Farming like its 1960

In 2021 our 1960's Combine Harvester, Chantelle, caught fire, our Oats were a little damp, our Bale Sledge didn't slide and our eldest son Rupert ate all the blackberries!
Last year we harvested 60 tons of Winter Oats and baled 2000 small bales, before planting Winter Barley to be harvested this summer alongside a newly establishing Wildflower Meadow.
Over time the Old Man has acquired a range of eclectic and well-tested farm machinery, and this was our chance to put it to the test!
It isn't sensible for us to buy entirely new or more modern equipment considering the size of our land parcel and our long term aims to move toward environmental land management as part of DEFRA's countryside stewardship goals, so it was time to knuckle down and farm like its 1960!

[@mkwy8782]

I was 7 years old in 1960...the oldest son. 120 acre farm. A 2 and a 3 bottom plow. 2 row planter. 4 row cultivator. A single row corn picker. 10 foot drill. A pull along combine. 12,000 chickens we fed by hand. 20 sows-farrow to finish. Fed out 20 steers. Dad worked in town. I plowed, disked and harrowed a lot...and cultivated. My sister-who was a year older and I fed the chickens and I fed the steers-climbing up the silo in the winter and throwing down silage. The good old days ;)

[@dwightl5863]

How were you so accurately plant with a 2 row planter and be able to cultivate with a 4 row cultivator?

[@baronsdownfarming]

You are in a generation who have lived through an incredible period of change!

[@mkwy8782]

@@dwightl5863 The land was flat and my father was very precise.

[@peejaygeee]

Great and heart warming video. Spent a lifetime with farmers large and small. MF distributor in sixties and own mobile Agricultural Engineer for rest of time to retiring at seventy, all makes and models and industrial as well but happiest out in the field. Wonderful people and great machinery in all weathers. I watched this man making an adjustment to the combine and just wish I could be there to help, getting on now but still get about among old customers and help with preparations for hay and harvest etc. wish you a long and happy time a video to lift the hearts old blokes to be sure.

[@baronsdownfarming]

A lovely comment, thank you. Episode two (our second year) coming out tomorrow!

[@jenimcqueen7431]

Growing up on a small farm has to be the greates life ever and you will never know it until you get older.

[@mindseyeimaging]

Brings back memories when i was a kid an my dad worked on the farm,taking my dads flask of tea and old gas mask bag for a lunchbag full of sandwiches when he was combining . The Life was so slower in those days, when we mived to the farm in 1976 there were 8 full time workers, it was originally beef cattle and arable, when my dad retired in 1997 there were two men, now theres no full time Workers and all work is done by contractors in hrs not weeks, a real sad affair. Thank you for helping bring back the good old days , brought a smile to my "57" yr old face

[@baronsdownfarming]

Pleased to hear it. There's definitely something to be said for taking more time, too.

[@jvin248]

"The old man put the roller on Percy.. because he likes it better.. Percy doesn't have any brakes." My father was not much for brakes on a couple of his tractors too.

[@thomasjones3946]

Thanks for that brings back a lot of great memories might have been hard work but didn't know any other way at the time 👍👍

[@damienaylward]

Fantastic video..brought back great memories when i worked for a local farmer back in the 80's too the mid 90's..was so impressed with his massy ranging from a 135. 165 168 188..within 7 years moved on up made the 165 redundant and invested in a 240 and a 390.within 2 more years the 168 became redundant and he bought another 390T..was mainly into patateo's and tillage barley and winter sugar beet. Always more so enjoyed summer patateo picking 4 stone paper bags back braking work shaking stalks and filling bags. Personally my favourite tractor at the time was the 188 white tarpoling cab plastic windows except the windows on the door and windscreen wiper was pure crap..but over all that 188 was a great tractor well able too pull the 390 out of the odd trench in the headland now and again while rotavating..👍👍🤣🤣🫣🫣🤟🤟Again great memories thanks for your video and hope terrance and percy are still doing great work for you..👍👍🤟🤟💕

[@baronsdownfarming]

Percy's brakes as suspicious as ever!

[@stephenpoessl5464]

Brought back memories for me with the combines and the tractors. The first tractor I had was a fordson major with no cab I also had Ferguson 65 a Nuffield and Finnished with a Ferguson 165 all the tractors I drove where all polished and I looked after them.

[@baronsdownfarming]

Our tractors came to us in a state of disrepair, unfortunately. It does give the old man plenty of reason to try and improve his dubious welding.

[@madeljacky]

Brilliant video you made there, shows that not everyone needs or has brand new plant to work with. We still farm with the old gear as well as some modern stuff, the spring barley is drilled with a 1966 Massey Ferguson 135 and a 1982 Massey 30 seed drill, we spray it with a 1974 Massey Ferguson 185 and 12 meter Hardi sprayer, cut it with a 1974 New Holland 1530 that has a 10 foot cut, turn the straw with a Jones Mini tedder and square bale some of it with the 185 and a Jones 12T square baler from the 70's. We do plough with a 2001 Massey Ferguson 6270 and four furrow reversible 160 headstock Kvernland model E plough from the late 90's and power harrow the ground with a 1998 Maschio 3 meter power harrow, some round bales are baled with a 1997 Welger RP 200, they are still oldish machinery as well but it works absolutely fine for us and we intend to keep doing it that way

[@baronsdownfarming]

If you can keep it all in working order it'll do the job just fine.

[@swaggie5803]

Great to watch, brings back good memories. Thank you from down under..nz.

[@glennlingard7851]

Absolutely lovely part of Britain you have, time taken to make this video is much appreciated and very well done, what your showing is exactly what we did with the very same equipment/combine etc, we got ours done like everyone else did without a lot of rushing about like they do nowadays.

[@baronsdownfarming]

There's definitely no rushing about.

[@carechooser8867]

Need to share small bits of this more often, it’s incredible.

[@joeahopelto8032]

I grew up on a farm in Southern Ontario, Canada with MH/MF tractors. This sure brings back a lot of memories. Times were much simpler then. 😊

[@joeahopelto8032]

I forgot to mention that the combine was a MH. Those were the dirty days, especially the oats. We were very thankful for our finnish sauna!

[@baronsdownfarming]

Oats are the itchiest, that's for sure!

[@robertallen3441]

Excellent video. Worked for a Massey Ferguson dealership from 1974 till 2002. Great to see the red kit getting a good workout as intended. Combine looks excellent for its age, obviously been looked after and kept undercover. Im sure it will still be trundling around the field when all the modern combines have gone to meet their makers.

[@baronsdownfarming]

For the old man there are two important things in life; keeping his chainsaw sharp and his combine dry.

[@TheGrimReaper1]

Bale sledges and in particular flat eight sledges that dont work properly because of incorrect sized bales have only one name. This being a family show I will just say that it begins with b and ends in d. a bad sledge coupled with a baler with a faulty knotter is punishment, and thats putting it mildly.

[@bobstacey9311]

As a teenager I worked on several farms with balers, one where I had to pick up the loose bales in the field and stack them into bricks of eight, four high and the other had a ride on sledge where I stacked the bales into triangles of ten again four high, backbreaking work for a fourteen year old, but I did get paid one old penny per bale (240 = 1 pound) a fortune at the time!

[@baronsdownfarming]

The old man likes to remind us all we don't know we're born. 'Back in my father's day it was all horse drawn, don't you know...'

[@MarshallSmart]

Just like being at my grandfathers small holding in the 60's and 70's and his gray Fergie. Just not long bought a more modern tractor. 1974 David Brown 996. No brakes,slow to start and poor hydraulics. Working on it to restore it. My other tractor 1955 Fordson Major. M😀 Good vid.

[@baronsdownfarming]

Be careful with the restoration, half the fun is anticipating whether the brakes will bite or not!

[@benirvani2392]

Your are so lucky to do this job. I wish I had a job on the farm .Happy days I the 70s.

[@baronsdownfarming]

There's definitely something to be said for being outside all day.

[@rbharvesters7404]

Love the 400. The old ones are the best

[@davidcollingwood1262]

Brilliant video 🚜🚜

[@alandigweed8713]

Great video. A bale sledge was a rarity back in the day. The common practise was for the bales to be dropped randomly as they were ejected from the baler.

[@farmahedvikaslatinky]

Ahoj. Teda chlape , jedním slovem paráda. Krásný souhrn sezony na farmě. Ať se daří . God bless.

[@henryofskalitz2228]

I love old equipment it's gonna last longer than the new for sure

[@baronsdownfarming]

Its already lived a very long life, incredible it all still works really.

[@christopherdavies752]

Spotted the video while looking through and the bales and the flat eight reminds me childhood my father having 5 conventional balers that be contracted out and then it changing to the Hesstons which was massive adjustment

[@baronsdownfarming]

There is something very nice about small bales, and they are definitely a throw back to a more manual period of farming.

[@daivapetrikaite]

Nice job 😊

[@baronsdownfarming]

Thanks 😁

[@LtFrankDrebbin]

Oh the itchy oats. Just the sight of the dust is making me itch.

[@farmerstephen]

The tractor on the trailer looks a bit more modern than the 1960’s haha!!!!

[@baronsdownfarming]

Terrence & Percy not well suited to road journeys, even without a trailer load of grain!

[@speedwagon7562]

When I was 8 yrs old, in 1960, our bailer was a late 40s McCormick, I think it had a canvas pick-up lifting the hay, with its own Wisconsin engine, and no pto hook up… the tractor was a Ferguson 30, our bales were long, and about 100lbs… I drove that rig…

[@780special]

Thank you. I enjoyed your video. Grew up with your machinery on our mixed farm in the Midlands, inc MF35, MF65, MF 178 & MF185 tractors. My KZbin name reflects your MF400 combines predecessor. Would love to come and drive your kit 😊. We had a simple sledge initially and bales had to be set up in the field by hand, later replaced by a Brown's flat eight system, with bale sledge, loader and 56 bale carrier, which was excellent and removed a lot of manual handling.

[@egomaniac247]

This is exactly how I play Farm Simulator :) I couldn't care less about the big modern stuff :)

[@usernametaken5619]

These fields are farm sims UK maps come to life! Beautiful country it is.

[@baronsdownfarming]

If only it was as easy as Farming Simulator!

[@rogblunt313]

My family enjoys the same problems too chap . Get them kids busy learning , we’re getting old 🤷‍♂️🤞

[@baronsdownfarming]

We're a few years away from being able to put the kids to work yet, but its coming!

[@rad-ishmtb]

Cool as! Though not quite Clarkson's Farm 🤣🤣

[@carechooser8867]

Madness!

[@andrewtucker274]

Have just seen this 😂😂 very good keep it up I’ve never seen your old man so serious

[@baronsdownfarming]

Even he needs to concentrate when he might need to stop whilst combining downhill in a combine with no brakes.

[@andrewtucker274]

@@baronsdownfarminghave you had a look at trinity farm

[@d.k.barker9465]

Fascinating, thanks so much. I was raised in Texas where my father had a custom wheat harvesting business. We started wheat harvest in May and followed the harvest North thru the wheat belt ending in August as far North as Pierre, South Dakota. I started driving a combine when I was 14, in 1959. Watching your video made me want to get on a combine again. Someone should bottle the aroma of fresh thereshed wheat.

[@baronsdownfarming]

...ideally without the itchiness that comes with barley dust in particular!

[@baronsdownfarming]

No, I'll take a look!

[@roberthiggins6401]

Good luck to you guys! I particularly like that you and some friends, neighbours muck in to plant and then share the crop of potato's. I'm guessing you're West Country, Devon, Dorset, Somerset? Try and make more use of the head cam. Cheers.

[@baronsdownfarming]

Thanks for the feedback, and yes, we're Devon!

[@TheGrimReaper1]

I like your combine, is it a ten footer?. Certainly a lot quicker than a binder /stooking/thrashing.

[@jadenvoshall1173]

How much money did you get off that field and how big was it

[@donaldellis3609]

Man driving combine inviting accident to the unloading auger.

[@baronsdownfarming]

The Old Man invites accidents everywhere he goes. It's a miracle he's lasted this long.

[@306champion]

1:02 It's an open front header as opposed to a comb front header

[@iwovanwijk5277]

Nice video, especially interesting to see Percy. Is it a 539 or 533? I sold my '77 533 last year because i needed a faster tractor as i use it on 2 locations which are 5,5 miles from each other, but it was a great machine for the sort of work that didn't need a very strong engine. For mowing and working smaller plots it's excellent. Howcome it doesn't have headlights?

[@baronsdownfarming]

It's a 539 Deluxe MF 35 made under license in Yugoslavia. No headlights out the factory (and we do wonder if the brakes ever worked too!!)

[@iwovanwijk5277]

​@@baronsdownfarming That's great, the 539 has a better engine and parts are easy to find for it. And being a de luxe means it has the double clutch which also makes a big difference. Odd the brakes don't work they're a good design and i never heard anyone having trouble with them. Could you elaborate a bit on what happens when you try to use them? I might be able to find out how to easily get them working again as most of the people i know have them. If i'm not mistaken replacing the left and right brake systems entirely costs less then 250 euros BTW.

[@Tinkerbell227]

Did you get rid of the bale sled? I am interested in it.

[@baronsdownfarming]

Despite my hatred for the thing we haven't yet got a more modern one I'm afraid!!

[@oliveringram3056]

Sledge needs more grease....!!

[@bigwheelsturning]

I hated those old MF combines. You could never get to the engine and they started a lot of fires in the fields in Kansas.

[@baronsdownfarming]

It's the brakes for me. There's been plenty of occasions where I'm not clear if it'll stop before the tree line or not.

[@siredward1061]

where is your farm located?

[@baronsdownfarming]

We're in Devon, South West England

[@stephendowning157]

Sick of all the adverts will not be watching any more videos!

[@baronsdownfarming]

Hi Stephen, sorry to hear that. We aren't a paid channel and have no control over what adverts KZbin add to our videos, sorry.

[@robertsmith9810]

at least mo computers and electrics to go wrong

[@baronsdownfarming]

That's very true.

[@hankelrod7315]

Wildflowers? You must farm with money.

[@baronsdownfarming]

If we farmed with money I wouldn't be using that bale sledge or a tractor with no brakes, I can assure you!

[@christopheryarnold2150]

What a disappointment your title was farming like it's 1960 and the only piece of kit I saw that was from 1960 was the combine the Massey Ferguson tractor was from the 100 range and the only came out mid to late sixty's the baler is from the 70s/80s the cooks sledge you slated so was from the 80s and only in need of some tlc and (Percy) looks to be a Tafe copy of a MF35 from the 1980s and there is no excuse for running it with no brakes all parts are really available and dirt cheap

[@baronsdownfarming]

Hi Christopher, sorry you found the video disappointing. Percy was made under license in Yugoslavia. We definitely don't have ready access to the parts we would like, unfortunately.

[@christopheryarnold-jt2pt]

You say that you don't have ready access to the parts needed for repairs to the brakes on your copy of a MF 35 first I can find no record of a Lithuanian built tractor yours appears to be a IMT built in Yugoslavia and I believe regular MF parts fit and I find impossible to believe that repairing the brakes would cause any grate expense or inconvenience please be more honest in your videos and your reply's to criticism @@baronsdownfarming

[@baronsdownfarming]

Hi Christopher, you are right, I should have written Yugoslavia and not Lithuania. As I say, we don't have ready access to parts. Other than noting the manufacturing country incorrectly I don't think there are any other errors. Again, sorry if you found the video disappointing.

[@genelund1705]

I'm guessing this is a u tube clown show for u tube. Who would ever put a 10 foot reel on a header for a 410 combine.

[@baronsdownfarming]

Hi, thanks for your comment. That combine came out of the factory with the 8 foot 6 header you see on it. There is a 10 foot option but it wouldn't fit down our lanes.