Are straw choppers really worth it?

[Beef farmer]

Cubicles.

 

[Nearly]

@Dave W
Buy a good used one and a tractor for it to live on.
All depends on staff levels and enthusiasm.

 

[Beef farmer]

Headless you've the perfect grass farm, so only a 90 day winter?

 

[Dave W]

I've a trailed kverneland been converted to bed cubicles for sale

 

[wr.]

I sent the control box off our Teagle 9090 to David King yesterday for repair. I'll be counting the days and probably the hours before it comes back. We feed pit silage through it as well as bedding and wouldn't be without it.

 

[tr250]

We like ours doesn’t get a huge amount of attention but I don’t bust it. If the op isn’t in control of his straw ie stones and baling in the wet and doesn’t want to maintain it maybe better without. Ours is 10 years old and still on original blades does 12-15 120x70s a day roughly sometimes more if on rape or bean straw my rough calculation 6.6 kg of straw per animal per day that’s a spring calving suckler herd with everything kept until fat

 

[Agrispeed]

as someone with loose housing who currently spends 45 minutes a day shaking straw out by hand I would say definitely so.

A modern 3x4x8 is 500+kg and a barsteward of a thing to separate by hand.

 

[Headless chicken]

Roof on your shed would probably save more bedding

Big savings to be made with no roof. Beds are qashed

Headless you've the perfect grass farm, so only a 90 day winter?

Unlikely sadly more like 120 due to just shitty mizzle that buggers everything up. Also this would be for my R2’s and grazing for them is in short supply due to how tenancies world and people’s love of woolly maggots

 

[Bald Rick]

I sold mine and bought a spread a bale,far far better machine,main things are the fact it doesn’t block up and it doesn’t need another tractor,plus the added that the straw comes out whole not minced up within an inch of its life and disappears fast.

Is right.

Kills headstocks on handlers though. Better side mounted but makes it difficult to manoeuvre

 

[Beef farmer]

Is right.

Kills headstocks on handlers though. Better side mounted but makes it difficult to manoeuvre

Nah 320s are just sh!t for headstocks

 

[Bald Rick]

Nah 320s are just sh!t for headstocks

Is right.
Think we’re on our third ... 2017 model too

 

[pappuller]

Nah 320s are just sh!t for headstocks

Get yerselves a green gaylo, handle anything [emoji123]

 

[Beef farmer]

Is right.
Think we’re on our third ... 2017 model too

Pin and cone?

 

[dinderleat]

as someone with loose housing who currently spends 45 minutes a day shaking straw out by hand I would say definitely so.

A modern 3x4x8 is 500+kg and a barsteward of a thing to separate by hand.

Why are you shaking it out just lay the flaps out, cattle will do the rest. I can probably spread bales by hand quicker than loading the spreader and then blowing it in the shed.

 

[dinderleat]

as someone with loose housing who currently spends 45 minutes a day shaking straw out by hand I would say definitely so.

A modern 3x4x8 is 500+kg and a barsteward of a thing to separate by hand.

Why are you shaking it out just lay the flaps out, cattle will do the rest. I can probably spread bales by hand quicker than loading the spreader and then blowing it in the shed.

 

[jimmer]

I saw several large groups of heifers (6 months up to in calf) recently, grouped by age/size, in appropriately sized cubicles with mats, auto scraped
They were all lying in correctly and looked a picture
No bedding and in that situation not necessary

 

[Blue.]

I saw several large groups of heifers (6 months up to in calf) recently, grouped by age/size, in appropriately sized cubicles with mats, auto scraped
They were all lying in correctly and looked a picture
No bedding and in that situation not necessary

Mats in calf cubicles is one of the best things I ever did,I still bed them everyday with sawdust though.

 

[Bald Rick]

Pin and cone?

No, Q fit

Does a lot of hours though - 2000+ per year

 

[Dead Rabbits]

Doesn’t anyone use a manure spreader to spread straw? Used to do it on the home farm. Don’t really use bedding anymore

 

[Sid]

Doesn’t anyone use a manure spreader to spread straw? Used to do it on the home farm. Don’t really use bedding anymore

I use a similar design to a muck spreader.

I have one of these for the loose houwed milkers.
2 large bales every other day for 80 milkers.

Have mine mounted on an old weeks 4t trailer chassis for ease of hitching. Just needs oil and electric for bed speed