ATTN FARMERS & AG GUYS: How do you grow grain?

[Havoctec]

As others have said the old smaller combines can be had cheap. There are even combine demolition derbies held with them!

I would have to second fwj's suggestion that you consider finding someone that does custom work. It may become very frustrating for you to keep an old combine running and it would cost you a fortune to have a dealer work on it for you.

However, if you are very mechanically enclined and up for an adventure then by all means have at it. It's hard to match the satisfaction you feel when you see the grain you grew coming out of the auger and filling the hopper.

 

[Glowplug]

Let me clarify a point here. I'm not really interested in TRULY getting into farming grain. I am mainly curious. Thanks for all the replies and info.

I would like to at least get a ground drill some time for seeding purposes though. Are ground driven grain drills any good? Would it be better to spend the extra on a PTO-driven unit?

Derek---If you have the brochure for your Kubota M8540 take a look at it. In there there is a photo of a man (with a straw hat) driving a tractor pulling what appears to be some sort of a harvester attached to an auger of some sort attached to a wagon. If you have it could you take a look at it and explain what kind of setup this is? If you don't I guess I could try to scan it and post it here.

Once again, thanks for all the input! Keep the useful information coming!

 

[deere755]

Ground driven grain drills work just fine for sowing oats wheat etc.

As for combines you can find a decent one if you take your time and look. My buddy just bought one last summer. He had a 1978 IH 1460 that was worn out so he decided to hire some one to do his harvest. After doing this for a couple years he ran across a 1985 CaseIH 1460 that had $15000 spent on it. This combine had new cylinder bars, bearings , belts, chains, new sheet metal, new interior. The guy died suddenly before he got a chance to use it and my buddy bought it at his sale for $10000. It is a very nice machine that will last him on his 300 acre farm for a long time. The problem is if you buy and old machine for say $5000 you can soon put $15000 in it and have a machine that is still worth $5000.

 

[derekuk101]

Hey Chuck that looks like it is a forage harvester. I've never used one, but I believe instead of cutting, raking, and baling hay, you run this through the hay, its cut and put into the wagon and then stored in silo's. The feed quality is a lot better with this set up instead of round or square bales.

I actually have the brochure of the MF 540 Combine that I will scan and I'll also post pictures of it on the farm.

Derek

 

[Glowplug]

Hey Chuck that looks like it is a forage harvester. I've never used one, but I believe instead of cutting, raking, and baling hay, you run this through the hay, its cut and put into the wagon and then stored in silo's. The feed quality is a lot better with this set up instead of round or square bales.

I actually have the brochure of the MF 540 Combine that I will scan and I'll also post pictures of it on the farm.

Derek

Hey Derek thanks for the prompt reply! Glad you had the brochure for your/our tractor so I didn't have to scan it! I looked up some of the forage harvesters on Tractorhouse and it looks like you're right. Some of the forage harvesters had 2-row corn heads on them. Do those work just like a corn combine or do they chop and pulverize the corn up to be used as forage?

Looking forward to the MF 540 combine photos!

 

[Farmwithjunk]

Hey Derek thanks for the prompt reply! Glad you had the brochure for your/our tractor so I didn't have to scan it! I looked up some of the forage harvesters on Tractorhouse and it looks like you're right. Some of the forage harvesters had 2-row corn heads on them. Do those work just like a corn combine or do they chop and pulverize the corn up to be used as forage?

Looking forward to the MF 540 combine photos!

Forage harvesters are known as choppers (silage choppers) around these parts. You might find a decent 1 or 2 row PICKER, even possibly an older one with a sheller attachment.

99% of cereal grains will be planted with a conventional drill. PTO powered drills/seeders are the exception rather than the rule in grain farming. PTO driven seeders are more often found used as grass seeders.

 

[Glowplug]

Forage harvesters are known as choppers (silage choppers) around these parts. You might find a decent 1 or 2 row PICKER, even possibly an older one with a sheller attachment.

99% of cereal grains will be planted with a conventional drill. PTO powered drills/seeders are the exception rather than the rule in grain farming. PTO driven seeders are more often found used as grass seeders.

Thanks Bill. So is there a difference between a forage harvester/silage chopper with a corn head for silage vs. a corn head used as a PICKER?

I think what I would like to do is eventually get a grain drill and plant some grain of some type and then have someone come in and cut and bale it for hay.

 

[jjmarotz]

Dangit Glowplug, wish you were closer I'd give you this drill just to get it out of here. Anyone closer who might want it?

 

[Robert_in_NY]

Dangit Glowplug, wish you were closer I'd give you this drill just to get it out of here. Anyone closer who might want it?

That drill has seen a few acres over its life

 

[Glowplug]

That drill has seen a few acres over its life

Perhaps. But you can't argue with the price! Don't look a gift horse in the mouth! I wish they'd hurry up and invent that Star Trek teleporter so I could teleport myself to Idaho and back with that drill. Oh well, guess it'll just have to keep gathering rust.