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Claas Is Here!!! (plus other pics from spring)

we do some custom hauling. Stay plenty busy with ours though, only have 8 day storage and have to pump about 90,000 gallons in order to make room for another 8 days. we also have our hog farm (we dont operate just own it) which has a 1.5 million gallon ish lagoon we have to pump annually. We also have to pump one tanker load of grey water daily.
 
Nice looking tanker. Just noticed, are those front and rear tires on that Agco the same age? If so that things scrubs the fronts HARD!!!
 
Yes they are the same age 770hrs on them, about 400 of those are on pavement . The reason the fronts are shot is because we had an issue with the mfwd kicking in and out on its own at high speeds , the dealer couldn't get it in for 5 weeks and they got very bald, new ones are going on next week and we got a good deal on them. The michelins have the best wear and ride. And really good traction, but they are very pricey.
 
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durallymax said:
Yes they are the same age 770hrs on them, about 4000 of those are on pavement . The reason the fronts are shot is because we had an issue with the mfwd kicking in and out on its own at high speeds , the dealer couldn't get it in for 5 weeks and they got very bald, new ones are going on next week and we got a good deal on them. The michelins have the best wear and ride. And really good traction, but they are very pricey.
Click to expand...

And leaving very little to no footprint, compaction is where the Michelins seem to shine.

Are you allowed to spread i winter?? You mentioned only 8 days storage??
 
yes we are as we are not a cafo yet.

the tires on this tanker look very promising for reducing compaction. Our old tanker carried 6350gllongs on four 30.5L32s run at 46-50psi. The new tanker carries 7300 gallons on 850/50R32s (33.5"wide) run at 25psi, plus these new Galaxys are flat, all of the tread face contacts the ground nearly evenly versus the firestones on our old tanker. So far they seem to compact less but the real test will be when we go to dig up the ground, and next crop when i cover some more hayfields.
 
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New Feed mixer just showed up.

We had a couple of retired guys drive it down to Kansas for us to get it setup, they left sunday.

Truck is a 1996 T800B KW. 435hp N14 Celect Plus, 15spd Eaton, VIT interior, Jake, O/O Spec etc.

Box Is a Roto-Mix 620-16 Commercial series. Staggered Rotor, Stainless Liners, HD Flighting, HD Drive.

Should be a nice truck. Ill have to post a pic of the old gem too, for comparison later. Heres the new one.

IMAG0186.jpg
 
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dumb question, but they wouldnt happen to be going to scott, garden, or dodge city would they? huge feedyard country, so therefore plenty of feedtruck dealers, so was curious if they were headed that way?
 
We bought the truck locally and had it driven down and set up at rotomix headquarters in dodge city
 
WilliamBos said:
If they use the same quota system as up here, then it pays real well, but needs a heavy investment.
Click to expand...

If we had to use a quota system like yours we might throw in the towel and do something else. The more you learn about quota based systems the more you despise them.

The pay of your quota system versus a successful farmer in the states is similar.

In the states us minorities (aka Jersey Farmers) are pushing for solids based pricing nationwide. Now that day may never come any time soon, but we are trying our best. Because why would anybody want to buy/handle water when you dont need it (aka holstein milk). And if companies like Walmart and Krueger and such get involved and want to lower their carbon footprint, the Jersey Breed will be there for that. They are a more efficient cow. Like a Duramax is more efficient and more reliable than a powerstroke. They also can take more heat stress than a Holstein, about 10* more, but dont tolerate the cold as welll which requires insulated barns. A minor expense when you consider the cost of cooling holsteins.

We are very active members with the National Jersey Association, and dad is the president. We continue to push the breed and people continue to switch. But its like trying to switch somebody from a John Deere tractor to a Massey. Farmers are the most stubborn people you will ever meet. Here is some research.

http://www.usjersey.com/Reference/08_CostofProduction_PL.pdf

http://www.usjersey.com/Programs/environmentalanswer.html

http://www.usjersey.com/



We milk 750 Jerseys, raise all of our own replacements and also raise all of our steers. Its not so much that we have money to spend, want to spend money, or like spending money, its that things needed to be replaced and kept getting put off duee to the economy and now they can be replaced.

The new Houle and New Agco have been planned for 2 years. The tractor came in November and the Tanker came In June. The old tractor was tired from the abuse, slow, and inefficient fuel wise compared to the new one. It definately paid for itself though. The old tanker was worn out as well and we didnt feel it was fit for our operation anymore hauling at high speeds. We bought it new in 2003 for $27,400 and got $25,000 trade in for it. We definately got our moneys worth out of the old tanker.

The new mixer has been need for the last year or two as well. Its very worn out and the truck is very very tired. We were having to nurse it along and baby it everyday and it was costing us too much downtime.

The New Claas came because the Deere was a problem child and we had no service or parts to back it up. The Chopper, Merger and two of the wagons are split between 3 farms so it helps justify the cost.


We also bought a 2011 Duramax Last week. We decided we needed another truck last summer. We have two LB7s (02 and 03) currently, the 02 with 150,000 and the 03 with 160,000. Both are tired from the abuse we put them through (trying to use them as semis) I put a set of brakes in each one every 12-24 months and the gooseneck hitch on the 02 is bent up and cracked if that gives you an idea of the abuse. We were going to get one spring of 2012. But that came a little early. Our 02 has had the injectors replaced 2 times, the 03 has had them replaced 2 times, the 02 got a new transfercase (before we were aware of the pump rub issues), the 02 got new injector lines, the 03 got a new glow plug module, the 02 got new headgaskets, the 02 got new water pump, the 03 got new water pump, both have had plenty of front wheel bearings, the 02 has had the Air bag module replaced, the 02 had the shift linkage replaced, the 02 had the door latches and many handles replaced, the 02 has had the ABS pump and module replaced, and so on and so forth, they have both been beat so hard they should be a commercial.

Well our 02 has been leaking about a gallon of oil a week and with us bein short staffed, I havent been able to look at its leak, and since it runs, its not a priority, the 03 had been leaking coolant and I finally was able to get it in and find a bad water pump, no big deal. But during this period dad decided he was going to go look at trucks and see if they had any deals.

Well I just rolled the 03 out of the shop and he was going to run some errands and go look at new trucks if he had time. He drive 10 miles down the road and an injector stuck open. I popped the injector out, stuck my videoscope down in the cylinder and it appears to have started to melt the top of the piston so out comes that motor. After that injector stuck, he went and bought a new one but does complain about the price everytime you ask him about it. I havent driven it yet, but I hear they are a dream ride wise and have a lot of power. Ill get a picture up of that one soon.
 
The 2011 Duramax is awesome. I have driven two, one a 2500 LTZ crew cab short bed and the other a 3500 LTZ crew cab short bed. Both were 4X4 and fully decked out.

If I could ever get a real job I would purchase one.

Keep posting all these pictures of all this cool equipment. :thumbsup:

Thanks
 
Ours is just an LT2 or whatever. Its cloth bench seat with Bluetooth and auto climate control, tow mirrors, the nicer wheels and thats about it. And it still costs more than a nice semi.
 
durallymax said:
If we had to use a quota system like yours we might throw in the towel and do something else. The more you learn about quota based systems the more you despise them.

The pay of your quota system versus a successful farmer in the states is similar.

In the states us minorities (aka Jersey Farmers) are pushing for solids based pricing nationwide. Now that day may never come any time soon, but we are trying our best. Because why would anybody want to buy/handle water when you dont need it (aka holstein milk). And if companies like Walmart and Krueger and such get involved and want to lower their carbon footprint, the Jersey Breed will be there for that. They are a more efficient cow. Like a Duramax is more efficient and more reliable than a powerstroke. They also can take more heat stress than a Holstein, about 10* more, but dont tolerate the cold as welll which requires insulated barns. A minor expense when you consider the cost of cooling holsteins.

We are very active members with the National Jersey Association, and dad is the president. We continue to push the breed and people continue to switch. But its like trying to switch somebody from a John Deere tractor to a Massey. Farmers are the most stubborn people you will ever meet. Here is some research.

http://www.usjersey.com/Reference/08_CostofProduction_PL.pdf

http://www.usjersey.com/Programs/environmentalanswer.html

http://www.usjersey.com/



We milk 750 Jerseys, raise all of our own replacements and also raise all of our steers. Its not so much that we have money to spend, want to spend money, or like spending money, its that things needed to be replaced and kept getting put off duee to the economy and now they can be replaced.

The new Houle and New Agco have been planned for 2 years. The tractor came in November and the Tanker came In June. The old tractor was tired from the abuse, slow, and inefficient fuel wise compared to the new one. It definately paid for itself though. The old tanker was worn out as well and we didnt feel it was fit for our operation anymore hauling at high speeds. We bought it new in 2003 for $27,400 and got $25,000 trade in for it. We definately got our moneys worth out of the old tanker.

The new mixer has been need for the last year or two as well. Its very worn out and the truck is very very tired. We were having to nurse it along and baby it everyday and it was costing us too much downtime.

The New Claas came because the Deere was a problem child and we had no service or parts to back it up. The Chopper, Merger and two of the wagons are split between 3 farms so it helps justify the cost.


We also bought a 2011 Duramax Last week. We decided we needed another truck last summer. We have two LB7s (02 and 03) currently, the 02 with 150,000 and the 03 with 160,000. Both are tired from the abuse we put them through (trying to use them as semis) I put a set of brakes in each one every 12-24 months and the gooseneck hitch on the 02 is bent up and cracked if that gives you an idea of the abuse. We were going to get one spring of 2012. But that came a little early. Our 02 has had the injectors replaced 2 times, the 03 has had them replaced 2 times, the 02 got a new transfercase (before we were aware of the pump rub issues), the 02 got new injector lines, the 03 got a new glow plug module, the 02 got new headgaskets, the 02 got new water pump, the 03 got new water pump, both have had plenty of front wheel bearings, the 02 has had the Air bag module replaced, the 02 had the shift linkage replaced, the 02 had the door latches and many handles replaced, the 02 has had the ABS pump and module replaced, and so on and so forth, they have both been beat so hard they should be a commercial.

Well our 02 has been leaking about a gallon of oil a week and with us bein short staffed, I havent been able to look at its leak, and since it runs, its not a priority, the 03 had been leaking coolant and I finally was able to get it in and find a bad water pump, no big deal. But during this period dad decided he was going to go look at trucks and see if they had any deals.

Well I just rolled the 03 out of the shop and he was going to run some errands and go look at new trucks if he had time. He drive 10 miles down the road and an injector stuck open. I popped the injector out, stuck my videoscope down in the cylinder and it appears to have started to melt the top of the piston so out comes that motor. After that injector stuck, he went and bought a new one but does complain about the price everytime you ask him about it. I havent driven it yet, but I hear they are a dream ride wise and have a lot of power. Ill get a picture up of that one soon.
Click to expand...

Thanks alot. I often wondered about the American way of dairy farming, and the outside opinion of our quota system.

As it stands now, I could never afford to dairy farm up here, would not have enough Money to secure the quota, so I would have to cash crop it. The only way that can happen is to buy an existing farm, as quota is hard to get. And even then, that will involve a move birth, which will happen anyway.

Now, on to equipment, the new mixer should make better mixes, which will benefit the cows, correct??

You did well on the tanker.

How many acres do you farm??
 
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WilliamBos said:
Thanks alot. I often wondered about the American way of dairy farming, and the outside opinion of our quota system.

Now, on to equipment, the new mixer should make better mixes, which will benefit the cows, correct??

You did well on the tanker.

How many acres do you farm??
Click to expand...

Our prices for milk will probably confuse you more than the quota system. The CME sets the base price for milk. Since ours goes into cheese (like 98% of wisconsins milk) our price is based off of Class III price. Then there are solids bonuses, plate count bonuses, and so on.

There used to be the Eau Claire Rule which basically stated the further you were from Eau Claire Wi the more you could charge for your milk products. That law is no gone IIRC, but the prices still hold true. We could take our milk to Florida and get 50% more for our milk if the cheese plant needs it. But one of the cheese plants down there will take the money that we make from taking our milk their out of their other local farmers pockets for not making enough milk. This is all legal because nearly every processing facility is a cooperative. Then theres the futures market which is a nother can of works.

The old mixer was plain wore out, where there used to be 5/8" flighting it is now 1/8". The truck woulkd break a lot, and the box needed to be rebuilt. The new one will do a better job though with the staggered rotor versus the old style.

The tanker price looks good, but when you consider steel has gone up 5 times as much as it was then, the price they gave us was right in line.

WilliamBos said:
Nice truck. Do not think I will ever own one, as I simply cannot chew the $11K option. That is because my fat ass has become addicted to heated leather seats. :) Gassers for me.
Click to expand...

$8,400 for the dmax/allison. Dont know how much leather is.
 
WilliamBos said:

$11K up here... Yeah, we are still getting it, even with the dollar at par.

do you guys have to pay so much per cow to milk? (Up here, that is how they get you with the quota system.)
Click to expand...

No, in canada you have to buy in to the quota systems, I forgot how much it cost to add one cow but it was substantial.

I forgot to answer you other question, we run around 1000 acres. The forage equipment that is split between the three farms will run across 900 acres of alfalfa (4 times per year so 3600 total), 400 acres of grasses, and around 700 acres of corn silage.
 
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