Hampshire CS user - stripper header demo

[Feldspar]

I have just spoken to Shelbourne Reynolds this morning to ask about demonstrations of their stripper headers. Apparently given "the interest in Cross Slot drills" they are going to do some testing on a farm in Hampshire with someone with a CS to see what the harvesting performance is like, and also the ability of the drill to handle the stripped straw. I'm not that worried about the ability of the CS to handle the trash, but it will be interesting to see how the header losses go. Neil said that they have a lot of barley on the farm which works better with a stripper header.

I was wondering if it's anyone on here who is having the stripper header demo?

 

[Clive]

of course the drill will cope !

the header losses will be the issue

this has been done before by a few of us on TFF, can't see why the result would be different this time ?

 

[Feldspar]

of course the drill will cope !

the header losses will be the issue

this has been done before by a few of us on TFF, can't see why the result would be different this time ?

You say that you are not prepared to accept even 1% extra header losses from the stripper header over a conventional header. Personally I wouldn't take that strong a line. If I think the stripper header will increase of the yield of my next crop by more than 1% then I'm quite happy to have 1% extra header losses. As a side effect, if I can run a smaller combine and be more timely with my harvesting operations meaning better quality / premiums, then that's an extra bonus.

You don't grow that much barley, which is meant to be much easier than wheat, whereas these guys apparently have two thirds of their cropping area in barley. Different kettle of fish.

 

[Clive]

You say that you are not prepared to accept even 1% extra header losses from the stripper header over a conventional header. Personally I wouldn't take that strong a line. If I think the stripper header will increase of the yield of my next crop by more than 1% then I'm quite happy to have 1% extra header losses. As a side effect, if I can run a smaller combine and be more timely with my harvesting operations meaning better quality / premiums, then that's an extra bonus.

You don't grow that much barley, which is meant to be much easier than wheat, whereas these guys apparently have two thirds of their cropping area in barley. Different kettle of fish.

yes but it's more like 10% plus in many situations in my experience

just not acceptable i'm afraid, if we were only talking 1 or 2% there maybe a case

magic in linseed and damp peas however, would love a stripper but can't justify for occasional niche use which was why we sold ours

 

[Feldspar]

yes but it's more like 10% plus in many situations in my experience

just not acceptable i'm afraid, if we were only talking 1 or 2% there maybe a case

Well if you've got high losses then switch to a conventional header. Did you try it in barley?

 

[Clive]

Well if you've got high losses then switch to a conventional header. Did you try it in barley?

wasn't growing barley back then

cant afford a 30k plus bit of kit for occasional use, when we ran one we did swap and change but that takes away potential savings from a smaller machine and adds logistical issues

 

[Feldspar]

wasn't growing barley back then

cant afford a 30k plus bit of kit for occasional use

You can afford a 330k bit of kit for use just over the summer. If you have a big barley acreage and you can own a smaller combine then I don't see why the figures couldn't add up.

 

[SilliamWhale]

@farmingfred will know. It will be him or wheatsheaf

 

[Clive]

You can afford a 330k bit of kit for use just over the summer. If you have a big barley acreage and you can own a smaller combine then I don't see why the figures couldn't add up.

I cant afford 330k so I hire, if my harvest cost is already circa £20/ac I would only be adding to that ? a stripper header does not replace a 330k machine ?

from experience of 2 years running one I reckon there's maybe 10% max situations we could use it with any advantage or benefit over a conventional header, they are not cheap and sample is poor from a big rotary combine rotary as you just can't go fast enough to keep rotors loaded, get a smaller combine and your under capacity when you have your conventional header on

Give one a go but you will be horrified by losses in most situations

I would love it to work, much better in a no-till system

 

[Feldspar]

I cant afford 330k so I hire, if my harvest cost is already circa £20/ac I would only be adding to that ? a stripper header does not replace a 330k machine ?

from experience of 2 years running one I reckon there's maybe 10% max situations we could use it with any advantage or benefit over a conventional header, they are not cheap and sample is poor from a big rotary combine rotary as you just can't go fast enough to keep rotors loaded, get a smaller combine and your under capacity when you have your conventional header on

Give one a go but you will be horrified by losses in most situations

Well hire the stripper header too then! Logic still remains the same. If you can buy a 260k combine at the cost of a 30k stripper header and still have the same output then you're quids in if the job done is the same / better.

You can't say that there's only 10% of situations when it works better when you didn't even try it in barley. We might have 8-900 ac of winter and spring barley next year. Could even buy a smaller stripper header to fit on our small Tucano and use it opportunistically. I'm not writing the concept off yet.

 

[Clive]

Well hire the stripper header too then! Logic still remains the same. If you can buy a 260k combine at the cost of a 30k stripper header and still have the same output then you're quids in if the job done is the same / better.

You can't say that there's only 10% of situations when it works better when you didn't even try it in barley. We might have 8-900 ac of winter and spring barley next year. Could even buy a smaller stripper header to fit on our small Tucano and use it opportunistically. I'm not writing the concept off yet.

your missing my point ? why would I want a bit of kit that does a terrible job ? from experience the losses are terrible, not 1% but more like 10% at least, more in some cases / conditions

why not go further and save 330k and just not bother harvesting at all ?

 

[Clive]

I dont think it would be any better in barley than a conventional header ? barley is easy to cut with low losses ?

sample would be poor though I bet ? its hard to get a smart sample unless you can keep a rotary full

 

[farmingfred]

I have just spoken to Shelbourne Reynolds this morning to ask about demonstrations of their stripper headers. Apparently given "the interest in Cross Slot drills" they are going to do some testing on a farm in Hampshire with someone with a CS to see what the harvesting performance is like, and also the ability of the drill to handle the stripped straw. I'm not that worried about the ability of the CS to handle the trash, but it will be interesting to see how the header losses go. Neil said that they have a lot of barley on the farm which works better with a stripper header.

I was wondering if it's anyone on here who is having the stripper header demo?

The farm in question is Wheatsheaf farming, David Miller. I think their rotation will have around 50% barley? I would love for a stripper header to work in our situation, but as @Clive said £30K is a lot to have sitting around for a niche use, and then there's the losses. That said I will watch how David gets on with great interest.

 

[Feldspar]

your missing my point ? why would I want a bit of kit that does a terrible job ? from experience the losses are terrible, not 1% but more like 10% at least, more in some cases / conditions

why not go further and save 330k and just not bother harvesting at all ?

Now you're being facetious! Shelbourne say it's much better in barley. I don't think it's the stupidest idea in the world to actually try barley in UK conditions and see. They're quite prepared for it not to work, but they want to re-try. Before no-till there was practically zero market demand due to trash handing - now the situation is different. If you look at the literature from the States they're often getting lower header losses (yes, different yield / biomass / etc.) and they're using them with rotaries. Tucano is a walker machine anyway - not sure if that makes things better or worse.

 

[Feldspar]

To write stripper headers off so quickly, without having tried some of the crops, is a bit like people trying a 750a a few times in an untutored way, having it do 10% worse than their normal system and then saying no-till will never work.

I'm not saying they do work, but I want to remain open minded because it seems such a stupid thing to spend diesel collecting and chopping straw only to have to spread it back out again.

 

[Clive]

Now you're being facetious! Shelbourne say it's much better in barley. I don't think it's the stupidest idea in the world to actually try barley in UK conditions and see. They're quite prepared for it not to work, but they want to re-try. Before no-till there was practically zero market demand due to trash handing - now the situation is different. If you look at the literature from the States they're often getting lower header losses (yes, different yield / biomass / etc.) and they're using them with rotaries. Tucano is a walker machine anyway - not sure if that makes things better or worse.

they are hardly going to say its rubbish in any crop?

they seem to work in the states and I guess that's why that's been the focus of marketing for a UK company

all im saying is losses from my 2 years experience were VERY high in MOST situations, there were exceptions but they were rare, it was ace in linseed and pea but that's just too niche a reason to own such a machine for me

I would have dearly loved it to work and been able to buy a smaller combine and had a much better situation to no-till into, no issue with the drill coping with the residue etc at all and agronomically far superior to chopping

 

[Clive]

To write stripper headers off so quickly, without having tried some of the crops, is a bit like people trying a 750a a few times in an untutored way, having it do 10% worse than their normal system and then saying no-till will never work.

I'm not saying they do work, but I want to remain open minded because it seems such a stupid thing to spend diesel collecting and chopping straw only to have to spread it back out again.

I have tried, 2 years in most crops (other than barley) I stuck my neck out for 30k to try, I'm one of the few that has first hand experience of them on a no till farm

I just fail to see why they think they will get a different result this time unless changes have been made to dramatically reduce header losses ?

 

[Feldspar]

I have tried, 2 years in most crops (other than barley) I stuck my neck out for 30k to try, I'm one of the few that has first hand experience of them on a no till farm

I just fail to see why they think they will get a different result this time unless changes have been made to dramatically reduce header losses

Tony Gent uses one I think. I wonder how he gets on. @York 's friends use them too I think.

Of course you've got more experience than nearly everyone, but other people do continue to use them. You didn't have the header contour system IIRC?

 

[SilliamWhale]

they are hardly going to say its rubbish in any crop?

they seem to work in the states and I guess that's why that's been the focus of marketing for a UK company

all im saying is losses from my 2 years experience were VERY high in MOST situations, there were exceptions but they were rare, it was ace in linseed and pea but that's just too niche a reason to own such a machine for me

I would have dearly loved it to work and been able to buy a smaller combine and had a much better situation to no-till into, no issue with the drill coping with the residue etc at all and agronomically far superior to chopping

thinner crops?

 

[Clive]

Tony Gent uses one I think. I wonder how he gets on. Of course you've got more experience than nearly everyone, but other people do continue to use them. You didn't have the header contour system IIRC?

no they didn't offer header contour at the time (about 5 years ago) and I agree that would help a lot with losses at wider width