single and doublechops

keep going

lets have a trip down memory lane. what sort of crack was it and how much did ye do in a day pulling with what.anybody mow it for a single chop.myself and the nextdoor neighbour are trying to convince each other to go cutting our own silage. probilly wont but we are having some fun with it

moy83

We still cut our silage with a single chop harvester and do a few acres for the neighbour . The gear doesnt owe us anything at this stage even though we have the odd bit of down time from breakages .Id say we cut about ten or fifteen acres a day , nothing hectic but i like it (for a few days anyhow) and it saves paying a contractor . We have a case 956 with a 60 inch gyro harvester ,a case 580g buckraking and two 12 x 7 trailers pulled by a 390 drawing

sh1tstirrer

I used to fatten dry cows on double chop silage without any supplements. Single chop would also fatten cattle. Harvesting 70 acres with a double chop could take up to a fortnight in a bad summer.

jeff greene

sh1tstirrer wrote: »

I used to fatten dry cows on double chop silage without any supplements. Single chop would also fatten cattle. Harvesting 70 acres with a double chop could take up to a fortnight in a bad summer.

And precision chop wouldn't?

I remember doing it here 20 years ago, 10 acres of first cut a day, but at the time tractors was poor as were the trailers, with modern tractors and bigger trailers, you could do alot more.

Still better to wilt it, better intakes and fermentation, less effluent to deal with

sh1tstirrer

jeff greene wrote: »

And precision chop wouldn't?

Wouldn't it? I only ever used single and double chop silage until I switched to bales.

whelan1

used to do it ourselves... haf a jf fct 900 percision chop... a cmt 245 mower also a jf . had tm 125 on harvester and case 885 on mower.. had a 390 drawing in .. jcb 3cx on pit... team hardship Hated having to milk the cows and cover the bloody pit when wrecked

jeff greene

sh1tstirrer wrote: »

Wouldn't it? I only ever used single and double chop silage until I switched to bales.

Of course it would, the feeding is in the grass. I took from your post that you didn't like precision chop, some people believe its the devil:rolleyes:

jeff greene

whelan1 wrote: »

used to do it ourselves... haf a jf fct 900 percision chop... a cmt 245 mower also a jf . had tm 125 on harvester and case 885 on mower.. had a 390 drawing in .. jcb 3cx on pit... team hardship Hated having to milk the cows and cover the bloody pit when wrecked

It only suits farms with big extented families its ok when things go to plan but that rarely happens, we gave up 5 or 6 years ago, went bales, way more flexible.

sh1tstirrer

jeff greene wrote: »

It only suits farms with big extented families its ok when things go to plan but that rarely happens, we gave up 5 or 6 years ago, went bales, way more flexible.

Yes bales are flexible. If only there wasn't so much damn plastic :mad:

caseman

sh1tstirrer wrote: »

I used to fatten dry cows on double chop silage without any supplements. Single chop would also fatten cattle. Harvesting 70 acres with a double chop could take up to a fortnight in a bad summer.

use a double chop my self 15-20 acers a day all going to plan trouble is getting good help that wont break and smash and leave trailers an their side

moy83

jeff greene wrote: »

Of course it would, the feeding is in the grass. I took from your post that you didn't like precision chop, some people believe its the devil:rolleyes:

We never used percision chop but i hear lads saying that it runs through cows awful fast and they would be scoury ? Is this talk or is there any truth in it

keep going

my buddy has a 7740 with a super engine so he would do the picking up and me on the tl80 with buckrake on the loader and counter-weight on the back(got duals for her the other day)just buy one trailer(say15*8) and hire in tractor-trail er.we would all be drivin our own gear.we just cant get the idea out of our brains

whelan1

keep going wrote: »

my buddy has a 7740 with a super engine so he would do the picking up and me on the tl80 with buckrake on the loader and counter-weight on the back(got duals for her the other day)just buy one trailer(say15*8) and hire in tractor-trail er.we would all be drivin our own gear.we just cant get the idea out of our brains

dont do it.... i love when the contractor comes in ... if theres a break, he has to deal with it:) hated when something went wrong , loads of grass on the ground and waiting on parts... paid labour standing around... at least the contractors are in and out... even if all the machinery is fine the weather is a bummer too , as it takes longer to do it than the contractor. Used to take us 5 days to do 100 acres

moy83

keep going wrote: »

my buddy has a 7740 with a super engine so he would do the picking up and me on the tl80 with buckrake on the loader and counter-weight on the back(got duals for her the other day)just buy one trailer(say15*8) and hire in tractor-trail er.we would all be drivin our own gear.we just cant get the idea out of our brains

Id say give it a go . Sure if ye can pick up the machinery at a reasonable cost it can always be sold on again if it doesnt work out without losing much . Good luck

jeff greene

Doing these thing with neighbours can lead to trouble down the line, one of you will feel cheated, in bad weather with delays or when big repair bill start appearing.

Of course it could work out great, how many acres will ye be doing in total?

Injuryprone

moy83 wrote: »

We never used percision chop but i hear lads saying that it runs through cows awful fast and they would be scoury ? Is this talk or is there any truth in it

Our vet says it's solely responsible for all the twisted stomach operations he has to do these days (he had done 40 himself this year up to a month ago when he did mine). Said twas never a problem before precision chop and vets up the west in areas where its all bales still haven't seen one. Am seriously considering moving away from precision chop as a result

jeff greene

Injuryprone wrote: »

Our vet says it's solely responsible for all the twisted stomach operations he has to do these days (he had done 40 himself this year up to a month ago when he did mine). Said twas never a problem before precision chop and vets up the west in areas where its all bales still haven't seen one. Am seriously considering moving away from precision chop as a result

LDA have many causes, vets tent to give out any answer to please people, do a search and you'll see.

Overfat cows
Cows with twins/hard calving
Rapid increase/change in ration
Ketotis, metritis, milk fever, retained cleanings etc leading to reduced intakes

whelan1

never heard that one ... did you read it in the daily mirror:D only joking i am 100% happy with percision chop silage

Injuryprone

jeff greene wrote: »

LDA have many causes, vets tent to give out any answer to please people, do a search and you'll see.

Overfat cows
Cows with twins/hard calving
Rapid increase/change in ration
Ketotis, metritis, milk fever, retained cleanings etc leading to reduced intakes

I know what you're saying and you're probably right, I have heard the ration explanation also. I don't usually believe every word he says, but the reason I took him at his word this time is because if it's not true, it's very easily disproved. If, for example, there are a load of people out there feeding bales that get the problem or if it was as prevalent pre precision chop.
Anyway he gave an example of a fella who used to have him do 2 to 3 ops a year. He was with him a few months ago doing a washout or a calving or something and he commented to the farmer that how come he hasn't had an op in while and the farmer told him that he got rid of the pit and is now feeding all bales and hasn't had one since.

jeff greene

Injuryprone wrote: »

I know what you're saying and you're probably right, I have heard the ration explanation also. I don't usually believe every word he says, but the reason I took him at his word this time is because if it's not true, it's very easily disproved. If, for example, there are a load of people out there feeding bales that get the problem or if it was as prevalent pre precision chop.
Anyway he gave an example of a fella who used to have him do 2 to 3 ops a year. He was with him a few months ago doing a washout or a calving or something and he commented to the farmer that how come he hasn't had an op in while and the farmer told him that he got rid of the pit and is now feeding all bales and hasn't had one since.

Its hard to say really as silage changes from year to year. Bales are usually drier and more palatable for a start which will mean more intake, alot of pit is cut with Big M etc will be low dm leading to reduced intake around calving. Many factors lead to LDA, hard to pin point, we never had one here.

keep going

we have always associated with early spring grass,there is a theory that its to do with gas production in digestion and that there isnt enough gas produced with early spring grass to help the stomachs settle after the calf moves out

keep going

jeff greene wrote: »

Doing these thing with neighbours can lead to trouble down the line, one of you will feel cheated, in bad weather with delays or when big repair bill start appearing.

Of course it could work out great, how many acres will ye be doing in total?

probily around 120.we share alot as it is and we have no probs fix each others gear.look we have the attitude that it costs alot more to have gear on our own.we both want to move away from big cuts to cutting maybe 15 or 20 at the time,stagger ground coming in and out and you could always put in a couple acres gone strong and not have bales.also we feel you would cut better quality. how goods are these nc they seem to be top dog

jeff greene

keep going wrote: »

probily around 120.we share alot as it is and we have no probs fix each others gear.look we have the attitude that it costs alot more to have gear on our own.we both want to move away from big cuts to cutting maybe 15 or 20 at the time,stagger ground coming in and out and you could always put in a couple acres gone strong and not have bales.also we feel you would cut better quality. how goods are these nc they seem to be top dog

If there other stuff is anything to go by it should be good, mostly Kidd, Taarup and New Holland here, they're old now tho, Elho are still making them too. How about a trailed percision chop like JF900, Taarup 602, Mex 6, more output

Have ye considered a wagon, alot on Donedeal at the moment, less labour needed.

caseman

keep going wrote: »

probily around 120.we share alot as it is and we have no probs fix each others gear.look we have the attitude that it costs alot more to have gear on our own.we both want to move away from big cuts to cutting maybe 15 or 20 at the time,stagger ground coming in and out and you could always put in a couple acres gone strong and not have bales.also we feel you would cut better quality. how goods are these nc they seem to be top dog

nc good machine much the same as a single chop nearly trouble free but dont think 7740 would be big enough to get the most out of the machine 130hp+ i recon

stanflt

god this bring back memories-weve been doing our own for the last forthy years(before i was born) 4 farms-all family- i remember we used to have a newholland double chop pulled by a fiat 990- another 990 on the pit-a 680orange fiat and a davey browne 1212 ferrying in the grass
then we got sophisticated with precision chop-new holland 525 harvester pulled by a 2wd fiat 110-90 a 4wd 90-90 fiat on the pit, a 2wd 90-90 mowing with a jf245 cmt mower- a davey12-12 and ford 6600 ferrying in

now weve a jf900 harvester pulled by a new holland tm125- a kuhn 302 mower, a nh ts115a on the pit a tm 120 a ts 115 tl90 and a 2wd tl90a- four ruscon trailers-can do 40 acres a day

this year i decided to get a contractor- it was 1oclock in the afternoon and rain forecast for that night- had the pit covered by 9 that evening and it hasnt stop raining since:D good call but an expensive one

keep going

had a family outing this evening and mentioned this to the brotherinlaws.they reckon they are going to buy a handy tractor and will draw it for the diesel as long as we cut on a saturday,just for the fun of it.they all used to draw silage in their youth and are mad for it.dont think they have run it by their wives yet:D.beginning to think we could do stag weekends and corporate team building events.thanks for info by the way

keep going

any tips on how to increase throughput of a single chop picking up swaths

jeff greene

keep going wrote: »

any tips on how to increase throughput of a single chop picking up swaths

more oomph:cool:

What size mower will you use? Enough trailers is important for throughput, keep the harvester going.

red menace

We used to give the cousin a hand back ing the day
36" Gyro puled by a leyland 262
Our Nuffield 4/65 drawing in and a Ford 76 4wd on the pit
2 12 foot trailers.
10 acres would be a fair good day
The first round of the field or opening a set was a fairly depressing sight

keep going

jeff greene wrote: »

more oomph:cool:

What size mower will you use? Enough trailers is important for throughput, keep the harvester going.

8ft thinking of going with 14 to 16 ft trailers. they seem to be going right at the mo as contractors have moved up to 18 and 20 and farmers move to wagon.considering double chop but worried big trailers would pull it all over the place on hilly ground

jerdee

we used a 2130 jd single chop tarrup two 10 ft trailers ford 5000 with bucrake and unversal 445 drawing in moved on then mid 80 s to 7600 with double chop tarrup 12 ft and 13ft trailers and a62 in the pit finished last year with 8210 with same double chop 16ft trailers and L120c volvo in pit

bales now with no drama.........miss it 20 acres a day and loads of tea....

jerry