do straw choppers/shredders actually save straw

[rc mx110]

and does the savings out weigh the cost of purchase running the machine inc the tractor

I think your confusing me for an intelligent person

 

[Henarar]

Bedding them up by hand with round bales every day here. I don't think a chopper would save straw .far safer bedding them by hand as the cattle get use to you being in with them. You have to handel them sometime also have a good look at them while bedding down
We use a chopper for the cubicles and I tried it in the open sheds but it was just a mess

 

[Bald Rick]

Use a speadabale here.

Just time saving in the main. Thing is heavy and gives the loadall boom a good seeing too.
I see that there is an adapter for the spreadabale to allow you to feed with it as well. Anyone tried it?

 

[DrDunc]

Use a speadabale here.

Just time saving in the main. Thing is heavy and gives the loadall boom a good seeing too.
I see that there is an adapter for the spreadabale to allow you to feed with it as well. Anyone tried it?

Oh you don't want to use a machine to feed out when you can happily manually fork silage into them

Actually, it's crazy that folks spread grass seed with a tractor. Walking across the field with a sack and fiddle really lets you get a good close look at the soil.

Sorry, never seen the spreadabale feeding attachment, but thought I'd better disparage the idea before someone else got there first

 

[Bald Rick]

Oh you don't want to use a machine to feed out when you can happily manually fork silage into them

Actually, it's crazy that folks spread grass seed with a tractor. Walking across the field with a sack and fiddle really lets you get a good close look at the soil.

Sorry, never seen the spreadabale feeding attachment, but thought I'd better disparage the idea before someone else got there first

Extending the use of its bale distribution machine, Spread-a-Bale has created an additional attachment which allows it to be used as a feeding machine.

Feed-a-Bale fits to the dispensing end of the machine and folds down in two sections, acting as a deflector, channelling material downwards. When not required for feeding, it folds up on top of the machine in a stored position without the use of any tools.

Feed-a-Bale can also be used to dispense bales into a diet feeder, providing a pre-chop action, reducing mixing times and running costs, along with wear and tear, says the manufacturer.

The attachment can be fitted on all Spread-a-Bale machines dating back to 2001, and is available in two sizes priced from £1,065.

 

[Henarar]

Oh you don't want to use a machine to feed out when you can happily manually fork silage into them

Actually, it's crazy that folks spread grass seed with a tractor. Walking across the field with a sack and fiddle really lets you get a good close look at the soil.

Sorry, never seen the spreadabale feeding attachment, but thought I'd better disparage the idea before someone else got there first

Yep you are right there if its only an acre or two you can sow it with the fiddle quicker than you can put the spreader on

 

[Bossfarmer]

Yes you save straw, especially if you let the cows get dirty.

Used a blower here for near ten years. Initially used the same amount of straw but with about 20% more cattle. They are far cleaner which is a major benefit for calving indoors.

Last shed that I put up has a scrape passage behind the feed barriers. That saves a lot more straw than a bedder though. It needs bedded twice a week whereas the other sheds are just about daily.

Another huge straw saving is just by making drier forage. Dry dung needs a lot less bedding than acidic skitter!



I have farmers lung which has come from years of hand rolling out mouldy straw bales.

do you just scrape in front of barriers with forklift? are you short of breath with the farmers lung?

 

[Bossfarmer]

Cattle spread straw far better than I ever could with a pike, just put it out in lumps and let them do the work, they love it. My spreader has been parked up for nearly 6 months, I'm not sure I will use it again. I have 500 cattle housed and I think it's quicker with the loader.

loaders quickest plus when ur in amoung them taking net off etc the cattle get used to people and are calmer

 

[Derrick Hughes]

I used to bed 600 cattle in 30 mins with tractor and loader . if you have bulls there is no need to spread . they will play all day pushing bales about

 

[mo!]

If they are pushing the bales about all day then you aren't actually bedding them up are you? What happens when they push it into the corner? Or the water trough? You will waste twice as much as we do doing that, have you got shares in a straw delivery company? Oh, hang on...

 

[DrDunc]

do you just scrape in front of barriers with forklift? are you short of breath with the farmers lung?

Latest shed I put up has a purpose built scrape passage in front of the bedded area that I can shut the cattle in or out of.

The other shed I put up is simply a big court. However with the straw blower, I bed the back of that court only. When the sloppy muck builds up along the feed barrier, I shut the cows out and go in the shed to clean it up. Do this maybe every fortnight instead of twice weakly with the scrape passage.

Older two sheds my dad put up scraping isn't feasible, and they use a lot more straw.

Use this eight and a half foot bucket to scrape

Yes, the farmers lung has left me very short of breath. Don't need to walk far uphill before I'm gasping. Now wear a mask all winter which stops the shivering cold sweaty high fevers. I'm an awful lot better now after it was diagnosed just shy of two years ago. Before that I'd been repeatedly, incorrectly, and totally ineffectively treated for severe pneumonia.

 

[Only]

I know one big farmer not that far from wooly .change to round bales so rolling out and scrapped his chopper .why you may ask
Dusty and dirt all over his shed walls and roof .worried what the dust was doing to his and the cattles heath .broken side sheets through stones
Just an observation from the other side

same here much better and healthier for the stock

 

[DrDunc]

same here much better and healthier for the stock

If your sheds are ventilated properly, the air should be completely changed every couple of minutes. Otherwise pneumonia is a big risk. The changing of the air removes any dust you've got from straw.

They're far healthier being clean from regular frequent use of a straw blower, than dirty and bedded up a couple of times a week I find.

 

[Bossfarmer]

Latest shed I put up has a purpose built scrape passage in front of the bedded area that I can shut the cattle in or out of.

The other shed I put up is simply a big court. However with the straw blower, I bed the back of that court only. When the sloppy muck builds up along the feed barrier, I shut the cows out and go in the shed to clean it up. Do this maybe every fortnight instead of twice weakly with the scrape passage.

Older two sheds my dad put up scraping isn't feasible, and they use a lot more straw.

Use this eight and a half foot bucket to scrape

View attachment 587528

Yes, the farmers lung has left me very short of breath. Don't need to walk far uphill before I'm gasping. Now wear a mask all winter which stops the shivering cold sweaty high fevers. I'm an awful lot better now after it was diagnosed just shy of two years ago. Before that I'd been repeatedly, incorrectly, and totally ineffectively treated for severe pneumonia.

sorry to hear about the farmers lung, do you not end up with a steap climb up from the scraped bit to the bedded bit, powerful looking loader tractor had much bother with it?

 

[DrDunc]

sorry to hear about the farmers lung, do you not end up with a steap climb up from the scraped bit to the bedded bit, powerful looking loader tractor had much bother with it?

Because the edge of the scraped bit and the bedded part is soggy, the edge is trampled down by the cattle into the area scraped. This way you don't get a steep climb.

I don't let the bedded area get much more than 18 inches deep between mucking out anyway. Cattle are also cleaner this way than in the older sheds that I don't scrape. The older sheds aren't wide enough to be able to leave the front unbedded.

Aye, it's a fair lump of a loader tractor! Had a gasket on the gearbox, gear lever cable (warranty), a seal on the pto stub, parking lever sensor, and a rubbed wire on the suspension in 2500 hours. Nothing that's cost more than £30 and my time to fix, but still annoying they happened.

Fifteen years ago the loader tractor here was a wee 60hp zetor. How did I ever have enough time in the day?

 

[Bossfarmer]

Because the edge of the scraped bit and the bedded part is soggy, the edge is trampled down by the cattle into the area scraped. This way you don't get a steep climb.

I don't let the bedded area get much more than 18 inches deep between mucking out anyway. Cattle are also cleaner this way than in the older sheds that I don't scrape. The older sheds aren't wide enough to be able to leave the front unbedded.

Aye, it's a fair lump of a loader tractor! Had a gasket on the gearbox, gear lever cable (warranty), a seal on the pto stub, parking lever sensor, and a rubbed wire on the suspension in 2500 hours. Nothing that's cost more than £30 and my time to fix, but still annoying they happened.

Fifteen years ago the loader tractor here was a wee 60hp zetor. How did I ever have enough time in the day?

might need to try scraping, sounds like a few niggling problems then nothing expensive tho so thats the main thing, how does it compare to NH on price?

 

[DrDunc]

might need to try scraping, sounds like a few niggling problems then nothing expensive tho so thats the main thing, how does it compare to NH on price?

Scraping definitely reduces straw use. Do you have a blower?

Deutz used to be a good chunk cheaper than NH, don't know how they compare today though. The deutz has a much higher spec as standard, so comparing them on price alone is a bit misleading.

Deutz dealer network coverage isn't very good, but I'm lucky to be near enough to the biggest one in Scotland (which isn't saying they're very big).

Joke locally is that the NH dealer has the best mechanics in the area, because they get so much work, they need to be. Think that's a bit unfair now though, there's getting to be a lot of Deeres being replaced by NH, and they seem a lot more reliable.

 

[Only]

If your sheds are ventilated properly, the air should be completely changed every couple of minutes. Otherwise pneumonia is a big risk. The changing of the air removes any dust you've got from straw.

They're far healthier being clean from regular frequent use of a straw blower, than dirty and bedded up a couple of times a week I find.

don't have hardly any pneumonia now the straw chopper gone sheds are well ventilated
its each to there own I think what works for one person doesn't always work for the other

 

[roscoe erf]

I think your confusing me for an intelligent person

oh yes sorry

 

[Henarar]

having a scrape passage will cut straw use far more than having a straw chopper, I think it could cut straw use in half as half the sh!t is in the passage, we have a 16 foot scrape passage infront or sheds which is scraped every day