What’s in your shed? visits a mixed farm in Herefordshire | Biden News

Contractors Charlie and Dave Blandford are the latest to open their shed doors for our monthly What’s in Your Shed? series

Our team has been all over the country and this time we stopped at a mixed farm in Herefordshire.

How brand loyal are you?

We are more loyal to our local dealers than we are to specific brands of equipment, but the kit has to be of high quality and we still do a bit of searching to get the best tool for the job.

Pallisers of Hereford has been our regular dealer since opening in the early 1990’s and we have stayed with them whilst they have switched from Massey Ferguson tractors to Deutz-Fahr and now Kubota.

The level of service we receive is the main reason for this, but we are also happy with the tractors we have had, particularly the new Kubota M7s.

All of our Krone grass kit also came from Pallisers, along with a Merlo telehandler and planter, fertilizer spreader and Amazone sprayer.

Continuing with the theme of buying local, our Claas combine came from Morris Corfield, our trailers from AW Trailers over the road and we have a few parts from Tallis Amos in Leominster.

We’ve never been interested in traveling across the country to save a few quid on individual pieces of kit. It takes a long time and you don’t always end up better off in the long run.

See also: Video: 170-horsepower four-cylinder M7173 from Kubota on the test

Favorite piece of kit?

Charlie: For me it’s Kubota tractors. We have three of them – two M7172s and a later M7173 – and they are all excellent.

In the past we’ve always had a six-cylinder tractor for heavy hauling work, but they have more than enough power for everything we do.

The 6.1-liter engines are big for four cylinders and make plenty of torque.

We first became aware of the M7 when Kubota leased some space from us to store their demonstration fleet in the south of England.

Right before launch, a camouflaged blue prototype appeared on a truck and we got to check it out.

It was a bit rough and ready, but we saw the potential. Soon after they went on sale, we bought the M7171 and haven’t looked back since.

Dave: I was really impressed with our Horsch Joker disc cultivator and Mono TG tool bar.

It is very well made and versatile, allowing us to make a seedbed in one pass with the tines and discs involved, or separate them so the discs can be used for furrowing.

The automatic reset system is a godsend on our rocky land and I love the fact that it’s so easy to change points.

This means that we can use a narrow one for deep cultivation and a wider one when we want to move the soil to a shallower depth.

Least favorite item in the set?

We have a 2.7m Joskin topper that can’t handle the work we throw at it.

It is used to destroy bird cover and protect the environment, which forces it to chew drive pastures for fun.

The blades are also instantly discarded, so he spends more time in the workshop than working.

Last purchase?

The biggest purchase this season was the Claas Lexion 5400 combine, which we got to replace the 630.

This is a five-stroke machine with a new four-drum threshing system, which should provide performance close to rotary.

We have seen a big jump in production and we can run about 15% faster than the old model without increasing losses.

The cockpit is also improved, with a sleeker screen that’s more intuitive to use, better noise reduction and a much simpler system for adjusting reel speed.

We had a few minor teething issues, but luckily nothing stopped us from coming together. It all needs to be sorted before we release it next season.

While this is impressive, Claas can still make some improvements. First, access to the concave, lower sieve and grain tray is unnecessarily inconvenient.

Before we switched to Lexions we had a Deutz 6065HTS which had large access panels on the side – would be nice to see something similar on this machine.

We also just closed a deal on a Trimble Centerpoint RTX GPS system that has a satellite correction signal.

We struggle with mobile RTK correction reception in parts of the farm and this was much more reliable than the Kubota RTK system we tried.

The hardware itself was pretty reasonable, but the subscription is expensive at £1,160 a year.

Is the oldest machine still running?

We have a 2002 Supertino trailed straw blower and a silage dispenser that we bought new from a local farmer who was in the machinery trade.

It is well built and has not shown significant signs of wear and tear over the past 18 years.

Today he gets used mostly to straw, which puts very little strain on him, so he should have a lot of life left.

How long do you keep your cars?

Anything with an engine and transmission we keep until the warranty expires. For tractors and combines, it is five to seven years.

It’s a formula that seems to work well because we don’t have to pay expensive repair bills and we don’t have to worry about broken equipment when we’re busy.

If we do have a problem, we have the peace of mind knowing that Pallisers or one of the other dealers we use will quickly sort it out for us.

This approach is not necessary for simpler and less frequently used equipment, such as straw bedding or a plow, which we keep until they start to wear out or cause problems.

What’s next on your wish list?

We wish the Joskin replacement had a front-mounted flail.

It should be better suited to the bulky vegetation we’re cutting, and having one in the front means it does a neat job.

The Topper isn’t a car we’ll be using very often, so we’ll probably be looking for a nice used example.

We would also like to replace our 12 ton AW trailers with larger 14 ton float models and our oldest 2018 Kubota M7172 may be replaced soon as it is out of warranty.

Most embarrassing machine bug?

Dave: I’ve had a few embarrassing incidents with trailer overlaps lately. Last year I was loading in the barn when the sun was shining so I couldn’t see very well.

I thought I didn’t get on the roof, but I pushed the trailer through the fiber cement panels and damaged a couple of solar panels mounted on top.

I did so, drying the grain of this harvest and hurrying to keep up with the harvester. Fortunately, there were no solar panels on the roof.

Charlie: I didn’t beat the car much, but I did make a serious setup mistake when we got our first Lexion.

We were cutting beans and I didn’t realize that the rotor at the top of the straw walker needed to be lifted straight out of the way.

For three days in a row, the combine reliably clogged, and each time it took about three and a half hours to clean it. It was a terrible job.

The most expensive repair bill?

We haven’t had many expensive bills recently as we are well covered by warranties. However, when we had the Deutz Agrotron M620, we spent a small amount on a series of air conditioning repairs.

It appears that the main problem was a filter that broke and allowed debris to enter the system. In total it cost us around £7,000.

In the 1980s we also had problems with the early model Collins Teleshift which was based on the Massey Ferguson 240.

The forward/reverse switch did not cope with its task and repeatedly failed. Once it even came together when it was removed from the truck after repairs.

We liked it so much that we bought a couple of later production models and they haven’t given us much trouble.

What is your best invention?

We’re not in the business of inventing and making hardware, but we do build weird tools and change parts from time to time to make them work better.

However, when we use a kit, we often think about how the manufacturers could improve the design.

A recent idea that came to mind during harvest was for harvesters to be able to mount a powerful battery blower on the machine with a built-in charger.

It would be so convenient to always have one to blow on instead of taking it out of the yard.

What could you not live without in the workshop?

We have a large Milwaukee Cordless Impact Wrench which is great for wheel nuts etc – there’s nothing it can’t move.

It would be nice to have a smaller, lighter one for everyday work, and we’ve got our eye on a cordless angle grinder.

Best tractor you’ve owned?

In the 1990s we had a Massey Ferguson 3075 which was a great tractor and way ahead of its time.

We particularly liked the semi-power shifting Dynashift transmission, which is a big step up from previous Speedshift transmissions.

It was also a pleasure to drive and had a comfortable cabin. That said, we wouldn’t want to go back from Kubotas.

And the worst?

We change out our tractors when they run relatively little, so we haven’t had any major problems in a long time.

The last serious breakdown was a Massey Ferguson 590 Turbo, whose engine got stuck in the field.

Favorite and least favorite job?

Charlie: I like to combine when the crop is high, the weather is good and the yield is decent. I like the combination the least when the culture is flat and sprouting and there is not much going on in the tank.

Dave: You can’t beat spraying when you’re driving through a good crop in good weather. Grain drying is at the other end of the spectrum, especially when I’m in a hurry to keep up with the combine.

Biggest Tech Deal?

A few years ago we bought a refurbished Bunning Lowlander mud spreader for £11,000 which was as good as new.

It was a 2013 model, but it was equipped with new chains, oil seals, rotor tips, a wide-angle PTO, and even a new hood for spreading chicken litter.

The dealer gave it to us for a decent price as we made a deal to buy a Samson aftermarket spreader which they didn’t get.

What is your daily transportation?

We have a 2013 Ford Ranger Limited with a 3.2-liter five-cylinder engine and a six-speed manual transmission.

We bought it when it was two years old with 20,000 miles and we paid £15,000 which didn’t seem too bad.

It rides and slides well with our 12′ Gamic Livestock Trailer on the back. We put another 37,000 miles on the clock and it hasn’t caused any problems.