[AT] Potato diggers - now Wanted Equipment

[Herbert Metz]

Greg
A "Wanted Sign" along the road has worked well for us.   Horse needs 
company - brought results next day;   Fill dirt - took several months then 
had two different contractors respond.    Suggest having the bottom line 
(the wanted item) readily changeable.
Herb

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Greg Hass" <gkhass at avci.net>
To: "Antique tractor email discussion group" <at at lists.antique-tractor.com>
Sent: Sunday, January 01, 2006 3:46 AM
Subject: Re: [AT] Potato diggers - Slight variation
> First of all, Happy New Year to everyone.  Grant's post reminded me of 
> something that has been on my mind quite a bit recently. I have some 
> problems quite similar to his, one being limited funds and the other 
> farming only a little over a hundred acres.  I have no idea how many on 
> this list farm at all, particularly how many farm small acreages.  As I 
> have mentioned in previous posts, all of the machinery I own except for 
> the corn planter and skid steer is 30+ years old.
> I am generally on the lookout for various machines, but the problem is: 
> where I can I find them?  I used to be able to find some at auctions, 
> however the auctions that have the equipment I need have pretty much run 
> their course and auctions now are mostly large farm auctions.  Our local 
> machinery dealers have refused for quite a while to take any of this small 
> type of equipment on trade.  It is now rumored that our local John Deere 
> dealer (whom I do not patronize and who bought the dealership from the 
> previous owner 2 years ago) will not take any equipment over 5 years old 
> on trade.  Three miles from me is a local machinery jockey in his mid-30s 
> who handles just the type of equipment I need.  However, he is so crooked 
> that not even a flame wrench can straighten him out, which is sad because 
> our area could really use this type of dealer.
> My only alternative seems to be fence row hunting, which is difficult 
> because many of the fence rows are not visible from the road.  For 
> instance, my field cultivator and crop sprayer I got from a cousin who had 
> them sitting in tall weeds out behind the barn for 15+ years.  Both 
> required several hundred dollars in repairs to get them in working order 
> but at least now I have fairly decent, usable machines.  My roll-over plow 
> I heard about by accident.  A guy a couple of miles away had purchased it 
> on a deal with a used tractor and never used it.  It had been sitting 
> there for over 10 years.  The problem with this type of acquisition is 
> that in all of these cases I had been looking for the equipment for 3 or 
> more years before I found it.  Should I need a machine in the near future 
> they are almost impossible to find quickly.
> At the present time I am looking for a flail chopper.  For those not 
> familiar, they were a machine 5-ft. wide that cut hay with swinging 
> flails, threw it into an auger, which in turn augered it into a set of 
> knives which recut the hay then blew it into a wagon to feed the cattle on 
> a daily basis.  I do not have livestock, but on my limited acreage such a 
> machine would do a good job of cutting up the cornstalks so they wouldn't 
> pug my plow.  Twenty years ago there were hundreds of them in our area so 
> the problem now is to find one.  I have never heard of an online service 
> with listings of this type of equipment, although it would probably be 
> handy.  I know here's no magical anser to the problem.  I guess I just 
> needed to vent a little going into the new year.
> Greg Hass