Rolling & Harrowing fields: do you pay someone or do it yourself?

MiJodsR2BlinkinTite

MiJodsR2BlinkinTite

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Am wondering about the economics here: am getting a (new) secondhand car which comes with a towbar. Its an AWD vehicle and so I'm wondering about whether it would pay me to "do" my own fields, i.e. harrowing & rolling.

I don't have a harrow or roller, but there's a package I've seen on-line where you can get a good cheap'ish roller and harrow package for just under four hundred quid.

I'm wondering whether it would pay me to do this? OR continue to pay a local blokey with a tractor and outfit to do it.

Any advice anyone??
 
Have done both! We have second hand harrow which were were given and and OH has a 1950's fergie tractor which he likes to sit on and play driving round field, but my neighbour farmer will also do it for us as he puts his sheep on the field, which I prefer, but OH says he will do it soon !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It drives me mad at this time of year, just as you want all the equipment to work like ride on mower, tractor to harrow etc. they all need 'looking at' before they will work..........

Was only thinking tonight the way the young cobs are shaping up I think they could go into harness and help eventually and that might be more reliable!
 
Get your own equipment and do it yourself.

It will pay you to in the long run :)

The trouble with relying on someone else is that you have to adhere to their timetable, which might not fit in with when the weather/etc is right for you.

We harrow, roll, top, till, cut and rake everything ourselves, we have a tractor and a quad, the only thing I do not have is a baler, we don't cut enough hay to warrant that expense, and anyway, the darn things are like sheep (according to a hay contractor friend) - always looking for new and inventive ways to die :mad:
 
Seems like a friendly farmer is best. Contractor can be expensive in the long run if you look at the cost of the equipment, Maybe second hand at a farm auction is the way foreward there.
I have just bought a small roler to pull behind a UTV but not sure it'll do the job. Farmers wife said "why don't you just get my husband to do it?" to me today - not sure how he would feel about her promising his time, but they are lovely.
 
We do ours ourselves (well o/h does!)
He has a x trail and we got a second hand roller from a farm sale and are currently borrowing harrows but on the look out for some second hand ones on Ebay. It's great because we can literally do it whenever we want and however often we want.
 
I understand that you shouldn't roll paddocks, as they just get more and more compressed. Harrowing is good. (That is a by the by) Luckily OH is a farmer, although not always friendly where the horses are concerned.
 
We have some one do it but the front where he cannot get the tractor in i do.

A has looked after our field since before we brought the field.

It would take took long with our tiny harrow to do the back fields
 
I have a harrow and roller which is pulled behind my Disco a lot cheaper than getting someone else in to do it. Can do mine several times a year when I want it done Not when the local chap can do it.

I have borrowed a fertilizer / seed spreeder so will top seed my winter paddocks this year.
too.
 
Your local farm auctions are great places to pick up small harrows, rolls etc. Some of the smaller stuff is of little interest to 'proper' farmers so goes pretty cheap.

We use cambridge rolls - take out the big ruts without doing too much compaction to the ground.
 
Sorry to hijack! I have a roller down at my field which is love to pull round with my 4x4. Only problem is its designed to hitch onto a tracker, is there any way I could get something to make it possible to tow with the 4x4???
 
Defo DIY.

The window for harrowing and rolling can be quite small, so if you have your own equipment you can do it at the optimium time, rather than relying on somone else.

I invested in a second hand quad a few years ago and find it is better than a 4 x 4 as can get into all the corners and doesn't mark the ground.

The only field maintenance I can't do is topping, as even second hand, a topper is sadly out of my budget atm! Luckily my farmer neighbour does it for me at a minimal cost.
 
alsxx said:
Sorry to hijack! I have a roller down at my field which is love to pull round with my 4x4. Only problem is its designed to hitch onto a tracker, is there any way I could get something to make it possible to tow with the 4x4???
Click to expand...
YOu just change the tow hitch!
 
I use my 4x4 and a set of 6ft chain harrows, works a treat :) easy to do when you need it - not when someone has 5 mins to pop round ! great way to keep the fields level and spread the muck, have owned the field for 9 years now and its worked out great harrowing every 2-3 weeks when i rotate to another section, :)

even use them to level the menage every couple of weeks, its a bit tight but does the job well, just need to keep an eye on how close you are to the sides :rolleyes:
 
Not sure about a time frame for harrowing (we do that almost all year round as long as it's not too muddy for the tractor)

Rolling - to be any good, has to be when the ground is hard enough that the tractor/ rollss won't make a big mess - but soft enough that the rutts will actually go!
Here on our heavy clay that is about 2 days between mud soup and cracked concrete as the ground drys! I've walked round first thing and though it was perfect for rolling but then not actually started til mid afternoon - when it had got too hard !!!!
 
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