Start-up Contracting Pics

Camerov

Well-Known Member
A few pics since i started up about 6 months ago :001_smile:

When it first arrived:

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On its first job after spending 8 hours polishing it:

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Spreader arriving:

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credit to ya lad :cool: takes some b*lls so set out on your own, so many people willing to knock you down, but there is nothing in the world to beat being your own boss :thumbup2:
 
Looks good, how do you get on with the 190?
Well done for giving it a go.
I rember when I started out.
Had a Bonhill muck spreader. It was a over a year before I could afford to buy a loader then one more year before I could buy a tractor, a Zetor 12145 at that.
 
Thanks for all the comments :thumbup2: really appreciate it

Most people think/thought i was mad going into it but it's what ive always wanted to do so after working for other contractors for a few summers and finding what i believe to be a 'gap in the market' in the area (spreading acurately using weigh cells) i decided to take the plunge and go it alone

Its great having being your own boss and having control over whats going on and knowing whats happening the next day instead of just turning up and seeing what happens, although now if something breaks ive gotta sort it/pay for it instead of just ringing my boss or taking it back to the yard and getting another machine

So far the 190 has done me proud, pulls like a train & has done everything ive chucked at it so far without any issues, originally I was trying to find a tidy mx170 but they seem to be as rare as rocking horse s**t so went to the local dealer who had this, wasnt keen at first as id heard a few horror stories about them but this had all the upgrades done to it so took the plunge and havent looked back since

Used to spread with a Fiat 90-90 coupled to a AS side discharge spreader or a zetor rur 55 spreader whilst i was working for other contractors :cool:
 
Thanks for all the comments :thumbup2: really appreciate it

Most people think/thought i was mad going into it but it's what ive always wanted to do so after working for other contractors for a few summers and finding what i believe to be a 'gap in the market' in the area (spreading acurately using weigh cells) i decided to take the plunge and go it alone

Its great having being your own boss and having control over whats going on and knowing whats happening the next day instead of just turning up and seeing what happens, although now if something breaks ive gotta sort it/pay for it instead of just ringing my boss or taking it back to the yard and getting another machine

So far the 190 has done me proud, pulls like a train & has done everything ive chucked at it so far without any issues, originally I was trying to find a tidy mx170 but they seem to be as rare as rocking horse s**t so went to the local dealer who had this, wasnt keen at first as id heard a few horror stories about them but this had all the upgrades done to it so took the plunge and havent looked back since

Used to spread with a Fiat 90-90 coupled to a AS side discharge spreader or a zetor rur 55 spreader whilst i was working for other contractors :cool:

All the Best to you, hope it all goes well.

I'am in the same boat. Just starting up at the moment at the Silage game. Not many at it round our parts plus the guy i used to work with is getting to that age where he's not going to be at it for that much longer. Just buying what i can at the moment. Had to take a job a job else where to help pay for the equipment. Hoping with word of mouth and happy return customers the business will grow
 
Callum Crofter - Thanks, good luck & all the best to you as well, I'd absolutely love to get into the silage game but theres so many people round here doing it so im not going to bother joining them in the fight for silage work. It sounds like you've got the right idea tho if theres not many people in your area doing silaging! What have you bought so far? Thats all you can hope for really, alot of my work has been through word of mouth although i also drive around handing out business cards to farmers on days when im not busy - whether they keep them or not is a different matter but worth a try. Keep us updated on how it all goes for you tho

Scottie - Thank you, not sure if its balls or stupidity really but you gotta give these things a go and see what happens
 
As you know yourself Camerov you need really atleast £40,000 just on kit to get started. I managed to get a hold of a McHale 991BE round bale wrapper for £7,500 with hardly any bales on it. Then get my arm twisted by the local Krone dealer to buy a baler off him at around £15,500. Basically bailing round alot of small farms so its very difficult to put anything like a Fusion on the ground here due to traditional west coast ground conditions. At the moment running a JD 6100 and during bailing season get a loan of my neighbours Landini in return he only pays for materials when making his silage. looking to get another tractor possibly another JD or a Valtra. Then once the silage kit is paid off. purchase a new plough and a power harrow. :)
 
Thats the biggest problem - the amount of money needed just to be able to start! My biggest expense was the spreader because of the weigh cell stuff on it - in fact it cost me more than i spent on the tractor pulling it. Sounds like its all coming together well, never know you may pick up the odd wrapping job from people who bale their own but want a few wrapped etc? Thats good that you've got a neighbour like that, will certainly help make your life easier having access to 2 tractors especially in the silage game. When you get started get some pics up, would be good to see somebody else's start up kit etc :001_smile:
 
Good business name, would stick in the mind alright, have a feeling we wouldn't get away with a 40ft on a dolly here Tom!!!!!!
 
Good business name, would stick in the mind alright, have a feeling we wouldn't get away with a 40ft on a dolly here Tom!!!!!!

Thanks, was working on that theory of it being easier to remember than ' something something agricultural contractiong'

private road ;) although there are alot of 45ft ones on dollys flying around here
 
Thats the biggest problem - the amount of money needed just to be able to start! My biggest expense was the spreader because of the weigh cell stuff on it - in fact it cost me more than i spent on the tractor pulling it. Sounds like its all coming together well, never know you may pick up the odd wrapping job from people who bale their own but want a few wrapped etc? Thats good that you've got a neighbour like that, will certainly help make your life easier having access to 2 tractors especially in the silage game. When you get started get some pics up, would be good to see somebody else's start up kit etc :001_smile:
I started off 4 years ago with a massey ferguson 165 and a old reck of a tanco wrapper nothing else went with farmers and contractors under pressure.
the rest is history but ill tell you i mades 7k bales this year with my own outfit
 
Neglected this a bit

Bought a Mcconnel PA6500T to try to keep the wheels turning throughout winter - proved to be a good investment & been busy with it recently for enviromental firms & highways agencys tidying bits up for road safety etc

IMG_0807.jpg

Then been pretty much various tractor, loader, trailer, spreading, cleaning sheds out work in between

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Couple of videos spreading recently, cleaning a couple of sheds out loading straight into the spreader & hauling to fields all over the place, wasnt the best of stuff to spread as it hadnt really rotted down much :thumbdown:
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hwG07tAqhdc"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hwG07tAqhdc[/ame]

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0CVniZQMeVE"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0CVniZQMeVE[/ame]
 
the back of the spreader seems very close to the ground?

The rear drawbar lowers the back end by around 4 inches, when parked on level ground tho theres around 13 inches clearence between the bottom of the drawbar & the ground. When it was fitted i thought it would constantly be hitting the ground etc but so far hasnt been a problem - makes it easier having it to stand on when de-stringing the beaters as well
 
The rear drawbar lowers the back end by around 4 inches, when parked on level ground tho theres around 13 inches clearence between the bottom of the drawbar & the ground. When it was fitted i thought it would constantly be hitting the ground etc but so far hasnt been a problem - makes it easier having it to stand on when de-stringing the beaters as well

Oh yeah only seen the draw on the second look! Its a fine sprader anyways

Sent from my GT-I8190 using Tapatalk
 
assume have a lot of dairy custom if spreading muck then ?

Barely any dairy customers, a lot have shown interest & taken business cards & prices etc but the problem with dairy farms is usually (around here anyway) the contractor that does all the silage does all the spreading - however a few have said they would quite happily use me for spreading but their silage contractor wont like it & they're worried that they wont get them to turn up to do the silage when the dairy customer actually wants them if they changed & used me for the spreading
 
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Barely any dairy customers, a lot have shown interest & taken business cards & prices etc but the problem with dairy farms is usually (around here anyway) the contractor that does all the silage does all the spreading - however a few have said they would quite happily use me for spreading but their silage contractor wont like it & they're worried that they wont get them to turn up to do the silage when the dairy customer actually wants them if they changed & used me for the spreading

why approach contractor and act as a subbie maybe ?
 
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