[Small Farmer]

We have an 8yo Ford Galaxy which does nearly 40mpg, carries people and bales of whatever and is pleasant to drive distances on road

The 9yo Nissan Terrano does 28mpg around town and is much more expensive to insure and maintain but it can tow our Ifor Williams 510 horse trailer which we occasionally use for horses but mostly for carrying stuff because of its cavernous interior.  The Nissan tows 3t - two hunters with water and fodder in a 510 weigh about 2.5t.   Most of the crossover 4wds tow only 1.8t, some just over 2t which is limiting.

We also have a Ifor Williams 750kg unbraked sheep trailer which is a splendidly versatile thing cos the top comes off pretty easily and anything tows it.  The trailers are hitch-locked and Datatagged and kept out of site behind locked gates

We had a grey petrol Fergie which is was fun but tricky as a tractor because of its PTO arrangements.  Changed that for a MF575 which was good value but too big and its 2wd R1 tyres churned up the ground.  Then bought a Kubota 4wd 35hp with grass tyres and a loader which was a swine to remove.  The lousy turning circle and irremovable bucket made it tricky in our very small yard so sold it and got an MF branded 4wd Iseki.  Turning circle is as good as the Fergie, loader bucket is quick release and it is totally reliable.

Grass tyres probably work on golf courses but not on wet grass on even a gentle incline.  R1 (tractor tyres) leave a mark even on fairly dry ground.  R4 tyres are used on construction machines and damage the ground less because they grip less, but are great for a 4wd light tractor.   

People seem to love or loathe the Chinese tractors, and they're certainly much cheaper than the Japanese models,  but the Japanese ones hold their value.  We sold our 12yo Kubota on ebay for well over £6k (it cost us £5k) to a German who put it on a trailer and took it home.  The underbidders were from Slovakia...

[Odin]

The more equipment one has, the more time one spends looking after it all .
The longest time served vehicle I have is the SWB Land Rover, pre 1973, Nill Road Tax and low insurance. I very reliable, been around Scotland , Devon and to Kent. Love it, will do anything and turns on a six pence. Fuel is now silly, hence the Combo van with the Isuzu diesel engine. Good work horse, payload, steel and mpg.
Finally the David Brown. Lives outside, reliable, red diesel in tank, allowed 6 miles from farm/ land ? on Red.
Tractors need implements, trailer, transport box, etc etc.
It all takes time to acquire and all needs servicing.
Keep your Vauxhall 1.7. and build from that. 

[jaykay]

Interesting discussion 

I have a horribly expensive Nissan X-Trail (love it, brilliantly reliable, just not the price or the fuel consumption) that gets me out of the dale in any weather and pulls my small trailer. Then I have a big quad bike and assorted self-powered/ground driven things it pulls.

I would probably be better off with an economical car, an old Landy for the snowy days and pulling trailers, and a Chinese tractor with cheaper PTO driven stuff for it.

It's how you get from where I am (not all my choices) to where I'd like to be. Also mechanically inept and the Landy would be bound to break down the days I really needed it......could I learn to fix a car? It would be nice not to be so helpless.

[YorkshireLass]

could I learn to fix a car? It would be nice not to be so helpless.

My old local college used to run "blokey" courses for the ladies - DIY, basic bricklaying, basic car work....anything similar near you?

[Small Farmer]

You can learn to fettle an old car but not a new one.  There far less to go wrong on an old 'un but it will go wrong so you need to understand it, and love it a little.

I cut my teeth on a trio of series 3 diesel lwb safaris and a 6cyl petrol in the seventies. The diesels were horrible to drive and to maintain.  You had to jump start them off the petrol one in winter.  They'd just introduced a rolling road brake test in the MOT and the only way of passing was to use both feet on the pedal while bracing against the seat and steering wheel.

The petrol one had a proper brake servo,  averaged 10-12mpg but was lovely.

[FiB]

Enjoying dreaming whilst following this thread.....!!  We have an old citroen berlingo and a fiat scudo van and they are fine off road on the fields as long as it's not too wet -  Got the scudo stuck last year in the wet, so have banned ourselves from using it untill drier - but we still can use it on the fields 6 months a year  .  Really got laughed at during haymaking last year - but it worked - we can get about 15 bales in it so only 20 trips to pollytunels!!!  WOuld love a quad or something, but not to be.  Me and my wheelbarrow are the horsepower on this 12 acres.  Good exercise and OK as I am cash poor and time rich!  ON the plus side it costs VERy little to have a local contractor come and do the things we cant - £10 to spread fertiliser, around £200 to make hay and I can do all road stuff with our vehicles.  We went to look at a golf buggy with a tipping trailer for £1000 but decided it was too risky with our hills, so will keep dreaming....

[old ploughman]

tractors on the road      tax nil   insurance depends on the value and the company you get insurance from  running it on the road is a bit of a grey area   tacho derv and record of drivers hours is the worst   no testing at present for tractors
land rover is about the only bunch of vehicles that can tow 3.5 tons  with the exception of the freelander and the evoque
series motors 90 and 110 all hold there value when rotten piles of flaky rust they are rebuilt  rangies and discos  nobody wants to know them you can get new galvanised chassis for them like the others but it is the A B and C pillars plus the tailgate that rots
even zetors are rising in value  but are they changing hands at that price e bay is full of tractors that you would need to have your head buttoned up the back to buy them at the asking price   either that or i am to old remembering when you could get a new tractor for a grand
when you start to buy parts and machining services that is when your money runs away i have been there

Dont know where you got that bit from? For agricultural use no tacho required, red diesel is fine on the highway as long as the activity is for agricultural purposes and no requirement to record drivers hours.
As far as buying a small tractor - for £6000 you could get a 80-90 hp 4wd big tractor (Ford 6610, 6810,7610) in reasonable order - adjust the wheels to a good wide track setting and it will everywhere your siromer, kubota etc will and a darn site more safely. These small tractors are overpriced for what they are. £3000 would still get you a MF 590 4wd or similar with loads of work left in it. Go to a few farm sales instead of looking on ebay.

Regards

[robert waddell]

old ploughman you must have lived a sheltered life
agriculture horticulture and forestry you can use red diesel   but there are situations within these paramiters that you do need to run derv and be compliant with other haulage vehicles
 

[mab]

This is great 

For agricultural use no tacho required, red diesel is fine on the highway as long as the activity is for agricultural purposes and no requirement to record drivers hours.

Would that include a 12mile round trip to the livestock market?

£3000 would still get you a MF 590 4wd or similar with loads of work left in it. Go to a few farm sales instead of looking on ebay.

I've been googling auctionhouses in this area but only found one that seems to do farm-sales and they didn't have anything in the offing (in Suffolk farm sales seemed to be handled by the auctionhouses) - does anyone know a good way of finding info on farm sales in south wales?

I need to be patient and wait for the right tractor at the right price, I know, but I just want to get on and DO things! 

could I learn to fix a car?.

If you learn to fix a car an old landy is certainly better than a modern car -  simple mechanicals and no electronics. The only downside is that you will spend a lot of time maintaining it (I've lost count of the number of bits you need to top up with EP90 oil on a series landy).

Thx
mab

[robert waddell]

a very good example mab   you take your livestock to the market with your tractor and ifor williams your Friend buys some sheep and asks if you could run them home  accompanied with the e aml your name and vehicle reg is on the paper doc and stored for life in the computer
your journey to the market is legal as long as you are legal with the vehicle and can run on red
your return with somebody Else's stock is not legal on red and without all the legality's that go with running a transport business  o and the e aml you are committed for life that you have broken the law  and if caught say years from now for running red and doing favours they simply look into your past history on movements and finned and charged accordingly
in the days before fasttracks there was unimogs every owner in central Scotland has a tale to tell on plods endeavour to get them of the road   one of them coming back from market collected cement he was done for haulage
maybe down in Shropshire they are not as clued up  as the rest of the country

[shropshire_blue]

maybe down in Shropshire they are not as clued up  as the rest of the country

Since I moved to Shropshire 4 years ago I've only seen a policeman 4 times.  It was the same one each time at our village fair each year!

[Castle Farm]

Get your self a Toyota RAV 4.

Not a new type. Mines a P reg and it goes anywhere. I have a spare set of wheels with ice tyres on for the winter. (ice tyres not mud tyres or aggressive treds).

It's got enough power to tug a trailer and comfortable enough to use anywhere.
Parts are cheap and easy to find.

[old ploughman]

Robert Waddell - a sheltered life I have not lead! I stand by what I said. When travelling to market with own produce - agricultural activity. When travelling home with neighbours sheep - haulage/non-agricultural. As an agricultural contractor of over 20 years and operating a fastrac across the whole of the British Isles I reckon I know a bit about tractors on roads and what you can and cannot get away with 

So, where do you come up with using derv, having a tacho and recording drivers hours for agricultural use?

[robert waddell]

you did not operate a 16G at dunbar did you  he was a shropshire lad

[old ploughman]

On this occasion you are right - it wasn't me