Purchasing a Straw Chopper

TheSunderz

Hi Guys
Was recently considering buying a straw chopper/blower as we bed all are cattle in loose housing and was looking for something to do de job easier. Was considering either a knverland 853 pro chopper or a teagle tomohawk 8150(dual chop). Just wondering which would be the best option and if any of you guys have any experience with using them them. We bed houses every second day which keeps the bed dry. hoping it wud be de same with a straw chopper. Open to all comments
Thanks.

grazeaway

local dealer near here recently took on the tomahawk franchise and had a demo. had only ever seen them on you tube before. Looks impressive but i was suprised how expensive they are. about 8k for the basic model while the trailed ones can be up to 20k. neighbour had one on trail as he beds all the cows and was impressed with it but reckons he wouldnt use them with cattle in the shed. i can understand i was standing next to him when a stone that was in one of the bales whacked off the side sheeting (reckon the driver was using too much power anyway). If you are doing a good bit of bedding and also feeding silage bales then i reckon they would be of benifit. you would need a second tractor or loader for loading though. The chopped straw does spread a lot more easier and seesm to last a bit more too. from what the lads at the demo said its a lot easier to spread after wards too, a couple of the lads with them said they spread straight from the shed onto the field but i'm not sure if that ws with a side spreader or with a rear spreader with choppers.

F.D

Get Who ever bales the straw to bale with the knives in it will chop down the straw and when you open the bale its very easy managed, you will have a good bit more stuff in the bale doing it this way also, which will save on storage space, just put in every second knife maybe, i know its no use for you this winter but it could be a cheaper option over all

maxxuumman

Had the mounted Teagle 808 for a few yrs.( moved to cubicles). Animal of a machine. Trouble free( but I only had it 4yrs). Very heavy if on 3point linkage. Needs 6 cyl 4wd tractor to lift it comfortably. Eats through straw. Easily spreads to 60 ft. It doesn't make meal of the straw which is what you want. Only blocked once( my fault) . For convenience I didn't take the netting off the bale. It would eat through the netting, and you could never find it in the bedding.
Used it on silage bales as well a few times. Equally as good. Would have a silage bale fed out in less than 1 min.
Couldn't recommend it enough.

TheSunderz

Was tinking of a trailed teagle 8150 or 8100 depending on price difference!( any ideas) as there prob easy to manage on a small tractor. good idea chopping the straw as it goes into the baler but still have to spread bales around.
@maxxuumman- how did u go about changing ur set up!! did u dig tanks under roofs????

Toby12345

Looking into getting one of these machines myself. What sort of money was that teagle? Is it possible to use one without having to buy a second tractor. I seen a clip on you tube of one that has a ramp on the back that can scoop up a straw bale against a wall. Not sure if will do it for a round silage bale? I need one that can deal with straw and silage.

oldsmokey

We got a Teagle mounted last year, a decent second-hand one from North Ireland, worked out around 3000. No trouble with it, but it is heavy. Also makes a lot of dust in the house if thats an issue...Makes bedding quick an easy tho...

grazeaway

Toby12345 wrote: »

Looking into getting one of these machines myself. What sort of money was that teagle? Is it possible to use one without having to buy a second tractor. I seen a clip on you tube of one that has a ramp on the back that can scoop up a straw bale against a wall. Not sure if will do it for a round silage bale? I need one that can deal with straw and silage.

Elho marketed a self loading unit before. I enquirer about it from the dealer in Dublin. They said they imported a few but that they never worked out too well. They were unable to drive the heavy irish silage bales. I saw blaney eng/quad x have brought out the sane idea. One of my friends got a yoke off them last year and was less then impressed with dealing with them.

Have seen the teagle and tarrup yokes alright and they have a good name. Neighbour had one on trial last year heavy yoke with the bale in so needs a decent tractor espically when feeding silage. He reckoned ypu would have to get the animals out for bedding though. There was a stone in one of the bales and it got buried in the cladding. Imagine if it hit one of the cattle.

larthehar

oldsmokey wrote: »

We got a Teagle mounted last year, a decent second-hand one from North Ireland, worked out around 3000. No trouble with it, but it is heavy. Also makes a lot of dust in the house if thats an issue...Makes bedding quick an easy tho...

old smokey, what model did you buy? the Drum model or the box model?

Drum model seems to be a nice bit slower but you can feed each side simultaneously which is ideal

The Box model lots a lot stronger and faster but a huge weight on the back of a tractor.. anyone else have any inputs on this?