Mchale fusion 3 plus

grass

Did anyone get bales made with the fusion 3 plus using plastic instead of net ?

If so was it worth the extra cost ?

Dunedin

grass wrote: »

Did anyone get bales made with the fusion 3 plus using plastic instead of net ?

If so was it worth the extra cost ?

I have about 50 of second cut but haven't got to them yet.

Not much use to you but reports so far from neighbours are that they are a mighty job

pedigree 6

grass wrote: »

Did anyone get bales made with the fusion 3 plus using plastic instead of net ?

If so was it worth the extra cost ?

YES. Perfect silage every bale.

patsy_mccabe

Is it easier to unwrap them ?

pedigree 6

patsy_mccabe wrote: »

Is it easier to unwrap them ?

If you mean leave bale on end and walk around bale taking off inside plastic, I wouldn't see an issue.
I don't do it that way I use a knife. But laying on end and unwrapping is safer.

With the plastic instead of net there's zero waste silage as even if birds peck bales in stack, it won't get through the plastic inside.

I'm converted to them anyway.

raypallas

grass wrote:

If so was it worth the extra cost ?

As a matter of interest how much more expensive is it?

darragh_haven

pedigree 6 wrote: »

If you mean leave bale on end and walk around bale taking off inside plastic, I wouldn't see an issue.
I don't do it that way I use a knife. But laying on end and unwrapping is safer.

With the plastic instead of net there's zero waste silage as even if birds peck bales in stack, it won't get through the plastic inside.

I'm converted to them anyway.

I agree that there is zero waste but I found that there was a lot of plastic under the last roll of silage on the bale, making it difficult to unwrap all the plastic. Never had much problem with waste on net wrapped Bates either tho.
As far as i know, the baler needs the last piece of silage to grab the plastic and pull it in, whereas the net will be pulled in naturally by the grass surface

pedigree 6

darragh_haven wrote: »

I agree that there is zero waste but I found that there was a lot of plastic under the last roll of silage on the bale, making it difficult to unwrap all the plastic. Never had much problem with waste on net wrapped Bates either tho.
As far as i know, the baler needs the last piece of silage to grab the plastic and pull it in, whereas the net will be pulled in naturally by the grass surface

Yea there is one layer of plastic under a layer of silage. It's the same as straw bales. Now the layer of silage is very thin about 15mm of silage between the plastic. It's no issue for me. If anything it's extra protection for the bale.

Will you go back to using all net on bales?

darragh_haven

pedigree 6 wrote: »

Yea there is one layer of plastic under a layer of silage. It's the same as straw bales. Now the layer of silage is very thin about 15mm of silage between the plastic. It's no issue for me. If anything it's extra protection for the bale.

Will you go back to using all net on bales?

Will probably do net on the majority except if the silage is very dry. Mould spots on very dry silage is the only problem I usually have. I think the exyra plastic on the barrel part of the bale might help

grass

Thanks for the replies, phoned our customers no one was willing to pay the extra cost and said it would not justify us to buy one, we will just put on extra wrap if needed.

pedigree 6

grass wrote: »

Thanks for the replies, phoned our customers no one was willing to pay the extra cost and said it would not justify us to buy one, we will just put on extra wrap if needed.

You have to do whatever the customer wants.

The fusion 3 plus can use both net and plastic.
Our contractor got one this year and most people went for the plastic. The bales are harder I think with the plastic. Anyone I talked to here this winter is very happy with the plastic. Maybe we've more money than sense here in wexford.;)

tanko

pedigree 6 wrote: »

You have to do whatever the customer wants.

The fusion 3 plus can use both net and plastic.
Our contractor got one this year and most people went for the plastic. The bales are harder I think with the plastic. Anyone I talked to here this winter is very happy with the plastic. Maybe we've more money than sense here in wexford.;)

How much extra does the plastic cost compared to the net?

pedigree 6

tanko wrote: »

How much extra does the plastic cost compared to the net?

Our contractor charged 1 euro. It's small money for a guarantee that every bale will be perfect. I know we put 22 wraps of plastic on them as well but we've always done that.

We always had issues with bird pecks pin holes on some bales and then have mould dung patches under the holes and then be spronging out the bad bits before feeding. But with this every bale we've used is perfect and I've used 400 bales so far.

raypallas

pedigree 6 wrote:

Our contractor charged 1 euro. It's small money for a guarantee that every bale will be perfect. I know we put 22 wraps of plastic on them as well but we've always done that.

Might be a silly question but why 22? As each 8 wraps is two layers so 6 layers of plastic would be 24 wraps.

pedigree 6

raypallas wrote: »

Might be a silly question but why 22? As each 8 wraps is two layers so 6 layers of plastic would be 24 wraps.

I don't know. The contractor usually goes for 18 or 22.

grass n slurry

pedigree 6 wrote: »

Our contractor charged 1 euro. It's small money for a guarantee that every bale will be perfect. I know we put 22 wraps of plastic on them as well but we've always done that.

We always had issues with bird pecks pin holes on some bales and then have mould dung patches under the holes and then be spronging out the bad bits before feeding. But with this every bale we've used is perfect and I've used 400 bales so far.

Are the birds still picking the bales or are they just not picking all the way true the plastic now?

pedigree 6

grass n slurry wrote: »

Are the birds still picking the bales or are they just not picking all the way true the plastic now?

I reckon it was birds but the neighbour has cats and they do be on the stack as well. There is still pin holes on some bales but it seems to be not going through the barrel wrap plastic into the silage. The barrel wrap plastic seems to be a lot stronger than the outer plastic. I always had a problem with bales on the top or the side of the stack getting damaged but this year all of the bales are good. I'm not saying a bird such as a crow or seagull won't damage a bale out in the field but the barrel wrap plastic is definitely a big help to the silage.

Edit I said it was an extra 1 euro a bale in an earlier post.
The contractor charged me 50c a bale but wasn't sure what the real price would end up at and wanted to get people trying out the plastic.

grass n slurry

pedigree 6 wrote:

Edit I said it was an extra 1 euro a bale in an earlier post. The contractor charged me 50c a bale but wasn't sure what the real price would end up at and wanted to get people trying out the plastic.

We have a big probably with crow picking bales in the stacks, they cause serious waste, grease or paint on bales makes no different. Did the contractor supple the plastic and all for the 50c extra?

pedigree 6

grass n slurry wrote: »

We have a big probably with crow picking bales in the stacks, they cause serious waste, grease or paint on bales makes no different. Did the contractor supple the plastic and all for the 50c extra?

The barrel wrap (inside plastic) yes. But he wasn't sure what the price would end up at. I usually pay him a few days after doing work so i'd say I was the first one to pay him for the fusion 3 plus.

I'd say it was cats was as big a problem as birds with us. But I was just delighted that none of the bales were damaged this year. But I can't say for certain that birds won't damage the bales.

If only there was a public internet forum where farmers could share their experiences.:p

grass n slurry

pedigree 6 wrote:

The barrel wrap (inside plastic) yes. But he wasn't sure what the price would end up at. I usually pay him a few days after doing work so i'd say I was the first one to pay him for the fusion 3 plus.

pedigree 6 wrote:

I'd say it was cats was as big a problem as birds with us. But I was just delighted that none of the bales were damaged this year. But I can't say for certain that birds won't damage the bales.

pedigree 6 wrote:

If only there was a public internet forum where farmers could share their experiences.

There is no going back to net wrap so is there? A fishing net on top of the bales is the only answer I'd say for the birds but there is work in putting it on and off and stuff

pedigree 6

Came across my first silage bale in the stack baled with netwrap.
The first of the silage bales were baled with net.
There was a patch of mould on top of the bale.
The bale was on the top row of the stack and the bales beside it were baled with plastic and all about 470 bales so far were done with plastic and were perfect. It just reminded me why I'll never go back to net for silage bales.

I think the biggest problem I had was neighbours/feral cats on the stack and the barrel wrap seems to/ has solved the problem.

I'll have to buy my contractor a pint out of this.:)