1/32 farmer Posted May 28, 2010 Share Posted May 28, 2010 Actually I posted the picture in the Oxford Times and there have been numerous enquiries - apparently bicycle parking is a really problem in the city cheers hun did wonder why i been getting calls for crane parking sevices What really annoyed me Well, my cup of Earl Grey is always cold by the time I get to drink it have a cold drink next time ie pimms :P Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlexMF Posted May 28, 2010 Share Posted May 28, 2010 That's the trouble I'm having Alex, it's a bit of a catch-22 isn't it? we should go into business together Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deere-est Posted May 29, 2010 Author Share Posted May 29, 2010 Alex jogged my memory as to some conversations I have had recently regarding agricultural wages in relation to ahem.... 'skilled' wage rates. You see, agriculture isn't classed as a skilled profession, oh no. An agricultural workers is a joe that drives tractors and feeds cows and that. A skilled worker has a van with mirror graphics on it. Maybe a couple of grands worth of tools in it too. A skilled worker can fix electrics, work with wood, build a wall, stop a water leak, tile a roof, lay a patio, create an aesthetically pleasing water feature. He or she can work for 7 hours a day and take home £150 or more for his or her efforts. A union may eve do all their H&R and workers rights stuff for them. A person that just works on a farm drives a machine that can vary from a £500 scraper tractor to a £250,000 combine. Such a person may even have the ability to spray £1000's of chemicals on crops belonging to other people or plant thousands of acres of crops for customers. Hell, this person may even have to work up to 15 hours a day and still not take home £150 for his or her efforts. Maybe even have to calve a cow and save both their lives during a difficult birth, diagnose health problems in livestock, be up at all hours of the night to check on them. It may even be that this person will have to fix electrics, work with wood, build a wall, stop a water leak, tile a roof, concrete a yard, create an aesthetically pleasing water trough or service both static and mobile machinery. For days, this person may have to work on their own in risky environments, cleaning grain handling machinery, driers and the like, stacking grass on pits made from wooden sides and up to and over 15ft high, work around slurry lagoons, large animals, uneven and slippery surfaces, up dodgy ladders, on asbestos roofs........ As you can see a big difference in jobs, work, risks, training, varied ability, responsibility and so on and on. Now argue that one persons time is worth three times as much per hour than the other. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlexMF Posted May 29, 2010 Share Posted May 29, 2010 i don't understand tris, i only want a summer job, gods sakes! i just applied to peel boiled eggs 10hours a day for £5.50 an hour, 5 days a week. any wage is better than no wage! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gav836 Posted May 29, 2010 Share Posted May 29, 2010 I totally agree Tris, in the past two weeks my job has been extremely varied and when people say that its unskilled then it really annoys me. I'll list below a few of the jobs I've done which certainly do not come under the driving a tractor up and down a field heading Completely rewired 14t AS corn trailer Completely rewired articulated straw trailer Replaced and refitted hydraulic brake lines to above trailer involving welding some new bracketry to it Welded stand back onto irrigation pipe trailer Layed out and joined 200 9m long irrigation pipes, working out where bends were needed and how to get them through hedges and around corners along with access points for spraying Spread 100kg/hectare of nitrate onto the spuds avoiding getting any on the margins to comply with stewardship schemes I would say that there was a fair bit of skill involved in those jobs, if we had got an electrical engineer in to do the first two I bet he'd have been paid a lot more than I was for doing it. We did employ an inexperienced student last year who had never worked on a farm before, I'm sure some of you will remember what I said about him at the time but we will NEVER employ another inexperieced one again if we can help it, he's half the reason we had to replace the potato harvester. some of the damage he inflicted is below: Reversed JCB into 415v fuseboard in grainstore Hit a car with JCB Ripped hoses off the corn trailer Damaged rear mudguard on 6910 Bent steps and broke front mud guard off 6810 Drove through narrow strip of standing corn to get to combine to unload Whacked elevator on potato harvester 5 times, bending it forwards at 45 degrees the final time Hit church wall with trailer, demolishing two hydrant markers, slashing tyre and buckling rim in process Running tractor out of diesel Bending mudguards on JCB I know all students aren't the same but we just can't take the risk again, the amount of extra stress he caused me on the potato harvester was unbelievable. We have a older lad coming with us this year who was carefully selected, a builder by trade but has helped us out before so we know how careful he is Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deere-est Posted May 29, 2010 Author Share Posted May 29, 2010 Exactly my point, Gav. Just the rewiring makes a good one, take an automotive electrician to do that and you'd have a hefty bill!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MDFord Posted May 29, 2010 Share Posted May 29, 2010 All very true Tris. I think another aspect to this is that rates of pay for any profession in rural areas ,are far lower than those for the same work in more urban areas. This is Definately the case in Cornwall ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gav836 Posted May 29, 2010 Share Posted May 29, 2010 Exactly my point, Gav. Just the rewiring makes a good one, take an automotive electrician to do that and you'd have a hefty bill!! Exactly, whereas I went to the auto electrical place in town and bought 2 rolls of heavy grade 7 core cable, 6 light units, 3 number plate lights, 3 junction boxes, bulbs, 3 packs of cable ties, 3 plugs, 2 front marker lights and 15m of 2 core cable for £230. So far I've done 2 of the three trailers I have to do and its taken 6 hrs which isn't even £50 in my wages Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TM190 Posted May 29, 2010 Share Posted May 29, 2010 Sounds like you got one heck of a student Gav I've only done one out of that list We're not all the same the days of just driving tractors are gone, Now you need to be fit to look after them and the machinery aswell, Service etc. Also its a skill in itself operating the machines now! Anyway for me, My laptop mouse is buggered Drawing 3D CAD with it is a nightmare!!!!!!!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deere-est Posted May 29, 2010 Author Share Posted May 29, 2010 What initially got me thinking about all this was back lastyear when we got a mates rates bill from our sparky at £23/hr, I had to work 3hrs to pay for that. So his bill for me cost a months wages, not taking into account I still had my own costs like mortgage, fuel, 'phone. Putting it like that it works out at . . . . Disgusting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tractorman810 Posted May 29, 2010 Share Posted May 29, 2010 just endured sainsburys for the shopping, anyone would think the whole of the worlds shutting down for the bank holiday monday, place was totally manic > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robbo Posted May 29, 2010 Share Posted May 29, 2010 just endured sainsburys for the shopping, anyone would think the whole of the worlds shutting down for the bank holiday monday, place was totally manic > > almost the same here Sean except I have been to Asda, we are having a family BBQ tomorrow and I think we have got enough to cater for the entire street........plenty of beer and red wine though : : Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robbo Posted June 2, 2010 Share Posted June 2, 2010 Being told that I am being transferred onto the general patrol team and back onto 24/7 shifts just to make way for a female officer who has been in an office job but can't do shifts because of child care issues > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Udimore Posted June 2, 2010 Share Posted June 2, 2010 Being told that I am being transferred onto the general patrol team and back onto 24/7 shifts just to make way for a female officer who has been in an office job but can't do shifts because of child care issues > > > Thats teriible news Mike.. Sounds terrible unfair Me well just 3 hours stuck on the M25 :'( Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deere-est Posted June 2, 2010 Author Share Posted June 2, 2010 Why can't they just work her shifts around her childcare?! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
harvey123 Posted June 2, 2010 Share Posted June 2, 2010 i'm out of work till the fendt is back on the road \ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
denis086 Posted June 3, 2010 Share Posted June 3, 2010 missed a day hauling silage for my uncle because of a summer exam in school what a load of bull and i could have done with money for diesel for the jeep too Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlexMF Posted June 4, 2010 Share Posted June 4, 2010 how short sighted of you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BC Posted June 6, 2010 Share Posted June 6, 2010 Waking at 1.55 am this morning and thinking shix when I loaded the tractor I ran dry the carb disconnected the coil wire but forgot shut off the stop switch. Up and out and peek under the cover hand on coil and coil was warm. Disconnected battery and now back on charge. Now feeling wide awake > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deere-est Posted June 6, 2010 Author Share Posted June 6, 2010 Flipping sideband on the CB. Got to run so much squelch I can hardly hear anyone. . . . actually that ought to be what pleased me!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdc Posted June 6, 2010 Share Posted June 6, 2010 Flipping sideband on the CB. Got to run so much squelch I can hardly hear anyone. . . . actually that ought to be what pleased me!! I thought I was about the only person using CBs still. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gav836 Posted June 6, 2010 Share Posted June 6, 2010 Nope I have one too John as do 3 or 4 of our farming neighbours here. Have fitted them in our two spud carting tractors as well for this year Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1/32 farmer Posted June 6, 2010 Share Posted June 6, 2010 still got my cb in the shed somewhere Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deere-est Posted June 6, 2010 Author Share Posted June 6, 2010 I thought I was about the only person using CBs still. Is it you?!! :laugh: :laugh: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kiwi6920 Posted June 6, 2010 Share Posted June 6, 2010 One hard packed unchoped round balage bale that would not break up on the feeder, had to shake it to bits with the tractor, now there is grass all over the tractor, ohh good fun, then some one tryed to pass me as i was turning into my gate way, Muppets Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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