Page 22 - The Farming Years proof

FARMInG WITH HAY In MInD
The two acre paddock was dedicated to the two resident horses.
We bought Clarks Rothwell factory in May 1975 giving us a 2 acre paddock around the factory and an 8.6 acre eld. This we could add to the 2 acre paddock around our new factory (Hillside) with its 6.6acre eld. The elds with their total 15.2 acres were rented to a local farmer on an 11 month contract which we did not renew in 1976 so this increased our hay potential.
So here we are with the haymaking season a few weeks away and no haymaking machinery. I made contact with Wards the local Ford dealers who were distributors of agricultural machinery as well as Ford tractors which were the market leaders again. They had a vast area of used farm machinery that they had taken in part-exchange – so large I could even have a choice – just ideal. The fact I had bought several trucks from them did give me a good starting point with negotiations on price and the salesman had an interest in my ambitions. So I bought
A Ford 4000 tractor with a front loader
and a separate hay tedder...............................£1,050
A pick-up bailer ..................................................£285 Grass mower and fertilizer spreader .................£185 A tractor trailer...................................................£165
I then bought a new Vicon Acrobat hay rower from Westaways at a discounted price of £235. I later bought an elevator for help in stacking the bales. I did cheat by getting Les Gray, our engineer from the factory, to remove the petrol engine drive and t an elec- tric motor as we had 3 phase electricity at the farm.
20