farm machinery…
…in Southern Norway…
not more than necessary…
While most self-respecting farmers in our country like to have, and probably need, at least one somewhat powerful and modern tractor, we would have preferred to be able to do without one. It most certainly isn't because we lack self-respect or anything else along those lines though.
Yes, we do have a tractor, but it is neither powerful nor modern and its role in daily farm-work is limited. Work-hours are counted on smaller machines around here, and the tractor is standing by as back-up most of the time. Sometimes, but not often, the smaller machines are simply too small for the job.
We do have all the necessary accessories to turn our tractor into a quite capable all seasons farm-machine, but apart from moving silage-bales twice a week, mixing and spreading manure in the spring and/or autumn, removing snow from the farm-roads in the winter and the occasional tilling of a field every 5 to 10 year, there's not much need for burning diesel on heavy jobs.
Sure, the smaller machines run on diesel too, but with small engines and many but small jobs and
all that…
When the machine in most use around here on average needs
a refill of 20 liters of fuel every two months, anyone can calculate that rising fuel-prices don't make
too much of an impact on our farm-budget. That is of course a welcome side-effect, but not the main reason why
few, small and tough machines are “in” on our farm.
planned renewal…
For the last ten years or so we've renewed our small machine-park based entirely on what's most practical in our local environment, and have pretty much ignored what other farmers buy and what anyone wants to sell us. To us pushy sales-arguments like: “you won't find better machines on the market” and “all farmers buy this product” are totally meaningless “bling bling” talk. What matters is whether a product suits our farm and farming-methods, or not.
Finding suitable machines is difficult as there's plenty of what we as farmers would call “useless crap” on the market. We've had some successes in this respect though, and are now pretty much where we want to be regarding the size and capability of our machine-park.
environmentally balanced…
The environment should suit our animals and farming-methods, but otherwise our local natural conditions should not be altered too much – it doesn't make sense to change what works. We do of course have constant maintenance needs on a running farm though.
We need to keep and clear roads and openings in the forest so we and the animals can get around, and create and repair all-season cow-paths and drainage-systems. For this we need small machines with a good balance between off-road capability, load-capacity and strength, that don't require too much space and preparations.
Machines that need much more space and ground-preparation than an average NRF cow, are generally speaking “not well suited”. Even our pretty small tractor is too large to get very far outside existing roads, fields and pastures, and we don't want to cut and blast our way and build new roads for it.
The tractor defends its existence by offering just enough of that extra load-capacity, 4 wheel drive traction and
strength that's necessary for certain jobs and situations. Additionally: it is nice to sit in a heated
cabin while clearing snow from our farm-roads in the middle of one of the quite regular winter storms.
Yes, I think we'll keep the tractor, despite its “shortcomings”.
compromise…
Our machine-park with all its somewhat larger and numerous smaller bits and pieces is of course a heap of compromises, as each item fills more than one position and/or role in the complex jigsaw-puzzle that makes up a working farm. This is quite normal as few farmers can afford the luxury of having dedicated machines and equipment for each type of job.
For the next few years we think time and money are best spent on keeping our machine-park running, as we're pushing parts of it really hard at times. We don't care too much if home-made paint-jobs and body-repairs don't look like much, as long as everything is running and ready for the next job – whatever that is.
sincerely 
Hageland 18.jun.2008
last rev: 28.jun.2008
farm machinery…
