views on silage wagons

primary 2

has any one here any views or exsperiences on silage wagons, never seen them working but alot of people reckon they are a good job for a few reasons,they dont chop the silage as fine as precison chop harvesters,alot of people down are way are complaining that the silage is now chopped to fine and it is harder to preserve and they also reckon that the cattle prefer the silage as they can chew on it more and also the loads come in slower so the pit is rooled more but then other people tell me that you need alot more room in the pit as it is more bulky as it is not chopped as fine

would like to here some information here and peoples views

Who2

primary 2 wrote: »

has any one here any views or exsperiences on silage wagons, never seen them working but alot of people reckon they are a good job for a few reasons,they dont chop the silage as fine as precison chop harvesters,alot of people down are way are complaining that the silage is now chopped to fine and it is harder to preserve and they also reckon that the cattle prefer the silage as they can chew on it more and also the loads come in slower so the pit is rooled more but then other people tell me that you need alot more room in the pit as it is more bulky as it is not chopped as fine

would like to here some information here and peoples views

With the weather were getting when silage is fit to be cut, it's a case of beggars can't be choosers get the contractor that will do it when you want it done, I've had both here and to be honest find damn all difference.

f140

I had to buy in a bit of pit silage about 10 years ago. It was made using a wagon. Cows kept pulling it into the slats as it wasnt chopped enough. Kept blocking the agitator come spring. NEVER AGAIN.

freedominacup

f140 wrote: »

I had to buy in a bit of pit silage about 10 years ago. It was made using a wagon. Cows kept pulling it into the slats as it wasnt chopped enough. Kept blocking the agitator come spring. NEVER AGAIN.

That was then. Modern wagons fo not have that issue. Chop length is much longer than pc silage but nothing like long enough to pull anywhere.

blue5000

F140 they can drop the blades down too! I've used a wagon for red clover silage the last couple of years. There is no doubt about it being longer than pc silage, harder to pull out of the pit with a shear grab. Lad on the loader making the pit says it stays in lumps when dropping it off the rake.

Feed wise it's fine, not being pulled in on slats unless it's piled up over the barrier. It's a bit cheaper than pc silage/ac. If I could get get a contractor to charge by the hour I'd use it instead of bales.

Mushy06

How many acres a day can a wagon do? what hp tractor would you need to pull average size wagon? if you had already some sort of a loader at home then after few years wagon would easily be after paying for itself. i suppose it'd come down to how far away is the draw is 
Probably be better to go halves with neighbour and you help each other come silage season.
If you had wagon you can cut when suits you and not suit contractor.....

pms7

Mushy06 wrote: »

How many acres a day can a wagon do? what hp tractor would you need to pull average size wagon? if you had already some sort of a loader at home then after few years wagon would easily be after paying for itself. i suppose it'd come down to how far away is the draw is 
Probably be better to go halves with neighbour and you help each other come silage season.
If you had wagon you can cut when suits you and not suit contractor.....

Chop length is about 30-35 mm.
Depends on tractor + wagon size.
Two ends of scale, I have small old Krone, 110hp, 15ac/day single swarths
Friend has largest new model, 180hp, 60ac/day 30ft swarths
Both next to yard.
I have rented ground 1.5 miles, get contractor with 2 wagons, €25 cheaper than pc contractor

Mushy06

Would you cut much silage? how reliable is the Krone? 
Sorry for questions just giving it some thought lately. 
i see fella in Cork hires out wagon for €45/ac

GrasstoMilk

blue5000 wrote: »

F140 they can drop the blades down too! I've used a wagon for red clover silage the last couple of years. There is no doubt about it being longer than pc silage, harder to pull out of the pit with a shear grab. Lad on the loader making the pit says it stays in lumps when dropping it off the rake.

Feed wise it's fine, not being pulled in on slats unless it's piled up over the barrier. It's a bit cheaper than pc silage/ac. If I could get get a contractor to charge by the hour I'd use it instead of bales.

How do you find the redclover for silage? What sort of yield and what's the silage like in terms of Protein and DMD

blue5000

GrasstoMilk wrote: »

How do you find the redclover for silage? What sort of yield and what's the silage like in terms of Protein and DMD

Sorry never analysed it yet! I hear cp is around 18%. Yield wise approx 10-12 ton fw/acre for the first cut and 8 for the 2nd cut. I only cut it twice, you can cut it 3 times. Slurry is all it gets, no bag fert. I think the secret is a high (7.0) pH and keep the mower up about 3 inches. I don't graze it.

Teagasc have a bit more here https://www.teagasc.ie/media/website/rural-economy/organics/Red-Clover-leaflet-update.pdf

pms7

Mushy06 wrote: »

Would you cut much silage? how reliable is the Krone? 
Sorry for questions just giving it some thought lately. 
i see fella in Cork hires out wagon for €45/ac

Its 25 years old so will have some issues.Paid 7k for it few years back. Wagons are a simple machine though, not much to go wrong. Cut 60ac/y , but about 20 now as most far away.

visatorro

pms7 wrote: »

Chop length is about 30-35 mm.
Depends on tractor + wagon size.
Two ends of scale, I have small old Krone, 110hp, 15ac/day single swarths
Friend has largest new model, 180hp, 60ac/day 30ft swarths
Both next to yard.
I have rented ground 1.5 miles, get contractor with 2 wagons, €25 cheaper than pc contractor

Lad around here does self propelled and wagon at same price.

Water John

That depends on the price. Is he overcharging for one or undercharging for the other?

visatorro

Water John wrote: »

That depends on the price. Is he overcharging for one or undercharging for the other?

Just going by prices in the journal he's under charging the self propelled. Reckons he gets into a farm doing silage then does Slurry, makes a few pound on slurry