How a forage wagon has enabled flexibility to improve silage and cut machinery costs

Starting out

Delivered straight from Grassland UK in 2017, the farm soon had it working, collecting 60ha of second cut silage.

Initially it ran on the farm’s Case IH MX135, but it was decided a few more ponies would not go amiss on some of the farm’s banks, so the buckraking tractor, a Massey Ferguson 6497, was employed.

The Case was due for replacement, Mr Pickering says, and a Massey Ferguson 8250 was bought to man the clamp. So far, Mr Pickering says he is happy with the way the wagon has performed, and consequently how the cattle have performed.

He reckons the longer chop length has had a positive impact on growth rates and, because he makes drier silage, the scratch factor is thought to be high. Chopping is done courtesy of 35 knives, creating a 40-50mm chop length.

The whole harvesting process is now done in-house, with mowing done with two rear-mounted mower conditioners, a Claas and a Krone. Mr Pickering says he does not need to ted the swaths, as the combination between the conditioners and dropping in a wide swath gets rid of enough moisture.

Raking is done 48 hours later, ahead of the forage wagon. Mr Pickering says the wagon holds roughly the same amount of grass as his Broughan 16-tonne silage trailer and is only marginally longer.

Robust

Sitting on its four 600mm tyres, Mr Pickering says he is surprised by how lightly the machine treads, even when fully loaded. Part of the reason he opted for the Malone over competitors’ machines was the amount of steel in it, making it robust but heavy, he says.

“I was initially surprised how well the wagon travelled, however, because we make drier silage and watch the forecast quite keenly, the ground is never really soft.”

The steering axle on the rear of the machine has also helped preserve the turf.

He says: “We never scuff the ground when doing tight headland turns, and the manoeuvrability of the machine really belies its size with the steering axle. Getting into gateways is not an issue any more, and it is easy to navigate round the yard to the pit.”

Work rates are similar to what was achieved with the self-propelled, but, crucially, fewer resources are being used. In a heavy first cut, Mr Pickering says up to 1.6ha/ hour can be harvested, rising to 2.4ha/hour in a third cut.

He aims to harvest 22-24ha per day, which gives the tractor on the clamp plenty of time to roll and compact grass, which he admits is harder to do with the fluffier grass from the wagon.

Feeding is carried out with a 2003 Zago King mixer wagon with horizontal augers. Maize and grass are added in a 40:60 split, with a kilo of straw per head added to the mix.

A kilo per head of concentrates is fed out on top of the silage mix with an auger bucket for the steers, with heifers fattening off the silage.

So far, the wagon has proved reliable and robust. The only problem has been getting punctures in the pickup rotor wheels, but Mr Pickering plans on filling them with foam.

Repairs

Going from a three-metre pick-up reel on his forage harvester, Mr Pickering was expecting issues with the volume of crop the wagon would need to gobble up, however he has been impressed with the speed at which he can feed grass into the pick-up.

He says: “Having demoed another machine which had a 1.6m pickup, I was unsure if the 2m pickup was going to be big enough, but it easily picks up everything in between the tractor’s wheels.”

Overall, Mr Pickering is pleased with the new system for ensiling grass.

He says: “We have taken the uncertainty of contractors out of the equation, relying on two people to cart and buck rake, rather than the six that we used to need. The stress has been removed from the job and, as long as we have interpreted the weather right, we can go at a good steady pace, and we know that every job is getting done correctly.

“We have hopefully cut out any surprise repair bills, and I believe we will get at least 10 years’ service out of the wagon. The cattle look to be doing better than when they were on precision-chopped silage, and there is less effluent coming out of the pit.

“For us, the forage wagon has made silage a lot simpler and easier, without having lots of machinery that only occasionally gets used.”