Our latest in a series looking at how farmers and contractors manage their machinery sees Emily Padfield visit Suffolk farmer and contractor Guy Taylor, who operates Simon Taylor Farms

Farm Facts

Simon Taylor Farms, Dullingham, Suffolk

Farming

Arable: 465ha (1150 acres) wheat, barley, sugar beet, oilseed rape and winter beans

Contracting

Stubble to stubble contracting: 100ha (250 acres)

Combining: 160ha (400 acres) cereals

Drilling: 80ha (200acres) drilling

Sugar beet planting: 60ha (150 acres)

Spraying: 80ha (200 acres)

Groundcare: Paddock maintenance and grass care makes up 10% of business

Staff: 2 full-time and 2 part-time

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What’s in your machinery shed?

Combines: Claas Lexion 450 with 6.7m (22ft) header, NH TX36 with 7.3m (24ft) header

Tractors: NH T7030, JD 6820, MF6280, Fastrac 3220, Ford 4630

Loaders: Manitou 731 Turbo, JCB Sitemaster

Drills: 4m Vaderstad Rapid, 6m KRM airdrill, Stanley Webb 12-row sugar beet drill

Sprayer: 24m Knight Laser trailed

KRM 3t fertiliser spreader

Cultivtaions: 4m Simba 2B discs, 4.6m Simba X-Press, Lemken 5/6 furrow VariOpal and 5/6 furrow EurOpal ploughs

Trailers: Marston 14t, Richard Western 14t, 12t Brian Legg x 2, Richard Western 16t dump trailer

Other: Einbock 6m grass harrow, Major 4m topper, Lely 4m power harrow, Nicholson Paddock Sweeper, Kongskilde 6m Germinator, Bomford B608 hedgecutter, Honda Fourtrax TRX350

More from our What’s in Your Shed series

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20 questions

How loyal are you to individual brands?

We’re loyal to Claas for combines as their service is extremely reliable and they’re so close. After using Ford/New Holland for a number of years, we tried John Deere for a short while, but went back to New Holland for our most recent purchase – they’ve really proved themselves recently.

Favourite dealer?

Ernest Doe at Fulbourne. They’re reliable, offer a very personal service and we’ve been with them for years.

Favourite tractor?

The T7030. I’d been massively anti-NH because of the reliability issues of the TM series, but this one has really proved itself.

Favourite other piece of kit?

The Lexion 450.

Least favourite piece of kit?

The Kongskilde Germinator. It’s flimsy, costs a fortune to repair and it’s really only suited to light soils, not the varied types we have here.

Latest purchase? What do you think of it?

A Vaderstad Rapid 4m drill. Although we’ve only just bought it, the demo model really impressed. It will cut out a lot of extra work and hopefully turn drilling into a one man operation.

Oldest piece of machinery still at work?

A 1989 Ford 4630, used for sugar beet hoeing and paddock work.

Biggest machinery mistake?

A JD 6920S. It spun through Michelin tyres like there was no tomorrow and the 4wd never engaged properly, most of the time only giving 3wd. We spent three years trying to get it right.

How long do you keep your machines?

The combine we usually keep for four years. The primary tractor then gets moved down and replaced after three years, whereas others are replaced every 4-6 years.

What’s on your wish list?

A Bateman 24m self-propelled sprayer. Probably not this year but that’s what I’m aiming for.

Most embarrassing incident?

Getting the wrong instructions when tipping an artic load of barley at the docks last year which resulted in me tipping 15t into a cargo ship carrying about 20,000 tonnes of wheat.

Most awkward grease nipple?

The front trace on the combine, one’s easy and one’s pretty much impossible.

What couldn’t you live without in the workshop?

Oxy-acetylene for unceasing numbers of things.

Do you buy second-hand?

We buy ex-demo tractors and second-hand hedgecutters. I would never buy a second-hand plough, as a lot of them are bent.

Best bargain you’ve picked up at a machinery sale or dealers yard?

Probably the 6820S, as we got a fairly generous family discount.

What’s the best piece of farming advice you’ve ever been given?

My Grandfather once told me: “If you think you’re ready for harvest, go away for a week.”

What would you buy if you won the lottery?

I’d buy a farm in Australia.

Favourite job? Least favourite job?

Favourite job is combining. The least is changing wheel centres, they always seem to be 2cm out.

Where would you rather be – on a tractor, in the workshop, in the office or shopping with the girlfriend?

On a tractor, away from people.

What’s your everyday transport?

A Toyota Hilux on a 51 plate with 60,000 on the clock. I got sick of replacing the clutches on the Nissan Navara I had before.

If you’d like to reveal the contents of your machinery shed to us, email fwmachinery@rbi.co.uk