Kioti 551C at work video

[Donegal_TDI]

YouTube - Kioti 551C feeding cattle on farm of Gerard Gallagher

It's not a John Ford classic,
but you get the idea
I have a weight made up for the rear but so far don't need it.
As I get further into the pit over the winter,
the silage will be tighter requiring the use of the rear ballast.

Also, spot where I fitted the toolbox on the tractor,
the only place I could find to use.

Also this video was made only the second time I ever put silage in with a front loader
so my cycle times should speed up a little.
When I first drove the tractor into the yard it felt as if it was 80' long
I'm slowly getting the hang of it.

 

[Donegal_TDI]

As promised, some pictures.....

 

[dourobob]

A serious piece of work.

Met one of your countrymen in Cuba last week - not a farmer but a fine fellow just the same.

Enjoyed you video as well.

Fine looking cattle.
Bob

 

[Donegal_TDI]

I should have named this post Silage-101.

99% of Irish farmers feed their cattle some form of silage during the winter due to the fact that it rains so much here getting good hay is darned near impossible. The few good days that do come mean we are usually up to our necks doing something else. Very small window to get forage work done and getting the land dry enough for machinery to work.

Those that make hay tend not to keep stock and then sell it to the farmers who do, at €3.50 per small square bale which is this years price. I tend to buy some for baby calves to chew on when they arrive in February-March.

The drawback with silage is that the concrete under the clamp tends to need replacing every 10 years or so as acid is produced during the fermentation process and eats into the slab. You will notice I have a channel for collecting this stuff, effluent, to protect the rest of my yard. I run it into the slurry tank and it gets spread on the land from there.

I also wash the tractor down thoroughly after each feeding session.

 

[tcartwri]

Looks a little light on the rear end... probably should keep that load as low to the ground as possible when you're moving about.

 

[Donegal TDI]

Good advice. From now on I'm going to start using the rear ballast all the time, this will reduce the loading on the front axle and increase stability.

 

[wade simpson]

Great video. cows looked happy. I like the little wave when you got out to get the camera.

 

[Hoosier Hay Man]

Nice Pics and Video! :thumbsup:
I like that loader set up feeding silage. I see your grapper is a McHale. Do you make any balage? How is their equipment accepted in your area? I saw a McHale Integrated Baler/Wrapper last year at the National Farm Machinery Show in Louisville, Ky. It looked like a nice outfit. I had never seen one before.
We make all dry hay, but at times we need to be able to make haylage as we sometimes have a hard time getting a 3 to 4 day window for good quality dry hay in the midwest. I like that the intergrated systems as the bale never touches the ground until after it is wrapped. Claas and Krone have simliar sytems. I am told the advantage to this is you reduce the chance of getting dirt on your bale before wrapping which can cause spoilage. Also time savings I would think.

 

[Donegal_TDI]

I put all the silage in the clamp and do not make bales as it is about 50% cheaper to do it this way. The bales are very convenient but costly. The McHale Fusion2 combi baler is very popular here that bales and wraps with the one unit.
Drawback is the unit weight which is 6 tonne plus the weight of two chopped bales. Its all down to the weather and ground conditions as to what suits the individual farms here. Tyres fitted to machinery here tend to be very oversize because of ground conditions.

 

[Jeff Quinn]

I put my tool box in the same location on my DK55c. The one behind the seat is pretty much useless.

Jeff