Silage wagon for farmer

sucklerfarmer

Hi all,

Just wondering if anyone has experience of doing their own silage with wagon themselves.

I am considering it as would save a nice bit and would be able to make top quality silage. I am considering 3 cuts of silage to give around 90 acres in total. Has anyone tried this themselves. I have access to a loading shovel to put up the silage - the loader would be rented out at handy money and I can put it up myself. I have someone elso on farm who could draw in.

Any ideas. I saw a thread a while back where someone had a 110hp tractor I think pulling a wagon. I think they had a krone 3500 wagon or similar.

I was looking at wagons - older ones like a 3500 turbo krone or siolprofi pottinger around 6k onwards from dealers like Noel Gleeson. Newer machines coming in from 10k onwards. I currently have a 90hp tractor but am changing it anyway regardless of wagon as I do a good bit of roadwork, tanking etc. I was considering a new holland t5060 or ts110a or mxu110 case. A mechanic said the likes of the ts110a or mxu would be handy as a powerboost comes with these and id need it with the wagon

Ideas welcome

893bet

If you have the time then maybe and the draw is short. If its a long draw then you and the other person could spend 3-4 days making a decent size pit. We used (or should i say my father) used to make his own with a neighbour and visa verse. could take up to a 8 days or more full time between mowing, rowing, collecting and backing it up and covering pit. thinks have a habit of breaking down also, particularly older machinery. Many a daw spend under the wagon messing around with knives and teeth and chains etc.

Conclusion: If you have plenty of time and are fairly handy at fixing machinery yourself then its an option. Otherwise leave it to the pros.

agriman27

I thought about the same plan when you see how reasonably priced those wagons seem on done deal. But for me I'd like to buy a more modern reliable wagon which would mean a bigger tractor because of steep land. All in all I don't think I could justify it. I think there is good saving if you just get a wagon man just to row up and pick up. I think there is enough of work gettin the pit ready, mowing, tedding, backing up and covering the pit. :pac:

sucklerfarmer

The silage fields are very near yard - no road work. I was talking to guys who cut 20 plus acres a day with wagon. Land is falt and no hills.

I would be hoping to cut 30 acres and have covered and finished in 1 3/4 days which seems ok I think

revsperminute

Sucklerfarmer: We do 75 acres of silage here with two Krone Turbos, a 2900 & a 2500. We do one first cut of 31 acres, with 22 acres short draw and another 9 acres of a long draw, we run the two wagons on the long draw. That takes 2 days all in and covered. We do another 15 acres of a first cut with the two wagons, all in and covered less than a day. And another 17 acres of second cut, two wagons, all in and covered in less than a day.
The other 12 acres for a neighbour is done in half a day with one wagon. All the mowing is done by a contractor and is charged at €15/acre. Its possible to get about 25 acres a day with one wagon running but we are never in a panic, time is taken plenty of time chatting, tidying the pit and drinking tea is done.
The Krone 2900 is run on a Renault 106-54, Krone 2500 on a Zetor 6340 and a New Holland TS110 with a Tanco Push off rake is on the pit.
We have been doing silage this way for the past 5 years with these wagons, previous to this we had two Krone HSL type wagons and worked them for 15 years. The silage is always top quality, its cut and gathered when we want and the way we want so the quality doesnt suffer if at all possible. The contractor is very flexible with us which is a great bonus. When the weather is good break downs are usually not an issue, its when the weather is bad that break downs can be more serious with the heavier loads. But with having two wagons there is always one to keep the show on the road.
The upgrade to the two Krone Turbos cost about €7000 five years ago, got approx. €4000 for the two Krone HSL's. More than what we initial paid for them when we switched to making out own silage. We used to run the Krone HSL's on a David Brown 996 and a MF 175 with a Ford 4610 on the pit, it used to take about 3 days to do one 35 acre cut for ourselves and two days to do 23 acres for the neighbour.
My opinion would be go for it especially if your draw is short, Our long draw is a killer but we work it. As you'll be able to cut when you want. Theres not much that can go wrong with the Krone Turbos, they are very easy driven, i know them inside out and do all the fixing and servicing myself.

caseman

Wagon silage here for the first time this year a krone 3500 which cost 4500 euro.
Very happy with this system you could work away an your own while your waiting for drivers to come,managed 22 acres an 1 mile round trip draw one day.
But i also spent 2or 3 hours lying under it fixing the reel.
Before this it was done with a double chop , but found it harder ever year to get good drivers that woul'nt smash before them.

onyerbikepat

I used to give a local guy a hand doing the silage with one wagon and me on the pit with a digger. All land was around the pit and I was kept busy on the pit. One thing to bear in mind is the unloading time, it can take a few minutes compared to just tipping. It seemed a simple enough machine to fix if you are any way handy. A lot to be said for cutting your own. It's not just the direct cost but better silage from making in the best weather saves you a small fourtune aswell.

st1979

Try and get a strautmann super vitesse 2 you will work it with 100hp or more. I have a 3 which is just a little longer. Less to go wrong than even the older krone wagons. Its from about 1994 they basically never changed apart from colour and slightly wider pickup to even abrand new one. Parts are cheaper than pottingers as well. Neighbour had a 2 on a ts 115 and was getting more than 30acres a day on short draw and milked cows. Unloading time is faster and would be not much slower than tipping trailer and then letting trailer back down.

sucklerfarmer

Hi all,

Great info and really appreciate all the advice and ideas.

At the moment I make pit silage, hay and round bale silage. Its such a hassle as the hay has to be cut turned several times, then brought in and stacked and its messy spreading out to cattle. Round bales are slow and messy also. Pit silage is great but hard to justify lighish/early crops of high quality when the cost of contractors is high. My thoughts are to cut mostly pit silage of very high quality myself and I have great feed with probably less time spent than messing with hay and I have feed that is way better than hay. The cost will also be way less. I have a tractor anyway and a ten foot mower and I have access to a handy rental loader which I can drive

These are just my thoughts. I reckon if you can get feed costs down a good bit its the way to go provided you have the labour to do the work.

Regarding the wagons

Someone mentioned the krones...I was looking at a krone 3500turbo...good machine but old. Is it hard to get parts for these. They can be bought for around 5k

With the strautman vitesse 2 - what kind of money are they for a clean one and how are parts to get. I am changing my 90hp tl anyway so unsure of what to get to drive the wagon --- looking at a few case jxu105, new holland t5060, new holland ts110a or even a mf 6460????

Any ideas .....many thanks

st1979

sucklerfarmer wrote: »

Hi all,

Great info and really appreciate all the advice and ideas.

At the moment I make pit silage, hay and round bale silage. Its such a hassle as the hay has to be cut turned several times, then brought in and stacked and its messy spreading out to cattle. Round bales are slow and messy also. Pit silage is great but hard to justify lighish/early crops of high quality when the cost of contractors is high. My thoughts are to cut mostly pit silage of very high quality myself and I have great feed with probably less time spent than messing with hay and I have feed that is way better than hay. The cost will also be way less. I have a tractor anyway and a ten foot mower and I have access to a handy rental loader which I can drive

These are just my thoughts. I reckon if you can get feed costs down a good bit its the way to go provided you have the labour to do the work.

Regarding the wagons

Someone mentioned the krones...I was looking at a krone 3500turbo...good machine but old. Is it hard to get parts for these. They can be bought for around 5k

With the strautman vitesse 2 - what kind of money are they for a clean one and how are parts to get. I am changing my 90hp tl anyway so unsure of what to get to drive the wagon --- looking at a few case jxu105, new holland t5060, new holland ts110a or even a mf 6460????

Any ideas .....many thanks

Probably 12+k for strautmann. Parts are all available from local dealer or iam in kilkenny are importers.

stanflt

Does Noel Gleason sell newer second hand torro 4500 or 5100

caseman

stanflt wrote: »

Does Noel Gleason sell newer second hand torro 4500 or 5100

I'd say he be able to get what you wanted.
Found him sound feliow to deal with even though i never seen him, done the deal over the phone.