Dairy farmers John and Will Tyrer are bucking the livestock sector stereotype by keeping their kit in pristine mechanical and cosmetic order.

What’s in Your Shed? visited their Lancashire farm to find out how.

See also: Driver’s view: Tom Mixture’s John Deere 6R 250

Are you brand loyal?

John We’ve had various tractor brands in the past – David Brown, International Harvester, Ford, New Holland, Massey Ferguson and Same.

But after switching to 6000-series John Deeres in the early 2000s, we’ve been green through and through.

Our first was a 6400, which was a fantastic tractor, and we’ve gradually worked our way through the ranks.

The current line-up includes a two-wheel-drive 6120, a 6330, a 6330 Premium and a 6155R, all of which have been good.

Mowers are from John Deere too, but the rest of the grass kit is a mix of Kuhn, Krone and McHale.

For telehandlers, we always look to JCB, and we’re very pleased with our twin-tub Trioliet feeder wagon.

It’s definitely got the edge over the Siloking we had before, although that was a decent machine as well.

Favourite dealer?

Will We’re big fans of Scott JCB at Carnforth – it’s a great firm to deal with and the backup is excellent.

Ripon Farm Services and Cornthwaites are also slick outfits, although John Deere’s drive to have fewer, larger dealers means they’re starting to lose the personal touch.

Favourite piece of kit?

Will The John Deere 6155R – it’s got loads of power for jobs like mowing but is compact enough to run our smaller equipment.

The cab is a big improvement over the 30-series as it’s quiet and there’s so much more space.

Even passengers have got enough room to stretch out their legs without playing footsie with the driver.

Like our other tractors, we kept things simple by going for the AutoQuad semi-powershift transmission – it virtually never goes wrong and does everything we need it to.

We did get some fancy features, though. One is autosteer, which has been a game changer for fertiliser spreading and spraying on grass.

It’s so nice not having to judge bouts by eye or fire up the foam blobber, and it means we use less product as we’re no longer overlapping.

The other is electric spools. We didn’t seek these out, but they came with the tractor and we wouldn’t want to swap back now that we’ve got used to them.

We couldn’t stretch to a brand-new model, so bought this when it was five years old on 3,500 hours. It’s now got 4,700 on the clock and hasn’t put a foot wrong.

It cost about £80,000, but we softened the blow by trading in our really tidy 6420. We do miss that tractor, though.

And your least favourite?

John A few years ago, we bought a second-hand Kuhn Primor straw spreader and we just couldn’t get it to chop.

It was a bit of a surprise as we’ve got on well with other Kuhn machinery we’ve had and it looked like new.

With hindsight, that’s probably because the previous owner couldn’t get it to work either.

In the end, we swapped it for a Teagle 8555 Dual Chop, which has been far superior.

It makes light work of any bale you put through it and we like the fact that it can do a fine chop for the cubicles.

We normally bed these with sawdust, but it’s nice to have a backup if the dispenser goes on the blink.

Another dog was our old Vicon Fanex four-rotor tedder. It refused to stay in one piece and became so unreliable that the dealer replaced it for free.

The new one wasn’t much better, so we eventually swapped to a Kuhn, which has been great.

Latest purchase?

John In December we took delivery of our third JCB Loadall 532-60 Agri telehandler.

We rely on it every day for feeding and bedding down, so it’s the one machine that we buy new and have on a set replacement policy.

As soon as they get to 4,500 hours, we’re looking for a replacement and don’t like them to go over 5,000 if we can help it.

The 532-60 is the perfect model for us as it’s got decent lift capacity and reach while being compact enough to be handy around the yard.

We never really take it off tarmac so, like the last one, had it fitted with Michelin Bibload tyres.

These are so much more stable and harder wearing than regular ag treads and we can just about get 5,000 hours out of them.

This 2025 model is essentially the same as the 2022 one we had before, save for the ultra-bright LED lights which make it easier to work in the dark.

One thing we have done differently is opt for a service contract. We’ve done the sums and reckon we’ll save about 25% on oils and filters.

Oldest machine still at work?

Will That’s the David Brown 885 that my grandad bought second hand in the early 2000s.

It had done about 7,000 hours back then and has been on scraping duties three times a day ever since.

The tally must be about 15,000 by now, though we’ll never know for sure as the clock stopped working long ago.

We treated it to an engine overhaul a few years ago. Other than that, the only mechanical work has been normal servicing.

The challenge will be finding a cost-effective replacement when it eventually gets too tired.

How long do you keep your kit?

John Other than the Loadall, we’ve got no set policy for when we replace our machinery.

We’re happy with the tractors we have now and we’ve got plenty of scope for putting hours on these before we need to think about trading them in.

It’s a similar story with implements and we look after them as best we can to keep them fresh for as long as possible.

Everything gets properly serviced, washed off, oiled up and put in the dry when we’ve finished using it.

One of the hardest-worked is our early 2000s McHale F550 round baler.

We bale all our own silage and hay and do three to four cuts a year, so this has got more than 80,000 on the counter.

It was recently given a new set of drive chains and is still fighting fit.

When we do come to sell equipment on, we tend to get a decent price as it’s still in such good condition.

Next on your wish list?

Will I’d really like a front pto for the 6155R so that we can run a set of front and rear mowers.

It would also be nice to have a front linkage for the 6330 Premium, along with front and rear round bale carriers.

John If money was no object, I’d like to get a JCB 403 mini wheel loader, or the new TM110 telescopic version.

It would be a massive upgrade over the David Brown on scraping duties and we could use it on the sawdust dispenser.

Biggest mistake?

Will Dad had warned me about this wet hole when I went out mowing with the 6155R, but I wanted to do a tidy job so kept edging closer.

I pushed it too far, sunk in up to the axles and had to get a neighbour with a bigger tractor to pull me out.

John I forgot to check I’d ejected a bale from our McHale F550 and kept packing in grass until I jammed the thing solid. No damage was done, but it took a bit of unblocking.

I wasn’t involved in this next one, but I saw it from a distance.

My daughter, Lucy, was out checking the dry cows on one of our highest fields and had stepped out of the Gator to walk around them.

The handbrake isn’t great on that thing and one nudge from a cow sent it careering down the bank.

It took out two dry stone walls on its way and wasn’t in the best of shape when it came to a stop.

The windscreen, front end and radiator were smashed, but a £3,500 insurance claim got it up and running.

Most expensive repair bill?

Will In true 30-series fashion, the head gasket went on our 6330 Premium when it got to 6,300 hours. It cost about £2,500 to have a replacement fitted.

Most overpriced spare part?

Will The plastic gear lever cover on the 6155R is rip-off at £135. I also just had to spend £1,000 on a complete service kit for the 6330.

What couldn’t you live without in the workshop?

John The Milwaukee battery powered impact driver and the welder.

Best tractor you’ve ever had?

Will It’s got to be the John Deere 6420 that we sold to buy the 6155R. We bought it new in 2007 for £31,500, put 6,000 hours on it and it didn’t give us an ounce of trouble.

I wish we could have kept it, but I know where it’s gone and maybe one day we’ll be able to buy it back.

And the worst?

John In the early 2000s, we had a Same Explorer 90 and Silver 130. They weren’t terrible, but they were far less reliable than the Fords we’d run before.

We weren’t that keen on New Hollands of that era, which is why we then moved to John Deere.  

Most surprisingly useful feature on a machine?

John I wasn’t convinced that we needed autosteer, but I’m a massive convert now. The John Deere system is pretty easy to get to grips with, too.

Will Our latest Loadall has got a reversing fan and it’s brilliant when you’re working in a dusty environment – it would be nice if the 6155R had one for mowing.

Most pointless piece of technology?

Will From a farmer’s point of view, it’s hard to see the point of AdBlue. We’re lucky that we haven’t had any problems yet, but it feels like it’s only a matter of time.

Biggest bargain?

John The two-wheel-drive 6120, which is a rare beast in the UK. I bought it off a contracting friend years ago, who’d been using it on a winch, and it had only done 450 hours.

I paid just £17,000 for it and it’s been in almost daily use ever since.

It spends a lot of its time hooked to the sawdust dispenser, but also does some raking, rolling, bale wrapping and post knocking.

Biggest bugbear?

Will Dirty cabs and windows. I don’t like sitting in a messy environment, but it’s also dangerous if you can’t see out properly and have rubbish under your feet.

It amazes me how some people are able to peer through a grubby, smeary screen without thinking to reach for a cloth.

What’s your everyday transport?

John It’s a 2004 Land Rover Defender double-cab pickup with TD5 engine. I’ve had it since it was a year or two old and it’s now on about 150,000 miles.

It’s been a good tool, but certainly isn’t as comfortable to drive as the new type. Maybe one day…

Will Until recently I had a Nissan Navara D40, which looked to be in good condition and had only done 90,000 miles.

The chassis was stuffed, though, and I sold it through We Buy Any Car before it snapped in half.