going wage for tractor driving.

cattle man

hi what in your opinion is the going rate of pay per hour for driving a tractor for a contractor / farmer.:)

stanflt

cattle man wrote: »

hi what in your opinion is the going rate of pay per hour for driving a tractor for a contractor / farmer.:)

about 10 years ago i worked for a building/farm contractor and was getting 14euro an hour-same man is getting lads for 5euro now and only when heeds them-they must be on the scratcher

cattle man

je thats fairly low i taugh between 8-10 a hr would be reasonable

Tora Bora

stanflt wrote: »

about 10 years ago i worked for a building/farm contractor and was getting 14euro an hour-same man is getting lads for 5euro now and only when heeds them-they must be on the scratcher

Yearra, I wouldn't believe that. Only one miserable cnut, would go that low. And only a fool would accept it.

whelan1

it would depend on the experience of the person and if they are also claiming the dole.... i absolutely HATE giving money to people that are robbing off me in another way

denlaw

whelan1 wrote: »

it would depend on the experience of the person and if they are also claiming the dole.... i absolutely HATE giving money to people that are robbing off me in another way

Course they're on the dip , it's not even minimum wage ..

whelan1

well i rest my case... i pay my tax to fund these people and they are screwing us in another way so they can feck off or get a proper job

denlaw

whelan1 wrote: »

well i rest my case... i pay my tax to fund these people and they are screwing us in another way so they can feck off or get a proper job

The black economy is alive and kicking and so long as the country is in the ****e it will thrive ..

Same in the 80s ...

whelan1

would be interested to see why the op was asking,,, if you're on the dole would you still expect to get maximum rate per hour and why?

denlaw

whelan1 wrote: »

would be interested to see why the op was asking,,, if you're on the dole would you still expect to get maximum rate per hour and why?

Beer money , single lad 200 aweek on the dole , another extra 2/300 a week would keep them well pissed for the weekend ..

Get Cracking

Its mostly young lads who do that,17,18,19.
theres not much else for them to do sometimes,living in little towns.
just pure beer money,what ever they get an hour it goes straight into the local econmy again before monday morning.:)
The farmers probably cant afford to pay them much more.

Get Cracking

Id be more concerned why a taoiseach was getting paid more than a u.s president.

denlaw

Get Cracking wrote: »

Id be more concerned why a taoiseach was getting paid more than a u.s president.

Well , he does more than Obama will ever do .

Crying at riverdance , the big gob****e ...

Get Cracking

Thats a valid point:D

Tora Bora

denlaw wrote: »

Well , he does more than Obama will ever do .

Crying at riverdance , the big gob ****e ...

You wouldn't catch a proper FF, taoiseach crying. Just drinking feeds of porter, and singing away till tis time to do a breakfast interview on radio.

cattle man

whelan1 wrote: »

would be interested to see why the op was asking,,, if you're on the dole would you still expect to get maximum rate per hour and why?

NO. IM A second year ag student and am currently on holidays and driven for a contractor. so no im not claiming the doll or anything like that.:mad:

im getting 8euro a hour and was wondering is that around the average.

Supermad4tar

jeysus lads all ye must think that all us college student do is drinkin!! we are tryin ta earn a few pound for to go to college. its hard enuf ta pay 4 accomodation without payin fees as wel! sher money dosnt grow on trees!!

denlaw

Tora Bora wrote: »

You wouldn't catch a proper FF, taoiseach crying. Just drinking feeds of porter, and singing away till tis time to do a breakfast interview on radio.

very good

Muckit

cattle man wrote: »

NO. IM A second year ag student and am currently on holidays and driven for a contractor. so no im not claiming the doll or anything like that.:mad:

im getting 8euro a hour and was wondering is that around the average.

You'I be able to claim all your tax back aswel if contractor is above board :rolleyes:

Harrier1980

I used to get 20 quid a day for it about 10 - 12 yeas ago..

Nobbies

i would say most lads or men driving tractors at the moment and indeed in the past would only b getting aday rate.they should b better paid.its askill in itself that not just any one can hop up on 1st without learning over time.most modern machines are valueable and fast,hence bringing alot of responsibility and sense of safety too the job is paramount.so any contractor reading this who pays good lads or men badly,mayb ushould think about this.its not just driving atractor.

cattle man

Nobbies wrote: »

i would say most lads or men driving tractors at the moment and indeed in the past would only b getting aday rate.they should b better paid.its askill in itself that not just any one can hop up on 1st without learning over time.most modern machines are valueable and fast,hence bringing alot of responsibility and sense of safety too the job is paramount.so any contractor reading this who pays good lads or men badly,mayb ushould think about this.its not just driving atractor.

totally agree.:)

scub

Supermad4tar wrote: »

jeysus lads all ye must think that all us college student do is drinkin!! we are tryin ta earn a few pound for to go to college. its hard enuf ta pay 4 accomodation without payin fees as wel! sher money dosnt grow on trees!!

I do hope your not a student of English...........

johnpawl

scub wrote: »

I do hope your not a student of English...........

you mean ''you're''

s-cogan

our local silage contractors are at E10 an hour, few nights last summer, a friand of mine was making 200, 220 euro a day at peak of the first cut. the man was absolutlely shagged for weeks tho.

13spanner

I'm gettin 50 cent a bale wrapping silage. I know it's not a per hour figure, just said I'd throw it up all the same.

quietsailor

13spanner wrote: »

I'm gettin 50 cent a bale wrapping silage. I know it's not a per hour figure, just said I'd throw it up all the same.

Hope you don't find this too personal a Q
50c per bale sounds great - 50 bales per hour = €25 per hour in big fields behind 2 balers or on short draws but I remember a lot of farms where we had long draws/the farmer was drawing them in singly when I wrapped and you could be averaging 20 bales per hour. So when you factor in long draws plus the time travelling between jobs do you think you'd be on the min wage for a days (8-8 = 12 hrs) work?

13spanner

quietsailor wrote: »

Hope you don't find this too personal a Q
50c per bale sounds great - 50 bales per hour = €25 per hour in big fields behind 2 balers or on short draws but I remember a lot of farms where we had long draws/the farmer was drawing them in singly when I wrapped and you could be averaging 20 bales per hour. So when you factor in long draws plus the time travelling between jobs do you think you'd be on the min wage for a days (8-8 = 12 hrs) work?

No, your no problem, not too personnal at all I suppose it varies alot. On days with long draws, a weak crop or alot of travelling I'd be getting ALOT less than lads my age on a 9 to 5 job. And when there's no silage being done end up inside under a baler or mower for half the day being payed nothing. But I've had a few days following 2 balers when I got into the tractor at 6 in the morning and out of it at 2 the following morning, only gettin off for eating and changin plastic nothing like it haha.

quietsailor

13spanner wrote: »

No, your no problem, not too personnal at all I suppose it varies alot. On days with long draws, a weak crop or alot of travelling I'd be getting ALOT less than lads my age on a 9 to 5 job. And when there's no silage being done end up inside under a baler or mower for half the day being payed nothing. But I've had a few days following 2 balers when I got into the tractor at 6 in the morning and out of it at 2 the following morning, only gettin off for eating and changin plastic nothing like it haha.

What are you driving/wrapping with, I was stuck on a very old (older than me) Ford 4600 at first and after whinging for a few years got upgraded to a 7610 - turns out it was sh**e as it was 3 steps in and out of the cab when the wrapper broke down ....................which it did a lot

13spanner

quietsailor wrote: »

What are you driving/wrapping with...

I'm wrapping with a 1991 Case IH 895xl. She's no john deere but the dealer/garage is only a mile from home so there's no fear! not the nicest one for wrappin but it's only busy for 3 months of the year so she does the job. The wrapper is a 92 conor job. A reliable enough one, got all the hoses done last year. Cable controls, none of that electric nonsense haha.

quietsailor

This came up the other day when I was talking to the contactor I drove for back then and he said he's never been able to get a wrapper set-up like that old 4600/Kneverland wrapper combination.

Probably because the hyd supply to the wrapper was easily 3 times bigger than any tractor he has owned (hedgecutter pump driven off the crankshaft ~ 4500 rpm as opposed to 540 rpm & a 1" supply rather than a 1/2" supply) and the wrapper had been cracked and then repaired & strengthened so much it was indestructible.

Oh -- and it was electric controls. press the button and then ignore it for 40 seconds = bliss

redzerologhlen

Wrapping,mowing,raking and drawing in getting 9 euro an hour cash with the last 5 summers.

reilig

quietsailor wrote: »

Oh -- and it was electric controls. press the button and then ignore it for 40 seconds = bliss

What if a bale decided to fly off and land in on the lift arms of the tractor or on the post holding the roll of film and pre stretch rollers - it was very common for those kneverland wrappers if the oil being pumped was much over 25l/m????

Could you stop it fast enough before you did some damage??????????

13spanner

reilig wrote: »

What if a bale decided to fly off and land in on the lift arms of the tractor or on the post holding the roll of film and pre stretch rollers - it was very common for those kneverland wrappers if the oil being pumped was much over 25l/m????

Could you stop it fast enough before you did some damage??????????

Yeah, my thoughts too. Just the other day I was wrapping bales for a neighbour who used their own Claas 46, a twine job. Bales had been made with 2 days and were in a bad shape. Took my eyes off it for a second and a bale came off the wrapper and fell up against the wrap dispenser :eek: nothing broken or damaged, luckily! I learned my lesson and that wont happen again!

maidhc

13spanner wrote: »

Bales had been made with 2 days and were in a bad shape.

2 days?!?

Anything over 3 hours is too much!

vanderbadger

maidhc wrote: »

2 days?!?

Anything over 3 hours is too much!

notice this year as well that the crows are doing a share of damage, had bales wrapped a few hrs before i got round to bringing them in and the feckers had holed a good few of them, same thing at a neighbours the other day, seems if they are in the field for any length the crows attack!

13spanner

maidhc wrote: »

2 days?!?

Anything over 3 hours is too much!

And to make it worse they were twine bales out of a Claas 46! Brutal shape on them, well over a minute wrapping each, cruel slow!

quietsailor

reilig wrote: »

What if a bale decided to fly off and land in on the lift arms of the tractor or on the post holding the roll of film and pre stretch rollers - it was very common for those kneverland wrappers if the oil being pumped was much over 25l/m????

Could you stop it fast enough before you did some damage??????????

13spanner wrote: »

. Took my eyes off it for a second and a bale came off the wrapper and fell up against the wrap dispenser :eek: nothing broken or damaged, luckily! I learned my lesson and that wont happen again!

Fu**ing boards!!! It logged me out as I had spent too long typing a reply and then lost the reply when I logged in again.

Sorry lads but I'm not spending 10 mins typing that again.

I set the throttle to 1500rpm, used the foot throttle to rev it more to wrap as fast as I could, when the bale gets 2-3 first wraps it squeees into a slight oval. At wrap ten the oval is standing on end (like a rugby ball in a free kick) and as the bale sways it tightens and looses the plastic and changes the sound of the plastic coming off the reel.

When I heard that I would let the foot throttle up and then a few seconds later after the bale would have sat down I'd rev the engine again.

That and the other tricks I had to come up with really hammered the wrapper though. If its any use to ye I'll sit down and detail what we were doing back then to get a 55-58 bale per hour throughput but ye'd want to have a spare wrapper as it will definetely break down the main wrapper. At the time the boss was happy as I could keep up to 2-3 balers and he didn't have to employ a 2nd wrapper man, just keep a spare similar wrapper in the yard.

edit: we had a stock of the usual parts that broke on the main machines/machines we only had one of. eg spare wrapper could be brought out or for something like a bent dispenser post just swop it with the yard wrapper. Same for the balers - spare chains, tyres, rollers etc.

maidhc

quietsailor wrote: »

...when the bale gets 2-3 first wraps it squeees into a slight oval. At wrap ten the oval is standing on end (like a rugby ball in a free kick) and as the bale sways it tightens and looses the plastic and changes the sound of the plastic coming off the reel.

The baler man is definately doing something wrong if the bale can be squeezed by plastic a fraction of a mm thick!

quietsailor

maidhc wrote: »

The baler man is definately doing something wrong if the bale can be squeezed by plastic a fraction of a mm thick!

You would be very surprised what plastic even a fraction of a mm thick can do if you apply enough of it, I've seen it used as rope to hold machines together to stop them falling to pieces on the road home. look at rope itself, any one strand is useless, combine several - its strong enough to tie a human (twine) combine enough strands and you can moor supertankers!

baling in 2nd hi-hi (10 series fords) probably didn't help. The boss just wanted to see numbers so he would take on too much work each day, in turn we'd drive faster and faster just to get home. You had to be good mechanically in that outfit, in fact you needed to be mechaically gifted at times. Great training for the college course I went onto do though - Marine Engineering (ships engineering officer) that was all about fixing machinery when it broke down without the option of dealers being nearby.

vincenzolorenzo

+1 on the strength of plastic. Whenever I needed to tie something I'd just pull a few feet off the roll and twist it into a sort of rope. Very very strong.

Although going by the description those bales do sound sh1te!