Anglesey contractor Rhys Jones is the latest to open his shed in our monthly series.

We get the lowdown on the 24-year-old’s machinery fleet.

See also: Ultimate guide to buying a round baler 2022

How did you get started?

I’ve always been into farm machinery and, when I was at school, I was far more interested in driving tractors than studying.

I had big ambitions to go contracting so, at the age of 17, I got my first finance to buy a second-hand Case 140 CVX and a Bomford Hawk 6.5 hedgecutter.

This kept me busy in the winter and I worked for another contractor in the summer, mainly doing grass work.

After a couple of years, I’d paid off some of what I owed, saved enough money to buy a Kane dump trailer, and I was able to go out on my own.

Rather than compete directly with other contractors on the island, I set out to offer slightly different services.

A sprayer, fertiliser spreader and disc cultivator were soon added to the fleet, but, as I was short on cash, some of this kit wasn’t the best.

At one point, I was using a 12m manual-fold Jarmet sprayer and a tiny Vicon fert spreader behind a 200hp-plus John Deere, which caused some entertainment.

Since then, there’s been a been a lot of hard work and some very long hours, but it seems to be working out.

I’ve gradually upgraded the equipment and I’ve now got some good quality, high-accuracy machinery to work with.

How brand loyal are you?

I’ve never been committed to one brand. My first tractor was a Case, I then went to John Deere and now I’ve got two Valtras, which I really like.

Equipment has got to be good, but it’s the value for money, warranty and dealer backup that’s the most important.

The John Deere 6210R I had was a nice tractor, but I could get much more for my money with Valtra and the tractors are just as good in my opinion, if not better in some respects. I’ve been particularly impressed with the fuel use.

Favourite dealer?

I have a good relationship with a couple of dealers local to me, particularly DJS Hydraulics based in Amlwch.

It’s nearby, offers a great level of service and sells some good machinery. As a bonus, my brother Dafydd now works there, so I can call on him when I need something.

Favourite piece of kit?

I recently traded in my 2014 Knight K1840 self-propelled sprayer for a Kuhn Altis 2002 mounted, which has been brilliant.

It’s got a 2,000-litre tank and an extra 1,500-litres on the front, so it only holds 500-litres less than the self-propelled.

Plus, because it’s fitted on a 60kph Valtra N174, it’s much faster on the road and far more comfortable.

The sprayer is a big unit for the tractor, but it’s well balanced and has a nifty feature that allows both the front and rear tanks to empty simultaneously.

It works well and you really notice the difference in the handling if you set it to fully empty the front tank first.

There are some nice features, too, such as Isobus, electronic valves that you can control from the cab, auto-section switching and constant recirculation that means chemical doesn’t sludge in the boom.

I chose a twin-fold alloy boom rather than the neat rear folding ones to give some extra strength for the rough ground I work on.

I originally bought the self-propelled as I took on a large amount of maize spraying, but it turned out that I only ever needed to go on it when it was short.

And although it was great to drive in the field, it was slow and tedious on the road. Most of my spraying is grassland, which the tractor is ideally suited to.

Least favourite?

I’ve had some ropey machines over the past few years, but the only one I’ve got left is my 3m Daniele disc cultivator.

It does a good job, but the build quality is terrible and I’ve had to do some repairs and reinforcement to keep it going.

Originally, it had weak 4mm box section to support the rear packer, which snapped in half and was replaced with a length of 8mm steel.

The headstock also started to crack, so extra steel was welded in for support. The lack of metal meant I needed to add some weights to keep it in the ground as well.

I think the metalwork is OK now, but the biggest headache is that you can only get the disc bearings direct from Daniele, which is expensive.

It seems to be the only cultivator around where you can’t get the bits from somewhere cheaper like Agri-Linc.

One of the worst machines I’ve had to date is a 12m Jarmet sprayer. It was very cheap, but it kept breaking down and it was so badly made that the tank popped out of the frame.

In fairness, it wasn’t a contractor’s machine, but it was all I could afford at the time.

Latest purchase?

I’ve just bought a Kuhn GA 8131 twin-rotor rake to replace a Vicon 804.

I’ve heard good things from other contractors, so I’m looking forward to trying it out this season.

I’ll be running it alongside a one-year-old Vicon Andex 724 – I need to have two as my work is all over the island and it would be a challenge to cover that distance with one machine.

Oldest machine?

The oldest and one of the most reliable is my 2012 Teagle front-mounted flail mulcher, which has stood up to all sorts of abuse.

It gets used for site clearance, chopping down scrub that’s taller than the tractor. It has eaten all sorts of things over the years, from large rocks to carpets and a king-size bed frame.

None of it has managed to break it, but the bed frame took me two hours to extract from the rotor.

How long do you keep your machines?

I need my tractors to be reliable, so the plan is to keep them until the warranty runs out. Both of my Valtras are covered until 5,200 hours so I’ll look to change them around that time.

Other equipment varies according to the amount of work it does, but I’ll try and keep it as new as possible.

Because it’s just me doing the work and I have a lot of ground to cover, I need modern, high-capacity stuff that doesn’t break down too often.

Do you buy second-hand?

All the tractors I’ve bought so far have been second-hand, but I’m gradually working my way up to buying new ones.

That said, providing they’re on low hours and have got plenty of warranty left, I’m happy continuing to buy models that are a year or two old.

I got my 2018 Valtra T234 Direct in 2020 when it was on 900 hours and the 2019 N174 in 2021 when it was on 2,700 hours.

Most of the implements I’m buying now are new, but I wouldn’t rule out getting some simple items second-hand.

What’s next on your wish list?

I’d really like a wider set of discs as I’ve got the horsepower to pull them, and I could do with covering the ground a bit quicker.

A 6m trailed set would do the job nicely, and I’d probably go for the Kuhn Discover as I can get them from DJS Hydraulics.

I’ve struggled to sell the 3m Daniele set I’ve got now, so I might keep these and add a seeder unit for direct-sowing sheep keep.

Most embarrassing machinery mistake?

I haven’t done anything too bad yet, but I did spread fertiliser on the wrong field when I first started, and I hit a large rock with my old Krone front mower which totally destroyed it.

I was amazed at how wrecked it was.

Most recently, I looked away when I was moving the hedgecutter arm and flailed a chunk out of the tractor’s rear mudguard.

I think it’s about £270 for a new piece of plastic, but I haven’t pulled my finger out and ordered one yet.

Most expensive mistake?

I used to have a John Deere 6210R that was on 9,500 hours and the park went in the Autopowr transmission. The bill to get it fixed was about £5,000.

Best invention?

I made a simple roll-over sheet for my Kane half-pipe dump trailer with the help of my friend John Owen.

Proper ones were stupidly expensive, but ours was made from scaffold poles and a £70 sheet, so it cost about £100 all in.

What couldn’t you live without in the workshop?

I recently bought a Hitachi cordless angle grinder, and I can’t believe I managed without one for so long.

It’s brilliant being able to work on machines anywhere in the yard, rather than having to drive up to the workshop and run out an extension lead.

Favourite job?

Fertiliser spreading is the most enjoyable, mainly because I’ve got such a good spreader now. It’s a Kuhn Axis 50.2 with weigh cells, auto-section control with 24 sections and a 4,200-litre tub.

This means I can cover the ground quickly and spread incredibly accurately.

It’s also got the Optipoint system on it, which varies the opening and closing of outlets according to the type of fertiliser and how far it flies.

This took a while to get used to, but it seems to be very precise.

Least favourite?

Tedding – it’s boring.

Best tractor you’ve had?

The Case 140 CVX. It was a great tractor, but the main reason is that I was 17 and I managed to buy it myself.

It was a 2008 model and I got it from G&R Pykett in Derbyshire when it was on 8,000 hours for £21,000.

I put another 4,000 hours on it, and it didn’t give me any trouble ­– the engine and transmission were bombproof and it was nice to drive.

The main reason I sold it is that the casting snapped where the top link attaches. I got it welded properly, but I didn’t want to risk doing too much more hard work with it.

Worst tractor?

I’ve only had four so far and they’ve all been good. Ask me again in 20 years.

Biggest machinery bargain?

When my spraying work first took off, the area grew quickly and I couldn’t cope with the workload, so went in search of a front tank.

The ones I wanted were about £6,500 and I couldn’t justify it, so I decided to make my own.

I found an Amazone 1,200-litre tank for sale with Pontesbury Tractors for £120 and, with the help of my friend Kelly Owen, fabricated a frame for it. The total cost was £520.

Kelly’s no longer with us, but he was a brilliant fabricator who helped modify and repair several pieces of machinery for me.

What’s your everyday transport?

I’ve got a 2015 Ford Ranger Wildtrak with the 3.2-litre five-cylinder engine and six-speed automatic transmission.

It’s a solid truck with plenty of power and hasn’t given me any trouble. I bought it on low miles when it was a couple of years old and it’s only done 63,000 now.

Fuel consumption is about 28mpg when I’m cruising around, but it drops to about 19mpg with a heavy trailer in tow.