Silage wagon anyone.......

agrostar

Hey there, im new to all this just wondering if anyone out there has any advice on secondhand silage wagons. We have been considering purchasing one for awhile now because of spiraling contractor costs and thats the kinda thing that would interest us :rolleyes: We have a 110hp tractor and teleporter to push it up. We would be pitting about 30 acre/yr not a huge ammount be any means:D Have seen afew advertised on Tractorpool seem fairly resonably priced compared to any of the machines over here. What would ye advise?

mossfort

agrostar wrote: »

Hey there, im new to all this just wondering if anyone out there has any advice on secondhand silage wagons. We have been considering purchasing one for awhile now because of spiraling contractor costs and thats the kinda thing that would interest us :rolleyes: We have a 110hp tractor and teleporter to push it up. We would be pitting about 30 acre/yr not a huge ammount be any means:D Have seen afew advertised on Tractorpool seem fairly resonably priced compared to any of the machines over here. What would ye advise?

if your only making 30 acres of silage a year you would be cheaper to stay with the contractor. to buy a decent silage wagon that wont break down wont be cheap and wouldnt be viable for just 30 acres a year.

agrostar

Hi there thanks for your reply, but have seriously thought about the viability of purchasing the wagon and all the costs involved wear and tear ect...... I know it prob would be as easier stick to the contractor route but in my opinion we r too dependant on contractors who dont often deliver a first class job for what seems alot of money. I understand where your coming from it would be an aweful easier but we wouldnt be known for doing anything the easier way ever Have seen wagons on Tractorpool for what doesnt seem an aweful ammount of money 7-10,000 euro for what looks like a very decent machine, farmer spec, late 90's early 2000 yr. Tractors and loader are already in the yard and paying for themselves just thinking it would always be another way for them to earn their keep and could possibly pick another few neighbours grass as well. I probably am insane.................

aristo

Theres a lad in limerick who imports forage wagons and grasscare machinery from holland was looking at tedders and he had very tidy wagons for sale, he is the same seller as this
http://www.donedeal.ie/for-sale/machinery/1251153
might be worth a call

agrostar

Might give him a ring tommorow to see what kinda machinery he has on offer, i think i might of seen several of his adverts on Donedeal. Was looking on Tractorpool and it looks as if you could buy the same machine in Europe at a fraction of the cost. The prospect of importing it wouldnt put me off it would only be important to import the right machine as we fortunatly have enough scrap already:-}

denis086

we have a potinger euro profi silage wagon with 7 seasons we have it on a mxu135 or cs150 we lift about 120 acres on our farm of first cut about 50 second cut mowed in 10ft swarts but our draw varies so cant really say how many acres roughly 30 a day though both uncles use it aswell so that a few hundred more acres we use a 50hxs digger a manitou loader or tanco pushoff buckrake depending on which ever decides not to break down :rolleyes: they can be a bit of hassle and the chop lenght only really suits farms with diet feeders and they put alot of presure on the clutch packs in tractors both case have had clutches replaced but the wagon itself takes very little maintenance once its maintained properly and clean well when putting it away after the season only needs chains tensioned knives sharpened tines replaced and a ram for the back door but thats a different story we used have jf harvesters a 900 and before that a 1100 they were much better but lack of drivers for trailers in the boom :rolleyes: meant this was a 3 man operation so it was easier to go down the wagon route hope this helps

pajero12

denis086 wrote: »

we have a potinger euro profi silage wagon with 7 seasons we have it on a mxu135 or cs150 we lift about 120 acres on our farm of first cut about 50 second cut mowed in 10ft swarts but our draw varies so cant really say how many acres roughly 30 a day though both uncles use it aswell so that a few hundred more acres we use a 50hxs digger a manitou loader or tanco pushoff buckrake depending on which ever decides not to break down :rolleyes: they can be a bit of hassle and the chop lenght only really suits farms with diet feeders and they put alot of presure on the clutch packs in tractors both case have had clutches replaced but the wagon itself takes very little maintenance once its maintained properly and clean well when putting it away after the season only needs chains tensioned knives sharpened tines replaced and a ram for the back door but thats a different story we used have jf harvesters a 900 and before that a 1100 they were much better but lack of drivers for trailers in the boom :rolleyes: meant this was a 3 man operation so it was easier to go down the wagon route hope this helps

How is it hard on the clutch?

denis086

when they choke to clear it you push back the load drop down the knifes and open the tractor up and engage the pto no other way to clear them puts a fair amount of presure on them the cs's have a reputation of being indestructable and it did it to it you can try pulling out some of it but its a waste of time they block too far in

Casinoking

Don't choke them would appear to be the moral of the story so

denis086

i agree but isnt that most people try to do anyway who goes into a field and plan on choking its just at the end of swarts where they run into each other it happens usually we dont rake our silage so usually we cut headlands pick up the last headland in them all and then mow the middle so you can mow that bit quicker and not have to worry about the mower running into the headland

agrostar

Me again;) anyone know anything about Krone Turbo 2900????

Claasman

agrostar wrote: »

Me again;) anyone know anything about Krone Turbo 2900????

avoid like the plague, ran one for a few years. The chassis is too light and the steel is of poor quality. The back door is too light, and the trip mechanism can get damaged easily. Not really designed for wet grass/heavy loads and being towed at 40k. Terrible in wet ground.

agrostar

Probably best avoided so:D Enough scrap thrown in the corner of the yard. What kind of wagon would you recommend??? Only problem being we would only have a handy sized budget as we only have small acreage but had da chance to pickup silage for 2 r 3 friends.

maidhc

denis086 wrote: »

i agree but isnt that most people try to do anyway who goes into a field and plan on choking its just at the end of swarts where they run into each other it happens usually we dont rake our silage so usually we cut headlands pick up the last headland in them all and then mow the middle so you can mow that bit quicker and not have to worry about the mower running into the headland

Or run the mower over the last headland at both ends of the field again.

tismesoitis

mossfort wrote: »

if your only making 30 acres of silage a year you would be cheaper to stay with the contractor. to buy a decent silage wagon that wont break down wont be cheap and wouldnt be viable for just 30 acres a year.

how many acres do u think ud need to b cutting per year to make purchasing a wagon viable?

denis086

maidhc wrote: »

Or run the mower over the last headland at both ends of the field again.

we thought that too but it made it terribly lumpy we might aswell have kept going the way we were picking it up first is a much better but thanks for the tip

Pacoa

Anyone ever use one of these? What hp would be needed?

http://www.donedeal.ie/for-sale/machinery/1323495

agrostar

Handy looking machine looks to be fairly basic and relatively easy to maintain and if the harvester ever gave up you would have a handy tandem axle trailer:) although the axles and running gear look very light she probably bang away. Never seen one of them in operation but there couldn't be much to them, looks like it wouldnt need alot of power 100-110hp. I wonder what the chop length would be like..........

Tipp Man

tismesoitis wrote: »

how many acres do u think ud need to b cutting per year to make purchasing a wagon viable?

Thats a very good question and there is not a simple answer. If you are too small then the investment in machinery needed cannot be justified, if you are too big then cutting the silage becomes a big operation taking up too much time and distracting from the real work that needs to be done.

It also depends on how mechanically minded you are, for example we are rubbish with machinery so nearly every little break would require the mechanic, but if you are good at that kind of thing then its not an issue

I think the minimum amount you would need to be cutting is 50 acres, to justify the cost (unless you go for a cheap second hand in which case you need to be handy with a spanner)

Perhaps the maximum is 100-120, anything more than than and you spend too long at it

Perhaps if you had 2-3 farmers each doing 50 acres it would be a good idea to buy the machinery between them, thereby reducing cost and there is more labour available. I really think that Irish farmers are very poor when it comes to shared ownership of machinery and is an area where i think that savings could be made

zetor11411

At that horsepower a wagon with a cam system rather than a rotor would be more suitable. ie a Krone titan or turbo a Pottinger Ladeprofi or siloprofi or a Strautmann Vitesse. (Super vitesse) has the rotor system. A machine from the 90s should be bought for between 5 and 10k euro. Other posters spoke about the krone turbo being bad in wet grass the idea of having a wagon is that you will be able to work when conditions are ideal. Chop lenght is comparable to double chop silage. There are a few guys around the country bringing in wagons off the continent one in Wexford another in Limerick and another in tyrone. We bought our wagon from a guy in Limerick who is bringing them from Holland. Very helpful and good value. Looked at wagon with guy in Wexford top guy also but wagons were more expensive.Looked at idea of bringing one ourselves but transport is about 3500 euro as bridges in Holland are 4m and u must use a lowloader. Also allow about 1000 euro to travel out and check a few out. If you are looking at wagon from the last 10 years they are just as cheap here if not cheaper than the continent. Stick to Krone pottinger or Strautmann as parts are readily available here. If wagon is well maintained should for ever. we bought a Krone Turbo 3500 for 6000 euro have it 3 seasons now cutting 70 acres per year. Put a new set of bearings in the drum before last season. It has given no hassle. Our draw is short and we can clear 20 acres per day with 90 hp Tractor. push up with a moffett 390.

vincenzolorenzo

You've changed your name haven't you zetor11411?!?!

saturno80

pacoa, that machine is a teagle toucan ,used to have one years ago ,almost 2 acres per hour if the draw was short ,say 500 m from pit to field ,chop very short with all the knives in ,we ran ours behind a 674 international ,had some of the knives out ,chop about 4 6 inches ,she could drive it easy ,simple well built machine ,good for your own use if you could get a clean well minded one .

Pacoa

pacoa, that machine is a teagle toucan

Think this is the modern version of it.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8oVzeQkU1F0

Swinefluproof

At 30 acres a year is a baler not a more viable option???

vincenzolorenzo

Yeah for that small an acreage I think bales would just be the handiest. If you had labour you could cobble together a silage outfit but you'd just be handier with bales

agrostar

We thought about goin the baler route but it would involve purchasing alot of machinery plus all the extra labour involved.(Baler, wrapper, handler ect ect) With the wagon route all that would have to be bought would be a fairly average wagon one ole banger to keep going rather than two:D:D We are also more set up for pit silage and we were hoping with the wagon and the longer chop length we would be able to achieve nearly as good quality feeding.We won't be doing anything this year anyway silage is to be cut in the next few fine days that come so id say we could be cutting it fairly fine to do the job ourselves this year:rolleyes::rolleyes: id say we'll keep an eye out for a machine in the next nine months and if anything suitable arises we mite take the plunge;);)

Muckit

well agrostar

Did you look any more into purcjasing a wagon for this year?

pms7

Hi lads, I've been following all the wagon talk here. Wondering could a Ford 6610 2wd with dual wheels and buckrake on the back push up silage. Looking at the Krone 3500, so 10-15 acres / day..
Could you keep up to wagon and would it pack the grass enough?
Thanks

vincenzolorenzo

I'd say it'd manage 10-15 acres a day no bother. We put up silage with an International 784 and loader for many years and we would have been getting through 10-15 acres with a JF harvester. 6610 would be a bit more powerful I think so should handle it no bother

Edit to say: Didn't have dual wheels either until the last couple of years it was being used. Only stopped using it after a bigger tractor was bought, and amount of silage being cut doubled

keep going

pms7 wrote: »

Hi lads, I've been following all the wagon talk here. Wondering could a Ford 6610 2wd with dual wheels and buckrake on the back push up silage. Looking at the Krone 3500, so 10-15 acres / day..
Could you keep up to wagon and would it pack the grass enough?
Thanks

just in from throwing up 20 arces of arable silage with wagons .had a 80hp tractor4wd and kept wagon clear no prob (strautman giga)until he brought on the second and that put me under pressure but should be ok with one,depends on draw.one wagon is better as you can pack the s**t out of pit

vincenzolorenzo

keep going wrote: »

one wagon is better as you can pack the s**t out of pit

+1. I often think this is something that gets overlooked with some of the larger silage making systems. It doesn't matter if you can pick 100 acres a day, or how big your trailers are, if you don't pack the pit properly you're just wasting your time (not to mention money). Far better off IMO to keep the loads coming nice and steady so that the lad on the pit isn't killed trying to keep ahead and has a bit of time to give the pit a good rolling between loads

Mad man!

denis086 wrote: »

when they choke to clear it you push back the load drop down the knifes and open the tractor up and engage the pto no other way to clear them puts a fair amount of presure on them the cs's have a reputation of being indestructable and it did it to it you can try pulling out some of it but its a waste of time they block too far in

I thinkl it was more down to driver error rather than the wagons fault!!

moy83

Well agrostar did you buy a wagon ? Or anyone else buy a secondhand wagon for their own use ? With the lack of labour I'm thinking of swapping over . Would a 95hp tractor pull a krone 2900 ok ?

milkprofit

agrostar wrote: »

Hi there thanks for your reply, but have seriously thought about the viability of purchasing the wagon and all the costs involved wear and tear ect...... I know it prob would be as easier stick to the contractor route but in my opinion we r too dependant on contractors who dont often deliver a first class job for what seems alot of money. I understand where your coming from it would be an aweful easier but we wouldnt be known for doing anything the easier way ever Have seen wagons on Tractorpool for what doesnt seem an aweful ammount of money 7-10,000 euro for what looks like a very decent machine, farmer spec, late 90's early 2000 yr. Tractors and loader are already in the yard and paying for themselves just thinking it would always be another way for them to earn their keep and could possibly pick another few neighbours grass as well. I probably am insane.................

Yep that's true

pms7

moy83 wrote: »

Well agrostar did you buy a wagon ? Or anyone else buy a secondhand wagon for their own use ? With the lack of labour I'm thinking of swapping over . Would a 95hp tractor pull a krone 2900 ok ?

No problem. Got a krone titan 6/40 last year for 7k, TS110 in front. Very happy with it.

agrostar

moy83 wrote: »

Well agrostar did you buy a wagon ? Or anyone else buy a secondhand wagon for their own use ? With the lack of labour I'm thinking of swapping over . Would a 95hp tractor pull a krone 2900 ok ?

Hey lads, ya we got da wagon there 3yrs ago very happy with it da boss man reckons it's da best silage we've had made for a long time:cool: picked up 40 acres per yr no bothers but I'd def say it's not for everyone, you'd want to be handy with machinery and the spanners. It's wasn't too much of a financial outlay either picked up a krone 3500 for €4000 so it's nearly paid for but you need time, help and the tractors and loader to make it a viable option. We were lucky as I said all machinery bar wagon was already in situ, help was available but I'd def say if help was not available we wud not even consider it because it's too important a job to be messin around wit a lad that won't turn up when asked or simply cannot manage on the pit I'd b better off getting in a contractor.
We'll be picking up da first cut next wk hopefully fingers crossed all runs smoothly as there is always the chance of a calamity

moy83

Thanks agrostar , glad to hear its working out for ye . Are parts hard to get if you have a breakdown when picking up ?
The reason we are thinking of the wagon is lack of help for a third tractor . At least with the wagon the father can pick up and I can make the pit without the need for anyone drawing

td5man

moy83 wrote: »

Thanks agrostar , glad to hear its working out for ye . Are parts hard to get if you have a breakdown when picking up ?
The reason we are thinking of the wagon is lack of help for a third tractor . At least with the wagon the father can pick up and I can make the pit without the need for anyone drawing

Farmhand in dublin have a good stock of krone parts. you can order from them but have to pay for them through a krone agent.

Muckit

I suppose a lad would want a small stack of the main parts that go in them on the shelf back in the yard. No good having them in Dublin at 8 O'Clock in the evening and the skies getting cloudy!

Greengrass1

Muckit wrote: »

I suppose a lad would want a small stack of the main parts that go in them on the shelf back in the yard. No good having them in Dublin at 8 O'Clock in the evening and the skies getting cloudy!

Friend of mind does his own silage with a jf harvest or. Maybe 120 acres. Couple of years ago they bought a second one and striped it down and out all the parts in boxes. Says it was a right job as they got it very cheap. Think the gear box got wrecked in it

moy83

Greengrass1 wrote: »

Friend of mind does his own silage with a jf harvest or. Maybe 120 acres. Couple of years ago they bought a second one and striped it down and out all the parts in boxes. Says it was a right job as they got it very cheap. Think the gear box got wrecked in it

I did that with the square baler . I wasnt as organised as to put everything into boxes but its there and we can pull away if we're stuck

td5man

Muckit wrote: »

I suppose a lad would want a small stack of the main parts that go in them on the shelf back in the yard. No good having them in Dublin at 8 O'Clock in the evening and the skies getting cloudy!

They dont give much trouble if they are used sensibly.
A few pickup tines and a grease gun will keep them going.

frazzledhome

td5man wrote: »

They dont give much trouble if they are used sensibly.
A few pickup tines and a grease gun will keep them going.

I still have nightmares about the chain elevator from the pickup on the early models. Like a bad combine you only find out how they work if you have a bad one.

I would only consider one with a rotor

moy83

Well we bought one this evening so this time next week I should be able to give a bit of advice , good or bad
I hope it works out or the father wont let me forget it if the gyro has to replace it :rolleyes:

td5man

moy83 wrote: »

Well we bought one this evening so this time next week I should be able to give a bit of advice , good or bad
I hope it works out or the father wont let me forget it if the gyro has to replace it :rolleyes:

what did you buy?

td5man

frazzledhome wrote: »

I still have nightmares about the chain elevator from the pickup on the early models. Like a bad combine you only find out how they work if you have a bad one.

I would only consider one with a rotor

had one with a chain elevator years ago never gave any trouble.

moy83

A krone 2900 turbo with double axel

td5man

moy83 wrote: »

A krone 2900 turbo with double axel

have a krone 5000 turbo here, picked up 23 acres yesterday.

milkprofit

agrostar wrote: »

Hey lads, ya we got da wagon there 3yrs ago very happy with it da boss man reckons it's da best silage we've had made for a long time:cool: picked up 40 acres per yr no bothers but I'd def say it's not for everyone, you'd want to be handy with machinery and the spanners. It's wasn't too much of a financial outlay either picked up a krone 3500 for €4000 so it's nearly paid for but you need time, help and the tractors and loader to make it a viable option. We were lucky as I said all machinery bar wagon was already in situ, help was available but I'd def say if help was not available we wud not even consider it because it's too important a job to be messin around wit a lad that won't turn up when asked or simply cannot manage on the pit I'd b better off getting in a contractor.
We'll be picking up da first cut next wk hopefully fingers crossed all runs smoothly as there is always the chance of a calamity

Agree with u about being handy and a welder
Have a 3500 turbo for sale for parts

moy83

td5man wrote: »

have a krone 5000 turbo here, picked up 23 acres yesterday.

Dont be far from your phone next week I might have alot of questions for you ! Is there much of a difference between the 2900 and 5000 bar size or is yours more modern ?

pms7

moy83 wrote: »

A krone 2900 turbo with double axel

Where + how much ?
Second year with Krone titan here. Few bits break but can still keep going!
One thing that stopped me for a bit was floor solenoid sticking. Bypassed it now, just length of hose + some replumbing. Weakest part of the krones is the door. Any bit bent and won't close properly without a kick. Door opened few times in the field Saturday, haven't figured out why yet..