Preservits for the sides and top of a silage pit

morphy87

Just wondering would anyone here be able to recommend a good preserivite that I could use around the sides and top of a silage pit to reduce waste,one that I could throw on with my hands before covering? And has anyone here any experience of using these and are they any good?

Muckit

A good rolling and visqueen clingseal. Then do as u nornally would with polythene sheets(1 new, 1 old). You should have zero waste .

blue5000

I used to use salt on maize silage, never tried it on grass yet.

dar31

Cling film, great stuff, and side sheet walls with enough for a good 10ft+ lap on shoulders

49801

Line the walls with last years plastic before they draw it in.. you'll get little to no waste then. We tie tyres together with a few feet of rope to keep plastic in place for a few days in advance. Works well... just takes a little organising.

freedominacup

Side sheeting. Running out on to the floor of the pit a few feet and then up over the shoulders of the pit and across the top by a few feet. 24×75 generally does the job. Same on back wall. Tyres touching esp on sides is important. No additive or preservative is going to work where air is getting in.

alps

blue5000 wrote: »

I used to use salt on maize silage, never tried it on grass yet.

We use salt all the time, it's perfect, and really cheap. 6 bags will cover 120x60 easily. Tried specially designed, expensive product but salt just as good

Mushy06

alps wrote: »

We use salt all the time, it's perfect, and really cheap. 6 bags will cover 120x60 easily. Tried specially designed, expensive product but salt just as good

May i ask what does the salt actually do? How come i always hear these things after i cover the pit? :rolleyes:

morphy87

alps wrote: »

We use salt all the time, it's perfect, and really cheap. 6 bags will cover 120x60 easily. Tried specially designed, expensive product but salt just as good

How much a bag is the salt and what’s the products name?

yosemitesam1

Mushy06 wrote: »

May i ask what does the salt actually do? How come i always hear these things after i cover the pit? :rolleyes:

It can help prevent butyric fermentation anyway because clostridium is more sensitive to water availability

SKIPPY150

what salt do you use, is it the same as the bags of salt you get in winter for the roads. How do you apply it to the pit

awaywithyou

use Silasave here for the top of the pit... works very well.... 40euros a bucket...

is the Clingfilm that good?? havent used it but my cousin sells it and he says it a mighty job..... whats so good about it? does it not just do the same as the polythene??

Muckit

awaywithyou wrote: »

use Silasave here for the top of the pit... works very well.... 40euros a bucket...

is the Clingfilm that good?? havent used it but my cousin sells it and he says it a mighty job..... whats so good about it? does it not just do the same as the polythene??

Get it and try it would be my advice. Anywhere that stocks visqueen silage sheets should be able to order it in for you. It's unreal.
Theory behind it is that it clings to top layer and it is totally airtight. Your polythene is heavier gauge and couldn't possibly hug the surface of pit as good.
But you still put your polythene sheet over it.
I've even reused it successfully a few years.

MfMan

Muckit wrote: »

Get it and try it would be my advice. Anywhere that stocks visqueen silage sheets should be able to order it in for you. It's unreal.
Theory behind it is that it clings to top layer and it is totally airtight. Your polythene is heavier gauge and couldn't possibly hug the surface of pit as good.
But you still put your polythene sheet over it.
I've even reused it successfully a few years.

Where around Galway stocks this Muckit?

morphy87

Has anyone here Tryed herimitix silage covers? Heard they are ment to be good

Muckit

MfMan wrote: »

Where around Galway stocks this Muckit?

I'm on Galway/Roscommon border and got it in creamery in Athleague (Homeland). They ordered it in for me.

freedominacup

morphy87 wrote: »

Has anyone here Tryed herimitix silage covers? Heard they are ment to be good

Not sure how well it's going to work. Two pits covered with it here. Neighbour used it last year. No longer using cling film and using hermetix again this year. Definitely less hassle with it compared to two sheets of polythene.

GrasstoMilk

morphy87 wrote: »

Has anyone here Tryed herimitix silage covers? Heard they are ment to be good

Yes used it this year. Should be better than normal silage sheets. Had little to no waste last year on the pits with the normal sheets

morphy87

freedominacup wrote: »

Not sure how well it's going to work. Two pits covered with it here. Neighbour used it last year. No longer using cling film and using hermetix again this year. Definitely less hassle with it compared to two sheets of polythene.

So the idea of this is their is no need to use cling film and one sheet of this will do instead of two normal sheets? He must be happy with it so,did you use one sheet or two?

morphy87

GrasstoMilk wrote: »

Yes used it this year. Should be better than normal silage sheets. Had little to no waste last year on the pits with the normal sheets

Did you use two or one sheets of the herimiix covers?

freedominacup

morphy87 wrote: »

So the idea of this is their is no need to use cling film and one sheet of this will do instead of two normal sheets? He must be happy with it so,did you use one sheet or two?

One. Can be a bit easier to puncture than you'd think. One of the young lads had his farmers journal wellies on and had to change them. Was marking the plastic.

Mooooo

I used stuff before supposed to be stronger than regular black plastic, green on one side. Found it went brittle enough in the sun.