Is a quad needed?

John deere 6920

Well we have nearly 70 cows now and i find it borin even thou we have 2-3 dogs bring in cows.. shame they wont come up half time but ya it wud take a good 15mins to walk from our yard to the furdist field and another 15-20mins to walk em back to yard... i was just wondering wud it make sense to buy a quad or wa? closest field we dont mind walkin to that its only few metres away lol...

Casinoking

I'd say no, the cows won't walk any faster and the exercise is good for you!

irishh_bob

John deere 6920 wrote: »

Well we have nearly 70 cows now and i find it borin even thou we have 2-3 dogs bring in cows.. shame they wont come up half time but ya it wud take a good 15mins to walk from our yard to the furdist field and another 15-20mins to walk em back to yard... i was just wondering wud it make sense to buy a quad or wa? closest field we dont mind walkin to that its only few metres away lol...

our cows are a 45 min walk away in the furthest paddock but thats beside the point , quads are on the floor right now price wise and you should be able to get one around 4 yrs old in pwo for around 2 k , it is most certainly a buyers market , if you dont have any toeing work for a quad and if your land is dry then a 2wd would suffice but if its in anyway heavy , you will need a 4wd even for herding cows , a honda or yamaha 350 might be just what the doctor ordered , any amount of em on donedeal.ie

p.s , casino is incorrect that the cows on walk any faster , cows will toy with you and not move if they realise you are on foot , a quad certainly quickens thier step , more so than a jeep IMO

John deere 6920

irishh_bob wrote: »

our cows are a 45 min walk away in the furthest paddock but thats beside the point , quads are on the floor right now price wise and you should be able to get one around 4 yrs old in pwo for around 2 k , it is most certainly a buyers market , if you dont have any toeing work for a quad and if your land is dry then a 2wd would suffice but if its in anyway heavy , you will need a 4wd even for herding cows , a honda or yamaha 350 might be just what the doctor ordered , any amount of em on donedeal.ie

p.s , casino is incorrect that the cows on walk any faster , cows will toy with you and not move if they realise you are on foot , a quad certainly quickens thier step , more so than a jeep IMO

yea thanks irishh_bob. i guess u have quad..? we wud like a 250 honda.. i drove neighbours and so did the father.. he likes it.. hardly every goes wrong and he drives **** out off it... well most off our land nice and dry apart from the bog..... lol

maidhcII

John deere 6920 wrote: »

Well we have nearly 70 cows now and i find it borin even thou we have 2-3 dogs bring in cows.. shame they wont come up half time but ya it wud take a good 15mins to walk from our yard to the furdist field and another 15-20mins to walk em back to yard... i was just wondering wud it make sense to buy a quad or wa? closest field we dont mind walkin to that its only few metres away lol...

Walking is good, and you sound like you are very close anyway.

John deere 6920

maidhcII wrote: »

Walking is good, and you sound like you are very close anyway.

well i can see it anyway.. ha

dar31

go out in the morn and start looking for one, one of the most important machines on our farm can live with old and geriatric tractors, but the quad has to be kept fresh.
as you said a honda 250 would be ideal. the last of the 350's ( with the foot boards) were the best farm bike honda made imo
if you have a good quad and a good dog you can move any stock anywhere.
when we are bringing cows in for milking, we bring the dog on the quad down to the cows round them out, the dog follows them up to the parlour and i drive through them( they are used to it and just stand to one side)
usually id have the machine started and ready just as the first cows come in.
sitting behind cows waiting for them to come in is just dead time, might as well have another 10 min in the cot.

i guarantee you if you get one, you wont be able to live with out it after a couple of months

you do get a bit lazy though, but what the hell any thing to make the work easier;)

John deere 6920

dar31 wrote: »

go out in the morn and start looking for one, one of the most important machines on our farm can live with old and geriatric tractors, but the quad has to be kept fresh.
as you said a honda 250 would be ideal. the last of the 350's ( with the foot boards) were the best farm bike honda made imo
if you have a good quad and a good dog you can move any stock anywhere.
when we are bringing cows in for milking, we bring the dog on the quad down to the cows round them out, the dog follows them up to the parlour and i drive through them( they are used to it and just stand to one side)
usually id have the machine started and ready just as the first cows come in.
sitting behind cows waiting for them to come in is just dead time, might as well have another 10 min in the cot.and can we afford a quad nowadays...... wud love one

i guarantee you if you get one, you wont be able to live with out it after a couple of months

you do get a bit lazy though, but what the hell any thing to make the work easier;)

not a cheap item. i know it wud be handy.. i love getting neighbours cows... he dont believe in fencing.. so its like a game off hide and seek wit his cows.. haha some fun thou.

whelan1

we have a very old land rover jeep , which we use for going for cows , a quad wouldnt suit us as we bring the kids with us to bring in the cows and the landrover never gets stuck:rolleyes::rolleyes:

dar31

whelan1 wrote: »

we have a very old land rover jeep , which we use for going for cows , a quad wouldnt suit us as we bring the kids with us to bring in the cows and the landrover never gets stuck:rolleyes::rolleyes:

kids and quads are a bad combination

whelan1

dar31 wrote: »

kids and quads are a bad combination

yup got jeep cheaper than a quad , we have a radio , lights and heating

John deere 6920

whelan1 wrote: »

yup got jeep cheaper than a quad , we have a radio , lights and heating

lol we have a scrap jeep well 2 off em now.. one wit everything .. the other wit no engine...... wud like a quad... more fun.....

irishh_bob

John deere 6920 wrote: »

yea thanks irishh_bob. i guess u have quad..? we wud like a 250 honda.. i drove neighbours and so did the father.. he likes it.. hardly every goes wrong and he drives **** out off it... well most off our land nice and dry apart from the bog..... lol

250,s are only available in 2wd but if your land is dry or flat or both , you should be ok , btw , a suzuki is cheaper than a honda or yamaha but they are absolutley fine , nothing wrong with them

Sisu200

I bought a quad for getting the cows, best machine ever come around the house, I had a Honda 250, great bike, bought a weed wiper which was a bit of a pain with the 250, hard to get the heights right, bike was too low a little underpowered for the tanks, bought a TRX500 no problem now, but she is thirsty.

If it is only for stock collecting buy a 250, I agree with the previous poster where he said the last of the 350's were a great bike, my bike has too much plastic and the steering is too sharp, the 350 or 450 01 to 03, great bike but be prepared to pay for a good one, stay away from "Hydrostatic Transmission" can be a cause of heartache!!;)

Kids and Quads dont mix!!

aristo

irishh_bob wrote: »

our cows are a 45 min walk away in the furthest paddock but thats beside the point , quads are on the floor right now price wise and you should be able to get one around 4 yrs old in pwo for around 2 k , it is most certainly a buyers market , if you dont have any toeing work for a quad and if your land is dry then a 2wd would suffice but if its in anyway heavy , you will need a 4wd even for herding cows , a honda or yamaha 350 might be just what the doctor ordered , any amount of em on donedeal.ie

p.s , casino is incorrect that the cows on walk any faster , cows will toy with you and not move if they realise you are on foot , a quad certainly quickens thier step , more so than a jeep IMO

have a honda 250, brushes to the starter is all it needed in 6yrs and brake adjustment, had a suzuki before that, it was a heap, never had a need for 4wd, only got stuck twice, pulled milk tanker with 50 gallons grand uphill and can handle as many bags of meal as you can stack on it

would walking the cows for 45mins not sacrifice alot of milk with the energy it would take?

John deere 6920

well our neighbours is 05-07 i dunno when but around that.. and he drives it hard... very. and its still going strong.. Wat be the price off one nowadays.. i like the gear changer in his. on the left hand side.. pull it up wit ur leg..

dar31

just on the topic of quads
what type of milage/ hours do people put up on their quads every year
we usually put 7-8k kms or 600+ hrs every year, usually trade in once they hit 15-20k kms. our main tractor only dose 400 hrs/yr max.
always thought this was high how dose it compare with any one else. has any one set criteria for changing them

John deere 6920

dar31 wrote: »

just on the topic of quads
what type of milage/ hours do people put up on their quads every year
we usually put 7-8k kms or 600+ hrs every year, usually trade in once they hit 15-20k kms. our main tractor only dose 400 hrs/yr max.
always thought this was high how dose it compare with any one else. has any one set criteria for changing them

our tractos do 500hrs each i think.. i wudnt think we wud use quad only during summer really i'd say?

browned

not sure should u get a quad just for drivin in the cows. we just bought a quad fert spreader as our retired neighbour has a quad. he went spreading for me this spring and its amazing how little damage was done to my wet farm. after a half hour of heavy rain he went out spreading and not even a mark.

itsallaboutheL

IMO, anyone strip grazing with a dairy herd should have a quad.. you'd be amazed at the amount of work you'll get out of it.

It's also very handy for the odd fencing job, or bringing a calf out of a field etc.

And if nothing else it bates the bollox off walking to get the cows in the pissing rain at 7 in the morning.

Indubitable

My furthest paddock from the shed is an 80 minutes walk. So i bought a bike and found it very handy. I also use it to lick rushes on all my land.
It is also handy if you want to bring a few bags of meal somewhere. Just throw them on the back. I also bring my electric fence with me. very handy

John deere 6920

itsallaboutheL wrote: »

IMO, anyone strip grazing with a dairy herd should have a quad.. you'd be amazed at the amount of work you'll get out of it.

It's also very handy for the odd fencing job, or bringing a calf out of a field etc.

And if nothing else it bates the bollox off walking to get the cows in the pissing rain at 7 in the morning.

yes we strip graze... we tryed letting them have the whole field but they eat it way too fast and grass got scarce..... we had alot off fencing this year but tractor was used for that...