Our What’s in Your Shed series heads west this month to check out the Massey-dominated fleet run by Richard Martin in Bodmin, Cornwall. 

How did you get started?

My mum and dad started out on a council dairy farm near Liskeard in 1984 and built the family business to what it is today. They moved to the current farm in 1990.

I was always more interested in the machinery side, and 20 years ago I bought my own tractor to do some contracting.

My business grew from there and although I do some work for other customers, 99% of it is for the family company, Martin Dairy.

My mum, dad, sister and I are all involved – I own about half the kit we have, and Martin Dairy owns the rest.

We share labour and I’m responsible for managing all the day-to-day machinery operations and maintenance.

On paper, it is two separate businesses, but from the outside looking in, it would seem to be running as one.

See also: Cornish firm creates kit to turn slurry emissions into fuel

How brand loyal are you?

I started off with a Case MX135 and then moved on to a mixed fleet of McCormick and John Deere.

We had some major reliability issues with the McCormick tractors and that pushed me to look elsewhere. We had demos of all the major brands, and I really liked driving the Masseys.

They were also competitive on price, so apart from one John Deere we purchased in 2008, every tractor we’ve bought since 2007 has been a Massey Ferguson.

Favourite dealer?

Alan Snow at Launceston. Whenever I want to buy something, I will always ring them first. If they don’t sell it I may end up looking elsewhere, but they always get the first shot.

I work on the basis that if I look after them, they will look after me. I think with machinery prices going up, it’s important to work together with suppliers to get the best deals for everyone involved.

I’ve had no complaints about the service since having Masseys on the farm. It isn’t just about selling tractors; you must be able to back the customer up, too.

Favourite piece of kit?

I love using my 6m power-harrow combination maize drill on the 8740S. We built the drill ourselves, with the aim of rolling two jobs into one pass. It has saved on labour and uses the biggest tractor we have more efficiently.

It can cover the ground fast – we can drill about 40ha of maize in a 14-hour day – and it’s very pleasing to look at all summer as it grows.

Least favourite piece of kit?

Our hedgetrimmer. I hate the job with a passion because it’s so slow – I prefer to see acres covered. Our road hedges alone take about 70 hours/year to maintain.

Luckily there are staff on the farm that enjoy it, so I rarely need to help with that now.

Latest purchase?

We have done a deal to replace one of our 2020 7718s, which will be delivered in December, and agreed in principle to swap the 8730S for a new model, which will arrive in March.

The outgoing 8730S has some reliability issues, and the warranty list is long. Honesty is important in such situations, and credit to Massey, because it stepped in and offered a good deal on a replacement.

I have a lot of red tractors, so if the company can’t look after me, few others will stand a chance.

Oldest machine still at work?

The 2007 JCB loading shovel. We bought it second-hand three years ago and it has now done about 7,500 hours. I really enjoy driving it and it tends to get put on a clamp during silage season for rolling, alongside a tractor and buckrake.

Its other major job is emptying the slurry lagoons. I’ll tend to have up to 10 contractors’ spreaders on, and I’ll go in there loading them with the shovel.

From my perspective, if you want to shift a lot of stuff in a day, you need to load it efficiently,. The JCB can fill a 3,200gal Shelbourne spreader with just four-and-a-half buckets.

How long do you keep your machines?

They will get changed when the money is right. As a rule, tractors are swapped every three years.

There are long lead times now on new machinery, so I tend to think ahead and do the deal when the price is good. Sometimes that means waiting a while for the replacement to arrive.

Next on your wish list?

If money was no object, I’d like a JCB 435S Agri, which is much bigger than the 416S. It would be an awesome bit of kit to have on the silage clamp.

If I’m lucky, and being more realistic, it’ll be a second-hand 418 or a 419. I just don’t think we do enough to justify the 435.

Biggest machinery mistake/most embarrassing incident?

One that bloody annoys me is forgetting to switch the tramlining off when drilling. It vexes me for the next nine months, too, and I tend to have a spot of that somewhere every year.

At the more extreme end, I once slid down a bank while fertiliser spreading on some of our steep permanent grass.

The tractor went all the way to the bottom sideways and hit a badger set with enough of a thump to spill fertiliser out of the hopper.

I was very lucky that I made it back onto four wheels and I have never been back there since.

With hills like that, for the little bit you might gain covering it with the spreader, it just isn’t worth the risk. Best to put them in environmental schemes instead.

Most expensive repair bill?

We replaced the transmission of our previous loading shovel – a JCB 414S on an ‘02 plate.

The gearbox had to be sent out to Germany to be rebuilt and pressure tested, and I think we spent about £14,000 in the end.

Initially, we weren’t sure whether the shovel was worth that much, but we were in too deep, and it was my dad’s favourite machine on the farm.

Unfortunately, it caught fire while he was driving it two years later, so we had to replace it anyway. It had done about 15,000 hours.

Best invention?

A modified maize drill. We stripped all the seeding units off the folding frame of our old Becker drill, which was made from 4in box section.

We then made two new 3m sections of 4in box to go on the back of our 6m Kuhn Venta 6000 CSC combi drill, with the units bolted to that.

We use the combi drill’s front tank for seed-bed fertiliser, which is delivered via its seed-distribution head. It has 40 outlets, so initially we put five to each row, but the fan wasn’t man enough to cope.

We then reduced it to two pipes for each and closed off the other 24. As a bonus, the drill has blockage sensors so we can use those for the fertiliser, too.

All in, it cost about £10,000 in parts and time, which involved plenty of experimenting to get it right.  I’ve saved a lot on labour with it and headlands are drilled last to reduce compaction.

It ticks a lot of boxes; the only issue is weight – the whole rig is about 20t.

What couldn’t you live without in the workshop?

We don’t really have a workshop. But it isn’t just about the right tools – it’s important to have all the right nuts and bolts and spare parts so you get what you need fast and not waste any time.

That’s why we use Mac Fabrication up at Camelford for any repairs and engineering. He isn’t the cheapest, but he does a fantastic job for us. I can ring him at any time of day, and he’ll help us out.

If it’s a Massey or dealer issue, Alan Snow is efficient, too.

What’s your everyday transport?

I have a 1998 Land Rover 90 Defender with 175,000 miles on the clock. I bought it 10 years ago for £2,750 and it’s now worth £6,000.

I’m considering putting a galvanised chassis on it and doing it up properly.

Best tractor you’ve had?

I like the 8740S. It has been a brilliant tractor and is very efficient, except for any road work.

If you are pulling a silage trailer all day, it will cost a lot of money in depreciation and diesel, but it’s second to none in the field.

Worst tractor you’ve had?

A McCormick MTX185. We had it for two-and-a-half years and we put two sets of brakes in it, all on one side of the axle.

As part of the deal, we thought we were getting two years’ warranty, but they didn’t want to honour it and that’s why we moved away from McCormick in the end.

It was a good tractor with decent features, but the service wasn’t good enough.

Biggest machinery bargain?

My Land Rover. There is nothing else going up in value here!