Part time farming - Time saving techniques

nhg · 05-08-2023 10:33am

We put in an electric shower beside the sink in the old dairy about 10 years ago, instant hot water to wash the hands & easy to give the dog a wash down when he needs it.

Two years ago put in an Atlantic water heater on a timer on the other wall for heating the water for feeding the calves. All near the sheds where the calves are reared so less hardship. Used to be bringing buckets of hot water from the house….

funkey_monkey · 05-08-2023 2:09pm

We have have making tax digital up here. All receipts here are digitised and sent to an app called auto entry.

I can take a photo of an invoice and click a button and it uploads it and uses OCR to read of the details from it. Have never had to correct anything from it so far.

It then integrates with the accountancy software and does the vat returns. Accountant has access as well to do the annual returns and whatever else.

Frees up a lot of time. There is an expense to it, but saves organising paper invoices and suchlike. They are just kept in an intray as they come in and stored at the end of the period.

jfh · 05-08-2023 3:10pm

scan all receipts to onedrive folder which I share with accountant ,works well

BENDYBINN · 05-08-2023 3:47pm

Go to Lidl and buy every screw bolt nut on offer…………they’ll come in handy some day….

Siamsa Sessions · 05-08-2023 6:52pm

I’m doing a bit of a live demo of some stuff that saves me time in this week’s YouTube video.

And I referenced this thread as the inspiration for the video 😀

kk.man · 05-08-2023 10:37pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120943627#Comment_120943627

Great video K. Have everything except those live pig tails and the mobile hint is some I must do!

kk.man · 05-08-2023 10:38pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120943057#Comment_120943057

Their screws are useless...once bitten

mr.stonewall · 05-08-2023 10:50pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120943627#Comment_120943627

Great video and the visual aspect really sells it. Thanks for the mention, I be down to collect my half of the YouTube monies 😂😂

JustJoe7240 · 05-08-2023 11:54pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120943627#Comment_120943627

Great video. where do you pick up those hot posts?

Anto_Meath · 06-08-2023 12:47am

If you are buying bits from Lidl or Aldi while they might seem appealing they are often more hassle then they are worth. There is a machine place beside me that sells spurious parts. Nearly anytime I buy anything there it let's me down when needed. Bought sheer bolts there recently when topping 1 day. I would have been as well off using a stick from the ditch.

mr.stonewall · 06-08-2023 1:22am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120944883#Comment_120944883

Some of the stuff you wouldn't even put it in a kinder egg. You need to be selective with Aldi lidl buys. A few bit over the years I have got and have been good are a kango ( takes serious abuse and keep going), screwdrivers, multimeter, cable fishing rods, a few plastic tool boxes and a grand set of allen and torx keys,

No some of the failures ( Fr Ted at the golden cleric awards).

Cable ties, work pants, jubilee clips. A socket set that might have been made from chocolate. Crimpers. Circlip pliers, chisels, soldering iron, a battery charger aswell as a list of junk

I tend to stay away from most electrical stuff there. Almost forgot a pair of crocks which is got about 8 years ago and they are still flying it

Siamsa Sessions · 06-08-2023 9:54am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120944780#Comment_120944780

I got them in the local Tirlan co-op. I think you can find them online as well.

Bass Reeves · 07-08-2023 10:07am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120944925#Comment_120944925

I have a lot of the battery Tools. While they are not DeWalt class.tgey all do the job except the Battery grinder.

The impact gun is a great yoke. You just have to loosen the nut half a twist with a power bar and it flies off. The small (20V) drill has done loads of work( I have a Bosch 24V from years ago that is a serious drill as well). Glue gun, battery power washer all do the job. I have 2X4AH batteries along with a couple 2AH.

Tyri g to buy them in any of them in a premium brand would set me back the price of the lot of them.

I have used the circlips they got me out of a few holt's it's handy to have a box with all the sizes.

Screwdriver and other hand tools are all ok like you said.

I have one of there battery chargers it grand for a bike or a car. It just will not charge a tractor battery.

mr.stonewall · 07-08-2023 10:22am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120948482#Comment_120948482

Cordless tools are a life saver. Have been gathering a few bits of DeWalt over the past 10 years. The impact gun is just fantastic, really handy and quick. If anyone is getting on make sure to get the black sockets and if you can get the long ones. They are a game changer for taking nuts of the you have a good bit of thread sticking out fork the bolt.

My poor drill, drowned last year after 12 years on the go. Fell into a barrel of while mixing milk replacer.

SodiumCooled · 07-08-2023 10:30am

Being able to turn on/off fencers remotely can be a major time saver at times especially when you might be a long way from the unit. Luckily we have wifi in the yard so have normal smart plugs on two fencers. I reckon it gets turned off/on nearly every day for some reason, some of the times you could work around it being on but often get a shock. It could be a 15 mins round trip walk to turn off and same time to out back on from some places on the farm.

mr.stonewall · 07-08-2023 10:31am

Another one I find handy is with firewood. We all have branches and boughs that have to be cleaned up. Here they go into the stove. Gathering and cleaning them up takes time.

I just cut them to 6- 8ft lengths, clean off the field quick and drop the lengths into and old shed with the front loader. On a wet Saturday cut them up with a good deep saw horse, the yoke is not too wide for the bar of the saw but has depth so you can load it up with loads, it's very quick to cut up a lot of stuff quick. Something similar to the picture.

Have an old block splitter in the shed and another trick is a set of long Hydraulic hoses 30ft long. It means you can stay under cover and not have the noise of the tractor beside you.

Finty Lemon · 07-08-2023 10:32am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120932183#Comment_120932183

I use 2 IBC's with the top cut off, one for wrap one for netting. Long twines on the bottom and left over the sides before filling. When full these can be tied up to make a bale for lifting with the front loader.

Agree 100% that stocking rate is the biggest labour saver of all. Paddocks and cutting silage in May make a big difference too for cattle farms. Unless you are at massive scale, anything involving mixing feed in the yard is a total killer for labour and costs.

Getting feed and fert delivered is worth it for cost and labour.

Part time farming - Time saving techniques

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