Rubber Trees

[kwonitoy]

Rain would be nice, hotter than the hubs of hell up north, 41C today

[Hunter s somtam]

Hi all

Been searching here and can't find the info I want .

If pruning the branches off trees between 3 and four years old is it best to cut em off ,saw them or snap em off ? Well any size tree really as always planting replacement trees.

Most peeps around here snap them off .

Also what's the best time to stop disc plowing between trees ? The long rows I mean ,this will damage the roots I reckon after the trees are a few years old .

I have only been rotating the soil and clearing the grass ,so I think I can get rid of my tractor soon .

It's a two year old kubota L4708 if any ones interested ,I don't use it enough to keep it .

Cheers

[Hunter s somtam]

We have had two good big down pours here in the last week ,half an hour east of khon Kaen .

[Mosha]

An example of how it pays to shop around for buyers. We sold some rather damp Kee Yang at 27 Baht yesterday. Last night er indoors was talking to a friend who had sold to someone who is about 1 km from us who was paying 25 Baht.

[thaiguzzi]

HST;

You have'nt been searching enough.

1. Suggest you get yourselves down to the nearest govnt run rubber school, enrol, or at the very least, pick up some free books and cd's from said school. And learn summat.

2. Never ever ever snap branches off ! Ouch !! They should be small and soft enough to cut off with secaturs, ie what you prune flowers and bushes with. Nothing taller than what you cannot reach. Do not pull taller ones down to trim. It will damage the tree long term.

3. 3rd season is the last to plough. I personally stop after the 2nd season, and just grass cut.

4. Why sell your tractor now? You will be cutting grass until at least year 7.

5. Do not listen to your Thai neighbors. Do not copy what they do. See 1, 2 and 3 above. The only people you can learn something from is 3rd/4th generation plantation owners. And they only live in the deep South.

Listen to your Uncle Mike.

[Hunter s somtam]

Thanks uncle Mike

I always thought snapping didnt seem to good for em,I will try and get to the schools ,so they let farangs go no probs ?

I just thought with the tractor ,I just don't use it enough and would be cheaper to get someone to do it ,well cheaper than the repayments now and family using it and leaving it without fuel everytime I go to drive it .all the peeps round here are first gen rubber farmers .when I get a chance I'll take some photos of some guy across the road ,looks like a cyclone has been through there.will try and and send a shot of mine from two days ago .

[Hunter s somtam]

Thanks uncle Mike

I always thought snapping didnt seem to good for em,I will try and get to the schools ,so they let farangs go no probs ?

I just thought with the tractor ,I just don't use it enough and would be cheaper to get someone to do it ,well cheaper than the repayments now and family using it and leaving it without fuel everytime I go to drive it .all the peeps round here are first gen rubber farmers .when I get a chance I'll take some photos of some guy across the road ,looks like a cyclone has been through there.will try and and send a shot of mine from two days ago .

[Hunter s somtam]

Bout four year ,sorry for double post before .

[Hunter s somtam]

Try this

[thaiguzzi]

# Not too shabby for 4 year old trees. Nice big canopy, which is important. Land is nice 'n flat too, no ridges. Only thing is, stop rotorvatin', let the grass grow back, then keep on top of it with a grass cutter between the 7m rows, and a petrol strimmer between the 3m gaps.

# Felangs can go to school, i did'nt, in hindsight i wish i did.

# You'll be surprised how much dosh is forked out over a year paying for other people's tractor usage.

# Maybe it's time for the family to pay you a percentage for the use of YOUR tractor. Back when i had my big old Ford, and it was used on paying jobs NOT on our land or our family's land, i paid the diesel, and driver (BIL) and owner (me) split monies in 80/20 in my favour, apparently the norm up here in Isaan. But 2k earned in a day, 400 baht from that is still a decent wedge for a days work for the driver, who is NOT the owner/operator. 600 baht for diesel left me with 1k in my pocket. Not great, but better than a kick in the teeth.

# 95% of rubber farmers outside of the deep South are 1st generation owners. Hence, a lot of them have not got a clue.

Keep up the good work.

Uncle Mikey.

[cobbler]

Try this

trees look great deffinately dont plough.If tractor is being used by family and they not paying you.Sell the tractor to avoid any dramas and problems.Then spray weeds 1 time per year.

We just use our myanmar workers with hand held wipper snippers.As you know u got to make a proffit.With prices the way they r now its not easy.U gatta be a tight ass.

Sent from my GT-N7100 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[thaiguzzi]

Don't recommend any spraying of any weeds, anywhere. Quicker, cheaper - yes. Better - no. Grass cutting, either manually (petrol strimmers) or with machinery (tractors) is always ;

a) more expensive

more time consuming

c) far better for the health of the land and whatever is on it.

Call me an old hippy but...

[thoongfoned]

Hi all

Been searching here and can't find the info I want .

If pruning the branches off trees between 3 and four years old is it best to cut em off ,saw them or snap em off ? Well any size tree really as always planting replacement trees.

Most peeps around here snap them off .

Also what's the best time to stop disc plowing between trees ? The long rows I mean ,this will damage the roots I reckon after the trees are a few years old .

I have only been rotating the soil and clearing the grass ,so I think I can get rid of my tractor soon .

It's a two year old kubota L4708 if any ones interested ,I don't use it enough to keep it .

Cheers

hi we also had one of these kubotas, on the monthly thingie, very expensive really if you are not making it work for you ie getting cash for outside work ect.. we bought it for cutting the grass in the plantation, after ayear or so I had lost the buzz for it. lucky managed to "sell" it onto a friend (thai) he is now flat out with it most of the time, we kept the grass sledge box and now he does the grass cutting for us. (and does a better job!) 200 baht a ria. most other people with same sized tractor want 300 - 350 a rai using our cutter.

those kubotas eat the spare parts when they are work just alittle to hard, put them on heavy work and they just fall apart, much better with a ford.

[cobbler]

Don't recommend any spraying of any weeds, anywhere. Quicker, cheaper - yes. Better - no. Grass cutting, either manually (petrol strimmers) or with machinery (tractors) is always ;

a) more expensive

more time consuming

c) far better for the health of the land and whatever is on it.

Call me an old hippy but...

Hi there mr mototguzzi .Yes i agree with you 100%. Just trying to give the poor guy some options..We never use sprays but if he has a problwm getting workers for a fair price spray is a good option for the short term.

Cheers Cobbler

Sent from my GT-N7100 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[cobbler]

Sent from my GT-N7100 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

Some of the prik kee gnu or prik hom we planted in the yang.big as me.Funny thing is we planted 5000 we grew from seeds but the ones which grew best were the ones we just threw the seeds around.555

Cheers Cobbler

Edited April 13, 2014 by cobbler

[thaiguzzi]

# Cobbler - you look like me ! Without the tats !

# THF - Yes a Ford is a much stronger bit of kit, easier and cheaper to work on, HOWEVER, they are soooo heavy, ie too heavy for a mature rubber plantation (main reason i sold mine, but i did get 6 years work out of it), and absolutely no good for small rice paddies, even 4WD. Just too heavy.

# My previous post had a,b,c. <deleted> changed the b to a smiley-thingey?

I hate smiley thingeys.

[cobbler]

Hi Mr motorguzzi.I may look more like u than u know.U just cant see my tats.555

Cheers cobbler

Sent from my GT-N7100 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[Hunter s somtam]

# Not too shabby for 4 year old trees. Nice big canopy, which is important. Land is nice 'n flat too, no ridges. Only thing is, stop rotorvatin', let the grass grow back, then keep on top of it with a grass cutter between the 7m rows, and a petrol strimmer between the 3m gaps.

# Felangs can go to school, i did'nt, in hindsight i wish i did.

# You'll be surprised how much dosh is forked out over a year paying for other people's tractor usage.

# Maybe it's time for the family to pay you a percentage for the use of YOUR tractor. Back when i had my big old Ford, and it was used on paying jobs NOT on our land or our family's land, i paid the diesel, and driver (BIL) and owner (me) split monies in 80/20 in my favour, apparently the norm up here in Isaan. But 2k earned in a day, 400 baht from that is still a decent wedge for a days work for the driver, who is NOT the owner/operator. 600 baht for diesel left me with 1k in my pocket. Not great, but better than a kick in the teeth.

# 95% of rubber farmers outside of the deep South are 1st generation owners. Hence, a lot of them have not got a clue.

Keep up the good work.

Uncle Mikey.

Thanks mate

So don't keep rotavating ,what ever again ? Just cut the grass ?

Everyone around here does that but like u said ,there first Gen and just following everyone else ,same as me.

So you must be able to buy a grass cutting attachment ,I've never seen em here ,like the ones in Oz the council use to cut large paddocks and parks .here it's just 10 blokes with trimmers and steel blades shooting rocks everywhere .

As for the tractor ,yer u are right ,I should keep it for a while longer ,I do get a bit of cash out of it,but not like before when I had a similar deal with the wife's cousin ,he was a great operator and really took care of the tractor .but he had to go back to Bkk and now I only have piss heads that will likely roll the bastard.

I always have people ask me to drive it and have to say no it's illegal and I cant .there's no one around to see me ,but just takes one pissed off local losing work to me .

Well thanks again for the advice and hope u had a great songkran ,stay safe out there everyone this time of year .

Can't hear any bass pumping out of the village ,it's over or there still asleep and getting ready for another round of pissheads Olympics .

Shaneo

[Hunter s somtam]

Hi all

Been searching here and can't find the info I want .

If pruning the branches off trees between 3 and four years old is it best to cut em off ,saw them or snap em off ? Well any size tree really as always planting replacement trees.

Most peeps around here snap them off .

Also what's the best time to stop disc plowing between trees ? The long rows I mean ,this will damage the roots I reckon after the trees are a few years old .

I have only been rotating the soil and clearing the grass ,so I think I can get rid of my tractor soon .

It's a two year old kubota L4708 if any ones interested ,I don't use it enough to keep it .

Cheers

hi we also had one of these kubotas, on the monthly thingie, very expensive really if you are not making it work for you ie getting cash for outside work ect.. we bought it for cutting the grass in the plantation, after ayear or so I had lost the buzz for it. lucky managed to "sell" it onto a friend (thai) he is now flat out with it most of the time, we kept the grass sledge box and now he does the grass cutting for us. (and does a better job!) 200 baht a ria. most other people with same sized tractor want 300 - 350 a rai using our cutter.

those kubotas eat the spare parts when they are work just alittle to hard, put them on heavy work and they just fall apart, much better with a ford.

hi Thoong

So u have a grass cutter did u buy it at the local parts shop ,as I was saying I've never seen one used here.

As for my tractor it's a few years old now and lucky had no probs or spares needed,touch wood .

I drive it a lot and like I said the cousin was good on it and took good care of it.

The ground here is really hard and can bust the shit out of your equipment that's for sure,another guy bought same one as me ,same time .he has had many repairs ,but he really busts it's balls ,and often pissed on the Lao kow ,<deleted> knocked down his own front block wall .

Thanks .

[thaiguzzi]

HST;

# grass cutting boxes are sold by all Kubota dealers, min width is 1m, for a 47 hp tractor i would pay the extra and get the next one up - a 1.2m wide one (27k ish). I just bought a new grass cutter for our little 14hp KRT 140 last year 22k baht, 1m wide, does a great job. They are driven off the rear PTO, into a g/box/diff down to two blades inside the box. Very reliable nothing to go wrong.

# Yes, stop rotorvatin', you are still cutting/damaging the small roots near the top of the soil.

# Drive the tractor yourself - no probs! Immigration/cops etc are just NOT interested in a felang working on his OWN farm. Allegedly, Nong Khai immigration have photos of me driving my old Ford. they think it's hilarious. This is my 10th season with our rubber plantations, no one, but no one has done tractor work on all 64 rai but me, and only me. Ploughing, rotorvating, spraying (vits), grass cutting.

[thaiguzzi]

Re, above post, do not buy the big 1.4m wide grass cutter, it will be wider than the tractor, and you need 60hp and up to power it. Stick with 1.2m wide.

Mike.

[kwonitoy]

1.2 m grass cutter for 27k baht from Kubota is correct, I've had one for 4 years now used with my 46hp Kubota.

I wouldn't say their problem free, I've had to redo the gearbox seals twice, but that may be just mine.

First time they replaced for free as the original seals were junk, second time I did it myself and have had no problems for 2 years now. Maybe just coincidence?

Drive your own tractor, as Mike says nobody cares. I do all my own work on the tractor, it's my therapy when I'm home from my job. Tractor still looks like new after 4 years and I get lots of offers to buy it because its been falang cared for.

Rototilling, stop after the 3rd year, I've got a well used one that still works great and is now retired

I've got an idea in the back of my head to make a leaf blower out of an old grass cutter, towed behind the tractor and blow leave into a trailer, pick up the leaves when they drop and cut down on the fire hazard. Kind of like a tow behind silage maker but much smaller.

[cobbler]

Gee u guys.All this talk about expensive tractors and mackinery is scareing me.

We just let the myanmar workers cut the grass using whipper snipper we bought.Up to them to fuel it and maintain it.Or if not cut the grass by hand.

Cant imagine anybody down here buying tractors and stuff.

Sent from my GT-N7100 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

R

[Mark1971]

Just found a pretty awesome E Learning module on Rubber cultivation.

It is very detailed & explains every detail of a Rubber plantation, step by step.

" www.damrdp.net/eLearning/Rubber "

Unfortunately it doesn't cover my biggest obstacle, how to find honest, reliable & motivated people to work with.

Edited April 15, 2014 by Mark1971

[thoongfoned]

Hi all

Been searching here and can't find the info I want .

If pruning the branches off trees between 3 and four years old is it best to cut em off ,saw them or snap em off ? Well any size tree really as always planting replacement trees.

Most peeps around here snap them off .

Also what's the best time to stop disc plowing between trees ? The long rows I mean ,this will damage the roots I reckon after the trees are a few years old .

I have only been rotating the soil and clearing the grass ,so I think I can get rid of my tractor soon .

It's a two year old kubota L4708 if any ones interested ,I don't use it enough to keep it .

Cheers

hi we also had one of these kubotas, on the monthly thingie, very expensive really if you are not making it work for you ie getting cash for outside work ect.. we bought it for cutting the grass in the plantation, after ayear or so I had lost the buzz for it. lucky managed to "sell" it onto a friend (thai) he is now flat out with it most of the time, we kept the grass sledge box and now he does the grass cutting for us. (and does a better job!) 200 baht a ria. most other people with same sized tractor want 300 - 350 a rai using our cutter.

those kubotas eat the spare parts when they are work just alittle to hard, put them on heavy work and they just fall apart, much better with a ford.

hi Thoong

So u have a grass cutter did u buy it at the local parts shop ,as I was saying I've never seen one used here.

As for my tractor it's a few years old now and lucky had no probs or spares needed,touch wood .

I drive it a lot and like I said the cousin was good on it and took good care of it.

The ground here is really hard and can bust the shit out of your equipment that's for sure,another guy bought same one as me ,same time .he has had many repairs ,but he really busts it's balls ,and often pissed on the Lao kow ,<deleted> knocked down his own front block wall .

Thanks .

yeah the sledge box cutter we have is the 120cm twin blade. its sort of for sale, ie make me a sensible offer and it goes. its worked no more than 75 hours. think it was around the 25k mark from kubota udon thani.

bought our tractor on a wim really, got quoted a crazy price for some land clearing (rice fields) so the next day got the tractor. ok on light work, but we did have a lot go wrong in the one and half year we had it. very happy to see the back of it, did not really like those large repayment lumps every six month or so. good tractors if driven and maintained well.

[Mosha]

Gee u guys.All this talk about expensive tractors and mackinery is scareing me.

We just let the myanmar workers cut the grass using whipper snipper we bought.Up to them to fuel it and maintain it.Or if not cut the grass by hand.

Cant imagine anybody down here buying tractors and stuff.

Sent from my GT-N7100 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

R

Not when the trees or on a hill side. 555

[cobbler]

Gee u guys.All this talk about expensive tractors and mackinery is scareing me.

We just let the myanmar workers cut the grass using whipper snipper we bought.Up to them to fuel it and maintain it.Or if not cut the grass by hand.

Cant imagine anybody down here buying tractors and stuff.

Sent from my GT-N7100 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

R

Not when the trees or on a hill side. 555

yes youre right Mr mosha.On the side of a mountain its even tricky swinging the wipper snipper.

Sent from my GT-N7100 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[Hunter s somtam]

Hi all

Been searching here and can't find the info I want .

If pruning the branches off trees between 3 and four years old is it best to cut em off ,saw them or snap em off ? Well any size tree really as always planting replacement trees.

Most peeps around here snap them off .

Also what's the best time to stop disc plowing between trees ? The long rows I mean ,this will damage the roots I reckon after the trees are a few years old .

I have only been rotating the soil and clearing the grass ,so I think I can get rid of my tractor soon .

It's a two year old kubota L4708 if any ones interested ,I don't use it enough to keep it .

Cheers

hi we also had one of these kubotas, on the monthly thingie, very expensive really if you are not making it work for you ie getting cash for outside work ect.. we bought it for cutting the grass in the plantation, after ayear or so I had lost the buzz for it. lucky managed to "sell" it onto a friend (thai) he is now flat out with it most of the time, we kept the grass sledge box and now he does the grass cutting for us. (and does a better job!) 200 baht a ria. most other people with same sized tractor want 300 - 350 a rai using our cutter.

those kubotas eat the spare parts when they are work just alittle to hard, put them on heavy work and they just fall apart, much better with a ford.

hi Thoong

So u have a grass cutter did u buy it at the local parts shop ,as I was saying I've never seen one used here.

As for my tractor it's a few years old now and lucky had no probs or spares needed,touch wood .

I drive it a lot and like I said the cousin was good on it and took good care of it.

The ground here is really hard and can bust the shit out of your equipment that's for sure,another guy bought same one as me ,same time .he has had many repairs ,but he really busts it's balls ,and often pissed on the Lao kow ,<deleted> knocked down his own front block wall .

Thanks .

yeah the sledge box cutter we have is the 120cm twin blade. its sort of for sale, ie make me a sensible offer and it goes. its worked no more than 75 hours. think it was around the 25k mark from kubota udon thani.

bought our tractor on a wim really, got quoted a crazy price for some land clearing (rice fields) so the next day got the tractor. ok on light work, but we did have a lot go wrong in the one and half year we had it. very happy to see the back of it, did not really like those large repayment lumps every six month or so. good tractors if driven and maintained well.

I may be interested in the box ,after hearing from you guys I don't need the rotatvator on mine any more .

But going from wanting to get rid of the tractor to spending another 27k on it ,I'm not mad on.

Yer I have had the six month payments and they are a pain but the worst is over and as Mick says I can make some money renting it out and lucky so far had no major probs with it,touch wood.

Pm me with a price if u want to sell the box and we can have talk,would it fit in the back of a dual cab isuzu pick up ?,I think not.

Thanks again for all the advice.

[kwonitoy]

Hunter:

A 1.2 m grass cutter will just barely fit in the back of a pickup, I've hauled mine into town to get fixed. A dual cab Toyota.

It's a heavy SOB, so count on five or six guys to load it if you don't have some equipment to do the job.

[thaiguzzi]

Speaking of grasscutters, i have a grass cutting attachment for sale which attaches to the front of an E Tek or Kubota iron buffalo. Cuts 50 cms wide, belt driven to a bevel gearbox. Comes with a home made clutch/belt adjustment lever to the tiller handlebars and new g/box shaft brgs. Not worked more than 75 hours.. Ideal for your relatives who want to cut grass but only have an E Tek. Asking 4k with spare new blades, or 3.5k without.