Light Land Posted July 16, 2012 Share Posted July 16, 2012 I've been keeping an eye on the UK ever since the queen asked me too the start of ftf years ago.One thing in often see in photos or the like is telehandlers pushing up silage at the clamp.Having seen in the grassmen dvds and alot of the pictures you folk post up the diffrance a wheel loader and or tractor can do why would use a telehandler exp without the help of a heavy tractor to roll the grass down as the telehandler seems to do a poor job of spushing the grass down hard?is it because of the clamp being in a shed often?. Do you have the buck rake on the front linkage for sheds so the forks can get into the tight spots or is it no odds realy? Our frist cut grass silage was pushed into the clamp by a 150hp Deutz Fahr with buckrake on the front and a cement block on the back the last of the 1st cut was pushed in by a John Deere 7920 with buckrake on the front and daul wheels alround as there JCB farmmaster was busy,the compaction the deere did was x2 what the 1st tractor did and he had trucks waiting to tip off often.What I'm getting at is the heavy tractor made beter silage so how do you get on with a telehandler? Is loader wagon silage harder to compact? Just thought I'd ask. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tractorman810 Posted July 16, 2012 Share Posted July 16, 2012 most of the crews i see this way ol, use a straight forward tractor and buck rake, usally a 6 series jd of some sort ,one lot has a big roller attachment on the rear linakge to ,solid disc to aid with extra compaction. very occasionaly i see a jcb farm master loader with buck rake, , but so far i have not seen a telehandler doing it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tommy Gough Posted July 16, 2012 Share Posted July 16, 2012 I think that you are right in your guess that forage wagon silage would be harder to clamp, at least it was when we had some done, due to the longer length. We used a JCB telehandler at college but we had a bigger clamp with a tractor rolling at the same time, but even with the long haul, I dont think a telehandler would have done anywhere near as good a job rolling. I think another factor againt telehandlers is that they generally have a lower ground clearance so I would think they would struggle to climb the clamp more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Palmer Posted July 16, 2012 Share Posted July 16, 2012 there was an article in this months classic tractor with a silage gang and the boss swears by a tractor rolling down the pit and also a tractor over a telehandler buckraking Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WillTEF20 Posted July 16, 2012 Share Posted July 16, 2012 Round our way the prefered is Tractor and buckrake, usually a New Holland 7030!! But James Bell runs a JCB 434 for the clamp!! Thats a beast! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tommy Gough Posted July 16, 2012 Share Posted July 16, 2012 (edited) Round our way the prefered is Tractor and buckrake, usually a New Holland 7030!! But James Bell runs a JCB 434 for the clamp!! Thats a beast! His 7030 clamps for the other forager. before that it was a TM175 and before that it was a TM165 but that was before the 434. Edited July 16, 2012 by Tommy Gough Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WillTEF20 Posted July 16, 2012 Share Posted July 16, 2012 His 7030 clamps for the other forager. before that it was a TM175 and before that it was a TM165 but that was before the 434. Thats what i was tryng to say Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BK741 Posted July 16, 2012 Share Posted July 16, 2012 Three main contractors round here two use tractors and the a Liebheer 538 shovel. Farms that still make it them selfs use tele handlers and they do a good job. One customer even fits duel wheels to front of his handler. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tommy Gough Posted July 16, 2012 Share Posted July 16, 2012 Thats what i was tryng to say I thought it probably was Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jdeere6910 Posted July 16, 2012 Share Posted July 16, 2012 We used to use the merlo both at home and at work when the contractor used an 800 series Jaguar. Round at work after we lost the main buckrake man it was decided to use the contractor who by then was using a 930 Jag. They started off with a JD 6920S on a buckrake and this year progressed to a JCB 416S. When we used the forklift a lot more time was spent compacting the clamp as the buckrake was owned. Can't beat a loading shovel though Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deere-est Posted July 16, 2012 Share Posted July 16, 2012 In a word Ol, no. I don't care what anyone says, telehandlers are crap for clamp work. No ground clearance, no driving power, no cooling power..... If you've got all day to do very little or are a small farm with small gear then anything will do. Silage is made in the clamp as much as in the field and with todays machinery bringing in the crop you have little time to get the crop in, spread and consolidated so you need power, speed and wieght. Tractor buckrakes and pivot steer loaders rule the roost around me. Tractors are 180hp minimum and up to 360hp. Loaders are predominantly JCB 414, 416 and 434 machines. Of course, all this is only ever as good as the man in the seat. So in truth, an experienced telehandler driver could do a better job than some collar up kiddy I'm a 434 in suited conditions to either machine! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tommy Gough Posted July 16, 2012 Share Posted July 16, 2012 Interesting point about the power Tris. I wonder how long the tractor that was once used on our home clamp ( 2wd Ford 6600 many many years ago) would last clamping for a modern forager before the driver gave up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Palmer Posted July 16, 2012 Share Posted July 16, 2012 In a word Ol, no. I don't care what anyone says, telehandlers are crap for clamp work. No ground clearance, no driving power, no cooling power..... If you've got all day to do very little or are a small farm with small gear then anything will do. Silage is made in the clamp as much as in the field and with todays machinery bringing in the crop you have little time to get the crop in, spread and consolidated so you need power, speed and wieght. Tractor buckrakes and pivot steer loaders rule the roost around me. Tractors are 180hp minimum and up to 360hp. Loaders are predominantly JCB 414, 416 and 434 machines. Of course, all this is only ever as good as the man in the seat. So in truth, an experienced telehandler driver could do a better job than some collar up kiddy I'm a 434 in suited conditions to either machine! some collar up kiddy,i love it tris,bloody accurate as well Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TM190 Posted July 16, 2012 Share Posted July 16, 2012 Most of the Contractors around me are all JCB men, 414, 416 mainly. We work with a 416 and with an experienced driver in the seat I would say it would be hard to beat. With 14T trailers coming left and right and centre you need a machine that is fit to sift it and a man to know where to shift it too! All and well just keeping it pushed out of the way but it'll soon back up if not rolled/compacted right. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SPN Posted July 16, 2012 Share Posted July 16, 2012 Here in South East Ireland it is virtually all wheeled loaders that are used by the contractors - JCB, Volvo and O&K.being the most common. Telehandlers tend to be used by larger beef and dairy farmers who cut their own silage (in partnership with neighbours in many cases) but are very rare. (I can only think of one farmer who used a Manitou for a couple of years, but then bought an old JCB wheel loader specifically for silage because the Manitou wasn't up to the job). I've never seen a front mounted buckrake on a tractor in Ireland, or a rear mounted buckrake servicing a high output self propelled outfit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blue man Posted July 16, 2012 Share Posted July 16, 2012 Ive never seen a telehandler or a tractor with a front mounted buck rake here.I see alot of fellas saying that a Tractor and buckrake are king but there no good when you have to make a pit on a silage pad with no walls.Then theres men that will swear by JCBs or Komatsus but the only thing to make a proper pit that will make the best silage is a Volvo.For instance a JCB 434 is 230 hp and 14 ton but a Volvo L90E is 160hp and 16 ton.The objective of a pit is to compact the silage so it will firtie and create the best silage for cattle at the end of the process.A L90 is well cable of this because of its 16 ton.Of course if you put a 434 next to an L90 the 434 would fly past simply because it is 2 ton lighter and 70 hp more.Any loader with that setup is obviously going to fly up the pit and be "well able to keep away from a big self propelled" but that is not the point of making a pit.In the end of it all it comes down to a good pilot but a man with 20 years expeirience on a Volvo would take some beating in making a good pit. *Note:Volvos L110 is the same power as a JCB 434 but 8 tons heavier at 22 ton making Volvo the better pit machine Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justy 46 Posted July 16, 2012 Share Posted July 16, 2012 (edited) Echo all the Irish lads. I have not seen a tractor push up silage on the pit in 20 years ,but small scale farmers that do their own silage might use tractors on the pit cause they aint using a big Self propelled harvester to pic up the silage ,instead a tractor & trailed harvester, so not as much pressure. Nor have I ever seen a telehandler at it localy. Its all big wheeled loaders in my neck of the woods & has been sence the early 90's. . Mostly Volvos ,JCB 414 & 416s, O&Ks & Komatsu's . A local contractor recently bought a NH W130 to push up silage for this season. (changing from a Volvo) He found it lacking power,called up the dealership in Adare ,Co Limerick & they sent him on a W170B instead. So contractors do really take it seriously over here when it comes to buckraking up in the clamp.!!!!! Edited July 16, 2012 by justy 46 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Light Land Posted July 17, 2012 Author Share Posted July 17, 2012 Thanks for the replys.It's very comman to see Deere 8020's with a buckrake on the clamp over here. Anyone in the UK useing a 360 to clamp there silage? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WillTEF20 Posted July 17, 2012 Share Posted July 17, 2012 I thought it probably was Jeff Comer also runs one!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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