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NEWS MESSAGE
Harvesting forage with a wagon - part 1
User story: Geraint Davies – Torro 5100L
High up on the hills behind Carmarthen is Penlanffos, home to 140 in milk Holstein Friesians, plus dry cows and replacements owned by the Davies family. Farming one of the highest area’s in Carmarthenshire at 550 feet above sea level Geraint Davies explains that making good quality forage is critical to the profitability of his business.
Like many local farmers Geraint had been using a trailed harvester. With this machine reaching its 15th year of service and getting together the 5 man gang required for silage becoming more difficult, Geraint was prompted to consider other alternatives.
“I looked quite seriously at having a contractor in, which did seem an easy option taking a large work load off me, but I had concerns about being able to get a contractor here when I needed them to ensure the grass was harvested at the right time”
It was just at this time Geraint saw a Pottinger Torro wagon at a local show. “When I saw it my first impressions were that it was huge! In fact I thought it too big and for a while I discounted the idea of a loader wagon”.
| But when the opportunity of an on-farm demonstration came along Geraint’s curiosity got the better of him. “I was a bit cautious at first but the Pottinger demonstrator driver told me to keep going up the gears. It got to the point where we were doing about 19 kmh and the wagon was still taking in grass. I was waiting for the pick up to block, but it didn’t. It was unbelievable!” |
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Following on from this Geraint purchased a Pottinger Torro 5100L loader wagon and couples it to the farm’s John Deere 6920S tractor.
The farm is far from flat but Geraint is confident he can take it anywhere on the farm. “I take the Torro anywhere I would take an 8 ton trailer, what with hydraulic four wheel braking and with it loading from the front it’s very stable and, not as I initially feared, top heavy”.
“Even in and around the yard the wagon is manoeuvrable. With its steering rear axle it follows the tractor exactly. When it comes to un-loading it ejects the load in under a minute and the compression of the crop into the wagon is amazing. I estimate we get about the equivalent of 3 x 8 ton trailer loads in the wagon”.
But Geraint says the real surprises have been the savings and increased profitability the Pottinger Torro wagon have brought to the farm.
“We now use 2 men instead of 5 and have saved in excess of 40% of the fuel we used when using a trailed harvester. Also a key benefit has been the longer chop forage the wagon has brought to the farm, at 35mm chop length. This has had a significant affect on the cows with the longer chop actually stimulating the rumen more and we have seen an average annual milk yield increase of 221 litres per cow. Now that’s what really counts at the end of the day”.
Created: 29.06.2007
