time to chop silage pics

billonthefarm · Aug 19, 2011

I got the call yesterday afternoon that the custom silage harvesting guy would be here this morning.

So the race was on to this morning at about 9. He brings the chopper, 4 wagons and the bagger. We provide 5 tractors and drivers.

There isnt much silage chopped around yet. I plant some early maturing corn so we can get his out of the way. Corn is much higher tonnage than last year.

This is a once a year project for us and I think we all look forward to it.

This is a kelly ryan bagger with a 9 foot tunnel. Takes a pretty decent tractor to run it. The 8920 handles it with ease. We usually stick someone in the seat just to make life easier for the guy running the bagger.

This is a JD 7200 with a folding 6 row head. It can harvest alot of tonnage in a hurry and I am told it is a small chopper actually.

This is the last load. We got done about 3 this afternoon. Things clicked along pretty well on a warm sunny day.

This is the final product. 3 9 foot by 135 foot bags. Should be close to 400 tons of silage.

It was a long day for wrigley. He spent most of the day riding around with my dad. He is totally wore out and sleeping very soundly on the floor.
Its a good job done and done well.
bill

Lloyd In South Carolina · Aug 19, 2011

How cool is that. I love your pictures, and stories that go with them. Way different than anything I get to do. Thanks for sharing.

Give Wigley a couple pets for me!!!

L.

the tractor vet · Aug 19, 2011

We are nowhere near ready for that. It will be mid sept if we are lucky and i can get everything up and running by then. Heck i can't even find enough hours in the day to make two easy fixes . been trying to put a new hyd pump in the 706 and then there is that Oil all Over with the charging issue that i finally figured out today but nobody has the correct regulator for it. Monday or Tuesday the Dozers will be here and we will start on the lagoon . Tomorrows game plan providing it does not rain AGAIN we have 37-38 acres of hay that we need to finish and IF we can get some workable labor . Then it will be time to dig out the choppers and go over them . Working with old equipment sure keeps me off the streets .

Rich Iowa · Aug 19, 2011

Sure is neat to see that stuff. Thanks for the pictures. Never been around silage but always looked interesting.

Dave Sherburne NY · Aug 19, 2011

Does the bagger have any trouble keeping up?

Dave Sherburne NY · Aug 19, 2011

How do you put the description under each picture?

Anonymous-0 · Aug 19, 2011

so how much does he charge by acre or hour?

Dutchman · Aug 19, 2011

Love the pictures ... I'm just curious ..
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HOW do you get the silage out of the bags ??
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As I was growing up we did the silo thing .. but it took days ...

THANKS for sharing the pictures ... as always really enjoy them ....

mark

Mitch D · Aug 19, 2011

What did you do to seal the bags? around here we dump dirt on the ends.

ShadetreeRet · Aug 19, 2011

Well, I'll be darn! First it was upright silos, then it was trench silos, now they just bag it! Paper or plastic? LOL It's been a long time since I have been around any such operation, so that's something new for me. Ya learn something new every day. Thanks for the interesting pictures and comments.

Jonak · Aug 19, 2011

Filling silo was a favorite job for me around early 40's. I got to skip school, take a wagon & mule team and fill silo's. Somewhat different than this setup.Our silo was concrete, 48', and filled it in one day with afew wagons & teams. Good OLD days.

Down under farmer · Aug 20, 2011

Looks like you are 6 months ahead or behiend us here in Austraila hopeing to start puting sum fertiliser on for our corn and forage sorhgum crops we will make into silage for our dairy cows. If we get rain could be planting by mid september if it warms up. This year was disapointing was 200 ton down on last year. to much rain this year and drought last year. Thanks for the pics great to see what you blokes are up to

Phil in Pa · Aug 20, 2011

How was it put in the silo in those days? I'm assuming there weren't blowers as we used in the 70's and 80's.

fixerupper · Aug 20, 2011

Back in the early 40's the whole stalk was cut off in the field and hauled to the silo in shocks. At the silo it was chopped and blown in one process. Either a steam engine or the biggest tractor on the farm ran the chopper-blower. Jim

NEKS · Aug 20, 2011

Dad and my Uncle use to due custom cutting. One row Gehl cutter pulled with WD Allis (cutter had it own engine). Three wagons pulled with the farmers tactors, 8N Ford's, B John Deere's, B Allis's and VAC Case's. The good part was the woman would have some great meals on the table at noon. This all was 55 years ago.

El Toro · Aug 20, 2011

In 1949 or 1950 a neighbor bought a chopper and did custom chopping. He was hired to fill our silos. Had a Farmall M pulling the chopper
and 2 dump trucks hauling the silage. Only took 3 days to fill both silos. Had 3 men in the silos tramping the silage. When we did the silo filling the old way usually took 3 weeks and had to hire a lot of extra help. We used a 10-20 on the blower. In 1951 my brother joined the Air Force and 18 months later I was drafted. Hal

Phil in Pa · Aug 20, 2011

Thanks

kruser · Aug 20, 2011

Great pictures Bill!

Looks like a fast paced operation - no wonder Wrigley is tired.

Anonymous-0 · Aug 20, 2011

Now THAT looks like fun!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I can see why you all look forward to your get together,,,,I would also.

El Toro · Aug 20, 2011

You used a Papec silage cutter that would cut and blow the silage into the silos. We used a 10-20 McCormick Deering for the belt work. Some farmers used a corn binder to cut the corn, but we cut it by hand. You had to be careful you didn't overfeed the cutter and end up with a pipe plugged. Some areas call that ensilage and it doesn't make any difference what you call it, the cows love it. Their tongues wore grooves in the food mangers.

In 1949 or 1950 that changed when a farmer near us bought a chopper pulled a Farmall M and did custom silo filling using 2 dump trucks. They filled both silos in 3 days compared to 3 weeks the old way. We had 3 people in the silo tramping. We still used the 10-20 on the blower. Hal

cuttman · Aug 20, 2011

Nice pics, always enjoy them, also loved the smell of the silage. Wrigley looked a little confused, maybe to much activity going on at once for him to keep up with.

Anonymous-0 · Aug 20, 2011

Enjoyed those silage photos. Years ago we helped my uncle fill silo with his farmall 450 D and 1 row chopper. It was a 4-5 long day project. Sure shows how farming has advanced in recent decades. Could not begin to imagine the ownership cost of that chopper. There has to to some serious horsepower inside that machine.

showcrop · Aug 20, 2011

A friend got into custom work a few years ago. apparently he'd doing OK, I was told a few days ago that he had gotten a new 1,000 HP Claas chopper. I don't believe that he has wagons. Instead, like most around here he uses trucks, which he has around anyway.

time to chop silage pics

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