Crops Away, and the new Walco Allspread 6.75 spreader

Direct drilled last Monday, the pasja's struck really well, only been six days!

First run with the new Walco 6.75 spreader.

Pleased to report it spread as accurately as the handbook settings said...., I was doing 40kg/ac DAP, 12 metre swath at 15 kmph.

A walk around the paddocks after showed distribution was happily satisfactory.

Got the same good result putting some urea on the paddock closed for Jan hay.

The bin will hold 1/2 ton no problem, but I had to work out a suitable driving technique, its not really wise to be doing turns at 15 kph with a load on the back, specially when I get up on the hills later on. Using the foot throttle solved the problem, slow down for the turns.

The handbook said work round and round for best spread, but with the GPS set on A to B, I prefer working in lands with a single run 12 metre headland across each end of the paddock.

Wasn't all sweetness and light however.

Real mission to mount on the tractor. I had to use outside extension pins to match the TYM's CatII linkage arms, and even then the width dosent match all my other CatII gear, so I'm going to have to frig round adjusting the shackles swapping between machinery, all this made worse by bugger all space between spreader bin and tractor, a frustrating squeeze for a bloke my size.

Bit of a bounce on my OD to fit the capital purchase in, but I got this idea, instead of one humungous annual fert bill, I'd do smaller one to three monthly bites of the cherry, as finances allow.

The 1/2 ton capacity allows for getting fert in Ravensdown's 1/2 ton bags, or, I can get bigger amounts in bulk, and load it with the old Same and bucket.

Yamaha Viking vs Honda Big Red

Have quite often looked up various ATV comparisons and reviews, mostly YouTube posts, and have been highly entertained by the comment, mostly American in origin and some pretty vehement, about performance and reliability of the different makes. Manufacturers, amusingly, aren't past slagging each others product either.
The old Taska Colt here has put in a creditable trouble-free year, but I have to admit, we could do with a better representative in the particular work-slot it occupies on the farm. Main problem, its an NZ put-together of Chinese manufacture origin, and although I thought any reliability problems could be negated by cheaper cost of replacement parts, this theory got blown out of the water when the parts supply dried up.
For a while, local 4WD supremo's Cowper Trucks matched parts, or made them up from scratch, but theyve run out of enthusiasm, understandably because of the dead time involved.
So, I resolved to return to the name manufacturers where servicing and repairs would be assured, and ironically, driving past the local Yamaha dealer's yard, I'd often spotted a Big Red Honda on the used lot.
On going in for a more detailed look I got presented with the new Viking with its attractive finance no deposit/2 yrs to pay package, and a weeks trial offer, one I couldn't refuse.
Well, the Viking was great, a real man's machine, looked good, felt good...

• ton of grunt
• fast
• superb suspension over the mogul section of our farm access race
• excellent over rough ground, (longer wheelbase big help here)
• great hill climbing
• without peer down-hill engine braking
• loved the controls, dial up drive, dash-mounted handbrake, passenger grab bar
• comfortable seat and driver position
• stack of room in the cockpit

But I didnt buy it.........
Thought I might as well try the Honda, and finished up deciding to take it instead for the following reasons...

• beside the Viking its a bloody ugly duckling, and its harder to get in and out of, but its closer to the "motorised wheel-barrow" job description required here
• its 4 wheels are the same size, for the life of me I cant see why Yamaha put smaller wheels on front of the Viking
• I like the Honda's bar-treaded Maxxis 25/10/12 Big Horns all round
• consequently its good in the mud and climbs hills real good, albeit you have to attack them a bit because of seeming higher geared
• and isnt so good downhill, poor engine braking by comparison, dont know whether its because of low engine compression, or the auto gearbox/clutch not handling the task, or the gearing referred above
• Dunno about the auto gearbox, thought it would be better than a CVT belt, but the mind of its own on this installation dosent seem quite with it. The old Taska had a manually controllable 3 speed auto hooked up to a 600cc twin, a much sweeter match.
• and while on the negatives, the short wheelbase and suspension give you a bumpy ride by comparison
• however.... the Honda's much quieter, I need to be able to potter round the lambing paddocks, tagging newborn lambs etc, without startling the natives.
• I also contemplate pasture spraying which needs to be done at a constant 17-20 kph, the Honda will do this without an accompanying noise factor, the Viking will require earmuffs
• and the Honda can sweetly follow at a slow crawl a mob of sheep in from the back of the farm. The Viking just couldnt do this, its either stopped or going, snatch/grab like a snarling caged tiger, and just as bad in low gear
• the Honda's cargo bed is all plastic, an advantage over the Vikings tin bed inviting rust under the optional bed-liner which you have to buy as an extra. The dogs handle the jump-on over the rounded back and sides better, and I dont hear any scratching and scrabbling around, so they're keeping their footing pretty well on the plastic too.
• I've been feeding hay off it for nearly a month now, and am pleased to note the headboard's high enough hay isnt falling down the front of the deck, and there's no potential fire hazard build up. The engine's well shrouded as well. 
• the Honda's only a 2 seater, the Viking 3, but honestly, when would I be carting 2 other passengers around. Cant carry as much gear on the floor as in the Viking either
• the handbrake's under the seat, despite the dash warning light and the best will in the world, I still now and again forget to release it, cant beat the Viking's up on the dash
• both vehicles thoughtfully provide drain holes in any areas that catch water, except the Honda has handy little trays behind the seats that dont, neither has it got a dash pocket with a lid

So that's about the extent of the issues that concern me on both vehicles. Nothing much between them 700cc engine wise.
If I had 1000 acres or more and wanted something capable of getting to all corners of the estancia including the least accessible, and back, with grunt and power, then its the Viking, specially if other personnel to be carried.
The Big Red suits my more laid back requirements.
You might ask why I didnt try the new Honda Pioneer, well I did.
Didnt get off square one..., its designed by someone with a 34" waistline, I just didnt fit behind the wheel!

Viking - sexy good looks

Bread and butter Honda cockpit

All plastic cargo deck an advantage

Like those 25.10x12 Maxxis BigHorns all round

Zuk - The gremlin returns...

After rejoicing over the faulty distributor discovery and the subsequent fix, 6 months down the track the engine splutter and miss returns.
Rob reports the engine shuts down completely if you turn on the wipers or lights.
I give up, so its out with the tow rope, and in to Dion at Wanganui Auto Electrical, with instructions to submit it to Auto Electrics 101.
Didnt take them long at all.
The main earth cable, (multi-strand copper is it?), has corroded away and the strands a brittle mess.
New earth cable, and we're on the way home and back to work.
Hasnt looked back since, and the engine temp's behaving itself even better.

More on the Quad Bike Issue

Another child's lost it's life in a quad accident, 6 year old, rolled into a ditch and pinned under the machine, had a helmet on but that's no protection against water, and the weight of a quad on a small body.
Public reaction's reached a crescendo with one recent letter to the editor of the DomPost stridently advocating policing and fining of farmers not obeying OSH recommendations, that should be made into law, and policed whatsmore.
Just how he thinks that's going to happen worries me as a land-owner. Are police going to run spy drones over farmland or what?
If this is an indication of Wellington sentiment, then Prime Minister John Key only got it half right when he said, in a misquoted context, Wellington was dying. I'd say its already brain-dead, particularly when you add into account the ongoing NIMBY saga's of resistance to any change, the Basin Over-pass, the Kapiti Expressway, and the preference to impose on one farmer's life with the Transmission Gully project instead of the cheaper re-location option of the 75 or so householders to upgrade the existing highway route.
Fortunately, a voice of reason appeared on Friday in another letter to the editor, from none other than the Operations General Manager, Work Safe NZ, who reiterated the four principles; always wear a helmet, choose the right vehicle for the job, be trained and experienced enough for the task, and no kids allowed.
Although it conflicts statistically with a coroner investigating 5 quad related deaths, she also said there was only one quad related workplace death in 2013, and the message was getting through.
Alleluia.....
People like Gerry Cuneen who advocate getting tough on farmers need to realise just how severely bureaucratic attitudes affect employment, I won't employ people, full-stop, if I'm to be responsible for every foible of their character.
And as for kids on quads, I got sick to death years ago, of visiting townies turning up here with undisciplined kids whose ingrained belief was that they could have a burn around on somebody else's $15,000 machine, then look at me like I'm some sort of shit when I wouldn't refill the fuel tank for them.
Those days are long past.
I saw a statistic some time ago, that 45% of farm related bike accidents were actually ocurred by visitors.
Thankyou for your comment Work Safe Ona de Rooy.
I've had bikes on this place since 1965, I dont wear a helmet all the time, but I always do if the task might eventually include risk.
I do service and maintain my machinery regularly, and generally look after them, always have.
I have a range of machines to select for different jobs.
I rarely let anyone else drive or passenger on them.
My father was an ag contractor/farmer, an artisan at his ag work, and a stickler for looking after machinery.
That's my grounding, he put me in control of a tractor in my early teens after riding with him since primary school age. I got severely reprimanded for the few minor accidents I had, and touch wood, have never had an incident of import since, mainly due to never exceeding around 20kph, I think.
I've noted recently, OSH personnel saying theyre targeting older farmers for their arrogance on this point, and that we're just as likely to be involved in serious incidents.
I'd say that's more a quirk of the farmer demographic being loaded to the over 50's age group end.
I'm just waiting for the day OSH turn up here to give me the once over, probably female, half my age, getting paid twice what I make off my humble "square", and telling me how to suck eggs.
But I hope its Ona de Rooy, or someone she's trained to be as realistic.
Just read that 8 people died last year in bicycle accidents on the road. I wonder if the Wellington PC police are going to start preventative surveillance on townies.
So far as us rural folk are concerned it would be far simpler to deny ACC payout on any claim where breach of the 4 quad safety rules was evident.
In the meantime, we should do a lot better at being safe on quads, not so much to avoid personal injury, but simply to avoid the attention getting focussed on us by, and any further growth of, the PC police.

Motorcycle Helmet

Scorpion EXO100

When in PN yesterday I bought a bike helmet on special from ANZA Motors Harley Demo Day, a  Scorpion EXO100.
Open face model which will earn me criticism from the full-face brigade. Such critics argue there's no protection if you fall face first, but ignore that lack of a visor riding into the sun is pretty imperilling with full-face, this one has a visor. Its also got a flip down sun lens, and have to comment its one of the best shaded lens I've looked through, excellent definition and very little dimming of the vision, and lovely range of sight through to the peripheral. Easily removable, and a clear one comes with it. The visor clips off too.

Riding home from PN, I didn't have a face scarf, but wind wasn't unpleasant. The wind noise is a bit distracting however.
At the sale price, $149 incl, it would make an excellent round-town lid, but I had farm use in mind if I wasn't bowled away with on-road suitability.
Bugger the full-face critics, most cops round the world wear this model, and as far as looks go, its a stunner. OSH have a real problem getting farm people to wear helmets on bikes and quads, and I think the main drawback is the models available are so, so, plain DAWKY.
A model like this, boys will be boys couldn't help wanting to put this one on!
Its really comfortable on, maybe a little on the heavy side.

Zuk - back on track

Nothing worse than a bit of machinery out of commission, its not so much the cost of repairs that's the bugbear, its the loss of use during the down-time.
For almost 12 months the Zuk has had a mystery miss in the engine. Some days it would run fine, others it would fart right down to a stall, most inconveniently under a bit of going up-hill effort.
I started by replacing the fuel filter, thinking that the intermittancy of the miss-fire suggested fuel blockage rather than electrics, but no go. Other experts, (always plenty of free advice available), suggested water in the fuel, and I thought, oh no, not that please, the tank is mounted behind a crash plate that would need half the rear frame removed to be got at.
My auto-electrician said a faulty coil can cause behaviour like that, so I put in a replacement igniter, still no solution, so while I was at it, I replaced the plugs, leads, and main lead. This created a real problem, one of the bakelite plug caps had stuck itself firmly on the plug, (they're quite long to get down through the overhead cam cover to the plug). I had to smash it to get it off, and mate Gareth tipped me to use the air compressor to blow the bits out before I attempted removing the plug. This was plug No2, and I went into a several month mental seizure before I got the gumption up to tackle the last two, which in Murphy Law tradition literally fell out, they were so easy.
But..... the miss was still there.
I'd checked the compressions while the plugs were out, and they were all OK, which sort of satisfied me that maybe the head gasket wasn't stuffed, but there was still an overheating problem underlying all this carry-on.
I consulted the chat sites, found a heap of threads voicing problems similar to mine. The most likely one was that there was a leak in the ignition advance vacuum line, check that, couldn't see any likely breach, but went over the whole air intake line and made joints as secure as possible.
Still no improvement.

Time to call in an expert, Dan Cowper, renowned off-road truck builder lives just over the hill from me. He jumps in, fats off up the road and back, and true to Murphy, Zuk behaves herself impeccably, and Dan dryly remarks, "No charge for the fix".
Jesus.... so off I go couple days later out the back of the farm, and Zuk does a complete stall on me. So I'm sitting in the sun cooling my heels, and my temper, doing the odd lap round the Zuk, searching the sky for inspiration, etc.
Gazing round under the bonnet. The distributor cap's bolted on rather than clipped as more usual with distributors, and a glance round the bottom side reveals the bottom fixing bolt's missing. I hadn't bothered to look under the cap before, thinking bolted on, cant be a problem there.
Well, bugger me, when I took the cap off, there's so much rust flake fluffing round inside like you wouldn't believe, the contacts are green with corrosion, and the carbon high tension button is missing completely. Gave it a scratch-up all round with the pocket knife, and scraped as much of the rust out as I could, and voila! Zuk roars into life.
So, back home, good blow out with the compressed air, new cap and rotor, and the engines running like I cant remember.
But, the troubles don't end there!
A clack, clack, clack, starts up somewhere under the front end. Oh no..., CV joint?, universal?, gearbox?, transfer case?...
I check the wheel nuts driver side, they're OK, don't bother about off-side.
Call Dan in again, he walks round the off-side, all the front wheel nuts are loose. "No charge for the fix", says Dan again. Strangely, the steering isn't wandering all over the place now either!
Anyway, happy ending, and to cement that in have tek-screwed on some mudguard flare extensions, so I can drive round with my elbow on the window sill, and not get mud up the side of my face as well.
At the Mystery Creek Field-days noticed at the Suzuki Stand, soft tops on the farm Jimneys, on enquiry have been able to get one from the Wanganui assembly plant. Built for the longer Jimney deck I've had to cut the back end off, but I've got it rolled and bungeyed to the windscreen front edge, for unfurling in the inclement weather.
Tek-screwed a rubber mat to the inside of the tailgate to complete the touch-ups.
And with the engine running as it should, miss-free, the over-heating problem has abated.
Can't help recalling the old rule, if an engine's not running right it'll be 90% ignition the problem.
Anyway. Joy........

Review: TYM T723 4WD Tractor

Bought this tractor back last November, so like with the topper, have had it long enough to settle on an opinion, having just completed the crop-regrass cycle. Again the opinion is thumbs up, and more so.
Have to hand it to the the South Korean manufacturers, TYM, nice work.
I was initially attracted to the heavier, (than you see elsewhere in similar sized tractors), build of the mechanicals, axles, diffs, g/box etc. Now all that remains to be seen is how reliable and durable a piece of machinery it is. I'm betting on the good side.
I've come from running a 40 odd year old cab-less Same Minitauro, which I've incidentally kept as a FEL drone (the PTO's stuffed enough I cant face exploring repair), with just a few years interspersed with hired JD 6310's, so my gee whizz comments might seem ho-hum to some readers.
Big thing to keep in mind, with manual gears rather than electronic, this is a budget package, an NZ$ mid 40's bargain when I got it, but justifiably increased since.

Its got the 3 cylinder Perkins swept to 3.3 litres, 73 hp. Interestingly, it sure does the same work easier than the old 56hp 3 cylinder Same, but using more diesel to do so, surprised me a bit, was expecting the other way round. Have settled on working at a 2000 rpm sweet spot, but seems to be racing at that compared to the Same.
Other comments, no particular order, just as they come to mind.
As in the pic, it came with the front-end weight set, it needs it, weight centre feels back a bit, so the bigger front tyres are a help, and the power steer is a dream, so is the lock/turn radius.
The bonnet catch is easy to locate, and the hood a nice simple strut assisted lift and hold. No header tank means you have to open the radiator cap to check the coolant, bit of a nark too high to look down the filler, instead put a finger in. The oil dipstick can be checked without lifting the hood.
Diesel filler cap bugs me a bit too, can only be opened unlocked with the key, and the filler spout too small to upend a 20 litre container direct into without spilling the first glug. Mod called for here, bigger throat and cap needed.
Cab doors, (lockable), open and shut OK, given the cab's pretty airtight. Nice big grip on the steering wheel, and as mentioned, the power steer imparts a real light feel.
Everything in the cabs got a decent man feel about it, no crappy plastic.
This model doesn't have any fancy power shift, which is a big part of the competitive price. The clutch, which you have to use for all changes, is pretty sweet. There's 3 ratio range shifts, and there's no ground speed overlap with the 4 main shifts between ratios, ie. 12 shifts linear. The range shifter graunches if you're not completely come to a halt, but the synchro on the main shifter is so good it works just as fast as a power shift, even working the clutch.
Not having to be concerned about possible expensive power shift/shuttle breakdowns is a plus in my book.
There is a forward/reverse shuttle lever, works with the foot clutch, works good with a single movement, not so good if you let it lag.
The throttle lever's a bit poky, might try and put a T-bar on it one day.
Brakes are good, separate pedals give enhanced turn, but the dash clipped parking brake is just as easy to forget about leaving on, stamp on pedal to disengage.
The clutch pedal's got a hold open clip, for long term park up clutch freeze avoidance, but I cant see I'll use that much. Depress clutch to get key start to work.
There's a lot of control offered over the PTO, but I only use the live all times option, with the quick on/off button on the dash.
I like the seat spring height adjustment, the dial's numbered looks like with driver weight, I turned it to setting '90' and it's just right for me. Small seat, but I've done long days in it no discomfort, no side arms but that's great for turning round to look at things. I would have liked a tractor with a training seat too, but you cant have everything.

I love the cab. A/C on hand, leave the fan on 1, adjust the temp according. Hardly use the side and rear windows, and the roof hatch only for putting the magnetic base GPS aerial out on the roof.
Radio reception's good, talk-back in the mornings, classic hits FM in the afternoon, engine's a bit loud but I'm not going deaf adjusting radio volume to suit. CD player included, or you can plug in an MP3.
Usual other stuff, cigarette lighter plug I use for the GPS. Lights and wiper switches are pressure pads in the side pillar, had me confused, took me a while to find them.
Lighting's great, and the wipers are too.
Rear fenders are a bit light, need to be careful not to break them I think.
Solid stable hydraulic arms, CatII self-hitch, I'm in dreamland swapping implements compared with before.
Overall, simply a joy, I could work in it all day.

Review: Fieldmaster GMT230 Topper

Had this machine coming up 12 months so sufficient time to settle opinion.
Basically, its thumbs up.

Pros:

• solid construction, heavy duty gearboxes
• easy to mount and dismount to/from tractor
• thing I like most is the height adjustment, undo 4 lock nuts, turn the top screw to the required setting, there's a scale pointer marked in inches. I've bought a purpose wrench handle and appropriate size socket which I keep in the tractor
• looks like the skids are reversible, handy for when they inevitably wear
• joy..., have discovered it handles small to medium rushes, as in pic
• mulch function great for cleaning up crop stubble, cali's etc, ahead of direct drill, I think the fine mulch is a benefit to the organic matter hamper. I've got the triple blade tip mulch option

Cons:

• don't think it covers ground quickly, I've settled on 8-10 kph ground speed, rather the efficiency is in its width. There again, I enjoy working slow, and its a great way to make gear last a distance
• dosen't cut cleanly in some going. I think this is a result of blade rotation direction cutting over rather than against the "nap" left by the rear tractor tyre, requiring at times some overlap of swath and resultant loss of cut width efficiency. On the other hand, on cut targets that stand up, like rushes, it works really good, so am not complaining, plus you can jiggle with the cut height and sometimes get under the problem
• cost, here in NZ $11k odd plus GST, that's about 25% of the purchase price of the new TYM tractor its attached to. I traded my 9' roller seed drill to get it, a fairly close swap

Rational thought on the Quad Bike safety Issue

At last somebody is applying some rational thought to this issue, and how pleasing it is coming from Fed Farmers own spokeswoman on Health and Safety, Jeanette Maxwell.
In a recent Dompost article she asks the question why the intense media scrutiny on farm quad accidents, 7 fatalities and 84 serious harm notifications last year, on around 100,000 machines on NZ farms, while on the road, there were 42 people killed and over 1000 seriously injured, on significantly fewer machines.
She dosent say how many road bikes there are, but looking up the govt stats it looks around 65,000.
At least that was the figure in 2007, and it dosent appear to have changed much since, despite a rush of new bike registrations in 2008.
That's around 7 times more road deaths per 1000 machines than on farms. Good point.
Simple conclusion is coroners and OSH staff havent got enough to do.
Farmers are always a good captive audience to wring a few more bucks from.
She goes on to quote other sectors such as water safety that say education is crucial, and excessive regulation, such as road machines are subject to, dont necessarily improve the stats.
If us farmers are going to be subject to more regulation, we're entitled to know why and what for.
Of course the nation could fix the accident rate over the whole spectrum in one fell swoop by getting rid of ACC so accident injuries become user pays, and businesses and vehicle owners could save a packet in ACC levies.