Wealden Times | WT261 | February 2024 | Education Supplement inside

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At the request of her friendCharlie, Jane Howardchats farm machineryMy friend Charlie, whoclaims to be a regularreader of this column, sayshe feels he now knows a great dealabout calving, lambing, hedges, pannageand pastures, but what about machines!Hmmm, good point, Charlie! Only troubleis I’ve no idea how most of it works or whatthe many buttons, knobs, levers and diagrams arefor, so all I can offer is a flim-flam reflection on thebits of kit that are invaluable to a small farm like this,with very little under-the-bonnet knowledge or advice.When we first arrived at Coopers Farm in 1999,weekends would see us at farm sales furiously biddingon all manner of machinery we believed was essentialfor small-time farmers like ourselves.The ancient Massey Ferguson redtractor, the Howard (no relation as faras I know) muck spreader, the Welgerhay baler that on a good day wouldspew out about nine small bales beforegiving up. And, most memorable, thepost-war bale elevator, effectively anescalator on wheels that replaced thepitchfork by mechanically transportingbales from ground level up into thehay loft. It stood about 20 feet tall butthis didn’t deter us from lashing it to atrailer and – with my nephew holdingon tight to minimise the likelihood of itfalling off – driving back from Horamin high spirits. Did we really do that?What Adrian and I had failed to realisewas that all these gems were being sold off by farmerswho had seen the future and scaled up to bigger machinesmore able to meet the demands of modern day farming.We had bought museum pieces and how thrilled we wereuntil we realised how quaint and time-consuming theywere compared to the shiny kit of our neighbours. Andof course there were never any parts or handy engineersto fix them when they broke, which they frequently did.We soon realised thesmart move was tocontract out mostof the one-off jobssuch as hay making,muck spreadingand hedge cuttingto those people withthe big shiny kit but,of course, we stillneeded a tractor.We soon realised the smart move was to contract outmost of the one-off jobs such as hay making, muckspreading and hedge cutting to those people with thebig shiny kit but, of course, we still needed a tractor.The old Massey which we startedevery day by inserting a screwdriver,even in freezing snow, was replacedby a super smart new John Deere. It’snot the smallest – they belong on golfcourses and fruit farms where they arerequired to get between the rows – butat just 50hp (that’s horsepower if you’renot machinery minded) it’s the minnowof their agricultural range. Go on theJohn Deere website – Charlie, you’d loveit – and read about the 9XT with itsHydra Cushion front axle suspension,G5 Command Centre (I think that’sbutch tractor speak for the instrumentpanel) and a whopping 680hp andyou get an idea of how small ours is.And now I realise I haven’t even talkedabout all the other bits of machinery on the farm, like thetedder, the vibrating harrow (did you know they could?),the topper and the yard scraper. So there might at somepoint in the future have to be a second instalment of‘Reflections on machinery at Coopers Farm,’ but you’llbe pleased to hear that’s not coming any time soonand next month, March, we’ll be full on lambing withplenty of tales from the sheep shed to report on.Find out more about daily life at Coopers Farm by visiting coopersfarmstonegate.co.ukpriceless-magazines.com 130
The vehicle is not available for purchase.Trained in Vegas.Ready for the world.The driverless IONIQ 5 robotaxi.
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ContentsFebruary 202426106521017212
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From theEditorLet’s start this mo
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