New Holland tractors and Krone grass kit form the backbone of our latest featured machinery fleet.

We got the low-down from Lawrence Rich of Gloucestershire outfit BG and LD Rich.

See also: What’s in Your Shed? Contractor of the Year winner Martin Hays reveals all

How did you get started?

My grandad started us off in agriculture running a farm and contracting business in Somerset.

He built up a nice business over the years and, in 1950, was the first person in the area to have a self-propelled combine harvester.

Shortly after, he and my dad moved up to Gloucestershire and started milking cows.

This is what my brothers and I grew up doing, and it was a fantastic introduction to farming.

We continued contracting alongside, as well as a forage business, and when we stopped milking, these came to the fore again.

In 2000, we bought the farm where we are now, which provided the ideal base for expanding these.

We now offer a range of contracting services and produce large quantities of hay, haylage, silage and straw, which we sell to both agricultural and equestrian customers in the area.

I’ve always been interested in machinery and worked as a mechanic for TH White, eventually becoming workshop foreman.

Off the back of this, I started buying and selling second-hand machinery, which has formed another arm of the business.

We sell all sorts, but tend to focus on brands we know well and machines we can test on our own farm before selling them on.

See also: Gloucestershire farmer builds £2k weed-crushing combine add-on

Are you brand loyal?

We used to be loyal Massey Ferguson tractor customers, but after I started working at TH White our allegiance moved to New Holland.

They are good tractors and decent value for money, but it’s as much about the dealer as it is the brand.

I’ve still got friends who work there, which makes it so much easier to do business.

Another reason for running one brand of tractor is that most of the parts are interchangeable.

Also, with tractors getting so much more complicated, it’s nice to only have to learn to use one computer screen and control system.

Favourite dealer?

We like small, family-run dealerships where you get a personal service.

TH White has become a big group now, but thankfully our local Huntley depot has managed to retain many of the original staff and you still get that experience.

Unfortunately, the same can’t be said for all these big dealer mergers that manufacturers are pushing for.

Pallisers at Hereford is another family dealer we like to do business with, and it’s where our Krone grass kit comes from.

Don Price Engineers is a great local firm for fixing equipment and making things.

Latest purchase?

The newest arrival is a New Holland Bigbaler 890, which came as a replacement for our 2017 model that had produced about 35,000 bales.

This is a lot less work than our big balers have done in the past, but it meant the resale price was higher.

We used to think the way to make machines pay was to work them as hard as possible, but with values the way they are, there is a lot to be said for keeping the work to sensible levels.

Another recent addition is our Manitou MLT 741.130 telehandler, which arrived in December last year, 18 months after we ordered it.

During that time, the price had risen by a ridiculous £15,000, so it’s good we locked into the deal when we did.

Oldest machine still at work?

At 82, that would be our dad, Don. He is followed by a 4m set of Massey Ferguson trailed discs, which are ancient but do a better job than many lighterweight modern alternatives.

We’ve also recently bought a tidy Massey Ferguson 135. It was the first tractor I ever drove and it’s a great model for my son, Stanley, to learn the basics on.

How long do you keep your machines?

We try to keep the tractors up to date and protected by a warranty, so they are usually changed every five years or so.

A large part of that is to avoid breakdowns and expensive repair bills, but it’s also to prevent us getting left behind.

The cost of new machinery is so high these days that if we kept them for longer and ran them up to high hours, the cost to change would be too hard to stomach.

Instead, we push ourselves hard to pay off the finance as quickly as possible and look after them as best we can so they are worth top money when we come to sell them on.

They rarely get traded in either, as we sell them through our own business.

What’s next on your wish list?

What we’d really like is a new shed for straw and machinery.

We keep putting it off as it’s so expensive, but with the prices of materials rising far faster than farm income it’s only getting worse.

My wife and I got married eight years ago and we spent a lot of money on a marquee, which was gone a few days after.

I wish we’d put that towards a decent shed and had the wedding in there instead. It’s all easy with hindsight, though.

Most embarrassing machinery mistake?

We’re a pretty careful bunch, so nothing very dramatic has happened in the past few years.

You’ve got to go back to the 80s for a big one, when Dad drove the combine into the shed late one night in the pitch dark, not realising the spout was still out.

It bashed it beyond repair, so we had to wait two days for a replacement when it was blazing sunshine and the neighbours were cutting flat out.

It was a catchy season too, which made it all the worse. I got some of the blame as I was on the passenger seat asking too many distracting questions.

Most expensive repair bill?

The fact that the tractors are all under warranty means we haven’t had any nasty surprises recently.

Other frontline kit is also fairly modern and we keep on top of the maintenance.

Most overpriced spare part?

I think the price of all spare parts is ridiculous at the moment.

Just carrying out a basic service on a tractor is £1,000 plus and I can’t believe the price of some filters; I got one a while ago which was more than £200.

Best invention?

We make a lot of short 3ft haylage bales, which tend to sit on their ends when they pop out of the baler, making them difficult to wrap neatly.

So that we can push them upright before the wrapper picks them, we fitted a retractable nudge bar to the loader bucket on our T6.180.

It was cheap and simple to do but saves loads of time. The fact that it’s on a loader means it is easy to adjust the height so that it hits each bale in just the right place.

What couldn’t you live without in the workshop?

I’m surprised more people don’t say this ­– it’s the compressor. We’re constantly using it to blow off kit, clean filters and inflate tyres. We’d be lost without it.

We’ve even adapted the air brake supply on our tractors so that they can run air lines.

I use the one on my tractor to blow the baler off every day, so that it’s clean and free of weed seeds ready for the next job.

In fact, the others often mock the fact that the wrapper always gets home before the baler as I spend so long on the job.

Another is the pressure-washer. We used to have a decent cold-water model, but when we upgraded to a Karcher steam cleaner it was a game changer.

It’s particularly useful for some of the second-hand kit that comes in caked in baked-on muck and slurry.

Favourite and least favourite job?

Drilling in nice conditions is my favourite, as you feel like you’re getting a good start to the upcoming season.

But it soon becomes the worst job when the conditions are poor and you feel as if the crop will always be on the back foot.  

What’s your everyday transport?

I’m on my third second-hand Nissan Navara D40, which I think is a great truck – it’s powerful, solid and not too expensive.

I know they’ve had chassis problems, but I’ve got away fairly lightly, only having to do some minor welding on the last one.

My brother, Ben, has a Mitsubishi L200 with a custom-built flat bed for bales, which is incredibly handy for our deliveries.

Best tractor you’ve ever had?

For me, the new ones are the best we’ve had, thanks largely to the fact they’ve got autosteer and headland management, which makes our work so much easier.

Worst tractor you’ve ever had?

When they first came out, we had a TM175 that was plagued with problems.

I think the main issue was that New Holland rushed them out before they were properly sorted.

One of the biggest breakdowns with ours was when the clutch damper plate broke, which caused the driveline to block solid.

The fan also came off and went through the radiator.

Most of the problems have been ironed out now, making them a solid, powerful second-hand tractor that doesn’t cost the earth.

I actually sold one of the bigger TM190s last year for about £25,000, which isn’t much for a 190hp tractor.

Most useful feature on a machine?

I held off on GPS, autosteer and headland management for years, thinking that I’d really miss the challenge of driving straight and operating all the controls by hand.

But, like countless people say, I wouldn’t want to go back now.

Instead of focusing on where to drive, I concentrate on setting up the tractor in the way I want and play around with the headland management settings.

There’s something satisfying about getting the front press to lift just before the drill and setting the pto to turn on and off at just the right time.

Most pointless piece of farm technology?

Although I think most of the technology on modern tractors is great, I can’t see the point of fitting screens and complex settings on a telehandler.

Tractors have to turn their hand to all sorts of tasks, but telehandlers just need to pick things up and put them down again.

Our latest Manitou has a screen with lots of fancy options, which most of us haven’t used.

Biggest machinery bargain?

We buy and sell a lot of machinery, so it’s hard to pinpoint any particular bargains.

However, we’ve always done alright by looking after our machinery as best we can so that it’s worth good money second-hand.

I’ve never been able to understand those who buy an expensive new machine and then abuse it.