Help on a dream set-up please.

[PDXRyan]

Howdy! My name is Ryan and I'm taking a class at OSU about Farm Implements. So I need some advice on what kind of equipment I need. This is your chance to list your dream setup if price was not a main obstacle.

The situation posed by my teacher is that I just inherited 500 acres of usable land. All the old machinery was sold to satisfy debts so now I need to buy it all new.

So I figured I would just grow 500 acres of Wheat. I have 12 working days to prep and plant and then 12 working days to harvest.

I'm a noob at this so I have little idea what I need, so I would be very appreciative to get any feedback/ideas from y'all.

Things I need help on: Tractor size, Primary tillage implement, secondary tillage, seed planting (thinking I'd go with a grain drill), chemical applicator, then some of the harvesting equipment like the combine size and grain trucks (although I may say I'm going to go with custom hire on that aspect).

Any advice would be greatly appreciated! Thanks for your time! :thumbsup:

 

[PDXRyan]

Well, at the least could someone suggest a tractor size that could probably get the primary tillage done in a relatively quick manner (which I suppose you'd have to suggest a primary tillage implement too eh?). I'm looking at going for a tandem disc or something along those lines for primary tillage. Thanks again!

 

[MarkV]

Hey Ryan, welcome to the forum. I sure hope the paper isn't due tomorrow. That seemed to be the way I did it.

I am not in wheat country but can tell you that you need some major equipment to manage 500 acres of any crop. You are not looking at one tractor but several if you are going to plant and manage that much land. I would start looking in the 100 hp range myself. Using a custom harvester sure makes sense. The harvest equipment is too expensive to buy for a 500 acre tract. You may also want to talk to you county extension agent. At least here, they are funded to help with local AG questions.

Let us know how the project comes out.

MarkV

 

[tony Cecil]

Due to the high cost of almost anything you would need, I would suggest you go with no tillage...That would reduce the number of implements and certainly the size...A good sprayer setup would be important as as I understand it, you kill off the undergrowth with herbicide, drill into the rubble, then again spray herbicide and possibly fungicide etc....A good wheat drill, sprayer, reasonable sized tractor, and custom combining would do the trick imo.....On a mort traditional farm, for five hundred acres, and you doing it alone with no crop rotation etc, a minimum sized hoof one hundred twenty five hp (Deere) , and depending on the soil, a fifteen ft harrow, and the rest of the implements would be a minimum...and if you got your own combine, you would need buggies, storage bins etc...The way I suggest is less implement cost and manageable for one lone person who is a hard worker......

Hopefully if you were to inherit five hundred acres, maybe you also inherited many millions of dollars, and then the tax write off could justify the purchase of the wonderful equipment out there,

I am familiar with John Deere for farming, so that is the brand I would choose...I have a Kobuta which is a fine smaller tractor, but farming and John Deere go together...Tony

 

[PDXRyan]

Thanks for the welcome, Mark! Yeah, just figuring out what machinery to use is due but the project as a whole (figuring out maintenance, cost analysis, adjustments etc) is spread out over the next couple weeks. So yeah, starting off slow but I should be OK. Thanks for the input!

 

[jdbnh]

this is what i would do. unless the land was rough and needed plwoing over i woould go with no till planting as well. for 500 acres a good no till planter (great plains brand) about 20 to 28 foot would probably work well. if it needed plowing i would go with a Sunflower (brand) tandem disc around 25 to 28 foot. that will nock it out pretty good.

For a tractor i would go with the New Holland brand. they are a great machine, they are ahead of all other brands as far as technology and since you are on a budget of sirts, they are the best when it comes to fuel economy. I would either go with a NEw Holland T7050 (195 hp) or T7060 (210hp) or if you had a little money to spend step up to the next bigger series in a T8.275 (275hp and bigger frame) any of these in a 4x4 with rear duals would work fine.

you can get different sprayer applications from different places. one that you could pull behind the tractors say with maybe a 60 to 100 foot booms would be nice. i too would sub out the harvest work. even a good used combine woudl run you probably at least $175,000 to 215,000.

hope this helps some. feel free to ask any questions

 

[Gary Fowler]

I believe he said he had 10 days to do 500 acres. That equates to 50 acres per day and now way does he need 195 HP -275 HP tractor to do that. He needs nothing larger than 120 HP and a good 14 foot heavy disc to till it up unless he is going no till, then he would need the 120 Hp to pull the no till planters. A good two wheel drive 120 HP with duals will handle the tillage and do at least 6 to 10 acres per hour depending on soil conditions. Heavy buckshot clay would be slower than a medium loam type soil. 4 row equipment is plenty for that land mass

 

[jlsmith]

For a tractor i would go with the New Holland brand. they are a great machine, they are ahead of all other brands as far as technology and since you are on a budget of sirts, they are the best when it comes to fuel economy. I would either go with a NEw Holland T7050 (195 hp) or T7060 (210hp) or if you had a little money to spend step up to the next bigger series in a T8.275 (275hp and bigger frame) any of these in a 4x4 with rear duals would work fine.

Actuly MF is the most fuel economy tractor on the market today and have been for awhile. If i was going to do what you want i would stay with either the MF or Deere. Those two brands will give you the most for the tractor.:thumbsup:

 

[jlsmith]

I believe he said he had 10 days to do 500 acres. That equates to 50 acres per day and now way does he need 195 HP -275 HP tractor to do that. He needs nothing larger than 120 HP and a good 14 foot heavy disc to till it up unless he is going no till, then he would need the 120 Hp to pull the no till planters. A good two wheel drive 120 HP with duals will handle the tillage and do at least 6 to 10 acres per hour depending on soil conditions. Heavy buckshot clay would be slower than a medium loam type soil. 4 row equipment is plenty for that land mass

I agree Gary a 120 - 130 hp tractor and he would by fine.:thumbsup:

 

[jdbnh]

Actuly MF is the most fuel economy tractor on the market today and have been for awhile. If i was going to do what you want i would stay with either the MF or Deere. Those two brands will give you the most for the tractor.:thumbsup:

i am sorry but you are wrong on that. in this part of the country anyway, no one buys a MF. deere is overrated

 

[jlsmith]

i am sorry but you are wrong on that. in this part of the country anyway, no one buys a MF. deere is overrated

What part are you talking about. I deal with all brands of tractors everday. In this part of Tx its either MF or Deere in the fields. As far as fuel efficiency test were done at the University of Nebraska Troctor Test Laboratory and the MF won hands down. Not to mention that MF is alot heavier that NH which gives it another advantage.

 

[jlsmith]

:ashamed:Sorry is was wrong about the weight. The NH is about 400lbs heavier.

 

[beppington]

I bet most guys on here would suggest you keep your money in the bank, don't buy any tractor anything, put the land in conservation if you can't afford to just own the land for fun, don't quit your "day job", & live a much easier, more care-free life. aka Farming is hard work. And risky. And expensive.

I think that's the wise answer, but it may not get you a decent grade :laughing:

 

[Dr_Zinj]

Ryan:

You should also do a cost analysis of the crop(s) and the machinery needed for it. Develop a plan that shows at what the breakeven point is (crop has paid for the machinery); as well as how much annual profit you can expect. You can throw in government subsidies, tax credits, used versus new equipment, maintenance costs, etc. In fact, it would make a very good term paper running 40 to 50 pages.

 

[PDXRyan]

Thanks everyone for the input. It's very much appreciated. Different crowd in this thread. I put this over in the implements section and a few folks are ripping into me like I'm trying to get y'all to do the work for me, like I'm being lazy or what-not. My assignment asks me to do exactly what I'm doing here, ask for advice. So again, thanks for your input.

I just chose wheat as a mono-crop cause I had to choose something. I also like the idea of no-till but the assignment asks us to model on a conventional till model. It's more about learning how much machines cost and then how much it cost to keep them running and how much they depreciate etc. Then we get to tweak the spreadsheet around by looking at used options or custom hire etc. to maximize profits (or more likely to minimize loss).

Thanks again for your time!

 

[beppington]

I spent several months just deciding on my one tractor :laughing:

 

[hawkeye08]

When you are talking about a small family farm, many get into trouble because they forget to pay themselves something to live on. You can figure all the breakeven points you want, but remember to include labor, even if you are doing the work yourself.

I don't know all the particulars, but everyone needs food and shelter.

 

[SARG]

Just to mention ........ most of the larger farms up here lease their machines ( because of the huge initial costs) so you may want to factor that in as a possible scenario............. and at least one advised that they stay away from the New Holland brand as being inferior.

 

[PDXRyan]

hawkeye, yeah I hear that about the labor and paying yourself.

That being said, the class is just about farm implements so the project is more about just that aspect. As stated before you, this could take a paper of well over 40 pages if it were to be an in depth analysis of a farm operation.

But for now the exercise is just to get us familiar with how much machinery costs and how much it costs to keep them running. We will be putting it up against what grain prices are going for but I believe it will just be compared to the machinery we have and not other aspects such as labor, land taxes, personal expenses and other farm costs. I'm sure later down the line when I'm in my senior year I'll have a class that's more in depth but this one is more of a primer.
Thanks again!

 

[PDXRyan]

Oh yeah, Sarg, if it were up to me I would just assume pay a bunch of people and use only 40's and 50's era Farmall's!