Silage clamp size

[Optimus]

Looking at doing pit silage, all bales at the moment.what size of shed would we need for roughly 120 acre of first cut?

 

[dinderleat]

When do you cut? End of April or end of June?

 

[dinderleat]

And how fast will you feed it out? Long and narrow would be best but that does increase the costs.

 

[Optimus]

When do you cut? End of April or end of June?

Usually end of june

 

[dinderleat]

Usually end of june

Might aswell go for a bit more quality and cut end of may, 10m wide by 20-30m long

 

[AftonShepherd]

Might aswell go for a bit more quality and cut end of may, 10m wide by 20-30m long

That depends on where the OP is. If I cut mine at the end of May I could do it with the lawnmower and wouldn't need to empty the collecting box too often!

 

[davidroberts30]

Think we need to know how many stock and how long winters for

 

[davidroberts30]

Looking at doing pit silage, all bales at the moment.what size of shed would we need for roughly 120 acre of first cut?

how many bales do you normally make?

 

[Fergieman]

How many bales and what weight do you make at the moment?

 

[Optimus]

how many bales do you normally make?

Any where between 1300-1500 first cut depends on the year.

 

[puppet]

We are outside now but a pit in a shed was 90x42 feet up to 8 feet deep. The limiting factor was the roof height especially at the edges to get compaction

 

[davidroberts30]

Any where between 1300-1500 first cut depends on the year.

At 30%dm you would need 816cubic meters of clamp to equal 1500bales at 800kgs assumed clamp density is 680kg a cubic meter

 

[farmerdan7618]

@Will Wilson , has a helpful spreadsheet, and can sort the clamp for you too

 

[Green Grass]

40ft x 120ft 3m walls. The dog ate my workings.

 

[davidroberts30]

At 30%dm you would need 816cubic meters of clamp to equal 1500bales at 800kgs assumed clamp density is 680kg a cubic meter

And I would add a third to that to cover future expansion

 

[davidroberts30]

40ft x 120ft 3m walls. The dog ate my workings.

You like my ol man adding in 3feet 20mm and a quarter

 

[Optimus]

And I would add a third to that to cover future expansion

Shouldn't need to expand , will still need some bales anyway

 

[Green Grass]

Mine was 1350m3 future proofed. Prob get away with 90ft long but if you got space have it bit larger to start, gives more options later.
Ft for sheds meters for concrete that's how my head works anyways.

 

[Will Wilson]

I would be happy to help - to guide us on the size, dimensions and panel height we consider the following.

- The space/ geography on site (flat or into a hill)
- The volume and type of silage (grass/WC and maize have different densities)
- With or without a back wall (preferably without)
- Feed out speed (how many tonnes a day you'll empty)
- Machinery you'll use to empty the clamps (it's reach)
- Best size for covering using standard sheet sizes
- Future expansion
- Drains and tank capacity for SSAFO compliance
- Budget!

It's really worth considering a smaller panel height and lower filled clamps for smaller volumes - if you look at most countries in Europe they have been working from this design for years while, in the UK we continue to want to build taller higher filled clamps- the smaller clamps are easier to manage and produce extremely good silage. Example below from the UK / Germany.

Happy to help.

[email protected]
www.arkagriculture.com

 

[willie waver]

mine is 27m x 12m x 4m and it only squeezes in 70acres of late june silage . whatever you're told, make it 25% bigger