Back Issue - Practical Farm Ideas - 74 - Vol

ISSUE OVERVIEW

Farm safety. Everyone wants a reduction in fatality and injury figures. Farm leaders say something has to happen to change attitudes, working practices, increase law enforcement. The Practical Farm Ideas approach is somewhat different by providing actual solutions, and in this issue we feature one of major importance. It helps prevent the farm ATV being rammed from behind by a car or truck - by fitting a short mast with a beacon. This issue has another road safety solution - the loader-mounted gantry which carries a umbilical slurry pipe over the road, high enough for any lorry to go underneath.

The issue also has some good stuff on min-till methods and results. Arable farmers will particularly like the Accord drill which has had its suffolk coulters replaced by discs which work in trash so much better. This drill is fitted to a power harrow, but spends as much time as possible on a home made spring tine with packer roller. The drill can be moved from one type of cultivator to another in less than 30 minutes. With the tines under it the drill is a 60 acre per day machine instead of barely 40, and uses much less diesel. Farmers who are starting up or expanding will be interested in taking in the main financial feature which asks whether you should be buying land or renting it.

Made it Myself

Stone fork has novel close coupled rams

Dumper truck makes tool carrier for easy hoeing

Umbilical slurry pipe gantry for safe road crossing

Trailer lock uses spare ball hitch

Livestock:

Electric fence battery kept sharp with solar panel

Mobile 32ft sheep race has crash barrier chassis

Round feeder cover made from cable drum side

Ring feeder redesigned for small farms

Dairy developments with David and Philip Hardy

Two Boumatic 20:20 parlours make a 40:40

Cow slats made using home built mould

Straights store

Squeeze through gap in cattle raceway

Gate adaptor plate adjusts for existing hinges

Arable

Min-Till Round-up from Yorkshire farmer Roger Mills

Cereal establishment costs are halved

Blackgrass infection gets heavy treatment

Oil seed rape needs even fewer sees

Tramline marker for oil seed rape

Ideas from Norfolk farmer Ron Giles

McHale bale handler sleeve lock washer adaptation 17

Straightening a bent girder 18

Gas bottle routine 18

Post hole borer stand 18

Bale stacker made with all spare parts 19

Warning beacon on ATV improves road safety

Tips from Essex farmer Des Healy

Hydraulic hose support fits tractor back end

Steps on bale wrapper make film loading easier

Gate has removable hooks

Sheep yoke makes dagging and other jobs easier

Gate extension bridges the gap

Farm World

'The perfect steak' provides opportunities for beef finishers

Rural Contractor website puts farmers in touch

No need to fret over GM technology, says scientist

Top maiden from Geo Freeman MP for Mid-Norfolk

Sumo - a manufacturer with it's feet on the ground

Welsh Government sloppy over badger appeal

Financial Focus

Farmland: The Buy or Rent decision for start-ups and expanders

Farm Walk with Geoff and Matthew Keeling

Farming on the urban fringe has special problems

Rape seeder added to 4m Vaderstad TopDown cultivator

Accord drill has suffolk coulters replaced by Amazone discs

Spring tine makes a fast combination drill

Plough painted rather than greased for rust protection

Chemical store has double rooms for better management

Electrical extension lead gantry adds to safety and convenience

Simple sheet bender made with a pair of bench vices

Parts storage needs many bins

Hydraulic brake tester for trailers

Land drain locator uses ferret finder

Wheel nut sockets in home made box for puncture repairs

Brand on wood handles mark farm property

Diesel meters on tanks and bowsers help keep control

Roof fan keeps workshop warm

Gator mounted sprayer used to spray grain store

Combine spout extension lets carting tractor straddle swath

The Keeling Museum - a place for rural by-gones

Stainless steel 3000l water bowser doubles as fire engine

Farm security

Lane block stops cars and 4x4s, allows tractor to pass

Lane barrier is 30ft - strong design

Gas banger, battery and bottle secure metal cage