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Thank you. The herbal ley is starting to look like a viable option, possibly alongside some of the other actions. I am hoping that the woodland management grant might be more viable as well - I didn't renew the last stewardship grant because the payment rates were not increasing to match the input costs. The planning appeal has taken quite a lot of collating. Although I have asked for the written representation route part of me would have liked to have been able to sort it out over the table.

It just needs the grease pouring into the top of the mower.

Thank you, I do not have the fill hole on top like yours, I think my fill location is on the end and hard to get too, I will try to telephone the company and figure out how to put in the grease on my 170 model. Thanks again,

I got it. The Ferguson Club were the key to it. They were very helpful.

There is a small lever on a block on top of the transmission that can be set to operate the front loader, or the rear links, or supply the hydraulics to raise the pallets on the rear. I don't know how it has been set up - it was already done when I bought it. Hope this helps.

Hi. It varies from year to year but 12 acres max for myself. I used to contract for other people but reduced that a while ago. I do it completely on my own. My limiting factor is that I don't have a front loader, tele handler or bale trailer to shift the bales. I use the Massey 135 with rear forks which works really well and is obviously incredibly cheap. From a mowing and baling point of view I have loads of spare capacity but the more resources you have that need to be paid for the more you have to do and in my sixties I don't want too much stress. I try to keep costs down and sale prices up as far as I can. Working on your own is ok but it's a world away from my teenage years working with 6 -8 people night after night shifting thousands of bales. It was hard work and time has probably eased the memories of the pain but I do miss the banter.

@@longhayltd9241 thanks for the reply,I do enjoy a hay making video do please keep posting atb.

Hello. Sorry but the plans will be copyrighted by the manufacturer.

I understand what you are saying regarding the financial hit. I am doing the drainage over a few years to spread the cost and to see just how much difference it does make.

Hi Therese. If you do a TH-cam search for two videos produced by the 'Funky Farmer' here in UK using 'checking the belts on the ZTR 165 mower' you should see what to do. He takes the covers off and also shows you where the tensioner is. You will find it very helpful if you know how to tighten the belts using the adjuster at the start of the season and also loosen them at the end. Getting the tension right is really important - if the belts start slipping they will eventually burn out and in the meantime the drums might not be turning quickly enough to mow the grass cleanly. I hope this helps.

@@longhayltd9241 Yes, I found it and asked him the same question, he was also very helpful. Belts are on, tighten correctly and ready to start cutting - Thanks so very much for your help

Thanks for that - I will do. Did you establish a cause - something moving too much and putting pressure on the bolt points?

@@longhayltd9241 casting were not filed flat on the gear box

Thank you. Summer is on its way and hopefully a good growing season before it arrives. I must admit I haven’t the patience for balers and sledges that don’t work properly. I have ordered a new Ritchie flat 8 sledge for this year. I have used one before with a Welger AP730 and apart from the odd puncture no real problem. ‘Back in the day’ I covered acres riding on a sledge while father baled. Sloping land, unreliable sledge and a IH baler that sometimes forgot to tie a knot would otherwise have been too much for anyone to cope with on a hot day with no tractor cab.

It is. I cannot really fault it. It isn't as heavy duty as my old Welger AP730 but for what I now do and hope to do in the future it is ideal.

Thank you. The IBCs is a good suggestion. Previously I have been able to stack enough of those vented bags in the shed to keep customers supplied but the demand this winter doubled due to people being at home. Some bags will need to be outside this summer if I am going to come close to matching that demand again. This might be the last busy year though because of the regulations regarding max 20% moisture content if selling less than 2 cube of logs at a time. Not too sure what to do at the moment.

Thank you. The transport box is probably the most used piece of kit. I got one with the hydraulic tipping which is great for transporting and delivering hay and logs. I also used it to build all the hardcore tracks. As you say, when you go out to do a job everything goes in it.

Hi Mark. Pleased you enjoyed the video. It is all a bit ‘old school’ but like you I have some great memories of this type of farming. I haven’t got access to additional labour or a kitted out workshop so try to get decent quality, strong, simple and reliable machinery and look after it. It works financially and you can really concentrate on the quality of what you are producing. The thought of a summer passing without swinging the drum mower into action doesn’t appeal. Thanks for your support.

We were right on the edge of the snow last weekend so the cold has really got into the ground. I will be making the most of it this weekend before the thaw sets in next week.

@@longhayltd9241 was hoping to get hedgecutting and get some bales out of a shed that's in a field but no such luck

Thank you. I used to run a secondhand Welger AP730 when I was baling more hay and straw and that did really well in every respect. I sold it after about 8 years for what I paid for it (it went to Holland) and put thousands of bales through it. It was always reliable and could knock out well made bales without dropping a knot all day long. Based on that experience when I wanted a replacement I bought a Welger again. I did look at inline balers but for my setup there was no advantage. Other people will prefer different balers to suit their circumstance but it is Welger all the way for me.

Mine was around £15,000+vat unused a few years ago (it has some paint defects so was discounted). I have not priced a new one but there is one advertised in UK by a dealer for £21,500 (I assume +vat). Price depends on the options included.

Hi. Thanks for subscribing. I am in North Hertfordshire. There are more videos to come regarding the MF 135 - transmission oil change and trying to obtain a V5 registration document.

Do you do some farming .Also what is v5,Tanx.

I have 34 acres of woodland and 6 acres of hay meadows plus a small amount of local grassland contracting. No livestock. I wound down most of the contracting around 10 years ago. It wasn’t a great earner but taught me a lot.

@@colmanlong1032 The V5 is the DVLA registration document similar to the one required for a car. A lot of these old tractors don't have one (often lost). Trying to get one can be a bit of a nightmare.

@@longhayltd9241 my father had 135 all his farming life, tractor done 50 years of workalmost every day, virtually trouble free,one of the best tractors ever built.

In a lightish crop they will go well. My mistake was to push too hard with the old Kverneland with a 100+hp tractor in a thick crop. The mower bogged down and the knives weren't spinning fast enough to cut properly then the mower belts start getting hot (very hot).

I can understand why you ask that question. It does sound noisy. I have checked it several times since buying it and it has been ok. It uses a type of grease. At the end of the season I brought it into the shed and levelled it up to dip it. I did a 'maintenance and operation' video that hasn't been edited yet and I think that has the depth of grease on it that I need to check against the manual. If that is ok it might be the fact it hasn't done many acres yet. I will let you know the outcome. It certainly makes more noise than the old Kverneland mower.

@@longhayltd9241 I know someone that bought a mower in the UK and it was bone dry, dealer never checked it, just as well my neighbour did. That's why I was asking. Cheers.

Just to say that you were right regarding the lack of oil. I completed and published the mower maintenance video recently and that confirms it is half the depth that it should be. It will be topped up shortly. Thanks for taking the trouble to query it.

You are right - if you have lots of acres of thick crop to down in a hurry it just isn't going to work. With decent blades, mower properly set up and occasional checks to make sure it is cutting cleanly it is ok but you are not going to be home early. I think the things that worry me most about trying to get the best output are the risks of overloading the belts and burning them out and finding that underneath the swath the grass hasn't been cut properly. I have seen both. As you have probably picked up regarding my small set up I can usually go steady and reduce these risks. When I was contracting and having to push on there was always a greater chance of these issues. I used this mower on a neighbour's field that was as rough as anything I have been on. The speed was limited by the constant bouncing in the cab rather than the mower's ability to ride over the bumps.

I like these older tractors. This one starts easily, even on the coldest mornings. It does everything that I need it to do and if I can continue to maintain it properly and generally be careful it should have plenty of years left in it. It is surprising how many people I talk to learned to drive on tractors like this. The bad news is that I really don't know what the front loader is. There is a model plate on the side but there is nothing on it. When I have searched photos of similar loaders none have seemed to fit exactly. I think a number of these loaders have either been altered to add hydraulics or have extra bits welded on to strengthen or repair them.

@@longhayltd9241 The same story goes here! This was the first vehicle I drove. My grandpa teached me to drive it when I was 11! It was quite reliable, we had a big trailer made by him that we would put hay or haybales, wheat, corn anything it was needed for. And it can pull some weight! To bad for the loader. I see them with loadets that have to have some supports on the front of the tractor too and I saw this one is not that way. Thank you!

Normally I keep it at around 540rpm. Sometimes on short runs like this it could easily vary a bit while I sort myself out. I try to keep everything steady - run it too fast and it trips at the wrong time and I don't like to stress the plunger bearing. Equally I don't aim to run it too slow. I like to put around 12 slices into a bale so on long runs I occasionally just count between hearing the knotters trip with it turning at 540 and use the 4 clutchless gears to adjust forward speed to match the crop.

@@longhayltd9241 got the same baler as you but always run it 600rpm it's to do with plunger strokes but I can't remember how many just remember the rpm

​@@jwdagriculture 100 strokes / min buddy..

I think you are right. I will change it before next season. I have been a bit wary about changing it because it works fine in full rows but it would be good to get it sorted. With light crops it just isn't sensible to drive quickly to try to fill the chamber. Thanks for the feedback. I sell a tiny volume of hay compared to yourselves but it is moving more quickly than it was this time last year, even with a price increase. Log sales are twice what they were this time last year. I put the price up to try to slow things down and no one has flinched - they often just ask whether we do kindling as well!

Usually about 6 acres but this year because of the light crops this has increased to around 10 acres. One person can just about manage it with the machinery I have - much more and it would need more help and would no doubt be more stress. I used to mow, turn and bale up to 30 acres on a contract basis but wound this down 15 years ago.

@@longhayltd9241 oh yer I know that I make over 600 each year even though got the crop of 300 acres this year