (x1), with 3 Class combines - 106 (x2) 116 (x1) 

By 1992 - this had morphed into 8 John Deere tractors and 2 Claas combines.

JD 2850 (x2) JD 3140 (x1) 4250 (x1) 4650 (x2) JD 7800 (x1) and a flagship JD 4955 (x1)

Combines had become Claas Maxi 108's. (x2)

Another point - harvest 1984 - was a Claas 116, two Claas 106's and an IH 1480, which on around approx. 2200 acres of combinable crops - seems well over capacity?.

Think I need to get more...............

Oh dear, doesn't sound to good Smithy, If it's any consolation it's a right s&%t hole here, trying to get the trailers off the potato ground...... 

19 hours ago, smithy said:

Thanks John , plan on getting it home in next couple of weeks if I can get my drilling finished ,rain is annoying me know .

Be good to see it for real at Smithy towers, hopefully sooner rather than later! 

Know what you mean about the rain...... But believe it or not we've had 2 dry days this week 

On 10/18/2019 at 1:19 AM, smithy said:

On Saturday morning before getting ready to travel down to toytrak I went and bought myself and the wife a little present , we have a road run planed for next year with it just need to get a trailer/  beaters wagon with seats in it know so all 9 grandchildren can have a ride out  

What a lovely purchase Smithy, very nice indeed!

1 hour ago, bluegreen said:

I remember getting a ride round the field back in 1989 in a new MF38 and compared to the Claas 108sl and TX36s that my mates farm ran that Massey cab was a palace For a few years there MF had the others on the run, then Claas brought out the Mega series and NH the TX60s and it was game over!!

Can relate to that, mates farm ran 2 tx36's, and replaced one of the TX's with a MF38, then a couple of years later replaced the other tx with a MF40, as you say - cabs on the massey was a big jump, and while the masseys would perform well when going, they did seem to become unreliable after 2 or 3 seasons. The 2 masseys eventually got replaced with with a lexion 480 which at the time seemed a quantum leap forward (with a monster 30ft header!!)

Nice pictures there Mr Smith.

TX looking good as ever!

The Massey looks clean, how did you find tv screen? Could you get it tuned in? 

Another gem you are making there John. 

Think you need to get your ar$e into gear Mr Smith, instead of lazing around!! 

On a serious note Smithy, see what you mean about having a lot on at the moment! 

Wheats looking good 

1 hour ago, mb86 said:

Made a bit of progress with the davric kit, I really like it but there is one thing that I'm not happy about. The JCB badges are moulded into the arm and the engine and tank covers so they needed to be hand painted and I've made a bit of a pigs ear of them, not sure how successful trying to remove the black paint will be, undecided weather to leave as is or attempt to re do.

 The nice weather has allowed me to get some paint on another project and also re paint a previous conversion I wasn't happy with. More pics to follow. 

That looks exellent Martin, another classic piece of 70's plant. 

Looks a smart little farm trailer there Sean, are they UH vanto trailer tyres you have fitted? 

Brilliant again, another unique addition to your excellent growing collection of classics 

Excellent photos Martin, could be right out of a late 1970's County demonstration day 

Keep them coming! 

Absolutely brilliant John, something to be very proud of.