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Good silage starts by cutting the crop at the correct growth stage, followed by reducing moisture content, chopping to a consistent length, then stacking in a clamp.
The latter function relies on placing thinner, even layers across the width and length of the clamp and quickly excluding air.
While easy in theory, the outputs of modern self-propelled forage harvesters can mean the ‘pit man’ can have his work cut out in achieving the desired result.
The process of removing air to achieve an anaerobic fermentation to reduce nutrient loss is achieved by compaction, created by rolling – typically by the buckraking tractor or loading shovel. In large clamps, operators often work in tandem with a second tractor, but in smaller operations or restricted areas, this is not always possible.
Over the last decade or so, homemade solutions include old railway carriage wheels carried in a frame to achieve compaction, but more recently several implement manufacturers have come up with their own solutions.
This issue has not been left unaddressed by the farm machinery industry, which has produced various rollers to work pits over the years, but now Walter Watson Agriculture of County Down, Northern Ireland, has brought its own answer to the problem to market.
Recently exhibited at the Irish Ploughing Match, the Watson Silage Compactor has evolved from the company’s well-known flat roller range to achieve increased compaction with rings or collars, topped off with broad teeth around the perimeter.
Covering a 2.5m wide working width to match the overall width of typical medium horsepower tractors, when ballasted with water, the unit tips the scales at round 3.5 tonnes, with the manufacturer suggesting that as all up weight is an advantage, a tractor of around 150hp is needed for ease of handling.
Allowing the roller to work right up to the edges of a clamp, rams on each side of the machine allow a 500mm side-shift function, ensuring that the tractor can be kept safely away from the edges.
Attention to detail sees the fitting of a polypropylene roller at each corner of the unit to prevent the machine scraping along the side of any walled clamps, so preserving both machine and wall.
Packing the silage into the clamp not only helps increase quality, but the increased density also saves space, with the manufacturer suggesting that the compactor can increase storage capacity by between 30 and 40%.
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