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2005 Silage Season kicks off at SPN Farms


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Fendt 930 with a 3-Gang Pottinger Mower

Steyr 9094 with a Pottinger Rake

Fendt 716 with a Pottinger Europrofi 3 Silage Wagon

JCB Farm Master on dual wheels and with Silage Rake.

(Not pictured - Fendt 926 with Claas Quantum Silage Wagon and Fendt 818 with Pottinger Europrofi 3 Silage Wagon)

(3 Gang Mower and Rake modified by PDC. Silage Rake for JCB made by Dave Towse)

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4ft x 2ft x 6mm OSB Board for the base.

Heki Gelandematte (FeldGrun) mat glued to board for base green effect (cut grass).

Heki Wildgras used to make the uncut grass in front of the mower.

200gsm (or thereabouts) dark green card cut into strips used for the mown grass swarths. PVA applied and Heki Grasfaser Nr 3361 sprinkled over the glue (two or three times).

Cardboard core from kitchen foil rolls cut into thirds used for the rowed in swarths. PVA applied and multiple coats of sprinkled Heki Grasfaser.

I'm sure Woodland Scenics and others have similiar materials. My local train/model supplies sells the Heki range.

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looks great, the long grass is the best i've seen. purely curious, why did you choose pottingers over forage harvesters, its a very european setup?

An excuse to have more tractors to tow them with, thats why my harvesters are trailed rather than self propelled!  ;)

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I'm a fan of the towed, more fun, SP makes the job too easy.

Its just the pottingers, you don't see a lot of them in England. Most of us would use convential harvesters I'm sure, its not a dig or anything, just out of interest, I bought one yesterday, are they just used as a solution to single handed silage collection?

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Seems like the most obvious reason to me, A farmer near us used to have one (not sure if he still does), he is a "one man band" with only one decent tractor so that seems like an obvious solution to me rather than keep un-hitching the trailed chopper to take the trailer back to the farm to tip in the silage bay.  :-\

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Pottinger are quite popular around here, and the importer is a friend of mine. I got PDC to do a number of Pottinger conversions for me, ploughs, stubble cultivators, front, two-gang rear and trailed mowers, grass rakes and the 4m combi drill.

Three Europrofi 3 silage wagons will harvest as much silage as a self propelled with four following trailers with two less drivers and half the diesel consumption.

I know of a couple of contractors who have gotten out of self propelleds and have gone over to silage wagons.

Personally, I prefer the old fashioned way with 20 year old tractors with the pumps turned up blowing black smoke to the heavens as they chase the SP around the countryside. ha ha!!

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a certain new contractor outside tralee started off last year with 3 wagons and was picking up grass all over the place especially considering his first year at it, the north kerry contractors are soppoused to be going mad cos they lost so much work and ive heard there will be serious under cutting of prices this year.

the wagons are fairly fast alrite but there way bigger than an ordinary 18 ft trailer so small yards would be a nightmare to get around not to mind the amount of gates etc that will have to be knocked to get into fields and there also alot heavier  so in a wet year the fields could be potentially destroyed and as far as i know the wagons were very popular in the north of Ireland a few years ago but it only lasted a short time before the sp was back

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A Pottinger Wagon will go places that an 18ft tipper won't go, mainly because the wheels are set so far forward. The drawbar can be raised and lowered hydraulically which enables the driver to raise the front wheels and have the wagon go the long way around, like a trailer, or put the weight on the front wheels and give it loads of tail swing. Whichever is appropriate to the situation.

The floatation tyres on a wagon are way better than the super singles on most silage trailers. I heard of a contractor who went to a pair of wagons for grass silage, but kept his old SP for harvesting maize. When the going got really sticky at the maize he would use the wagons for carting instead of the Dooleys.

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a certain new contractor outside tralee started off last year with 3 wagons and was picking up grass all over the place especially considering his first year at it, the north kerry contractors are soppoused to be going mad cos they lost so much work and ive heard there will be serious under cutting of prices this year.

The contractor near Tralee has bought a 4th wagon for this year! I believe that skin and hair are flying in that part of the world.

ha ha!!

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ha ha! Thats an understatement to say the least thigs might flare up ere in the hear future might be like a scene from basara, incidently the same contractor bought an O + k  l25 loading shovel from a another contractor who went out of business.

WAGONS I GUESS YOU EITHER LIKE THEM OR HATE THEM AND I FOR ONE HATE THEM  >:(

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WAGONS I GUESS YOU EITHER LIKE THEM OR HATE THEM AND I FOR ONE HATE THEM >:(

They are way too sensible and efficient! ha ha!!

I'm on call for my annual joyride next Mon and Tue. I'll be chauffering a Case 895 and an 8 ton Lee trailer. The theme for the week will be : Keep her lit!

Might even get a few pics if I think of it.

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I'm on call for my annual joyride next Mon and Tue. I'll be chauffering a Case 895 and an 8 ton Lee trailer.

Oooh, Lee trailer! Used to be all the rage one time. Still a good few around my area. We have two. Do you know if Paddy Lee is still making trailers SPN? His brother is a neighbour of mine.

8)

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Paddy Lee is still making trailers and driving his old Mercedes G Wagen. He went over to steel bodies a couple of years ago, but they are very rare.

I really love the timber bodied tandem axles that he produced at the end of his heyday. They are a gorgeous trailer.

I must call up to his workshop someday and grab a couple of pics.

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i no a guy with a few lees two are double axel 16 foots with flotation tyres on the very nice looking trailer his other are all single axel with flotations, had my first experience of drawing with a herron today hooked up to a valtra 8150 nice ol rig although i rather my kane any day

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