OSR... Swathed or direct cut?

[dug]

Is any OSR picked up out of the swath in UK or Europe ? Never seen any pictures of pickups there but wondering how the risk of a standing ripe crop being threshed by the wind is managed.

 

[Shutesy]

We still swath most years, contractor comes in and does it. But we pick it up with the standard combine header.

 

[bert]

Yes we still swath, but mostly because we run a swather, there is a risk that wind or hail can knock out the seed on a standing crop and it has happened locally quite recently. It was far more popular a few years ago but that popularity has dropped dramatically the last few years, to give you some scale of it we swathed over 7000 acres in 2007 at the peak running 5 machines, 4 of them 24hours a day, the bulk of it done over 2 weeks, now we only have one left and cut maybe 400 acre if we are lucky, ourselves been the biggest customer.

What has really killed the job is better combines with vario headers that can cope with the crop.

Shorter variety's.

Wet seasons, (2008, 2012) where the crop dry's a lot faster stood up.

More farmers running there own self propelled spayers and or wider boom widths.

 

[Derky]

We run a swather, pick up 2 rows at a time with combine. Only reason we swath is earlier entry to harvest and the roundup was taking an age to kill the crop.

 

[DrWazzock]

Swather here, but I'd prefer a better combine bed direct cutting. Budget just doesn't run to it.

With a conventional combine bed, as soon as the OSR gets below 11% we find we get large shatter losses.

Swather is a mk1 SR with fortschritt power unit. A pig to drive and runs like a bag of nails but combining using the draper pickup is a doddle.

 

[Gone Shooting]

Better headers,podstick and shorter varieties making direct cut a doddle now.

 

[dug]

Thanks for the responses. In recent years the osr I have harvested is all contract work that has been swathed with a 15' Macdon leaving about 18-24" of stubble. I've been picking two swaths up with the grain front leaving about 6" stubble..... Most of the time it's a bit of grind that burns a lot of fuel, some years the stubble leafs up before we harvest which makes for even less fun . I've got a CNH 7120, but even the bloke with the swather finds it a grind with his Claas 770.

Two questions, those that are recutting swaths, how is it for you ?;
Secondly, those that are picking up, what type of pick up that handles racking through stubble?

 

[Teejay]

Swather here, but I'd prefer a better combine bed direct cutting. Budget just doesn't run to it.

With a conventional combine bed, as soon as the OSR gets below 11% we find we get large shatter losses.

Swather is a mk1 SR with fortschritt power unit. A pig to drive and runs like a bag of nails but combining using the draper pickup is a doddle.

I ve still got mine in the shed, what a tool, not used for a few years but the engine has seized twice and it caught light one year but it still keeps going. I keep thinking that it needs weighing in but in an emergency it could be put to work.

 

[franklin]

I like swathing. Its dead then. Ready to cut quicker. But unless I have acres or rape to cut, will dessicate it all.

 

[hairy]

I would say in the north east Scotland its mainly swathed contractor I work for at harvest has an 18ft cut and new last year 20ft cut the new macdon best job of the year I hear there is a 25 ft cut macdon coming up into the area

 

[yellow belly]

if we got roundup ready rape I would swath it all and pick up 2 swaths

round up it off now and cut with 9m vario header the combine could thrash and clean a 16 m wide cut

 

[glasshouse]

Is any OSR picked up out of the swath in UK or Europe ? Never seen any pictures of pickups there but wondering how the risk of a standing ripe crop being threshed by the wind is managed.

a pickup header leaves the stalks in the field and cuts the moisture by 3 or 4%. shelbourne reynolds do good pickups or macdon.
our wet climate is against swathing, but nz is way better.

 

[DrWazzock]

I ve still got mine in the shed, what a tool, not used for a few years but the engine has seized twice and it caught light one year but it still keeps going. I keep thinking that it needs weighing in but in an emergency it could be put to work.

Not even the export boys want mine. Sounds like it's running a big end but the old Belarus engine keeps knocking on. Getting the bed on is a bit of an art with that lurching forward / reverse mechanical shuttle. Another masterpiece of East German communist engineering. It's a 13 or 14 foot cut. I wouldn't want any wider or the swath would too big and wouldn't dry so well.

As said the downside with swathing is if you get a fortnight of wet weather. But if you cut it right the swath should sit on the stubble which helps a bit. But you can't do this if rape has lodged.

Worst loss we ever had was standing desiccated rape thrashed out by a hailstorm. Wasn't worth combining.

 

[glasshouse]

I will be scrapping my shelborne swather soon. itis a 1990 model, one of the last.

 

[Derky]

If you cut it right with the swather, then pick up 2 rows with the combine it acts as a giant topper meaning the cultivations can be done straight behind without any long stalks.