Winter Barley 2021

I taught all ye modern farmers would be talking about min-till systems for 2021 and not chatting about swapping around plough boards:scratchhead:
If you go into the Ballycarney Inn all the plough men look over their right shoulder to see who has walked in and salute you with electricians tape to cover the cuts on their fingers from whizzing off plough bolts with windy guns . Only wimps get Tetanus shots .
 
Not here anyway!

We’re not giving up on the Tillage job - new metal going on today!!

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Sensible decision IMV. Not asking for a figure but is that a very expensive job? A man local to here told me one time that it cost less to upgrade his aging slatted plough to a new mouldboard plough than it would have to buy new saddles and mouldboard metal for his existing plough.
 
Sensible decision IMV. Not asking for a figure but is that a very expensive job? A man local to here told me one time that it cost less to upgrade his aging slatted plough to a new mouldboard plough than it would have to buy new saddles and mouldboard metal for his existing plough.
Not off the wall cost. We’ll get a few bob for what we took off the plough.
I can’t see how it would be cheaper to trade in the plough unless it was an extremely fresh plough.
I’d say we would want to spend this changeover of metal cost 3 times and add it to the current plough value before we’d get to the cost of a new one.
 
The slats are ok, no major faults with them. These are the original ones for the most part and need to be replaced soon.
The normal board will firm the soil more and has a better turn to it. In harder ground I found the slat tends to break over the furrow in chunks as opposed to a steady turn of soil.
Replacing frogs also as they are different.

We’ve noticed a big increase in output going from 4 x 16” sods to 5 x 20”.
Grand to have a vari-width plough if you’re following it yourself but I wouldn’t buy one again. The second your back is turned out of the field the ploughmen widen out the plough to the last regardless of soil conditions. I reckon that 16” is a good width for all conditions.
 
Not off the wall cost. We’ll get a few bob for what we took off the plough.
I can’t see how it would be cheaper to trade in the plough unless it was an extremely fresh plough.
I’d say we would want to spend this changeover of metal cost 3 times and add it to the current plough value before we’d get to the cost of a new one.
The same man would be a dab-hand at justifying shiney new machinery that he doesn't need, so this does not altogether surprise me.
 
Grand to have a vari-width plough if you’re following it yourself but I wouldn’t buy one again. The second your back is turned out of the field the ploughmen widen out the plough to the last regardless of soil conditions. I reckon that 16” is a good width for all conditions.

I’m interested in this. Off topic I realise.

Our plan is to run the furrow press along with the plough. It’s 100” wide to cater for 5 x 20” sods.

Wide sod widths certainly aren’t as firm as narrow sods but the furrow press should end any concern on that front and leave the seedbed firmer than any plough alone could do.
I believe that when set at 20”, the boards can wear a bit quicker.

If the soil is breaking up nicely and the skimmers are throwing down trash effectively then I don’t see any problem with the 20” sod? (Assuming we can pull it!!)
 
We're 18 here. In good soil it's fine. Heavier stuff it needs pulled in a bit.
For speed it's hard not to plough wider. Very loose here atmo, it might need a firm with the discs after. Though if the weather plays ball a run with the roller post sowing would be preferable.
Definitely wears more out wide, especially if like me there's only a rear disc!
I remember back in the day getting a demo of a 5 vari width on cvx 170 - way ahead of its time - serious capacity!
The dealer was laughing it was the price of a farm of land back then, heaven knows what similar is today:scratchhead:
 
I’m interested in this. Off topic I realise.

Our plan is to run the furrow press along with the plough. It’s 100” wide to cater for 5 x 20” sods.

Wide sod widths certainly aren’t as firm as narrow sods but the furrow press should end any concern on that front and leave the seedbed firmer than any plough alone could do.
I believe that when set at 20”, the boards can wear a bit quicker.

If the soil is breaking up nicely and the skimmers are throwing down trash effectively then I don’t see any problem with the 20” sod? (Assuming we can pull it!!)
I’ve no problem with 20” sod while conditions allow but when conditions deteriorate later on, the quality of work isn’t the same. There’s also a tendency to plough deeper to get enough soil for the boards to throw the distance...pet hate!
When they’re opened wide they’re inclined to come out of the ground when ploughing compacted headlands etc.

28s are the best body to come out of Kvernaland imo. Good clean wide furrow that’ll accommodate 710s easily. Couple the 28 bodies with maize skimmers and you’ll be able to comfortably plough at 11-12kph with perfect work. I always thought the 8-9kph a little bit slow...

New Fendt, big plough reddening East Cork at high speed...you’ll have to take a lash of conacre!!
 
I’ve no problem with 20” sod while conditions allow but when conditions deteriorate later on, the quality of work isn’t the same. There’s also a tendency to plough deeper to get enough soil for the boards to throw the distance...pet hate!
When they’re opened wide they’re inclined to come out of the ground when ploughing compacted headlands etc.

28s are the best body to come out of Kvernaland imo. Good clean wide furrow that’ll accommodate 710s easily. Couple the 28 bodies with maize skimmers and you’ll be able to comfortably plough at 11-12kph with perfect work. I always thought the 8-9kph a little bit slow...

New Fendt, big plough reddening East Cork at high speed...you’ll have to take a lash of conacre!!
Thanks for the insight J.

I was actually thinking of taking land in France, wheel her onto the ferry in Rosslare - this time next year Rodney we’ll be millionaires :clap:
 
Thanks for the insight J.

I was actually thinking of taking land in France, wheel her onto the ferry in Rosslare - this time next year Rodney we’ll be millionaires :clap:
Ireland’s not big enough??
Cork thinking of becoming the Irish version of Dyson...good man!

You could get very busy showing the natives what good ploughing is like. The quality of workmanship here is appalling. A herd of landrace sows would be better than them. Ploughing is a job I take seriously and if it’s worth doing, it’s worth doing right.
 
There's a contractor beside me who's renowned for his match class ploughing, people drive to see his work!
There's a slight snag l only discovered recently - he charges by the hour!! :scratchhead:
How much per hour?
They charge per hour here also.
 
I'd need to check, think from memory it's £35/hour maybe 40 depending on conditions.
 
Plough and straight in with one pass, no sort of press or anything on the front, that okay for sowing winter crops ? Once conditions allow obviously
 
Plough and straight in with one pass, no sort of press or anything on the front, that okay for sowing winter crops ? Once conditions allow obviously
Thats what I did for a long time although I'll go on with a trailed furrow press if I can at all and if conditions are right. If time is against me which it usually is then I don't bother with the press and just go straight in with the powerharrow. There'll be plenty of rain over the winter to firm down the seed bed.
 
Wasn't there a rule in general before like the ploughing depth would be half the width of the furrow? Eg. 16 inch wide 8 inch deep, 18 inch furrow 9 inch deep, so if your turning a 20 inch furrow you need to be 10 inches in depth?? Your not going to be turning the furrow properly at 20 inchs wide if your depth is 7 or 8 inches deep.
 
Wasn't there a rule in general before like the ploughing depth would be half the width of the furrow? Eg. 16 inch wide 8 inch deep, 18 inch furrow 9 inch deep, so if your turning a 20 inch furrow you need to be 10 inches in depth?? Your not going to be turning the furrow properly at 20 inchs wide if your depth is 7 or 8 inches deep.
That rings a bell John now that you say it. I think @gone mentioned before that the share wouldn’t be slicing the furrow bottom cleanly at 20” either.
Generally run at a strong 9” deep here, it’ll be hard not to have it out at 20” to maximise output.
 
It would be a good idea to keep an eye on TGW’s this year as they seem to be higher than normal on barley & wheat (I haven’t checked any oats yet).
 
One man sent me a pic of his Valerie seed today. 64g tgw, big seed.
He said it means a big seeding rate but he’s happy out as he keeps most of it for his own use and likes a large grain variety for rolling.
 
When are ye planning on sowing, I was told after October 10th, weather doesn't look great after Tuesday, seed ordered by not in yet, I hope we dont get an October like last year!
 
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