Niels

Nice to see potatoes being covered as well Julian and not just cereals and maize. )

My questions are Niels do any model makers do a bunker maus? Also is 16 rows of maize at what spacings equal 12m? Id like to also find out if i could block every other coulter on my sprinter would drill maize? Iv tried looking on Krone UK and can only find a 12 row header which is 10 meters, i know kemper did a whooping 20 row!

Sadly they don't Alex as you will know all to well. 16 rows of maize x 0.75 is 16m but like you pointed out Krone 'only' do a 10.5m version cutting 14 rows. Just two rows short sadly.. no way of extending that, which is a pain.

I like your idea of blocking coulters. What spacing would you get? I believe there is more and more biogas drilled at 37.5cm (basically a row in between a 75cm drill). However, on your acreage the saving on seed with a precision drill would be quite substantial?

The Maistro drill Joe showed would fit well in a CTF system but the grain and fert tank isn't much different to your current drill Alex? Hence why I brought up the idea of swapping the rear attachment if such a thing is possible.

Thats our plan Niels! We have a Maus ready to convert and the big Fliegls will stay in field and the Maus will load into a combination of lorries and tractors and trailers keeping mud off the road, staying legal weight wise and cutting field compaction as much as poss.

We have both done some research of CTF forage systems and the grass side of things would work a treat with our 12 meters but maize and wholecrop are looking not possible, open to any ideas and suggestions however

I see, much like Flawborough then ). You will carry out the conversion yourself and not buy a Palandt converted Nawaro bunkermaus then? I think it is a very good idea but to complicated and to expensive to run. An elevator (much like a beet cleaner) the width of the trailer (slightly wider) would be sufficient.

Like I said before in your own topic I can see possibilities for maize and wholecrop at 12m. Drill with your Horsch and put a 16 row drill on the back. Krone 16 row header. I don't know if the spout of the forager is long enough to reach 12m and if you could lengthen it? You could mount a hatch on top of the Fliegl and blow in the crop from the side like the Americans do. Can reach 12m like that? Mowing rye could best be done with a Krone Big M 500 as it cuts 15m max. Has a grouper put it on one swath Krone picks it up. Highest capacity that way. Video of the CTF 16m mower I saw:

Ol: Your right that is just a plain ridger from Grimme 4x 75cm rows: http://www.grimme.com/de/products/bodenbearbeitung/gh. It certainly isn't a bed former, can't reach that depth.

Well niels we are looking into more machinery to add to the fleet , just because of the sheer work load which will be placed on the fleet , Myself and Alex have researched some machines which we think will make an improvement , 1 of which is the purchase of 2 new fliegl ejector trailers , we are looking into other machines to fit in with Alexs CTF system , trouble is a lot of the roads around us cant really cope with over sized machines , so more research will be ongoing !As to the grass it is predominately rye grass which is sown , as the older grasses will come up after 1st cut of silage and then will be replaced with a maize crop mainly for the Ad plant , I hope this helps niels . , At least with the new legislation in place from the 1st of march we can run within the law comfortably I hope !!!!!

Thank you Julian, those Fliegl trailers are certainly very nice. What do you think of loading the crop in lorry's? It seems to be done more often these days with modified Maus' or high tipping trailers. Would help your road transport issues maybe. I know East Anglian roads and yours must be similar if not worse.

Watched a farming DVD last night with some shots of a Danish dairy farm that are fully CTF (not for maize I reckon). Their width is 16m. Mowing, raking, forage wagon, slurry injecting all done on 16m tracks. Machinery is modified to fit that width. Very impressive!

I see, thanks for clearing it up Julian! Have you already planted hybrid rye to cut as wholecrop for this year or will that be something for 2016? The cold start this spring must cause AD plant owners a headache. Crops will produce biomass more slowly so will need to be left longer (or cut with less yield) and maize will go in the ground at a later date, which could be difficult come harvest time.

Will the Orchard fleet be changed regarding the AD plant or can all excising machinery cope with the extra work load? It must be annoying for you that British farmers can't run large three axle silage trailers because of road legislation and have to cope with 16t grain trailers on silage boards? At least that is what I see coming past!

I don't have that last one sadly Paul.

That is the one yes Paul. I have two more on the full range.

Claas very kindly send me a brochure on their new Atos last Friday. Sadly due to the postal services the envelope had been ripped open and water got in as it rained. Brochure ruined! I contacted Post NL which said sorry but that's it. At least it wasn't a rare brochure but still annyoing!

Will the AD plant be fully functional in a few weeks or do you intend on shutting it down unless you have enough feed? Otherwise you would need to buy in maize or grass in order to keep it fed?

Ah plenty of videos it seems Alex. Chris Carr has done his share but not a fan. I have visited their Sainsbury's 600 back in 2010. Some impressive farms up that region.

Good luck with the spring work this week! Nothing but rain and storm here. Good for the markets, bad for getting work done.

Might well be Alex! . Here is their drilling outfit: http://www.midsuffolkagriphotos.co.uk/gallery/gp4256.html

They run a Lexion 780 as well. http://www.awtfarmservices.co.uk/

You mean your after the model? http://www.farmmodels.co.uk/Replicagri-farmmodels.htm Here's one.

Nice additions David!

Im sure that is possible Niels but the maize is for Juilians AD plant so at the moment drilling is down to him, in an ideal world id like to have the maize and rye grown on a 6m CTF system but the land allocated for energy crops will stay the same and have its own rotation so won't affect our arable land on 12m CTF. We have worked closely together and although the AD machinery is in its early stages we have come up with some ideas on cutting compaction with trailers and a loading idea, all of which will be revealed this year sometime. I have high hopes for this operation and looking forward to developing it further with Julian

So if I understand correctly you will allocate fields which will only grow hybrid rye and forage maize year after year? I then come up with the same questions like Ol has. Your three crop rule etc.. Also I assume the land is contract farmed so the owner won't be overly happy with a monotone cropping?

I'm looking forward in seeing more. Especially on the machinery front. I think a 12m system for maize and rye could work well? 16 row drill, 16 row header, which would have to be cut by a Krone Big X 1100 as they do a 16 row header? Rest only goes up to 12 IIRC. Just wondering if the spout would reach out long enough to blow the crop into the side running trailer. A Big M 500 or Claas Cougar could mow 12m. There are quite some farms and contractors in Denmark that run CTF systems in maize and grass.

Yes they are/look ever so slightly smaller, the rolls are dead 12 meters as no need for overlap, not really essential, the Horsch is 12m from outside coulter to outside coulter but the frame overlaps this making it look wider, the Carrier is .25 of a meter wider than 12 as this is the width Vaderstad make it too, very small overlap when cultivating. Oh yes insurance job saw a new 780, i would of loved to try an axial flow but no Case dealers round us now, and i don't trust the new one who has just set up!

Ok I see. Thanks Alex! Just sprung to mind the Carrier is a 1225 so as you say a bit of overlap.

Will you be drilling your forage maize for the AD plant on 12m as well? I don't know if it is possible to demount the drill from the Horsch seed cart and fit one of their precision drills? Have seen the same thing done where a Horsch trailed tank was linked to a Monosem drill.

You'd be welcome to shear my layout if your were handy. The fiats might be ageing but we'd make it grow.

Would be quite something Ol, several thousand miles apart!

Nice update once again Alex! Is it true that the rolls are slightly smaller than the Carrier and Horsch? I didn't knew Oakley had already bought a second Lexion 780 after the 770 burned down. I still had high hopes for an Axial-Flow 9240

Shame I don't have the space and skills to produce a lay out of my own as some sort of counterweight to Oakley and contribute to the forum. . A good thing some other members do though! Really loving it.

Well, good news for you Joe! Seems one Danish Horsch dealer has pimped up a big drill with yes you've guessed it a hydraulically sliding loading crane on the drawbar! https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.837932659606638.1073742260.104426139623964&type=1

He probably read about it in this topic

Generally not in the Spring as there is still a lot of moisture in the ground that would be a little tacky for the rolls and compaction with another pass, if it was dry enough and we had cloddy seedbeds of course we would, i tend not to worry too much with spring beans as they are drilled deeper and gave more seed to soil contact. However in the autumn especially with rape we roll everything for seed to soil contact, reduction of habitat for slugs, better establishment and to conserve moisture and we use a set of Vaderstad Rollex cambridge rolls......and you guessed it, 12 meters wide!

Now you mention it, I think we have seen it in this topic before somewhere. Thanks!

Still liking this a lot Sean! Very nice adding some green and detailing. World apart from Oakley farms.

I don't think 3 metres would be enough Joe. Also it needs to lift a tonne of seed from that distance which puts a lot of strain on the crane. The drill would need to be heavily modified. I have never seen such a thing carried out. There probably is a good reason! If you have a telehandler at hand stick two bags on, can run anywhere and easy peasy filling up.

Nice update again Alex. Good to hear your are doing well with your spring drilling campaign. Do you roll down all seed and what with?

I bet it's a six metre one. Nice shots Simon! Good idea to have Guttler rollers on the back. An expensive one though.

Land is no where near dry enough to start drilling beet over here.

I don't think the construction of the drill is strong enough to take a crane of that size. Would also add a LOT of weight.

Ah well Alex you can always practice filling up on the move from your CTF tramlines!   They manage to fill planes with fuel in the sky. You are on the ground so must be do able? I think with some Guiness record attempts at drilling they also filled on the move. On a more serious note, it isn't bad stopping every now and then. Driver can stretch his legs and check over the machine. During the potato harvest when I was lifting you occasionally had to wait for trailers and I would do a little greasing up or some minor maintenance. Make yourself useful rather than looking at your phone. That way greasing up isn't a pain and you make sure everything is working in good order.

Julian, sorry for the confusion yes it's Schuco I know. The new 724 S4 is now at the Fendt dealers, together with the new 828 and 313.

If Wiking were going to do a 724 that would be very unwise (and unlikely). Siku, UH and Schuco have all done one. Well Schuco 2 in fact. The 1050 is THE tractor that everyone is after so it seems likely they will do one. Also Wiking have previously covered most big models from Fendt? 936 and 828 in different versions. (standard, Adblue, now the T4Bs).

A package came with the post yesterday containing some new brochures. Very kindly send to me by Paul.

JCB Fastrac 7000 brochure (more like a book and it's very big as well!)

Claas Nexos new style and Tractor Programme 2014

3 different JD 8R/8RT versions. The original, Tier 4A and Tier 4B

JCB Fastrac 4000

Old?