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Anonymous-0

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Anyone else ever go though the problem of getting made fun of for using old equipment? As the smallest farmer in my group of friends, I am frequently told my equipment is junk and I have no farm, ill just say I am a broke high schooler working 2 jobs, all I have is a bunch of old equipment that serves me well and some ground I am renting. Someday I hope to farm my parents and grandparents farm but not yet. I also pay taxes which most of them don't and i have to buy my own seed and fuel which most of them don't. any advice to what to tell them? Its also frowned upon that dad doesn't farm much because he works for a big farmer. thanks and sorry for the rant
 
Doesn't sound like you are the one with the problem. Grow slow and steady with little debt and when economy takes a dump they can't take your paid off old equipment from you. When, not if.
 
Friends? If something is said in jest,that is one thing, If they actually ridicule your equipment, then I would not consider them as friends. They should be proud to know someone who is slowly but surely making progress. I think that when someone says something detrimental about your operation, I just might tell them what you told us, that you pay your taxes, buy your own fuel,seeds,etc. and ask when they are going to start doing likewise. Just hang in there and do what you want to do and don't let anyone sidetrack your goals. And good luck on your venture.
 
This is an old tractor forum. You got lots of friends here! Is it other young people making fun of you? If so ask them what tractors they bought and paid for with their own money. 100-1 daddy bought the tractors and equipment they use.
 
Mike, all my equipment is old. I am taking over the family farm. My tractors range from from 1950 to 1955. The newest piece of equipment was made in the early 1970's. All my equipment is paid for and I have more tractors that are operable than most of the local area farmers. Most have 2 maybe 3, I have 5. Each has a specific purpose and can be used in case one breaks down.

Do not listen to them. If it works is old and is paid for better for you.

Keep on doing what you do with what you have.

Leonard
 
(quoted from post at 23:51:43 07/03/13) Anyone else ever go though the problem of getting made fun of for using old equipment? As the smallest farmer in my group of friends, I am frequently told my equipment is junk and I have no farm, ill just say I am a broke high schooler working 2 jobs, all I have is a bunch of old equipment that serves me well and some ground I am renting. Someday I hope to farm my parents and grandparents farm but not yet. I also pay taxes which most of them don't and i have to buy my own seed and fuel which most of them don't. any advice to what to tell them? Its also frowned upon that dad doesn't farm much because he works for a big farmer. thanks and sorry for the rant
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Your definition of "friends" is definitely different than mine. I might call them acquaintances or possibly creatons. I refer to the Wikipedia entry for "Friendship" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friendship
 
I went through some of this in H.S. Ag class. But I didn't call them friends! I grew up on 160 acres, & the "Problem Children" as I call them, were on the 1000 + acre farms. I am not sure if a single one of them are still farming; but I am! Keep Your head up, & keep going! I was perfectly happy on a JD 60 when the neighbors were on there new JD 4440's, & 4450's. I LOVE TO BE DIFFERENT SOMETIMES!
 
I had a buddy that told me one time "You either work your way into business or you borrow your way into business" and he was dead on.I started my custom harvest business with a 615 gas combine that had a cab but no a/c(imagine 104 degrees in GA with no a/c) and a 4 row corn head off of a Ford combine.A little red combine with a big blue head drew me all kinds of comments from "It will never work" to"Thats just plumb stupid" but it is all I had at the time and it worked good enough to give me a start.Eventually I made enough money to buy a little bigger combine and I have been working my way up ever since.The combines I run now were built in the 1970-80's and are a long way from new but serve me very well.The best part is they are all paid for so no bank can run in when thing get bad and try to take them.I see people all the time get the "New paint virus" and way over extend themselves to start with only to go belly up when they cant make the payments.
 
I started with old Farmall, used equipment, home-made equipment made out of old windmill, old field roller made out of locomotive boiler, etc. Competition started out with brand new equipment that color-matched, all same year brand new same color, and given to him by his church..... he"s long gone, belly-up, and I"m still expanding.
 
Yup. Know the issue, friends they are not irritating they are, new paint and loans make you look successful until you go belly up, do your best to ignore them, 50 years using old equipment, still improving and making a profit, the rest are all gone
 
Just "Dare to be Different". That's pretty much how I lived my life and it came out pretty good in the end.

Don't try to be like everyone else. My brother started small with used equipment and expanded. After many years, one of the BFO's came to him and wondered why my brother's net worth was much larger than his. My brother is still wondering how the BFO found out what his net worth was; he suspected that the banker talked too much.

Remember: "If 2 people think and act alike, one of them is unnecessary - so don't let it be you".
 
Your only problem is your perception of who's a friend. You appear to be young and ambitious, have a long term plan for the future and realize you have costs. I'd say keep doing what you're doing. Work hard when you're young, because you slow down with age, learn to fix your old equipment when it does lay down, and learn the economics needed to run a farm like a business so you can be profitable. It's one thing to be big, it's another thing to be profitable. When you're young you think 20 years is forever in the distance, but stick to the fundamentals and when the time comes you'll be able to own your families land.
 
Your only problem is you don't have a sense of humor, they are going to be after you about something, might as well be your tractor. Some people's mesure of success is how much money they have when they die, others is how they lived.
 
First thing, you are not your equipment or land. Having new or big equipment doesn't make you into a better or worse person.

Second, hanging with a group of people that have lots in common will lead to ribbing you about what is different about you. If its truely mean spirited and trying to put you down then you don't need to be around those people. If its in good fun and they don't realize how hurtful it is you might want to try to understand its human nature to pick on someone slightly different.
 
If you try to live your life to please others, you probably will never be happy. You cannot please everyone, so please yourself and and as for the free advice, that is about what it's worth. Good luck and if you please God, He is the only one that matters!
 
I commend you. This country would be a lot better off if everything wasn"t so big and new. The guys with the new stuff are just working for the big corp. and don"t let them tell you different. You should be proud.
 
WELL WELL my boy here goes. Years ago this happened here with big farm outfit, new everything. Then one day the auction came along with the repro man!!! Those guys with paid for old tractors got some good deals on newer stuff!!!!!
 
Mike all we can tell you is hang in there
Mike I only hobby farm these days A little to supplement my retirement and a lot because I love farming and like you all my equipment is old and seems like something is in the shop broke all the time. But like so many have said the bank can’t come get mine. After retiring 12 years ago and moving to this small place and having people ask at the sales or farmers market while smiling are you the one farming that place I jest say yes and go on about my business remembering the conversation I heard earlier where some of the same ones were talking about being so stressed because they weren’t making enough money to keep the lenders happy, or they didn’t know what they were going to do next year. And then this year when it has been so wet and that new stuff is setting mine is to, all though not as much and I’m not worried the lenders are calling when the phone rings. As far back as you can find recorded The little guy with the older stuff out last the guy with all the toys.
 

Mid to late teen years can be really tough. Many teens like to put up a mean front just to be able to feel more like they fit in. Most teens feel like they are not accepted when they are actually well respected. Teens wear their heart on their sleeve and they get hurt. Just be your own person and in a few months you will be thirty years old and looking back on those great times you were having now.
 
You and your "friends" apparently don't share the same value system. To some people, bright shiny farm equipment is a badge of courage regardless of who actually owns the stuff. I applaud you for your thrift, work ethic and vision..and all at a rather early age. You'll do right well in life if you continue to heed your own heart and head and ignore those who would propagandize you with their own misguided understanding of life.
 
Value that which is important to you. I would bet few of them can begin to fix their dad's equipment and have none they call their own. Just smile inside and out on that issue. Ridicule from an idiot is irrelevant. Jim
 
Learn to ignore people,the real Idiots are those
that buy on credit equipment,trucks,houses etc that they can't afford and takes everything they have to keep the payments up.Sounds like you have financial common sense which is rare these days no matter where you go.
 
I know exactly what you are saying - I've been hearing it for 30 years.In my case I do it only because I enjoy it (I'm not trying to make a living doing it). Much of that old machinery was good quality and if someone has taken care of it over the years is still good quality and the cost practically nothing compared to new stuff. Instead of telling people you are a broke high schooler tell them you are a savvy business man who is smart enough to not run up a lot of debt trying to get started.
 
Mike a man named Dave Ramsey says "live like noone else so later on you can live like noone else". I have been using his principals for several years now. Yes it is sometimes hard to resist that new truck or tractor or whatever but then I think about the payments that I would have to shell out. That new truck won't do anything different than the 20 year old truck that I have now. If you are DEBT FREE now stay that way. One day when you want or need a newer tractor then you can pay CASH for it. You seem like you have things pretty well figured out. Stick with it and don't let what others have get in the way of your goal. They may seem to have eveything on the outside but they may be crying themselves to sleep at night trying to figure out how to pay for it.
 
If you are happy, have a goal in life, and a plan to get there, you are so far ahead of most of the young people in your generation that it ain"t even funny!

If they have worked harder and smarter than you in order to get where they are, then just compliment them on their success and move on.

If they are like one of my "friends" in high school who was a twin to the pillsbury doughboy, but drove a new cadillac to school back in the 60"s because of his daddy - that kid envied me and I could see it.
 
Sounds to me you are on the right track.I get my stones busted when I go to the local CNH dealer to get parts.I just chuckle and tell them I don't like plastic.Ignore them and do what you need to do.Thicker skin comes with age.

Vito
 
First..what you KNOW is far more important than what someone else THINKS. I learned that one awhile ago. Second..Ive been called cheap..and worse...but the thing I notice about extremely large family operations with brand new equipment is the fact that..when daddy's gone, suddenly the kids cant get along..and the operation goes "poof". So then the kids get to start over at where youre at(if they start over at all) at an older age. So then when youre buying brand new tractors, they will be coming to look at your old ones..
 
If they are talking about you only means one thing.

People with Great Minds talk about ideas.
People with average minds talk about events.
People with small minds talk about other people.

To me they see someone (you) that really wants to farm and will do anything to make it happen and they are doing it for another reason so they look for anything wrong with what you're doing. In time you'll find out they really aren't your friends. You're their friend.
You don't have to tell them anything. What you're doing will make you strive harder to get where you want to go. That is a rare but valuable trait these days.

My dad was that way with me. Lots of things I did he would look for wrong in them. He inherited his dad's house and homestead with 40 acres, his two brothers also got part of the farm. Our dad never wanted to leave his home place but the last 25 years he's let it go. Now mom can't get around well at all and he wishes they had moved to assisted living years ago. But he never takes the lead or initiative to make the change. His excuse is that it cost too much. But if he sold his homestead with a few acres they would have money to live in a nice place where their meals are prepared and he would feel like he has so much to do as he tells everyone. He tells everyone every time he wakes up all he can see is work. He had the chance to sell 2.5 acres for a new road to go in and he turned down over $200,000 for those 2.5 acres hoping if he fought them he would get more. Well they told him finally they weren't going to build the road.

Those who find wrong in others are only looking at a reflection of themselves.
 
I have the same problem, though not from "friends". I don't have many friends and none like you describe. I'm in the heart of dairy country. Around here when people say "a working farm" they mean a modern dairy. Amish don't count, a little 15 cow organic spread doesn't count, my sheep surely don't count. If you don't have the latest and greatest then you must be a "hobby farmer". It drives you nuts. So do what I do and ignore them. The big timers around me all cry poverty while they suck off the tax payers teat in a dozens different ways. I don't get any direct tax payer subsidies like they do, I use ancient equipment and everything is pretty much paid for. I'm building something that most of them inherited. Screw 'em.
 
Mike, No Rant taken! Sounds like these guys....
So-Called-Friends.....Are still Farming on Daddies Coattails + $$$$$! Dad Paved the way so they don't have the Sleepless nights Wondering How on Earth will they make a 500K note payment at the end of the Yr?
Dad Bought most of the Equipment, Fuel, Seed,,, You take that out of you bottom line you can have the newest tractor, combine whatever!
If I haven't missed my guess about you Most if not all you equipment is paid for. Just the yearly maintence bill but it is hard to justify some things when you are at a given size and most of those things your So-called-Friends are Riding Hard on You about is the LOOKS and you sleep well at night. Like the Financial Guru Dave Ramsey says Cash Is King in the financial world Not giving up Interest Pmts to a Bank or PCA Keeps your Money where it should be in your pocket ready to do what is needed at you Place!
Tell The So-Called-Friends ....To Go F--- Themselves as long as You pay the Bills at your House You will do what is best for You!
A Paid off 4230/1066 etc, is better than making pmts on a $80000 tractor Now! Maybe later You will upgrade when there is just reason to get a bigger HP!
You are A-OK by Me!
Also What does you Dad have to do with your Operation Again tell These So-Called_Friends You are at the same point where their Dad/Granddad was 50 yrs ago!
In the Movie "Mclintock" John Wayne s Character tell the young Hand that "Everybody works for Somebody"..... So what is your Friends point. You Teach school and Farm, Sooo What! You get a pay check every month and Insurance too in your Benefit package, But most importantly, you Impact young people in your community! What are they doing for the local Young people. Besides You have a birds eye view of future help at the Farm too!
Hope this Helps
Later,
John A.
 
I feel your pain. I too am a small farmer that is made fun of because of my "old" equipment and not farming 1000 acres like most around me. I don't own a farm, Just rent ground but all my equipment is paid for and I don't get loans to put my crops out. In HS in VO-AG class I was made fun of for my old "junk" I farmed with, But guess what I am the only one still farming after 30 + years! So I must be doing something right! Most older farmers tend to be very independent and strong minded and do things there own way, The big time guys seam to get there way of thinking from the CPAs and tax people telling them how and what to do to make money farming not them self. Be proud of yourself for what you are doing, You know what it means to work for every dollar you make and you seam to have a plan to get to ware you want to be in the future.

As for your buddies ask them what they would do if they had to farm with open station tractors(no A-C) no GPS to guide them and nothing computerized? I would bet they would say they would quit! A real farmer just grabs a jug of water and gets going. Tell them they need to get in style and be retro farmers. Give them some healthy ribbing about being computer geeks as they cant farm without them. Do what makes you happy and at the end of the day that's all that matters. Oh hears a picture of how I do things. Bandit
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Just tell them. That your old equipment. Will most likely. Still be running. When there new electronic controlled equipment is sitting in the scrap pile. Who cares what others think. If your stuff does what you need it to. That is good enough.

I am working on four old Fords. Oldest one is a 1948 model. Old but still doing what it was ment to do.
 

It'll take a while Mike, but the time will come when you'll realize these guys may not really be friends at all, but you'll come to know that there is more than likely more envy of you than scorn.

While you at your age are making your own way, buying your own materials, and paying your own bills, they sound pretty much like employees of their fathers'.
 
there is absolutly nothing wrong with using old equipment, it does the job, and you can usually fix it yourself , on the farm while their shiny new stuff must be transported to the dealer then much time spent figuring out just which electronic do dad is not working then transported home again, i use old equipment too tractors as well as trucks, example a new alternator today is around 250 bucks plus shop labor,i replaced the one on my '71 ford, - 35 bucks, 10 minutes to replace it, people who think you just have to have the latest and greatest equipment, should have heard what my old grandpa told me once after i asked him about the neighbors new tractor, and why he still had me on his old farmall M, he told me sure its nice and shiny , but it does the same thing your doing on this old M, the M has been payed for since the day it got here in 1949, that tractor has a heafty payment that goes with all that shiny new paint now who's ahead of the game ? you may work harder and longer to produce the same work as the new tractor, but hard work never hurt anybody
 
mike,

No worries - if you plant a crop and harvest it, you ARE a farmer. Be proud and stay on the path you are on!!!

My husband got razzed for driving an old vehicle when just out of high school... his buddy got a new one - BUT got it repossessed by the bank several months later.

Driving that old pickup enabled my husband to save up money for his future. A few years later, we met and married - and bought our farm the next spring using the money my husband had saved up as the down payment.

Once we bought our farm - my husband bought old, small equipment and fixed up to great running condition. He farmed with those tractors and equipment for 20 years.

We have only fixed up our buildings and home little by little to keep it affordable. And do most of the work ourselves.

We know a lot of people who live in huge new homes and drive fancy vehicles and they are always really stressed out by life and they work all the time.

Life is short - live it frugally so you have time to stop and smell the roses. Plus, you won't have to work until you are 80 because you are deep in debt.
 
mike ,, this post is a Booster shot in the arm for me... I get the same thing with my letter series Dc Case dinosaur tractors LOL , most everthing I work with was built 30 to 70 yrs ago ,newest thing I have is a 1998 bushhog 180 discmower that I bought for scrap price and rebuilt it,,flip side ,could had wheat harvest done if my unloading auger hadn't give up on my 300 Massey combine,,////////// I could not Agree with All the responses More ,, Especially the jealous friends ,,. These Guys Have DADDI -FIX to solve their problems ,, such kids .. until they finally GROW Up ,, Will put a Price on anything and a VALUE on Nothing .. and are what I call poster childs of the fools of LI Be raliSM
 
Most of my friends are smaller dairies like myself or part time farmers, so they run pretty much the same kind of stuff I do. Even some of the ones with better equipment have borrowed from me when they were broke down. Obviously the bigger operators around here can justify bigger and better machinery. Only ones I ever had comment on my junk were the former owner of my farm and one CaseIH salesman. The ones that make me chuckle a little are 2 hobby farmers in the neighborhood who have all new hay equipment for 15 or 20 acres. But its their money and its really just a hobby for them.
 
Mike,I too farm with junk.I'm 56,started with nothing(still have most of it!).I have also been made fun of for my old junk.I dont care,I thank God for the equipment,and for the ability to keep it going.But my equipmemt is pd for.I dont worry about high payments.I started with a JD 730 and bougth equipment as I could afford it.Someday I will buy a 1486,till then my old 1256 will do just fine.And,it will do as much work as the neighbor's brand new tractor.Ignore the other guys,you're on the right track.We are all proud of you,you got it figgured out. Steve
 
gonna post in YOUR STORIES a Family Story from the early 1930s that goes along with this , abo0ut my granpas struggles,.. so stay tuned ...
 
I know a guy that did like you when he was in HS. and college. He Farmed a little here and their with a couple old JD's. The locals kind of laughed at him at the time. Most people on this board would recognize the name if I was to say it. His son now took over his old tractor part business he crated and he's more than likely worth millions not to mention owning land all over the place. He still drives around in an 20 year old pickup looking for a deal on something or anything he an make a buck on. Not to mention the fact, HE COULD CARE LESS WHAT PEOPLE SAY OR THINK.
 
As you mature and your skin thickens a bit, you will likely find that "friends" who mock and ridicule you are no friends at all.

A neighbor once impressed on me his wisdom of "F--- 'em all and save six for pall-bearers. If you buy a light casket, you only need four." He took alot of crap from everyone all of his life and eventually weeded out all of the people that used him, constantly asked favors but never returned one, screwed him over, and those who were a friend one minute and mocking him behind his back the next.
You will do better without these people around you than you will do with them around you.

Best wishes in all of your current and future endeavors.

AG
 
Hey Mike.

I think the folks that like to look down on others frequently are deep in debt.

The same crew that buy a 50,000 dollar pickup truck to drive 10 miles to work and get their knickers in a knot if they scratch the bed.

Hang in there. things will resolve themselves.

Brad
 
I don't think I can add anything to what's all ready been said by a this group of very wise individual's. But I will share a very short story with you When I was in my early 20's I took a job with a large earth moving company here in Florida. The man that owned it must have had over 50 pieces of equipment very little of it new the ones that were new did not have his name on them and one day I ask why. He said that he had always ran equipment that was used when he got it but over the last few years he started buying a few new pieces a year to keep up with the other company's. On the few he bought new he would pay around 75% of the cost and the borrow the rest against his line of credit and then pay it off within a year. Only then would his company name go on the machine said he didn't own until then. He always had old machines to fall back own if times got bad. He passed away not long after I went to work for him and his sons took over the company went to buying new stuff as fast as the could and selling off the old equipment. Company was gone in 5 years. So guess what I'm trying to say is if and when you do get to point where you think you need some newer equipment be wise about borrowing the money and never get rid of that old equipment you can still make a living with it. Sounds like you have a good head on your shoulders keep doing what your doing and laugh back at the ones that are laughing at you. I hope I live another 20 years so I can see where your at and where they are. I'm betting on you Good luck
 
Hey Mike, I can relate to you a bit, I am 28 years old and just started farming in the past 4 years. I have older equipment, a couple WD"S, an oliver drill, and an older Case IH tractor, bought used or passed down from my grandfather. I still am in the process of buying used equipment at auction or from individuals. As for you and me, staying out of debt and still being able to pay off fertilizer and seed and other imput costs, we will be the ones making money farming and having fun. When you have a 100k dollar tractor and corn goes to 3.00, who is making money now.. you..and me.. not someone with a big bank loan. As for those "friends" of yours.. if they anger you so much.. find someone supportive to talk to.. maybe another farmer in your area.. who realizes YOUNG farmers are needed for the future.
 
I could run new equipment but choose not to based on the fact that it is not economically a wise decision. Big operators can spread their costs over alot of acres. Probably anything works if they are good operators and marketers. But, I see too many small to medium size operators operating like they are "big operators". Sure, maybe they can eliminate state, federal, and self - employment taxes, but is farming "on the edge" financially worth it? Interest and depreciation take too much of the bottomline if you are a small or medium size farmer. Dad never gave me anything and I now understand why as well as appreciate it. When I bought my first farm he farmed it 50/50 with me. The next year I farmed it, hiring him to do some custom work. After each operation I got a bill which I paid. I know many dad's in the county just did this and that for their sons with no pay expected. I realized quickly that I needed to be on my own. I could always rely on my dad, but he was making me self - reliant. Too many father - son operations are actually father operations with the son(s) as labor. The son never has to "step up to the plate". Certainly not all are that way, but some. The son never becomes independent - making decisions, managing money, sharpening marketing skills. There is nothing wrong with using older machinery and starting small. As you mature you will be proud of your accomplishments. As some of the previous posters have mentioned, I have seen many of the big time operators go broke and it wasn't even their money or land. True, most of this was during the early 1980's, but just think what they could have had today if they would have been better managers. Yes, you can't blame it all on high interest rates of that period.
 
Been told that my equipment it to old and out of date more then one time over the years and I say hey its my equipment and my farm I will do it as I want to and I get the job done and the best thing is I OWN it out right most still have stuff the bank owns
 
I know exactly what your growing through. My newest tractor is a 1974 model and the oldest is a 1940 model. I get frowned upon because I use a haybine instead of a disc mower, but I got what I could afford. A lot of those guys may be suprised one day and end up like me. I lived with my grandparents my whole life and took care of them and farmed 300 acres. All of our stuff was old but taken care of. We had a dairy farm but we didn't buy our feed from the local Co op like everyone else. Every two weeks we loaded the truck with corn and square bales and took it to a mill and had it ground. I slowly watched all the other dairy farmers go bankrupt and belly up while my grandfathers bank account kept growing, but it was because he farmed smart. We didn't have automatic take off milkers, or self feeders. We didn't need them, our way required more work but it was cheaper. My grandfather always told me I would be taken care of in the end for always taking care of them my whole life.When he passed one of his sisters who is way high up in the church I may add, had a fake will made up and took everything. I even had a signature analysis done and they said it was not his signature on the will they went by, they even went online as me and changed my home address which is a federal offense but nobody would touch them. I lost everything. They wouldn't even let me have my own stuff out of the house. Not even my toys I had growing up,my tools....nothing. So I had to start completely over from scratch, but I tried to apply what I had learned. I bought what I could afford and what I knew how to use. People make fun of me or give me strange looks quite a bit but this stuff is mine. Nobody can take this from me. I still use a side delivery rake, but it does a good job so I can't justify replacing it even if wheel rakes are faster. Just keep doing what your doing. Your on the right path, and like I said some of your friends may end up like I did with nothing.
 
It's all bottom line. If you are surviving and don't mind the way you do things keep on. Don't let anybody talk you into catching newpaintitis. That is a game for the ego driven.
 
Hang in there Mike. I farmed for over 40 years and all of my machinery was bought well used. Fix it up and go. Don't worry about what others think.
 
Just hang in there and pay no attention to what people say. I am 75 and what farming I do is with old equipment because it is my choice. Maybe it is because of my age or just because I am ugly but no one has made fun of me in person because of my old stuff. Then again I do consider it an honor to be made fun of. Probly the only way I could get attention, which most of us like. :)^D
 
All I can add is stay out of the bars, away from the bottle, and be picky about the persons you date. Not that you can't have fun, but RESPECT YOURSELF. Whatever your faith walk, don't give up on that, either (it may evolve over time but don't turn your back on your maker). If you have one true friend (could be your spouse) that is the greatest blessing in the world.

Don't forget to have fun once in awhile.

karl f
 
screw what so called friends say.when they go broke don't help them out cause they'll just take advantage of you.i know a guy that farms 200 acres,newest tractor is a super m.has nothing to do with the government b.s. the big boys are slave to.does old fashioned rotation corn,oats,hay,pasture,soybeans he processes himself for feed.few pigs,cattle,sheep,chickens.has a hell of a lot more money in saveings than neighber that farms 3000acres.
 
I use my old equipment for maintenance and gardening and don't get too much grief for it. Most people think it's impressive we can keep all the old stuff going. :shock:
 
The only thing big about 'if ya can't get big ya gotta get out' is the amount of BS that is. And the amount the bank will require before their auction is organized...
Tell them to tell that to the 1000's of Amish families that can buy them out with money left over. Tell that to the other 100's of 1000's of farmers... cause I don't think there are 1 million farms in the US anymore? Who still operater equipment their grandparents bought 40 or 50 years ago- or the handy amongst us who buy repairable junk and fix it to the point of doing what it was designed to do... which I thought was the object of the game?
The name of the game is not losing your shirt. If you are squeeking by day after day, going to the bank with a small deposit rather than begging for a big loan... then you already won....
Tell those guys to... agh.... what ever is fitting and tradition for your area to tell people who are a bunch of braggarts and BS artistin' wannbes... my choice of words would get poofed here real fast...
 
I dont understand the big thought either, you can make a very good living on no more than 200 acres,I had a 20 acre and it made as much as alot of 40 acre , but I used my old 620 and a 4020 that are paid for hired the trashing and hauling and still came out way ahead, I just tell them poor folks got poor ways I say work smart not hard and big.Heck when you die whatever, it stays here no one has left here and took any of it with them. ha
 
Been picked on for using newer equipment.

I work for what many on here would call a "BTO". Friends talk about us having the nice stuff while they are welfare farming. Then they hear that when we got a new 16 row JD vac planter we put it behind the 15,000 hour 4840.

The key stuff, planters, sprayer, combine, is all newer. The other stuff doesn"t matter so much, as long as it"s reliable. There is one new truck on the place (and the boss" dad says it will be his last truck), I spray thistles with a 16-17 yr old 4-wheeler, the truck I drive most is an 87 F-150 (both my own are 23 years old this year)

Will $3 corn hurt? Yes. Can the bank come take any of it? I don"t think so.

When you can step up to/ need to step up to bigger and newer equipment, be patient and start looking early. Took the boss a year to find the last truck he wanted, at a price that he was willing to pay. When you are a month from planting and need a planter, you have a lot fewer options and usually end up getting the first one that comes along just so you know you"ll have it.

Bigger isn"t always better, either. We are stepping me back down to 12 rows from 16 for next year. The 16 doesn"t match the combine, so my guess rows have to be perfect, and I can"t follow curves very well. I have to stop, back out, turn, and back in to plant my corners. The extra 4 rows doesn"t plant as significant a larger area in a day as the math would say it should.

And after 8 years driving OTR, then some life-altering experiences and a large cross-country move, I learned that good friends are hard to come by, but those who are your friend when you are helping them, or need your help, are a nickel a dozen. "Dime a dozen" rolls off the tongue better but they would be way overpriced at that rate.
 
Forty years ago this month, my sub pulled into Rota, Spain, and I was seperated about a week later. I didn't have a pot to pee in or a window to throw it out, a kid in the cooker and a rented apartment. I bought a house a couple of months later and started helping a neighbor with some hay. Then a few cows down on his place, and helping another aquaintance, an ex-Marine, on his dairy. That led to me planting some on the first guys place, and later adding a few acres of my own. In about ten years, I bought this farm, and have built it up to what it is today. And a lot of it was with used iron until about fifteen years ago. Patience and perserverance is the name of this game. And I have always gone with the thought that new paint costs a whole heck of a lot less than new iron.

So, be patient. The time will come, with hard work, and the willingness to not quit too soon, that you'll look back and wonder how you did so much years ago. As you age, you do slow down, so what you do now will come back to reward you later. You will be a farmer if you work at it, and pay the dues, and even the BFO's will admit it. It's not always a glamorous job, but an honest one, and the greatest way of living you can find.
 

What he said - you are doing a man's job and they're acting like kids - you'll win out over the long haul! Hold your head high, you're doing GOOD :!:
 
It is how "you" measure your success, not how "they" measure your success. I remember back in the '80s how a bunch of the shiney paint BTOs developed a craving for Humble Pie. Many went bankrupt due to owing on everything.

IMHO, you will be a success since you have a plan and you are working it.
 
You got tons of good advice here. All I'll add is that they would prefer you do things like they do because it would validate their ways to themselves.

People like us that had to forge our own way from the very beginning, every cent of it, sometimes have a tough go of it but it will serve you well down the road. Trust me on that.
 
Thanks for all of the comments, most of the time it is good old ribbing but every once on a while it crosses the line, I always hope one day i have to pull them out of the ditch with my 22 year old Ford truck or have to grind feed for them with the old gehl 100 and the WD. Whats most interesting is what I get for occasionally using dads old Case VAC, the "over grown lawn mower". One day the bank will get there new planter or big 4 wheel drive, while I can still farm on with the 190 XT. Its also how they think you have to have a new Deere, nothing else, not even a old Deere. Hopeing to own a 105 or 6600 along with a hundred horse tractor by the time I am out of school, now I work for a BTO but he understands the old stuff, its just not as efficient for 10,000 acres as the new stuff
 
Tell em to KISS YOUR GRITS.......

Theres not many advantages to growing older except for the fact I DONT HAVE TO PLEASE OR IMPRESS ANYONE ANYMORE. Im sooooooooo happy with who I am, my life, my choices, no need to have something bigger n better, no need to "Keep up with the Jones" Please yourself, not those A$$holes lol

Im kinda like the old gent in the song...

"Now he lives in the islands, fishes the pilons and drinks his Green Label each day, writing his memoirs, loosin his hearing, BUT HE DONT CARE WHAT MOST PEOPLE SAY...........Through 86 years of perpetual motion, if he likes you he'll smile n he'll say, Jimmy some of its magic some of its tragic, BUT ITS BEEN A GOOD LIFE ALL THE WAY

Learn to be happy with what you have (dont worry yourself with other peoples opinions) NOT what you dont have.

You dont need to please or prove anything to them or impress them (screw them), be happy with and please yourself. You ONLY have control over your own self NOT THEM so my advice IS NOT WORRY WITH THOSE A$$HOLES or what they say or think

Its been a good ride..

Ol John T
 
All the years I took grain to the mill, shipped milk, or sent beef to the auction house, never had any buyer ask me what year, brand or model of machinery it was produced with.
 
Keep your head up and keep working hard.

I was the guy that bought most of my equipment from the other "big" tree farms and nurseries. I was buying their "junk" for cash, while they were financing new equipment. Well, now after the recession/depression of 2007, most of them are out of business and had to truly liquidate because the banks owned them.

The ones of us that were a little wiser with our equipment are still chugging along, its been tight, but I still have a big smile on my face. they dont even look anymore as they drive by, and yes I am still using their old equipment.

Rick
 
Do you really know who you are? I mean internally, are you comfortable with yourself? Do you need peer pressure to make you who you think you are supposed to be? Who are these peers? What are they and where are they in their lives, but who really gives a shi#####. They have their lives and you have yours. Jealousy? Always present and a major contributor to problems.

I am a loner and don't need anyone to appease or entertain me. I am self sufficient. I was here before Pearl Harbor and usually get up at 6 AM. But a lot of mornings I get up at 5:30 or earlier just because I am ready for my morning coffee and ready for a new day.

Be your own man and you will be what you want to be and much happier. Screw your so called friends. Find some with merit or do without. You will be a better man.

Mark
 
Good used Equipment is fine . Caution, used worn out junk can look similar and be priced in the same as the good stuff.
 
Look at it this way, soon when you get where you really want to be you can say with pride and satisfaction that I DID THIS. You did biuld that! nobody did it for you .
 
There has been a lot of good advice given to you so far, so I won't repeat it, but will say this: anyone in high school now, even college, has not seen low grain prices in their adult lives. It is really easy to look successful with the strong profit margins we have seen the past six or seven years. So it is easy to get caught up in trading equipment more frequently nowadays than what it was years ago. Your classmates have never seen a bad year where they have had to scrape for a living, so that has shaped their perspective into thinking what they have known is the norm. Things will change, and when they do, you will be much better off than someone who has to send the shiny stuff back to the dealer just to afford to keep farming. I'm 31, so I can relate. My "new" purchase last year was a 1981 4640. It works great and I love running it. And its paid for....

Good Luck!
Lon
 
cant get the story to take up over in Your Stories ,I did print it off while the writer in me was engaged and awakened ..and I have it for myself . ,but yt will not place the text on here ???.. I do have serveral There that I am Proud of , Especially Eulogy for my Dad
 
I can always count on you for a line from a Buffet tune. And that pretty much sums up where I'm at today. John T I do believe this kid will make his way in life without being a burden to anyone else and be able to look back 50 years from now and say I've lived a good life and I'm proud of what I've done. I may be wrong but I don't think so
 
Mike, I farm 420 row crop acres, 1/2 corn and 1/2 soybeans. I'm small potatoes in my area. I found it amusing 8 years ago that when a different coop than the local showed up to do some spraying for me within a few years a lot of the big farmers started dumping the local coop and were hiring the coop I went to. The coop I went to has continued to give me great service and now they've got a whole new area that they never had before. I guess what I'm trying to say is that the big guys keep an eye on what the little guys are doing. My grass is greener than anybody else's. Just be yourself and do the best job you can, do that and you will be noticed. A little more about me and then I'll close, I'm 54 yo and started farming 35 years ago when I rented 160 acres crop share with little to no equipment, A 656 farmall,4bottom pull type plow, an old disk and a 494a jd planter that was wore out.
 
The way I figure it, farming can either buy the land or buy the equipment, but not both. My day job bought my land, all 25 acres, and the farming bought my equipment. My advice is run used equipment and try to buy the land when you can. You own the land, you make the rules.
 
Hang in there Mike you will probably be there on the farm long after your so called friends have burned through daddy"s money and swim in a sea of debt. I went through this myself and slept quite well at night . The only reason I am not doing it anymore is because I had to settle up with my siblings when dad passed. I have no regrets and would do it again if the chance arose.

JJ in Ne
 
Does the site only accept a certain amount of data at one time? Seems like Chris mentioned it once somewhere...maybe you have to break it down into 2 or 3 chapters.
 
Just remember the goal is to make money on the venture and it at least sounds like you are profitable as you already do own some assets (tractors and equipment) and you are paying taxes on that profit. That right there is impressive to me for a high school age kid. You already have way more figured out than they do - frankly they operating off of daddy's coat tails.

Heck when I was your age (in high school), I struggled to buy my own clunker car and that was the only asset that I could muster to purchase on my own and it was a $400 clunker. While I did have free use of dad's farming equipment back then (sorta free as I was also free labor on his acreage too so really the use was more of a trade). I did otherwise have to pay for all my own farming inputs myself: land rent, fuel, seed, fertilizer, spray, etc. Those were tough times back in the 1980's and it was difficult to make money. There were years that I was simply glad to break even so I could try again the following year. Most years I usually lost a little bit of money. Once it got to be a continual loser, I eventually got out. Dad continued on as he loved it and there were some tax benefits for him at least on some years for his real job so even when he lost money he often at least broke even with the tax benefits.

That said, If either of us would have had to count on farming to eat, house, and clothe us.... well we would have starved.

In closing, I think you are doing much better than you realize. So the question you need to ask yourself is: Do you want to continue to be profitable and continually sustainable with farming? Or do you care more about what those other simpletons think? Trying to impress them will only cost you money and gain you what...their blessing?
 
It's just the normal teenager thing. Teens will ridicule anything different because they are immature and think that they know everything.

This is a rite of passage growing up. Spent a good portion of my school years on the receiving end of it myself.

The key to it is coming up with a witty response. If you just get sad and mope away quietly they will continue. I'm not talking about something stupid like, "Well it's paid for." You gotta nail them with something that they're a little self-conscious about, like "at least I'm not banging so-and-so."

If only I had the quick wit that I have now, back them. I would've been the most popular kid in school.
 
you sure got a lot of great answers here,great bunch of people on this site,You sound like a fine young man,sure am glad you are on this site too.
 
Just ask them how much their welfare checks (farm subsidies) are. And tell them "you're welcome for my tax dollars". That seems to shut most BTO up..
 
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