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Tractor Talk Discussion Forum

Need a little advice.......

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Brad Wright of

12-21-2006 15:48:33




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Well my friend just bought 130 acres of land in Grundy County, Missouri. He seems to think he wants to be a farmer, i told him not to jump right in to it but he did anyway. Now he has 130 acres and no equipment to farm it with. He wants to try and crop it next season. He has no idea what size of equipment he will need (tractor, chisel plow, disc, field cultivator, planter) I told him what i thought, based on my "farming operation" but i wanted to know what you guys thought. Thanks.

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730virgil

12-22-2006 21:36:59




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 Re: Need a little advice....... in reply to Brad Wright of MO, 12-21-2006 15:48:33  
when i worked for a dealer salesman said rule of thumb 10 horsepower per foot on chisel plow 10' about 100 horse . we sold a lot of 10 and 11 foot chisel plows to guys with 4020 john deere 1855 ollie 806 ihs 8600 ford . 14 to 16 foot disk . suggest to him he does tillage work and has someone come in to plant and harvest corn and beans



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VADAVE

12-22-2006 04:28:53




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 Re: Need a little advice....... in reply to Brad Wright of MO, 12-21-2006 15:48:33  
OK Read the comments time to be serious.
If you really farm 3500 acres what size equipment you use is much bigger then what your friend needs for 130. If you suggested an H then either you don't really farm that much or your looking to add his farm to your operation.
What your friend needs mininium is a tractor (4020 is a nice all round start--I started with a 1855) and a planter. I think the 4020 will pull a 12 row but he could drop back to 8, 6 or even 4 the lesser rows just increases his time on the seat.
He needs to be able to either rent a combine or hire someone to combine for him. Have hime figure out which he wants to do and match the planter to the combine.
Last thing to think about is how to get the crop to market. Grain cart, gravity wagon or truck.
That get him into the first year.
If your his friend then would you consider custom cutting for him--or do you have a older machine sitting around he could rent/buy?
If you aren't trying to take advantage of your friend then help him out. If you don't have the time and really don't have old equipment sitting around then point him in the right directions. The local dealers, web sites (like fastline) and local farm papers.

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Brad Wright of MO

12-22-2006 08:07:18




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 Re: Need a little advice....... in reply to VADAVE, 12-22-2006 04:28:53  
I didnt say he needed to use the size of equipment i use. He thinks he should and i told him that you would need a higher horsepower tractor than a 4020. Besides its not very "financially smart" to farm 130 acres with 45 foot equipment.



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2x4

12-21-2006 23:32:20




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 Re: Need a little advice....... in reply to Brad Wright of MO, 12-21-2006 15:48:33  
was that where the famous Grundy County Auction Incident took place? =)



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kyhayman

12-21-2006 22:11:52




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 Re: Need a little advice....... in reply to Brad Wright of MO, 12-21-2006 15:48:33  
I farm 300 acres with 3- 86 hp tractors (1 with loader), a skid loader, an atv, a 10' disc, 10' chisel plow, 15' batwing, 8' disc mower, 7' haybine, a couple of flat wagons, an NH bale wagon, 2 NH bar rakes, JD square baler, and a NH 650 round baler. I'm over stocked on tractors by one, but its paid for (I bought it before the skid loader, with it, I dont need the extra tractor).

I started with a 50hp tractor, 8' disc, 2 bottom plow, single flat wagon, NI rake, 7' haybine, and the JD square baler.

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4020

12-21-2006 19:08:57




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 Re: Need a little advice....... in reply to Brad Wright of MO, 12-21-2006 15:48:33  
I live in Grundy County and might be interested in farming it until he gets set up. Also have several antique tractors we could set him up with.



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Dale L

12-21-2006 17:11:59




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 Re: Need a little advice....... in reply to Brad Wright of MO, 12-21-2006 15:48:33  
There are always people who are going to tell you it can't be done. Maybe he will fall flat on his face or maybe he will stick to it and make it work. I give the guy a lot of credit for having the nerve to try. I guess a lot of people would love to own a 130 acre farm. I know I would. It will be tough for a while, but if he sticks to his guns and listens to good advice he may find the American dream. I wish him luck!

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Hard Knocks

12-22-2006 03:40:41




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 Re: Need a little advice....... in reply to Dale L, 12-21-2006 17:11:59  
Bankruptcy Courts are full of folks with a lot of nerve and no experience.Nerve don't pay the bills



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Steven@AZ

12-21-2006 17:05:20




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 Re: Need a little advice....... in reply to Brad Wright of MO, 12-21-2006 15:48:33  
I believe the Farmall H was marketed for farms in the 150 to 250 acre range. Shouldn't need anything bigger than eight to ten foot implements to cover that. Heck, that's only one field!



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davpal

12-21-2006 21:19:08




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 Re: Need a little advice....... in reply to Steven@AZ, 12-21-2006 17:05:20  
What do you want the guy to do, commit suicide? Farming 130 acres with a farmall H would just about make you do it. That is a disaster waiting to happen. Don't think so?, go out in a 40 acre field with an H and try to plow it and go to work at a real job and dodge the weather. It will take the better part of a week to get it done. Now try disking it in the spring, and dodging the rains again, and going to work and trying to get stuff planted with a four row planter. Now try to get it all done in between breakdowns and putting gas into the old girl, you will be in a state of mind you don't want to be in. I love old farmalls, we have a super H, a regular H and a Super M. I have watched my dad for years go out with the super M and play around on 40 acres and it takes a lot of time and the super M is twice the tractor of an H. 130 acres is a huge chunk of land. He should buy something that can pull 20 foot equipment at least. You just don't have enough of a weather window to get that much ground done properly if you don't have the bigger equipment. I would want something like a White 2-105 at least for what he is doing or a minimum of a 4020. They used to say a ford 9n was an 80 acre farm tractor too but I am glad I didn't have to do it in 1942. Dad says they beat horses though! 1066 IH would be a nice tractor too if he could find one that is not 90% worn out. 20 foot used equipment is dirt cheap and so are the tractors that pull it. I admire the guy for his work ethic and courage. There will be a lot of challenges. I would think paying for 130 acres of land would be the biggest one!

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Steven@AZ

12-22-2006 03:16:12




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 Re: Need a little advice....... in reply to davpal, 12-21-2006 21:19:08  
Take a little bit of a joke, but actually I was kinda serious... We seed at least 150 acres per day with our (small) 28 foot air seeder. Total acres planted last year was around 1800, and we are a very small farm in the neighborhood. Most people have 40 foot or bigger air seeders and the big guys plant around 10,000 to 15,000 acres per year.

Why do you need to finish the entire farming operation in one day?

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davpal

12-22-2006 09:40:19




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 Re: Need a little advice....... in reply to Steven@AZ, 12-22-2006 03:16:12  
I was just messing with ya. I know guys used to and still do a lot of farming with stuff like that. Heck, we still do. I was just sharing some of our struggles over the years. Around here in Michigan we can't ever get the weather to help us out for two whole days in a row. Sometimes it takes us a week to do what our neighbor does in two hours! If the guy really wants to keep his sanity he should consider doing mostly no-till. We don't do it but I can see it is a huge time saver. Later.

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Steven@AZ

12-22-2006 10:56:52




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 Re: Need a little advice....... in reply to davpal, 12-22-2006 09:40:19  
We don't do a no-till program, but it is minimum-till... the air seeder has somewhat of a sweep on it that works some of the stubble under. Seed, dry fertilizer, and anhydrous all in one pass. Sure does a lot to save moisture on a dry year!



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lejo

12-21-2006 16:30:56




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 Re: Need a little advice....... in reply to Brad Wright of MO, 12-21-2006 15:48:33  
Have seen this before, going on his own without any knowledge of farming he will go under the first year. Unless he has mega bucks in the bank now. Suggest he rent it on halves with someone who IS a farmer and offer to help him or hire out to him. Let the farmer make ALL the decisions.Do this one or two years then go on his own.le



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dhermesc

12-22-2006 09:32:45




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 Re: Need a little advice....... in reply to lejo, 12-21-2006 16:30:56  
I agree. Offering to run some of the equipment as an operator in training will also give him some invaluable experience.

A 130 acre farm run on the side is probably never going to turn a profit, especially if he gets the equipment he'll need to get-r-done in after work hours and weekends. Guys that used a Farmall H on a 150 acres also did it as a full time job, not in 2-3 bursts after the sun went down. Ask me how I know.

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Hard Knocks

12-21-2006 16:07:44




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 Re: Need a little advice....... in reply to Brad Wright of MO, 12-21-2006 15:48:33  
I'd suggest your friend rent the land to someone to crop it next year and for him to watch very closely and take notes on what the renter does.



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Brad Wright of MO

12-21-2006 16:17:06




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 Re: Need a little advice....... in reply to Hard Knocks , 12-21-2006 16:07:44  
Yeah My Father, Uncle, Cousin and I farm about 3500 acres in Missouri. I guess i kinda had an advantage because i learned from my grandpa and my dad when i was really young. I told him i would teach him some basics but im not gonna do it for him because i got land of my own to farm. When i told him what size equipment i would buy he then told me that there was no way that small of equipment would do it. It would take him days to get it done. I told him fine if u want bigger equipment go get it but your not going to be able to pull a 45 foot chisel plow with a john deere 4020. (he thinks you can) I though i'd ask people on here to make sure i aint crazy or somethin.

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old

12-21-2006 16:28:54




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 Re: Need a little advice....... in reply to Brad Wright of MO, 12-21-2006 16:17:06  
What part of Missouri is that?? If its up north theres some good land there but I know in my area there is no such thing as row crops. Sounds like hes done what a friend of mine did and I have been helping/working with him for a few years to get him to where he needs to be as far as farming. Shoot I might even have a tractor or 2 your friend could use

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low budget

12-21-2006 16:28:12




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 Re: Need a little advice....... in reply to Brad Wright of MO, 12-21-2006 16:17:06  
Doesn't sound like he's gonna listen to any advice. People like that are destined to learn the hard way. Won't listen to friend, but will probaly believe anything a salesman tells him.



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