Mike Westoby is the latest to reveal the best and worst of the machinery fleet at Monmouthshire farmer and contractor EJ and JM Westoby & Sons in our What’s in Your Shed series.

How did you get started?

My father started contracting with a brand-new Nuffield and baler back in 1955 and we have done bits and bobs alongside our own farm ever since. Things have grown quite quickly over the past few years – our first new forager came in 2008 and we were buying combines from new by 2011.

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How loyal are you to different brands?

We pretty much stick with John Deere and JCB because of the local backup. We have run Masseys and Fords in the past, but the first second-hand Deere came to the farm in 1982 and we bought a new one a year later.

The six-cylinder 3130 was in a different league to anything we’d had before – it got the power to the ground brilliantly and the cab was well ahead of its time.

Who is your favourite dealer?

Frank Sutton is about 15 miles away and is our go-to place for anything John Deere related. If the Gator throws a drive belt, we usually have a replacement belt or loaned Gator in the yard within two hours. We also stick with Ross Farm Machinery for the JCB stuff.

Favourite piece of kit?

Our Bateman RB26 sprayer, which is almost two years old now. Our first Bateman was a second-hand RB25 that we bought in 2009 for £52,000 and sold five years later for £50,000. The new one has all the toys – auto boom height, section control and steering guidance – and is a pleasure to operate.

Least favourite piece of kit?

I genuinely can’t think of one – we are pretty please with all our kit and anything that has caused us gyp in the past is now gone.

Latest purchase? What do you think of it?

We have just bought a new John Deere T550i combine with four-wheel drive and Autotrac to replace a W550i for the new season. We have had hillsiders since our first 1979 Deere 965H back in 1990 – they’re perfect for our awkward, steep ground – and if the new one performs anything like the demonstrator we had last year, I’ll be very pleased.

Oldest piece of machinery still at work?

An old 1962 Nuffield 460 that keeps busy on the log splitter. I bought it for £200 and it spent its first 16 years on the roller mill in the shed. The engine was changed before it came to the farm and it has now done 8,100 hours.

How long do you keep your machines?

We try to replace all the mainline stuff – the combines, sprayer and tractors – every five years to reduce the chances of any nasty surprises outside of warranty. By then the front-liners will have clocked 6,000 hours.

Almost all of the tractors are top spec, including stepless transmissions, all the lights, front linkage and pto. Our other kit is replaced on more of an ad-hoc basis.

What is next on your wishlist?

We are looking at getting a new big square baler – possibly a Massey Ferguson. We’re currently producing about 6,000 rounds and 16,000 80×70 big squares every year, so it’s a pretty big part of the business.

Most embarrassing machinery mistake?

I once tipped a Chaviot Spraystar backwards when going up a hill. I was spraying oilseed rape on some steep ground, but I didn’t make it to the top. As I started backing up, the wheels got caught in a rut which sent the front end straight into the air and the whole rig was left leaning on the booms.

It’s an experience I never want to repeat, but luckily Chavtrac in Pontypool was still in existence at the time and managed to patch her back together.

What’s your best invention?

I don’t do much in the workshop, but my brother Henry has put together all sorts of stuff including various weight blocks, a press and a bag lifter for the JCB. We’re more fixers than inventors.

What couldn’t you live without in the workshop?

Jamie Probert. He’s our main tractor driver, but can fix most things in an emergency.

Do you buy second-hand?

Nowadays we buy the frontline stuff new, but we nearly always go second-hand when it comes to trying out a new venture. The balers are a good example – in 2001 we bought a second-hand baler and within five years we were running three of them. It was a revelation.

John Deere 7480 forager

Favourite/least favourite job?

Spraying and combining are the good jobs – it’s satisfying to see the crops developing from autumn through to harvest.

Slug pelleting is far less enjoyable – it’s usually cold and I hate looking at the damage the slugs can cause.

What’s your everyday transport?

I run a 2003 Land Rover Discovery. It came second-hand about five years ago and has now hit 111,000 miles, but it’s comfortable and perfect for trundling around the yards.

Biggest machinery bargain?

Back in 2002 we bought a Chaviot 2000 self-propelled sprayer from a yard that stored repossessed machinery near Reading.

It was eight years old and cost £14,000, including three sets of wheels, but had been sitting around for a good couple of years, so a few of the bits had seized up.

With the help of Chavtrac at Pontypool we got it running sweet and eventually sold it eight years later for £10,000. The Bateman RB25 was its replacement.

What would you buy if you won the lottery?

There is no better investment than land, although it doesn’t come up for sale very often around here.

Any machinery toys/classics lurking in the shed?

Our Nuffield 460 that we bought in 1985, but we also have a late 1970s Nixon pressure washer that is still in use. I had to replace the motor last year, but it still has the original pump and is far more reliable than the new Nixon on the other farm.

Best tractor you have ever had?

By a distance it’s the John Deere 2650.

It came brand new from Frank Sutton for £19,000 back in 1991 and as part of the deal I traded in a four-year-old Deere 2140 worth £10,000.

We tried the Massey Ferguson 3065 that was similar money and looked pretty good from the outside, but fortunately we dodged a bullet when we chose not to get it.

For the first five years the 2650 was our frontline tractor and did all the mowing, buckraking, tedding and ploughing with an old Dowdeswell DP8 four-furrow. We even fitted a Quicke loader for a little while.

It also ran our Opico grain dryer for many years and, in the miserable August of 2008, did more hours than it had ever done in its life because we had it running day and night.

However, since the foot-and-mouth crisis in 2001 it has generally had an easier life feeding and bedding the cattle. There is a hint of rust on the wings, the rev counter has stopped working and the cladding is coming adrift in the cab, but it’s generally in pretty good nick given its age.

Other than the cosmetic stuff, it has hardly put a foot wrong and still has the original engine and gearbox. Frank Sutton has fitted a couple of new clutches over the years, but that’s pretty much it for mechanical woes and it has worked out to be a pretty cheap tractor.

John Deere 2650