tractor drivers all equal ?

[MJB1]

just a thought , as i do see a lot of youngsters performing jobs that used the be for head tractor drivers , do such jobs still exist ?

when i was young a 590,699,7610,8210 1490 , 1690 etc were all bought for the head driver so to speak , the lesser of us were in smaller horse powered tractors & the jobs like ploughing ,drilling, spraying , foraging, potato harvesting  & combining were all jobs done by the head driver .

unlike now 16 year olds drive top kit & what used to be done with a shovel like cleaning out from under a potato grader by hand is all now done with a bobcat or simmilar , we were the bottom of the heap , now youngsters just jump straight it to middle management ! i used to be the wire tye & stack boy on a grimme 2 row harvester, tying spud bags & stacking them on the little room the harvester had , sometimes in exess of 60 bags per run & with little time to do either . cant say i see that now

times change & with 150 hp tractors being the bread & butter tractors they are now does this job still exist ? may sound strange to some maybe but i have been a head tractor driver & i supose to an extent a few here may still be , i'd certainly put gav in that role  but how many are left ? or is it you're now assigned to a particular job like spray / fertiliser  man , ploughman/ combine driver  etc

head tractor drivers did we die out ?

[Gav836]

Not in this area Marcus, its not uncommon to see a job advert for a "Head Tractor Driver" advertised locally. Quite often its on the mid size farms not on the large multi thousand acre units though where it is the ploughman, combine driver, fertiliser/sprayman type job allocations.

I know of one unit locally where there is a head tractor driver, albeit unofficial in job title but two of the other younger members of staff seem to think they are and have regular battles of ego with eachother. Seems to be a not uncommon occurance with the younger generation these days either, they think that they know the lot from their year or two of learning how the text book says it should be done at college and are then unwilling to listen to someone who has been doing the job for several years, yes there are the good ones who will listen and will go a long way but they seem to be out numbered by the ones with a massive chip on their shoulders who have those of us in the job tearing our hair out trying to get them to do the job right.

The other problem with learning leavers coming straight into management positions is that they often have limited practical knowledge of how things really work and that what looks good in the pages of the management textbook or sales leaflet doesn't always work in practice leading to problems down the line.

[IH885XLMAN]

Im gonna sound old now but here goes "youngsters these days dont knwo when there born" ha ha

[harvey123]

the farm i work at the head driver does the main jobs like ploughing, foraging, sowing, spraying and mowing then the guy below him drives his tractor when ever he's doing other jobs with the tractor that is setup for that specific type of job!

so us younger lot get put on the smaller/older tractors they we gain the respect and get upgraded slowly to newer kit!

[archbarch]

ive been a Head Tractor driver, i do think there are less now and certainly the role going altogether. Some may disagree but technology has replaced the Head Tractor driver, now the job is easier also farmers dont seem to mind younger people doing the work as long it looks ok.

[Light Land]

I've could'nt agree more with the above posts.

You see it on here,young school leavers with all the kit and no idea.

[masseyjack590]

my dad does the head tractor driving jobs like drilling spraying most of the ploughing but because we're not very big farmers we only have one newish tractor the rest are older. i only drive all the tractors but i only do jobs like cultivating , corn carting and a bit of ploughing

[pj witch]

Not around here ,my dad is76 does the ploughing and sub soiling then his JD7930 is stood up till the next ploughing season ,no one is allowed on it on orders of the boss

[Paul Palmer]

i came into driving big kit late in life,and im not afraid to take advice from any age group,but where i work everybody does a bit of everything except ploughing one chap does that,i do the ploughing when that guy might have a weekend off,and im gaining alot of expierence ploughing,i love it,but all jobs driving wise i love,nobody seems to like rolling but i love doing that as well

[TM190]

Well around me its a case of If it needs done and you can do it, Do it..

With relation to starting off one smaller machinery, Now a days on farms Smaller Machinery isn't there or isn't used as much.. The Tractor I First Drove was a Pretty much Brand New 115HP Mccormick..

On some places yes, Certain jobs are still done by the same person but others its just who ever is about.. I drew silage from a SPFH earlier in year and the boy driving harvester was 20..

I Don't mean this too sound wrong but, Just because someone has been doing a certain job for say 40 years Doesn't mean he can do a better job than I could or any other young person    The best way to learn is by doing it.. Your not going to learn by watching other people..

[Paul Palmer]

ive been a Head Tractor driver, i do think there are less now and certainly the role going altogether. Some may disagree but technology has replaced the Head Tractor driver, now the job is easier also farmers dont seem to mind younger people doing the work as long it looks ok.

why is it now easier ?i dont see that, headland systems help by doing away with repetetive tasks,but you are still doing the same work,as gav said in one post in another topic,the tractor still needs to be driven,and the youngsters have to start sometime,if they dont try it  they get no expierience

[jakescot]

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.

[Jdeere6910]

Think that there is a bit of a mixture in our area. On family farms such as ours every one has jobs that they have just grown into and that doesnt change. We have 3 very similar sized tractors and a small older one that is used soley for yard jobs, so there is no real difference. However all three regular workers have "thier tractor" which they drive the most. On the dairy farm I work on there is no real pecking order, people just do every job, with exception of the cowman who doesn't drive the bigger tractors on the farm. I think that the larger units still have the head tractor driver maybe not in his job description but he has just gained that role due to expirience etc.

[MJB1]

The Tractor I First Drove was a Pretty much Brand New 115HP Mccormick..

ooh sorry to hear that mate , surprised you wanted to stay in agriculture at all after that 

thanks for the replies chaps , good the read that it's different all over the country & that we're not quite extinct just yet

[TM190]

ooh sorry to hear that mate , surprised you wanted to stay in agriculture at all after that 

thanks for the replies chaps , good the read that it's different all over the country & that we're not quite extinct just yet

Its not something I tend to talk about very often     

[roberthenning]

Around here there is still always a few head tractor drivers as such, usually the full time employees who get the ceam of the tractors and jobs, with the likes of carting left to the younger lads. I learnt on a 6cylinder zetor doing tanking and carting which was pretty much the cream of our farm if thats saying anything, but it was our only tractor that could do a big days work at the time.

I think what your getting at about the 16year olds jumping on big machinery is a bit of a joke they should be made to work their way up so to speak. BUT and this is the big but, most farmers around our direction are desperate for anyone to drive for them regardless of age. Any of todays good drivers are either away driving a lorry or have went and got an education and are out working in a job (myself included) as i for one would rather be getting a monthly wage than spending my life driving the best tractor in the fleet 20hours a day all summer and sitting twiddling my thumbs all winter long, hopeing ive made enough to pay the bills. Its a sad fact but the head driver is a dying breed, in Northern Ireladn any way.

[MJB1]

Any of todays good drivers are either away driving a lorry or have went and got an education and are out working in a job (myself included) as i for one would rather be getting a monthly wage than spending my life driving the best tractor in the fleet 20hours a day all summer and sitting twiddling my thumbs all winter long, hopeing ive made enough to pay the bills. Its a sad fact but the head driver is a dying breed, in Northern Ireladn any way.

hit the nail on the head i think robert, i know a fair few lorry drivers , myself included that would have loved to stay on the farms , but unfortunately the wages are awfull & hours are either full on or nothing , of which we know anyway  lorry drivers are getting in short supply as well from rural parts as years back tractor drivers made the move from one to the other , but now there arnt many left to make that move & if they did think about it the haulage industry seems to suffer from government programmes that make the move financialy difficult 

[IH885XLMAN]

ooh sorry to hear that mate , surprised you wanted to stay in agriculture at all after that 

thanks for the replies chaps , good the read that it's different all over the country & that we're not quite extinct just yet

now now marcus they are a good tractor its not there fault they had to put a massy engine in them they are still IH at heart up to 2007 anyway if they are made in doncaster ;)

[archbarch]

why is it now easier ?i dont see that, headland systems help by doing away with repetetive tasks,but you are still doing the same work,as gav said in one post in another topic,the tractor still needs to be driven,and the youngsters have to start sometime,if they dont try it  they get no expierience

having worked for a contractor doing work on numerous farms its so bloody obvious to see, even on extremely large units tractor drivers themselves say its too easy. I know one chap who drove a Quadtrac drilling, he actually enjoys his job when the autosteer gets switched off, his words it feels like a good days work.

the standard/quality of work has dropped alot, go to a farm that has older workers they set the standard for others to follow. I agree everyone has to start somewhere, it was my uncle and father that taught me.

[Paul Palmer]

having worked for a contractor doing work on numerous farms its so bloody obvious to see, even on extremely large units tractor drivers themselves say its too easy. I know one chap who drove a Quadtrac drilling, he actually enjoys his job when the autosteer gets switched off, his words it feels like a good days work.

the standard/quality of work has dropped alot, go to a farm that has older workers they set the standard for others to follow. I agree everyone has to start somewhere, it was my uncle and father that taught me.

your last sentance says it all,everybody has to start somewhere

[Tractorman810]

i think its the modern computers that have taken out the skill in the job, and as such removed the head tractor drivers position, it used to be the most experianced guys job, the man who learnt from the bottom over the years hands on, now sadly pretty much anyone can do the jobs as to a good degree they have been dumbed down?? by technology , jobs still long hours but they are long hours of almost supervising the computers doing the work now and correcting the problems they have

[Tractorman810]

no fully agree mark,my post doesnt relate to all drivers dutys, but stuff like seeding spraying even basic tillage now a days can be done by self driving gps linked super gadget tractors where as say my uncles and grandad did it all old school trained over years, one man had his skill areas like the plough, sprayer stuff like that

now with a few certificates for certain jobs (spraying ect) once all set on on the gps any person can drive to site, switch it on and the thing does it all to the program in the system ,so even i could do it if that makes sence

there fore the farms need for a head driver has gone

[archbarch]

to a point but so many people stick the plough in, enough power and away they go no idea which side to put the furrow etc.

Yes Paulali but so many people are coming into the job without the any skills being passed down which will affect what is left of farming in years to come.

on a slightly different note i still see alot of HEAD HERDSMAN/PERSON jobs advertised in the FW so i guess there are still sectors that require a level of skill, but as my father used to say any arse can sit in a seat

[Tractorman810]

indeed mate,a time and money saving idea for farmers which is great, but one that also leads to a loss of skills within farming on hands on farming, but also gives most young farmers the skills similar to say computer games producers in actually setting them up,

[Murray]

well seeing as I'm the only one that works on the farm with the boss its got to be done! well the contractor works the ploughing sowing and the silage, but if you don't get at it young you'll never know how to do it. i remember when i was about 15 i was in the cab with the contractor fair enough iv been driving with him since i was 10 but he just walked out the chopper and said shes all yours! iv done bits and bobs with him ploughing and what not, be a while to i get left with the 79 and vaderstad  but yes as iv gotten older the more jobs i get left to do!

when i started at the farm i work at now the most i got to is haul silage or row up bales now i do the lot! just an issue of trust and responsibility i guess!