Gav836

anything to help. We have 2 stores like this, the 3rd one is a wierd bin storage system, didn't have camera with me when i was over there this morning. It throws the grain into open bins using conveyers and elevators feeding an electric blower head, tis a pain in the ar$e as it struggles to keep up with our Lexion 460 in good wheat

Heres one of the store taken from the front, shows the 2 sides which are split by a central tunnel, the fan blows the air down the tunnel and then through ducts which we open and close depending on how full the store is or which part of the store we wish to blow. Each duct covers a 3 foot strip across the width of the store (approx 30')

Here's one of the diesel engined blower we use for drying the grain or cooling it down if it comes in warm. It has a 6 cylinder Ford engine on it and to be honest is getting very unreliable and needs replacing. The fan is about 3 feet across and we were told that if you parked a double decker bus at the other end of the drying tunnel it would blow it over if you had the tunnel door open.

Heres the pictures of our grainstore as promised. It is a bulk store holding between 500 and 600 tonnes each side. The floor is a raised wooden floor with galvanised vent slats for drying and cooling. Sorry if its not very clear but there was alot of dust floating about in there at the time!!

I can get you some of our grainstore tomorrow F-P, will be loading wheat out of it all day 

Now that is a little harsh! He's alright, just a little bit heavy handed and quick with the machinery.

we haven't got the time or the necessary labour to run a beet harvester ourselves, let alone the financial ability to buy it in the first place. Just easier if we let someone else do it for us. We also use contractors for putting the fertilizer on for sugarbeet, lime spreading and for any weed wiping that we have done. It's just not possible for 4 men to do everything over the area that we cover, well 4.25 if you include the boss  : :D

Why don't you dig the beets and load the trucks when the factory needs them?to save making a pile.

Or you need to dig the beets out before winter?

The beet are dug out a few days in advance of the factory wanting them if we can, but it's impossible to lift at the same time as they are taking them away as we wouldn't be able to keep up with the cleaner. Its easier to dig them out and take them straight away if you run your own harvester but we, like a lot of farmers now, use a contractor so what we generally do is work on a 3 or 4 visit strategy where he comes and lifts enough beet for that month's requirement on our permits. All of the land that is going into winter wheat is lifted by mid December and all of that going spring barley is lifted last as a general rule unless the game keeper wants it otherwise for shooting reasons. If we dig them out and they talk of severe weather we have to cover them up with straw as frost can damage them and cause them to rot.

A few more great pictures is that your renault in background there gavin :D

Not my tractor its our 816, mine was still on the plough and we needed to clear up the remainder of that heap.

WOW Gavin there is a wealth of info there, you really do your research. The photo's are brilliant, all mine are a bit naff. When we were leaving Hanover airport we passed one going the other way and none of us new what the heck it was. Then in the second hall at Agrichnica they were all on show and we saw them unfolded and in stuff. Massive great machines from all the big makes. Did you see around the engine and stuff, if you did you'll realise why they run so quietly. Nothing is direct drive, the engine is literally a generator and that's it. All the power is distributed by what looked like a doze or so oil pumps and metres and metres of hose's and pipework. Those machines are an engineering marvle. I'll email the pics to you, no point me posting them as they are always to small.

What can i say, i just love my farm machinery and enjoy finding out about them, always have done. If i use something i always want to know how it works and not just how to use it. I never got to see the engine but i did know that it was all hydraulic/hydrostatic drive.

Interesting. They do a very clean job of loading the beet off the bare ground dont they? No way youd get it that clean with a loading shovel.

Yes it does a brilliant job at clearing up and leaving the ground in good condition, the Hanomags make an horrendous mess a lot of the time.

Could well be for lifting fodder beet. Heres a scan of the model page out of the leaflet

TIM is a long established and well respected manufacturer of 2 and 3 row trailed and at one time a 6 row self propelled harvester. Machines are imported by Kongskilde near Cromer here in Norfolk. They are made in Denmark, theres a lot of them working in this area now, got some leaflets on them somewhere as my late father sold them in the early 80's, at that time they even made a specific harvester for fodder beet

widest i've pulled is 6m, being rolls, harrows, cultivators and beet drill, most of our cultivation kit is that width except the corn drill which is 4m

OOPS! Did i forget to mention that i charge for rides after the first 10 minutes  : :D

Pity you aren't down near to me really, i've lost count of the number of passengers i've had on board, boss doesn't mind as long as i'm still getting on with my job 

Heres a copy of the specifications of the Ropa cleaner, gives you all details on it if it's of any interest

You have to stand next to it to believe it's size. There's some pictures of models on here too when we were talking about big beet harvesters 

http://www.britains-tractors.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=4423.0

One from the other side of the machine at the back

back view of the machine

Hers a few pictures of the machine all folded up ready to leave

One showing the intake and pick up rollers in more detail

Another one of the same

In case anyone was wondering what the bit sticking out the front was for heres some pictures of it in action dragging the last few beet into the pick up bed

Its a hell of a machine when you're standing up on the footplate while it's loading a lorry, but i was surprised as to how quiet the engine was for such a big machine. Quite strange seeing the beet flying along under your feet

Most of ours is tipped on the field as we often lift 100-150 acres in one go at the farm i'm based on, we haven't got big enough concrete pads for that sort of quantity (2500tonnes or more)

wish it was still, we got a load returned last year as there was too much mud in it, Hanomag driver had dug too deep while loading the cleaner. We were not amused!