Machinery
Trying to find areas to save some money. Looking at spraying our own crops. Farm roughly 1300 acres. Considering a pull type or an older rogator to get started with. Any suggestions on what to look for and what to stay away from?
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Go self propelled you won't regret it. I started with a trailer type, but I have had a self propelled for 20 years now. Started with 664 Rogator, decent machine, 60ft boom, 600gal tank, pretty rugged machine. Currently running a CIH 3310 ( I paid $40k for this machine 6 years ago, 4k hours) it is a big improvement over the old 664 Rogator. It has 90 ft boom and 1000 gal tank. The CIH machines are much quieter than the Rogators because the engine is in the back. I feel like the used CIH machines tend to be a little cheaper than the Rogators. Be careful of the 1074s and 1274s they can have wheel motor problems, that is why they are cheaper than some of the other Rogators. I would recommend a good low hour 854 Rogator or CIH 3310 or 3320. John Deere sprayers are very nice, but repairs can be very expensive especially the final drives. What ever brand you decide on I believe a sprayer has the highest and most consistent ROI on my farm. The ability to spray what I want when I want and to shop around on chemicals (use generics) are the biggest benefits of owning your own sprayer. I save $30-$40k/ year over local retailers/custom sprayers. I farm 2200 acres and cover about 5000 acres total/year with my sprayer ( approx. 100 hours/ year on the machine). So a good machine we last you many years.
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