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Post by Red Rackham on Mar 4, 2023 19:08:55 GMT
Good heavens, is that an old telehandler in the background there Monte? How old is it, and what make is it? Old! That was the newest bit of kit on the farm when it was bought about 5 years ago. Probably only about 30 years old. It's a Matador. Since replaced by a slightly more powerful one whose model I forget. Oh dear, (lol) apologies. Hey it's got good tyres. I was in an environment where we were spoiled with new plant machines. |
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Post by Montegriffo on Mar 4, 2023 19:17:34 GMT
Old! That was the newest bit of kit on the farm when it was bought about 5 years ago. Probably only about 30 years old. It's a Matador. Since replaced by a slightly more powerful one whose model I forget. Oh dear, (lol) apologies. Hey it's got good tyres. I was in an environment where we were spoiled with new plant machines. Hydraulic drive on all 4 wheels. First time I've come across a vehicle with hydraulic drive. It was a good little worker but when the new shed was built it wasn't quite powerful enough to lift the beams. |
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Post by Red Rackham on Mar 4, 2023 19:27:20 GMT
Oh dear, (lol) apologies. Hey it's got good tyres. I was in an environment where we were spoiled with new plant machines. Hydraulic drive on all 4 wheels. First time I've come across a vehicle with hydraulic drive. It was a good little worker but when the new shed was built it wasn't quite powerful enough to lift the beams. They were nice pics Monte, enjoyed looking at them. Reminded me of my uncles farm. Apart from the telehandler, lol. |
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Post by Baron von Lotsov on Mar 4, 2023 19:33:44 GMT
Yes as I expected. We have Luddite tendencies and love the past/hate change. It takes a cold heart to lay off men who have worked with you for generations. Pre welfare state laying off a man meant real poverty for him and his family. It's thinking with your heart and not your head. Besides the Luddite argument that machines would replace your jobs was utterly bogus. It's the thinking of simpletons. We have many of them. Indeed I would say the biggest problem we have right now is exactly this. UK factories have workers, Chinese ones have machines. Our factories are going bust, so kiss goodbye anyway. I tell you, these morons will only be good for pouring the wine to rich foreigners who would think nothing of paying £500 for a bottle. (Remember tractors and their 40x productivity. That's mega ££££. ) |
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Post by Montegriffo on Mar 4, 2023 19:44:23 GMT
Hydraulic drive on all 4 wheels. First time I've come across a vehicle with hydraulic drive. It was a good little worker but when the new shed was built it wasn't quite powerful enough to lift the beams. They were nice pics Monte, enjoyed looking at them. Reminded me of my uncles farm. Apart from the telehandler, lol. We still cut the wheat with a binder and dry it in the fields in shocks. I spent one of the hottest days of last summer shocking wheat in 38 degrees.   This variety of wheat is Square Head Master from the 1800s you can tell by the dark red colour of the heads. The uncut wheat on the right was too short for thatching so it was left to be cut with the combine. |
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Post by Red Rackham on Mar 4, 2023 20:03:25 GMT
Monte, are you on some sort of agri-history project? Why do you farm like that?
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Post by Montegriffo on Mar 4, 2023 20:23:04 GMT
By the 'tractor' do you mean the steam engine? They took over from the horse in the 1850's Many of the steam plowing tractors were owned by companies who did the steam plowing they were too cost inhibitive for a small farmer. And in WW1 there was a shortage of horses thanks to the war. Yes, even the threshing was usually done by contractors. No farm could afford to have a drum and the traction engine to pull it and power it sitting around doing nothing for 50 weeks of the year. The drum we use is owned by a guy called Edgar who bought it new in 1951 when he was 17. He lent it to the farm some 30 odd years ago as everyone uses combine harvesters nowadays. It's reckoned to be the hardest working drum in the country, never having a year off in its life. It only threshes the straw on this farm and one of our neighbour's who was persuaded to grow thatching straw a few years ago. Despite the high price it fetches (£650 a ton) it is not really profitable because of the high labour costs in producing it. Each bunch of straw is reckoned to be moved by hand up to 14 times between being cut down and eventually being placed on a roof. The straw is in high demand from thatchers as so few farms grow the old long straw varieties any more. There's never enough to go around and some thatchers have to import it from Eastern Europe but they all say it is of lower quality than the homegrown straw. |
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Post by Montegriffo on Mar 4, 2023 20:32:27 GMT
Monte, are you on some sort of agri-history project? Why do you farm like that? I don't farm. I just live on a farm and help out when I can. Farmer Paul explains in that video of us threshing by steam that is in the Duck and Cover thread how he started producing thatching straw. ukpoliticsdebate.boards.net/post/40408/threadIt's not for money I can assure you of that. He does it mainly to keep a traditional industry going. Without farmers like Paul thatching could die out in this country and straw roofs replaced with tiles or slate. |
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Post by Red Rackham on Mar 4, 2023 21:03:04 GMT
Monte, are you on some sort of agri-history project? Why do you farm like that? I don't farm. I just live on a farm and help out when I can. Farmer Paul explains in that video of us threshing by steam that is in the Duck and Cover thread how he started producing thatching straw. ukpoliticsdebate.boards.net/post/40408/threadIt's not for money I can assure you of that. He does it mainly to keep a traditional industry going. Without farmers like Paul thatching could die out in this country and straw roofs replaced with tiles or slate. Yes I remember that chat. I quite admire farmer Paul in his efforts to keep traditional farming going. On a personal note, I wouldn't touch a thatched property. A good slate roof will last 200+ years. Your insurance company will require you to renew a thatch roof at least every 25 years. |
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Post by Montegriffo on Mar 4, 2023 21:14:46 GMT
I don't farm. I just live on a farm and help out when I can. Farmer Paul explains in that video of us threshing by steam that is in the Duck and Cover thread how he started producing thatching straw. ukpoliticsdebate.boards.net/post/40408/threadIt's not for money I can assure you of that. He does it mainly to keep a traditional industry going. Without farmers like Paul thatching could die out in this country and straw roofs replaced with tiles or slate. Yes I remember that chat. I quite admire farmer Paul in his efforts to keep traditional farming going. On a personal note, I wouldn't touch a thatched property. A good slate roof will last 200+ years. Your insurance company will require you to renew a thatch roof at least every 25 years. Thatched houses are not for the weak hearted or financially limited. They take a lot of upkeep needing a rake and inspection every 5 years or so and a new ridge every 15 years. They do provide a lot of insulation though and are really pretty. 200 years is ambitious for a slate or tiled roof though. 100 years or less is closer to the mark as the beams still rot and frost will damage the tiles or slates. The biggest problem with a thatched roof is finding a thatcher who is available to do the work. All the thatchers we deal with have full diaries for at least the next 3 years. Many are reluctant to take on new customers as they are too busy maintaining the roofs of the customers they already have on their books. There aren't many young thatchers coming along either. I only know 2 under the age of 40. If I were younger I'd be tempted to become an apprentice but it takes 7 years to learn the trade and you need to be fairly fit to do it. |
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Post by Red Rackham on Mar 4, 2023 21:31:19 GMT
Yes I remember that chat. I quite admire farmer Paul in his efforts to keep traditional farming going. On a personal note, I wouldn't touch a thatched property. A good slate roof will last 200+ years. Your insurance company will require you to renew a thatch roof at least every 25 years. Thatched houses are not for the weak hearted or financially limited. They take a lot of upkeep needing a rake and inspection every 5 years or so and a new ridge every 15 years. They do provide a lot of insulation though and are really pretty. 200 years is ambitious for a slate or tiled roof though. 100 years or less is closer to the mark as the beams still rot and frost will damage the tiles or slates. The biggest problem with a thatched roof is finding a thatcher who is available to do the work. All the thatchers we deal with have full diaries for at least the next 3 years. Many are reluctant to take on new customers as they are too busy maintaining the roofs of the customers they already have on their books. There aren't many young thatchers coming along either. I only know 2 under the age of 40. If I were younger I'd be tempted to become an apprentice but it takes 7 years to learn the trade and you need to be fairly fit to do it. Although not in a thatch himself my brother lives in 'chocolate box' Wiltshire, and they do look lovely. I think you would be very unlucky to get as little as 100 years out of a slate roof, 100 would be the minimum. Aren't reeds used for roofs? I'm sure I watched a programme about people farming reeds or what I'd call bullrushe's for using as thatch. Thinking about it, it may have been France actually. |
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Post by Montegriffo on Mar 4, 2023 21:55:47 GMT
Thatched houses are not for the weak hearted or financially limited. They take a lot of upkeep needing a rake and inspection every 5 years or so and a new ridge every 15 years. They do provide a lot of insulation though and are really pretty. 200 years is ambitious for a slate or tiled roof though. 100 years or less is closer to the mark as the beams still rot and frost will damage the tiles or slates. The biggest problem with a thatched roof is finding a thatcher who is available to do the work. All the thatchers we deal with have full diaries for at least the next 3 years. Many are reluctant to take on new customers as they are too busy maintaining the roofs of the customers they already have on their books. There aren't many young thatchers coming along either. I only know 2 under the age of 40. If I were younger I'd be tempted to become an apprentice but it takes 7 years to learn the trade and you need to be fairly fit to do it. Although not in a thatch himself my brother lives in 'chocolate box' Wiltshire, and they do look lovely. I think you would be very unlucky to get as little as 100 years out of a slate roof, 100 would be the minimum. Aren't reeds used for roofs? I'm sure I watched a programme about people farming reeds or what I'd call bullrushe's for using as thatch. Thinking about it, it may have been France actually. Yes, reeds are also used for thatch. It is tougher and longer lasting but not flexible enough to bend over for a ridge so even on reed houses the ridge has to be made from straw. Reed roofs can last up to 70 years if well looked after. Reed is limited due to the shrinking amounts of wetlands available for producing it. The Norfolk Broads and the Somerset Flats being the main areas of production these days. Both reed and straw are very good materials for the environmentally conscious. Being natural, sustainable, low energy products. |
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Post by Montegriffo on Mar 4, 2023 22:08:51 GMT
...talking of which. It's past my bedtime. I've got to get up in about 6 hrs to go and do my bit for net zero at the local nuclear power plant.
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Post by Toreador on Mar 5, 2023 7:13:51 GMT
Well, they invented enclosures to create a pool of starving cheap labour for their satanic mills Terrible I know. I mean moving to automated machine production to vastly increase the standards of living was clearly the work of the devil. Much better to live like an aristocrat in pre-industrial idyllic times like Willian Morris and John Ruskin. Both Morris and Ruskin were effectively industrialists and both added to air pollution. |
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Post by zanygame on Mar 5, 2023 8:20:46 GMT
1951. That's the age of the threshing drum and the Dexta is a similar age. We have to use the old kit because the farm is one of the few left growing old varieties of wheat for thatching and you can't use the combine harvester as it destroys the straw. Coincidentally, the combine is a 1967 Claas. It's not all old 1950s equipment around here you know. Very similar to this one.  I would love to visit your farm, it would be like going back to my childhood. You haven't got an old coach I can build a den in have you? 😉 |
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