Few pictures from round the farms *Updated on - 10/03/13*

[Deere-est]

Your right there, Graham. Another trip to Dickies Factory Outlet is due me thinks!!

Sean, I can't cut that straight mate!  :laugh:

[Tractorman810]

could soon be planned down mate, often thought about something like that, the natural wood effect, would look great in your front room to

[MJB1]

The Stihl 660 unfortunately dropped the top off the spark plug inside the piston last thing on Monday and I have two pieces left to cut down to a more manageable size when I can get back to it.

full strip down mate ? you do that or let traci's dad have a delve around ?

[Deere-est]

I think Mark will just buy another one, there are a few things wrong with it and he'd rather have someone do it who does it for a living. By the time the labour is added it'll be over half the cost of a new one. Big Bertha is a way over ten years old so she has earned her keep.

[texas]

very nice pictures Tris. That is realy big willow you have cut there .

texas

[Deere-est]

Thanks Bas, my arms are still aching!!  :laugh:

[AlexMF]

Thanks Bas, my arms are still aching!!  :laugh:

nice work tris  i do agree with sean about the coffee tables though...

[Deere-est]

Up until silage kicked off I was spending a few weeks back at the farm I worked on as a young chap  This annual block of time I spend here is primarily to help with the dismantling, washing and reassembling of the farms chicken house. A 12,000 bird free range chicken house. It is very much a manual job with a bit of mechanical mucking out. I do get to do other jobs here and there during this time though which I enjoy.

The first day there and the poultry gang are just finishing off the loading up of the last chickens who have come to the end of their egg laying life and are off to erm..... Kiev. ...  :laugh:

At lunchtime on the first day I also helped this little boy start his life  :)

[Deere-est]

After a day generally milling around, we started mucking out the cattle sheds. I've no pics of this but I did it last year with the same kit. Here is one of me out towards the dung pile in the soon to be departing John Deere 6900, 7000 hours on the clock and a 1997 registration so not overworked.... possible under looked after though. She's a bit ropey. Owned since 1999 I think, the farmer bought it a couple of years before I left.

The other old relic was bought a couple of years ago to pull the mole plough and the subsoiler..... not an idea that really worked either as nobody wants to drive it all day long and it's go a fuel tank full of sediment 

[Deere-est]

A day after the cow gave birth to her calf and while we were mucking the shed out, me and the other chap though she looked a little unstable and somewhat twitchy.

Further investigation lead to us finding out.... she was still in calf.... a twin..... a day later!!

[Deere-est]

I didn't think the new heiffer would make the weekend to be honest. Poor little thing was slow to get going and didn't suckle for most of the day, not through the want of trying either. We tube fed her to get her going but her greedy and strong brother born the day before had of course already had all the collustrum.

Thankfully she was alive and kicking on Monday morning.... so was Mum!!!  :laugh:

[Deere-est]

The start if the new week and it was time to make a start on the chicken shed. Firstly, ninety drinkers are taken out and we break the feed chain and hang it up in reverse order. Then we have to dismantle the metre and metres of feed track.

(feed chains are hung up to the right in the first pic.)

[Deere-est]

Then, 216 rubber mats are taken out of the upper level of the nest boxes. (The nest boxes stay in the shed). And the task of taking up the 1600 floor tiles commences  There are four floors, two in each side of the shed. We have got it down this year to 2.5hrs to remove 800 tiles with three people. One lifting, one passing and one stacking. We take it in turns to save our backs!

No photos of this, I am sure there are some way back in this topic from previous years I am sure. Underneath each floor is the supporting structure - about 50 beams under each floor and two legs under each beam..... so that's about 200 beams and 400 legs!!

This year we mucked out as we went rather than lift all the timbers our by trudging through the chicken litter.

[Deere-est]

Once that is done, about a day in each half of the shed we take the remaining 216 mats out of the lower nest boxes and then clear out the remaining muck with a minidigger, shovel, bucket brush. ...  combination of all basically. 7840 SL on hauling - just awaiting the Imber version to some, this was the first tractor I used properly. Bought as an ex demo in 1994 she is completely original with 8000hrs on the clock.

[Deere-est]

While the mini digger was with us, a JCB Micrp I put a water pipe in for a new trough. 2ft trench, sandstone at the base, 18inches of clay and the rest sandy loam. Not a drop of moisture all the way through. I didn't mind, I should have been digging the bucket out with a spade given the time of year!!  :laugh:

[Deere-est]

The Aberdeen Angus Heiffers on the Blade Farming contract were quite interested in what I spent my day doing 

[Deere-est]

We also emptied the old effluent pit, bashed out the baffles in it and Steve washed it out. This was to use as a soaking pit for the woodwork. We find the pressure washer too harsh to remove the dirt from it, anything less and the dirt won't budge. This year we thought we'd soak it all first and see if it helps.

[Deere-est]

I also had this pleasure.... Whilst still awaiting delivery of a 600hr ex demo New Holland T6080 with front links, front pto and 650 tyres (be she will look a right stunner) the farmer decided one field of rape was that bad he'd write it off. Sprayed one week before I started and now two weeks since, it needed topping. Local NH dealer T H Whites brought out this weapon to put the topper on the front. New Holland T7050 Power Command, as the badge says!! Now, I thought (in the space of only a day mind) this tractor probably showed one of the biggest leaps to be made from one model superseding it's predecessor since the 6000 series John Deeres over their 3050 and 4050 etc fathers. It tok me four rounds of the headland before I trusted the machine enough to drive coompletely without touching a pedal or the LHR but instead doing it all in the stick. A 3m flail topper didn't really stretch the power, taking just 24% if the load available - rising to 48% uphill and still at 12kph.

Gav assures me the Auto Command is eeeeeven better. If a day comes where I drive one of these for my crust, I'll be happy. Although I couldn't work our how to work the radio!!!!!

[Deere-est]

It took me 1.5hrs to top off the 18 acres. When the new tractor arrives I think a fully offset topper will not be far behind it.

[Deere-est]

Hobbits eye view 

Oh and another of the outgoing 6900 to make way for the mentioned T6080.

[Deere-est]

And lastly for this installment of my working life here are the heifers, the bulls I missed.

And Dad. Huge, loves to have his back scratched though the soft old beggar!!

[griffithsbros]

what did you make of that digger tris? is it like most jcb's? quick on the slew but not any good at digging?

[Deere-est]

Quick on everything, Sean but yes it does not have much ooomph for digging to be honest.

[griffithsbros]

thought so  thats why i stick with kubota, craking little machines they'll dig forever!

[Deere-est]

It's just a hire machine for a week so we the farmer just gets what he's given really. Havn't tried a Kubota of this size to be honest.