[spandit]

...driving a tractor with a flail on the back...

It's one we were lent for a couple of days but unfortunately, the belts went very quickly, as did the next set. When the replacements finally arrived this afternoon, I fitted them properly myself and several hours of flailing later, they were still good as new...

Tractor is a compact New Holland job. It wasn't really powerful enough, in my opinion, as it struggled with the thicker grass. Bit disappointing how it left a lot of the rushes standing (just pushed them over) but it's vapourised the bracken and some of the brambles. It's being collected tomorrow, which is a shame as there's much left to do (was called in from the top field by mother-in-law - they didn't know where I was. We have two fields and I wasn't in the bottom one... :rolleyes:)

[john and helen]

ive been looking at tractors, some good bargains around, got my heart set on a old MF35 

[marka]

Ive also been looking at tractors ( incl;uding red ones ) , although OH cannot understand why we need one !! Especially as she wont be the one looking after the fields !

Lots of good deals around if you happen to live down south but as we will be in Moray, not much available up there so this dilutes the deals when you factor transport in.

I would love an old MF say a 135 or 148 but still a bit pricey for me - can anyone explain why the price of compact tractors are roughly comparable to what I would call a proper tractor, ie no aircon, satnav, radio or any other of them modern fangled things, when a compact is limited in terms of capability?

Having said that I'll probably end up with a compact but would need to be a minimum of 25hp, not a 12hp fart in a glass one !!

[honeyend]

I having been looking for a small tractor for the last four months and went to Cheffins tractor auction. Good old tractors are snapped up for the foreign market, they must fill containers with them and then you get the grey pound who buy them as toys, we have  a large tractor group who go out on road runs. I think they are attractive because they are relatively simple and there is no VAT added. The bigger newer ones have all the complications of modern machinery, and VAT and some of them are huge.
 I had settled on a Dexta but my husband wanted a compact, so next we went to look a couple through dealers. These are mainly Japanese imported via Vietnam depending on what you believe over hauled and glossed up, so you are paying £3,500 upwards for a tractor that's  25years old. The Japanese must be laughing as when you add everyones profit margin they must sell them for scrape value.
 Yes reader we did eventually buy one via Facebook, sent hubby with the cash as soon as he could get the trailer hitched up. It may be too small or too slow but it came with a mower and it cut the grass and if its a mistake we can sell it on with not too much of a loss. Now I just need to buy , a tow hitch, new set of harrows, fertiliser spreader........
   
 

[pgkevet]

Start from the premis that whatever you do will be wrong and accept that. It'll take a few years to really know what suits you.
I began with the personal issue that I'm pushing 6ft8 so getting into the thing was a priority..followed by liking  abit of comfort..so comfy seats and a/c. Then I added my clumsy gene so a new enough cab to be seriously safe in a  rollover (came too close once, too) And enough power for the obvious jobs.
then i added the luxury of a loader.

It's all completely wrong. The loader means small front wheels so and dips on a hillside and it'd be even more dangerous (my close call). Agri tyres for the field work and i can't use it on the garden parts and if it's really piddling down with rain then who wants to go out anyway - plenty of barn and greenhouse work instead.

Perhaps i'd have been better off with an older real tractor for the fields and slopes and an older smaller compact with grass tyres and a simple loader - but that'd probbaly be a misitake too...