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Power versus time

D

DavidT1

Member
While out looking at the drought wheat this year in the field and seeing what this years income will be from it, I got to thinking. How do many of you choose the best way to figure time you spend working versus time you save by spending it on bigger equipment? in the 30s to 70s my family always figured they would give up all the time to the farm to prevent debt of new and bigger equipment. Now that seems to be the opposite that many want to have all free time and are willing to have debt as long as they have that free time. You hear were some say they would not farm if they didn't have a cab and ac and GPS and so on and yet I personally would rather have older simpler and smaller equipment with less or no debt,(after this year no debt would be great). So just interested in how you calculate time versus debt. Thanks
 
Everyone is different. You tell me how much "free" time you want or need in a week and tell me how many acres you are farming and I will tell you what size machinery you need. You
will also need to tell me how much livestock you have.
 
Reliability was more important than capacity. Harvest equipment and livestock equipment got replaced when downtime became a problem (pickers, balers, combines, mowers, feed grinders, manure spreaders, etc.). If the price was right capacity would also be increased in hope of adding more acres. Tractors and tillage equipment were easier/cheaper to maintain, they were upgraded when more acres or livestock was added.
 
I think back to when my dad and his brother were purchasing equipment. With respect to tractors, after a year or so, they seemed to regret not going with the next size larger. They tended to purchase adequately sized planting and harvest equipment. Today, after some things that have happened, the farm is a bit "overpowered," but I have been acquiring equipment with the proceeds from the farm, and making a living off the farm. I find it better to have things go well, particularly when I am on my time away from my daily job. I would like to retire at an early age and have a decent sized farming operation to fall back on for my final 10 years of working before full blown retirement. That is part of the reason I am "overpowered" for the size of operation. I would also add that in years when the weather does not cooperate, having the larger equipment does have its advantages, too.
 
The rain and winter here don't really give a hoot about what
you paid or how big the machine is but my day job sure cares
about how much time I miss so I buy as big as I can afford.
 
I have to laugh every time somebody says that you have to figure your "time and labor". I'm a farmer,this is what I spend my time laboring at.
 
I more often calculate the time needed to do the acres you need done in a timely fashion.

We like to have our planting done in 15 working days. So we take the acres we need to plant and work backwards from there. Then work out the best deal on the required equipment. That is rarely the cheapest equipment either but it is rarely all new brand new equipment either.
 
I have no "free time " a good farmer ca always find some thing to do. And I buy the right size equipment for the amount of work that I
have to do. If the weather doesn't cooperate , it really don't matter what size equipment you have , you still get a poor crop. And you
debt should be structured such that one bad year shouldn't wipe you out.
 
JD,
Time is also money. How much do you lose each day if you don't get corps planted on time? Delays can be weather related or using old equipment having breakdowns.
 
I think I see where David is coming from. A friend of mine has no problem working 15/16/17 hour days. His life is his farm. He doesn't take time off, he doesn't go on vacations, he works. Heck living where we do he wants to fish but seldom gets out more than once or twice a year. I know other guys who want "time off". Those are the guys who generally own the newest/largest equipment. Each person has to balance their own life. If that life includes leisure time spent with family and friends or time spent pursuing hobbies that's fine. If the farm/work is your life that cool too.

When I was farming my rule was that I set a budget for "new" equipment and minimum size/capacity. If I could get something larger within that budget I got the larger item. Never know when you may pick up a few more acres.

Rick
 
(quoted from post at 14:41:08 08/15/17) I think I see where David is coming from. A friend of mine has no problem working 15/16/17 hour days. His life is his farm. He doesn't take time off, he doesn't go on vacations, he works. Heck living where we do he wants to fish but seldom gets out more than once or twice a year. I know other guys who want "time off". Those are the guys who generally own the newest/largest equipment. Each person has to balance their own life. If that life includes leisure time spent with family and friends or time spent pursuing hobbies that's fine. If the farm/work is your life that cool too.

When I was farming my rule was that I set a budget for "new" equipment and minimum size/capacity. If I could get something larger within that budget I got the larger item. Never know when you may pick up a few more acres.

Thanks for the reply's as all are very interesting and neat to hear how everyone plans. Oldtanker I think you were able to explain my question/thought better then I did. My great-grandpa never went anyplace and worked until he was unable to walk. He had his place paid for and the equipment, but he stayed with smaller well used and cared for equipment versus having a off farm life. It seemed like they loved the whole farm life back then, but beings I was small I most likely didn't see it the same. I farm part-time now and spend more time farming the amount of land that I have then needed, if I had bigger stuff, but I think IMO that time is the money side of it. Neat to hear the different ways of looking at it. Thanks
Rick
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