Equipment lineup for a small dairy in 1992?

Crookedcreekjerseys · Mar 15, 2021

A few months back I noticed a pretty salvageable late model ford 3000 with a factory roll bar. I dont usually look for tractors this small but after driving by for a few months I started thinking that would be a pretty sweet little companion for my ford 5610 series II I have in my collection. Especially if I were to toss a canopy on the roll bar. Well that snowballed while I was driving into this question, the year is 1992 and your pretty much a blue guy when it comes to tractors, implements can vary. You have a Ford 5610 series II with a cab, late model Ford 3000, Ford 4630 with 4x4 and a loader, and a New Holland L455 skid steer. You run a dairy with a 40 cow free stall and feed on a outside concrete paddock in H bunks. Could you make it work and if you think you could what lineup of equipment would you pair up to this line of tractors. Id imagine this would probably be a part time operation at that time. Dont be afraid to be detailed. Throw in what model truck youd have if you want.

formerly ny bill · Mar 15, 2021

in NY's Southern Tier in 1992, most every 40 cow dairy would have been in a tiestall barn, not a freestall.
I was in a 109 cow freestall and parlor that was built after the old setup (55 cow tiestall barn and shed that we used as loose housing for 70 cows, plus a parlor) burned in 1989 (I built the new setup too cheap, according to the "experts" but it worked very well until I sold the milkers for the last time in 2018). Most of my tractors were and are red, but almost all the harvesting equipment was New Holland. 479 and 114 mowers, NH 256 rake, either NH 718 2 row or NH 782 chopper (we switched to a dump wagon about that time and the 718 was getting pushed around on the hills), think I had a JD 24T baler then, and a NH L325 skid steer. Planting was done with an Oliver 5 bottom reset plow, Allis 12' disk, my Dad's JD 7000 4row planter, and a borrowed Brillion seeder. Feeding in a bunk with Allis unloading wagons. My pickup then was a 1973 Dodge 250 with back fenders that waved to everyone that we drove past.
BTW, I'm still using a pair of L455 skidsteers that I acquired after the L325. Tough machines.
A little off topic, but that is where we were in 1992.

tomstractorsandtoys · Mar 15, 2021

I started milking cows in 93. Had a 4020,4010,3010,3020 and a 2510 and all older Deere equipment. Had a f145 4 bottom plow,BW disk,Allis Chalmers 600 4 row planter, NH 467 haybine,Deere 660 rake and 24t baler. For silage had a Deere 38 and 35 chopper along with 2-125 chuck wagons and a 122. Picked corn with a 237 mounted picker and had a 45 combine. Milked about 40 cows and sometimes think I had more extra money than I do now. Tom

Crookedcreekjerseys · Mar 15, 2021

Sounds like a stout setup.

Crookedcreekjerseys · Mar 15, 2021

Thats still a pretty cool line up, I wish I could have been born a couple years sooner some times so I could have experience the early 90s, seems that was the last years of true American iron. Those L455 are definitely tough little skid steers, I have a John Deere 575 which is the same except it has a yanmar instead of the kubota.

formerly ny bill · Mar 16, 2021

I'll add that the tractors in '92 were 1086, 966, 4010 and 3010 (both with 20 series engines), and Farmall 200 and M. Still have/use them all, along with a bunch more.

DRussell · Mar 16, 2021

If it was 1992 with that lineup I'd be looking to get a tractor capable of pulling a 5 bottom plow, 18-20 foot disc and a two row corn chopper. I was never a big Ford man, but always thought an 8600 was a nice machine.

caterpillar guy · Mar 16, 2021

By 90 the cows were sold. Before that we were using H,MD,806D 4166, Deere 1219 mower ancient deere,Ih and a wheel rake for rakes. Ni and IH round balers selling 4x4 round bales while making 6x5,s for feeding to some beef cattle dad traded for with some hay. Used to use an old 708 unit with 767chopper for hay and corn into 6 bags each year. 760 chopper with 3 row snapper head for ground ear corn in 1 bag. The bags were 8x150 filled a total of 7 each year. Planted for sever years before that with 8 row planter and 20ft 470 disc 4600 vibrashank 16ft chisel plow. shelled corn with the uni and 4 row head. Later the corn went to beans and hay no corn for 10 years. All the same equipment is here with more and bigger added since.

caterpillar guy · Mar 16, 2021

Meant to say we were milking about 60 cows plus the young stock at the end.

Heartless · Mar 16, 2021

Id imagine this would probably be a part time operation at that time.

Sorry, but with cows involved, it is never a "part time" operation.
without the cows, maybe, but not with.

centash · Mar 16, 2021

I had a small dairy back then as well.....200 acres, milked 35 cows, about 80 head in total. Had a JD 2955. JD 2120 with loader, MH 55, NI 3632 tandem manure spreader, IH 800 4row planter, IH 510 seed drill, NH 273 baler, NH 489 haybine, NH 718 harvester and 2 Dion wagons, 4 furrow plow, 18 foot cultivator, 14 foot disc, Automatic roller mill, Gleaner F2 combine, George White sprayer, and assorted wagons, auger, misc stuff. The only work I had custom done was making round bales. Gee, that was a lot of iron, still have most of it, but no livestock anymore.

Ben

NY 986 · Mar 16, 2021

1992 and low HP Fords? Would have just come through the tough 1980's where lenders avoided farmers on a regular basis unless you were a premium operation.

Oliver 565 3 X 16 plow.

IH 45 vibra shank 12".

IH 37 disk 12'.

Brillion 12' packer.

JD 7000 4 row planter.

JD 8200 16 X 7 grain drill.

NH 489 haybine.

JD 337 baler with 40 ejector.

Kuhn tedder.

NH 782 forage harvester w/ 1 row head and hay head.

JD 716A forage wagon.

Badger 950 forage wagon.

IH 56 blower.

JD 450 spreader.

40 cow dairy in 1992 could make it with very low debt, highly productive soils, and highly productive cows. I just had this conversation with a younger neighbor. I explained while in 1980 15 tons of corn silage along with 5 tons dry hay might be a good yield for our neighborhood there were farms that had a much higher yield of crop output per acre due to soil differences. That gives other farms an advantage in terms of income to make improvements or expand. The co-ops basically priced to keep the most productive farms going. Note that the equipment I listed was on average 10 years of age which would be right for such a farm in 1992. Plenty of auctions then to find good low use equipment.

Bruce from Can. · Mar 16, 2021

I started milking cows in 1981, and by 1992 my equipment line looked like this. I had a 1987 CaseIH 885 XL cab two wheel drive tractor. A 4 furrow 3pth kenvernlands plough, 10 foot disc 18 foot vibra shank cultivator. I had just bought a brand new Ford 5640 4wd with cab and loader. I had a 185Nh tandem axle manure spreader, a NH 3pth rake tedder and a New Idea 4x4 round baler. At that time I hired my corn planted and chopped. About the next year I turned the CaseIH 885 in on a CaseIH 5140, 4 wd with a cab. I also had a IH W4 , which I used to pull the McCormack 13 run seed drill, and a 72 AC Allcrop combine. I could grind my own grain using the belt pulley on the W4 belted to a Wetmore hammer mill. I was milking probably 30-35 cows in 1992, and we were also into doing some market gardening then. I had a 1953 Super A with mounted scufflers to keep rows of tomatoes, peppers, sweet corn , and Spanish onions weed free.
We still milk cows, and have an almost completely different group of equipment now, almost 30 years later. And we currently milk 70 Jerseys, our barn can tie 105 cows under the milk line. It was easier to make money farming in the 80s and 90s no question in my mind.

NY 986 · Mar 16, 2021

Around here from 1980 through 1992 the split between tie stalls and free stalls would have been around 50-50 or 60-40 in favor of tie stalls. Most silage would have gone into an upright silo and most dry hay was still in small square bales. But from 1992 forward such farms would have started looking at bunker silos and round bales.

Bruce from Can. · Mar 16, 2021

That is interesting, because our experience in Canada was much the same. Many did try to cling on to small square bales and tower silos, but very few tower silos are getting filled anymore. And small square bales, arent much more than a sweaty hot memory. Those that did cling to the past, are now either out of business or changing their direction.

SHALER · Mar 16, 2021

CCJ, arguably the year 1992 was the last year of 'true american iron' as you say because if memory serves that was the last year of JD producing the 4X55 series, after that it was computers. Perhaps a topic for another thread but it would be neat to know if other tractor makers went to computers at that time as well.

NY 986 · Mar 16, 2021

As a student at Cornell I saw a couple of small dairies that sidelined with fresh market vegetables. One took produce in season to a regional market. As I said below highly productive soils can greatly help with income as opposed to soils that are pretty much limited to field corn and hay.

NY 986 · Mar 16, 2021

A lot of small dairies were conservative on spending after coming through the 1980's. They made do with the systems they had and made milking systems a priority over feed handling when a change was contemplated. It should be mentioned that feed mixing wagons were on quite a number of small dairies by the early 1990's.

Crookedcreekjerseys · Mar 16, 2021

All depends on where you work, I would highly disagree with
that.

Crookedcreekjerseys · Mar 16, 2021

That was the exact response I was looking for.

Crookedcreekjerseys · Mar 16, 2021

That was the exact response I was looking for.

Crookedcreekjerseys · Mar 16, 2021

Im a big fan of WFE and the last true white tractors where around 92 also.

Crookedcreekjerseys · Mar 16, 2021

What did you major in a Cornell?

NY 986 · Mar 16, 2021

Ag economics. We did tours of farms as part of the coursework for some classes.

sammydwm · Mar 16, 2021

those would be pretty lightweight tractors for that time frame.
We ran a Case 1030, Leyland 272 and an Allis D17 in the early 90's.
Had a case 555 haybine, a NH rake and a JD 14T baler and stacked the wagons.
Pulled 5 or 6 bottoms with the Case. Had a 12 foot or so disc with a digger hooked behind it that we used.
Ran an older Hesston chopper and Minnesota wagons.
Had a whirl a feed blower and we filled a 14x40 and a 20x70.
Nobody I knew had a skidsteer, unless they rented it for something.

Equipment lineup for a small dairy in 1992?

Member

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Member

Member

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Member

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Member

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Well-known Member

Member

Similar threads