Meeting the needs of a variety of farms in a strong livestock area takes flexibility, and that is what J Hamlett Contracting in Shropshire aims to offer by chopping silage with a forage wagon. Jane Carley reports.
Losing some of our grazing led us in the direction of contracting, and then we saw a gap in our farming year between planting and baling, explains John Hamlett, who runs the business with son Rob.
We did not want to go down the self-propelled forager route, because of the need for a team of men with tractors and trailers, plus there is a lot of competition locally with everyone undercutting each other.
The forage wagon, they saw, could be operated as a self-contained unit without tying up other machinery.
We also believed it would suit our way of contracting not every customer wants exactly the same service and we like to tailor it to their needs.
In 2015, the first Pottinger Torro Combiline 5510 arrived on the farm, initially to be shared with a neighbour and to test the water.
We actually had a trailed forager to begin with, but that was replaced with a second wagon two years later as it was not quick enough, comments Rob Hamlett.
With a team of eight on hand in the season, foraging is offered as a complete service, from mowing to buckraking, with John taking care of the raking where possible to help get the best out of the wagon.
For example, if I see a wet spot with the rake, I can advise Rob where it is so that he can go there with an empty, rather than full, wagon. I can set the field up to suit us.
The ability to pick and choose where to start a field for the best results is a distinct benefit over a forager, they point out.
We can easily change fields too, if a farmer has both grass and lucerne or wants to mix in some clover in the pit.
It is a different way of making silage, where quality is more important than output.
Farms with 300-400 cow herds want the silage team in and out in a day, but our smaller farms vary in their needs.
Some customers will mow and rake their own grass; the pair comment that some farms which have moved away from using trailed foragers now engage them to chop and ensile their crop.
We even work alongside farmers that have their own forage box one was a bit embarrassed about it, but we are happy to fit in, comments John.
A frequent request is for multicut crops, with the lighter sward making a quick job John points out that this makes their system of charging by the hour considerably more favourable for the customer than paying by the acre over four to five cuts.
It is an honest system you pay for what you get.
To make an improved swath on the lighter crops, the business has recently invested in a second hand, four-rotor rake, a Claas Liner 3500.
We thought we would try one out before buying new. It puts four rows into one which helps get the job done and gets the corners right. I take the inside swath out to avoid contamination.
Making four to five cuts a season at 10t/acre can be more difficult in a dry season, and it is not a job for a forager, but it is an ideal niche for the wagon, he suggests.
Taking care of buckraking, using tractors and forks rather than a loading shovel, improves pit quality and helps with the management of the operation, Rob suggests.
If the buckrake driver is getting snowed-under, we can communicate and chop in fields that are further away. Without pressure on the pit team, you make better silage.
Customer service has extended even to picking up half loads in January for an organic farm that had run out of silage and had taken a bit off their fields to tide them over.
Output is naturally impacted by road miles, but they reckon on 50-60 acres/day per wagon.
The rolling banks around the businesss base at Ruyton XI Towns in Shropshire are also less hairy in a forage wagon than a large self-propelled machine, they comment.
It was one of the factors that particularly favoured Pottinger, too, as the wagons have a lower centre of gravity than some on the market, says Rob.
Mowers from the Austrian company were already in the fleet, along with an 842C twin rotor rake. John also took the opportunity to see the forage wagons on the production line during a factory tour.
We upgraded to the 60cu.m 6010 Combiline models in 2018 and 2019; that is as big as we can go due to the banks and smaller fields, he explains.
John comments that with the load, plus the weight of the crop being compacted, they do need plenty of horsepower on hills; New Holland T7.210 and T7.245 models used throughout the business provide the muscle.
Rob adds that the operation is relatively frugal on fuel, however, at around 25 litres/hr.
The 2.0m pick-up is connected to the custom-designed additive applicators to switch on and off at the headland and is fitted with a crop roller to avoid digging in, saving tines and avoiding contamination.
Although it is a relatively simple machine, the automation is there that you need, from adjusting the chop length, to two-speed discharge and the ability to swing out the knife bank from the cab or from a control panel alongside it, he explains.
I did not specify Autocut for the 8,000 it costs I thought I would rather have an extra set of knives and swap them so we can sharpen after every job. Having sharp knives makes a real difference to diesel consumption.
John points out that stones are the biggest problem on farms where the fields are not rolled, and can break as well as blunt knives.
To get the best chop quality we make sure we move grass off the swath, placing it into the next row, he says.
Chop length is 35mm, one downside compared to a forager, although there have been no complaints about quality or intakes.
However, Rob admits, The availability on the market of a wagon with a shorter chop length would make me consider upgrading our machines.
The pair suggest that spares and repair costs are minimal bed chains are swapped once a year and chains on pick-up cams every other year; a new set of knives is generally fitted.
Build quality including paint has been excellent and we get very good back-up from the local dealer and Pottinger itself, says John.
Our operators are a multi-skilled team and we start the year on the farm in January with lambing and then calving before we start drilling, he says.
Using a forage wagon has given us a useful service which helps keep everyone employed year-round without the large investment for a self-propelled machine that you then have to find work for in an extended season to justify its cost. It is a machine that has helped our business to evolve.
