4Kᵁᴴᴰ March 2024: Ploughing ridging planting potatoes Massey Ferguson Grimme Valtra Kverneland

Kit in use;
Massey Ferguson 7S.190 tractor with Grimme Combi Star CS 150
Massey Ferguson 7S.190 tractor with Grimme GB 330 potato planter
Massey Ferguson 7S.180 tractor with Grimme ridger
Massey Ferguson 7S.180 tractor with FL4624 loader
Valtra S394 tractor with Kverneland LO85 seven furrow plough
Valtra T-Series tractor with Grimme GB 330 potato planter
Valtra N175D tractor with Grimme Combi Star CS 150
John Deere JD 6R 185 tractor with Grimme Combi Star CS 150
John Deere JD 6320 tractor with BE Wonder Wheel
Location: Eyke, Suffolk
Recorded 16th March 2024
#farming #suffolk #masseyferguson #johndeere #valtra #grimme #potato #potatoes #ploughing #kverneland

[@andyhutch8262]

Up to my retirement, the potato firm i worked for grew upwards of 500 acres each year, most on rented land. Pre planting, all land to be planted was ploughed 1st, 75% by me. How we ever finished was a bit of a miricle, we had a miss match of workers employed part time, liked nothing more than taking 1.5hrs breaks 3 times a day, they were the planter crew, 2 of them!, The worst by far was the bed former operator, liked to go slow dragging all the land first 2 or 3 times even good going like your pic, then at a steady 4mph row it up, all the rest of us were in a long queue!! The farm manager was not often seen, he & the bedformer driver were best of friends, easy to see when you saw them together.

[@MalcPearce]

Thanks Andy - interesting reading! 👍👌

[@colinmayes9446]

What a brilliant operation, it was like a ballet with tractors, thank you.

[@MalcPearce]

Glad you enjoyed it Colin! 👌😎

[@colinmayes9446]

@@MalcPearce Malc being an "Old Suffolk boy" myself, tractors hold a certain fascination, and at 76 years young I've seen lots of them but sadly never owned one, but I live in hope. Best wishes to you and the team, thank you.

[@AffectionateDriftwood-vr2sf]

I love how this is all synchronised! Awesome job that's efficient and keeps time spent down! Great job and looks beautiful in the field

[@MalcPearce]

Glad you enjoyed the video 😎👍

[@chrisclarke7828]

We all know that engineers invent machines and we should all admire their teaching and work but here you can see that the boss has some really excellent operators of the machinery and an applause is necessary for them.

[@MalcPearce]

It is a great team! 😎👍

[@cristineagu6920]

Beautiful and organized.

[@MalcPearce]

Thanks for watching! 😎

[@davidcollingwood1262]

Great overhead shots Malc. Serious kit there. 🚜🚜

[@MalcPearce]

Thanks David! 👍

[@mikereekie4948]

Impressive line-up of machinery. Lucky with the weather 2 unlike us up in Jockland.

[@MalcPearce]

Loads of rain in Feb and early March, been kinder since then.

[@AlfredJamesBent]

Impressive set up ,, never plant potatoes or anything else in the north west of England constant rain and very wet ground.

[@MalcPearce]

Thanks... we watch Olly Harrison's blog and it's always raining there!

[@user-zu6qn9ux9n]

You’re very lucky it’s dry enough to plant.

[@MalcPearce]

February and start of March were washed out, not been so bad lately.

[@CarlosAlberto-ii1li]

Forget casinos, this is one of the biggest gambles known to man.

[@MalcPearce]

I think they play to win! 😎

[@christopherbignell3342]

Good video 👍

[@MalcPearce]

Thanks Christopher👍

[@johnhill5806]

What was the machine on the John Deere?
Great video thank you 👊

[@MalcPearce]

That is a Bye Engineering Wonder Wheel - basically it is designed to stop irrigation water running away too quickly when the irrigators are working. It slows down the flow and helps the water stay where it is needed.
"The Wonder Wheel developed by Bye Engineering intercepts rain and irrigation water; greatly
reduces water run-off and soil erosion; reduces losses of soil, nutrients and agrochemicals;
conserves water and alleviates bed compaction. Leading tines generate a suitable route for wheeling
water, as well as heaving the edge of the bed to increase water infiltration. Secondary tines generate
free soil ready for moulding and the moulding wheels shape and consolidate the soil in the wheeling.
The profiles generated are “heaps and hollows” which continuously catch and dam running water in
small quantities." - Norfolk Rivers Trust website.
Hope this helps.

[@johnhill5806]

@@MalcPearce That is me fully educated on the Wonder Wheel 🤣🤣 never seen one before I’m fascinated my all farming machinery and that video certainly had the lot lol. Thank you for taking the time to explain that to me, very much appreciated 👍

[@essexfarmer9610]

@@MalcPearce When I worked on tobacco farms in Zimbabwe in the 1980s, they had a similar need for a machine to do that between the tobacco rows. They called it a potholer. It was working on 2 rows like this machine but it had egg shaped wheels with spade lugs for grip, and it had an arm behind it with a spade on it that dug short shallow hole every time the egg wheel went onto the low side. The irrigation ponded in the hole and no erosion.

[@MalcPearce]

As the saying goes, "there is nothing new under the sun!". 😁

[@paulstorer6937]

Great Video is all the machinery there own?

[@MalcPearce]

Yes Paul, it is. They cover a large area in East Suffolk and it is a slick operation.

[@user-zu6qn9ux9n]

No stones make a hell of a difference. You wouldn’t be ploughing like that in our ground😂

[@MalcPearce]

We are very lucky here!

[@hughmarcus1]

That can’t be this year. Look at how dry that soil is?

[@MalcPearce]

This was the 16th March 2024 in sunny Suffolk... 😎👌

[@davidsavill4205]

Boys land wish ,we farmed land like that

[@MalcPearce]

We are very lucky!!