PÖTTINGER Agricultural technology - What the experts say

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SILAGE TRAILERS "WHAT THE EXPERTS SAY"

Pöttinger means quality and reliability worldwide. The "What the Experts Say" section takes you on a tour to farming operations all over the world. Farmers report on their experience with Pöttinger agricultural technology.

Agroslatina in Zvolenská Slatina, Zvolen (SK)
The Agroslatina association based in Zvolenská Slatina farms an area of 1,506 hectares, of which 790 hectares is arable land. They grow grain crops, rapeseed and forage crops. Permanent grassland amounts to 440 ha for producing round 400 t of silage and 350 t hay per year. 430 t of clover silage is produced from the arable land. The following Pöttinger machines are in use by the association: a NOVADISC 265 and a NOVADISC 305 mower for the last three years, as well as two JUMBO 6600 L loader wagons, the first since 2004 and the second since 2007. A TWIST 18001 F4 muck spreader has been in operation since last year.	Pred rozmetadlo TWIST 18001 F4. / Ing. Ondrej Dubek, vedúci rastlinnej výroby v družstve Agroslatina
„The disc mowers have mowed the whole silage crop area: grassland and clover fields. In a single shift they manage 10 to 15 ha, depending on the type of field and the conditions. Thanks to the JUMBO, this year we managed to produce 822 t of silage in five days. The capacity per day was as much as 160 t. These wagons loaded the entire grassland and clover harvest for the silage clamps. The distance to the arable land, on which we plant clover, was 3 km on average, whereas the grassland is up to 6 km away“, reports Ondrej Dubek, , Manager of Crop Production. "There aren't many workers available in our area, which is why Pöttinger technology makes such a difference. Thanks to their huge capacity the loader wagons save time, fuel and other costs besides. We haven't calculated the saving in fuel yet, but the farm manager can confirm that the Pöttinger system is considerably cheaper than a self-propelled harvester with 3 trucks. On its own, the self-propelled harvester consumed around 400 l of diesel per shift, whereas two tractors with the JUMBOs only used 500 l in three days." The farm manager is also very satisfied with the muck spreader. They use it for the arable land where they fertilise 25% of the area every year - 35 t of manure per ha is stored in a pit from where it is driven out into the fields. The muck spreader can handle 22 to 23 loads per day. It can transport 12.5 t and is hauled by a 190 hp tractor. „The muck spreader does an excellent job; its uniform spreading performance is first class. Following this excellent experience we would like to purchase another machine so that we can offer contract work in future as well. We also want to use the TWIST for transporting maize, although at the moment we don't have a powerful enough tractor“, reports Ondrej Dubek.

Agrospol Knínice near Boskovice, Blansko region (CZ)
Ing. Ladislav Menšík, Direktor	The Agricultural Association Agrospol farms 2,863 ha on the fringe of the fertile Haná region - approx. 2,500 ha of the land is arable. As far as livestock is concerned they have 365 dairy cattle and 250 calves. In addition, with 360 reared pigs approx. 600 to of pork is produced. The forage situation has been improved following the purchase of two EUROPROFI 3 L loader wagons, which have really proved their worth in silage harvesting. A Zetor 16045 tractor has proven highly suitable in providing pulling power. From the Pöttinger range, Agrospol Knínice also owns a EUROHIT 61 NZ tedder, a EUROTOP 800 windrower and CATNOVA 310 T CRW disc mower. A NOVACAT 305 H CRW and NOVACAT 306 F CRW disc mower combination plus EUROTOP 1251 rotary windrower with a working width of up to 12.5 m were purchased in 2005.
"Even initial experience with the loader wagon back in 2001 demonstrated that we can save a great deal on labour. The performance is comparable with a harvester. Every day each silage wagon harvests approx. 30 ha, depending on the distance travelled, which is 6 to 7 km on average here. The wagons deliver excellent work. Compared to harvesters they have no problem on slopes or stony ground and they are much more cost effective. The advantages of the loader wagon include loading and chopping straw for the barn or delivered directly to the stalls. We have been operating the tedder and windrower for five seasons now, with minimal repairs – we have only had to change 15 tines so far. If you look after the equipment and set it up properly, the windrower operates reliably and trouble-free. So far we haven't had to repair anything – excellent performance as far as we are concerned. After buying two silage wagons, windrowing became a limiting factor. That's why we will need another machine to coordinate our machinery better and deliver forage to the clamp even faster. If we want to produce really top quality silage then we need to deliver the crop in as short a time span as possible. We transport the crop from fields that are various distances away. Previously, we were unable to harvest at all with older machinery if it was raining, or the forage produced was unusable. With the new high-performance technology we have virtually no losses and the quality is incomparable", explains the delighted Director, Ladislav Menšík.

ZD Velké Pavlovice, okres Břeclav (CZ)
The Velké Pavlovice agricultural association in the Břeclav region farms 560 ha of arable land, the majority of crop production being destined for livestock. Since 1996 they have been using a EUROPROFI 2 L loader wagon for forage harvesting - having been in operation for 12 years, it is still in use this season. In addition to silage, hay and straw, the loader wagon is also used to transport maize from the field. "We are very pleased with this loader wagon - it operates reliably all year long, thanks partly to the tractor mechanic, Jan Horáček, who looks after the machine. We have two sets of knives, which we sharpen every day. What is remarkable is that after the number of seasons this machine has been in operation it is still fitted with the original tines. For silage, if we need a powerful transporter, we hitch up the loader wagon to a tractor with 190 horsepower, or more.	Jiří Hanzálek, Velké Pavlovice Agricultural Association
For harvesting we also use the mower so that we manage everything in the shortest time possible to the tightest deadlines. In a comparison of the two technologies the loader wagon is clearly more economical and the dairy cattle are more satisfied with the quality and length of the mowed crop," reports the deputy manager of the agricultural association, Jiří Hanzálek. Since 2006 they have been using a ROLLPROFI 3300 LSC classic baler to pickup and bale straw. They also tested a SERVO 65 here with a view to purchasing one of these ploughs.

Engineer Morozow Iwan Alexandrowitsch (Russia)

Engineer Morozow Iwan Alexandrowitsch reports from the Iwanowo region At my livestock farm with 3,000 hectares and 1,115 animals we use the Pöttinger Torro 5700 loader wagon for forage harvest. The machine impressed me with its high performance. The Torro also delivered the best forage quality. It is also easy to operate. One disadvantage at the moment is that Pöttinger doesn't have a service centre in the Iwanowo region at the moment. However, Pöttinger more than makes up for this with super customer service, providing assistance with repairs and product training.

Artjomow Alexandr Nikolaewitsch (Russia)

Director Artjomow Alexandr Nikolaewitsch in the Kaliningrad region operates a Novacat 265 ED mower and a Europrofi 5000L. Due to the poor weather in that area they often work in difficult conditions. The quality of work and quality of the forage has been greatly increased thanks to the use of Pöttinger machinery.

Director Artjomow Alexandr Nikolaewitsch reports, "In the grassland sector we operate a Novacat 265 ED mower and a Europrofi 5000L self-loading wagon. We often have bad weather in this area, which used to make working in the field very difficult for us. However, the two Pöttinger machines have really helped us a lot: the quality of work and quality of the forage has been greatly increased and has now reached an excellent standard. No comparison with what we did earlier - we used to employ 14 people for the forage harvest and now we only need four. And these four people now achieve more with the Pöttinger machines than the 14 people ever managed. As a result, silage costs have been reduced 4-fold. The performance of the self-loading wagon is also sensational. One sunny day we managed to prepare 200 tonnes of silage, which is simply unbelievable. The cut is absolutely ideal. We are very satisfied with Pöttinger technology and with the support from "Anagro", the dealership in the Kaliningrad region."

Wiktor Alexandrowitsch, Iwanowo (Russia)

Engineer Morozow Iwan Alexandrowitsch reports from the Iwanowo region.
At my livestock farm with 3,000 hectares and 1,115 animals we use the Pöttinger Torro 5700 loader wagon for forage harvest. The machine impressed me with its high performance. The Torro also delivered the best forage quality. It is also easy to operate. One disadvantage at the moment is that Pöttinger doesn't have a service centre in the Iwanowo region at the moment. However, Pöttinger more than makes up for this with super customer service, providing assistance with repairs and product training.

Koloscha Valerij Petrovich from Peski / Chernigov
Within just a few years Koloscha Valerij Petrovich turned his privately-owned breeding operation in Peski / Chernigov into one of the finest in this area. He farms around 3,000 hectares of arable land and has more than 800 dairy cattle. I pay particular attention to the profitability of the whole production process, and found that there is still potential for development as far as feeding is concerned. That is why I have decided to increase the quality of the forage supply. The partner I chose for this project is PÖTTINGER, from whom I purchased 3 products in 2007 – a EUROHIT 91 tedder, a EUROTOP 801 A windrower and JUMBO 7200 L loader wagon.	Koloscha Valerij Petrovich
What helped me in my decision was the excellent advice I was given, plus the interesting options offered for financing the equipment. During a visit to the factory in Grieskirchen I was really impressed by the people skills and professional competence of the sales personnel and employees. The specialists who are responsible for looking after customers in the Ukraine provide very detailed information on the PÖTTINGER product range, the technologies in use, and helped me to find the best solution for my individual requirements. Even after the purchase my contact with them has been very positive – we have developed a partnership. In my view PÖTTINGER stands for quality, reliability and a good partnership for the future. Success is the result of this combination.

Director Tomash Iwan Mihailowitsch, Iwanowo/Russia

I operate a 3,500 hectare farm with 1,000 livestock. I use the following Pöttinger machines for grassland harvesting: the Novacat Alpha-motion mower, the Eurohit 80 AZ tedder and the Torro 5700 loader wagon. In my opinion the machines offer high performance and the best operating quality. They are also easy to operate and my employees quickly learn how to work with these machines. I am also very pleased with Pöttinger Customer Service. They are qualified service people who provide very good training and can help with assembly and repairs too, if necessary. I wish Pöttinger much success and look forward to finding out more about their product range.

Paul & Ray Doble (Devon, GB)

When it came to taking forage harvesting in house at Collard Hill Farm, Blackborough, Devon, a system that would be flexible was needed. It would have to cost no more than the existing contractor charges and suit the 4 cylinder tractors operated by the business. The father and son team of Paul and Ray Doble also wanted to be able to operate the system themselves without resorting to hiring in staff. “We spent a considerable amount of time researching which way we should go” says Paul. “I fully costed all the available options and the Pottinger loader wagon came out top”.

A key factor with the Pottinger wagon was its low operating costs, both in terms of maintenance and fuel. “With fuel at the price it is we wanted to keep fuel consumption to a minimum”. We had a demonstration from our local Pottinger dealer and we were surprised on how little fuel we used to harvest 4 acres. The tractor consumed only 4.5 litres of diesel which was difficult to believe!” Purchasing a Pottinger Faro 3500L loader wagon during 2006 and with the first seasons forage safely gathered in, the Doble’s are firmly convinced they did the right thing. We always used to have some of our second and third cut silage done in big bales but this was costly and involved lots of handling.

The wagon has made life so simple - everything now goes in the clamp, plus we don’t have the costly hassle of disposing of bale wrap”. We use our 100hp 4wd Valtra with buck rake on the clamp and this handles the forage well and gives us excellent consolidation”. Paul comments: “Having our own wagon has completely simplified harvesting operations. We need to fit harvesting in around milking and the wagon allows us to do this”. He goes on “the low labour requirement means that we can get all our stock work done and commence foraging when we are ready, there is no waiting for anyone to arrive”. Operating their Faro 3500L wagon with a 90hp 2wd Valtra tractor poses no problems.

Ray who operates the wagon says: “The tractor and Faro wagon are an excellent match, the 90hp is more than capable of operating the wagon. When I am turning it barely leaves a mark in the field, the 10 ton silage trailers used with the forage harvester did more damage”. It’s not only grass that the Faro wagon has harvested, having this year harvested wholecrop silage. “We grow maize, but growing whole-crop really stacks up financially. With good feed value plus reduced growing and harvesting costs it is becoming a bigger part of our forage acreage” says Paul. With its low operating costs and high build quality the Doble’s see a long term future for the Pottinger wagon as an integral part of their farming business.

We were surprised how little fuel we used to harvest 4 acres. The tractor consumed only 4.5 litres of diesel which was difficult to believe.

Gary Graham (Atarau, New Zealand)
Gary Graham	Gary Graham runs two dairy units, milking 1050 cows at Atarau, in the Grey River Valley, West Coast of the South Island, New Zealand. Gary and his wife, Stacey are very busy people, as they also own and operate an Agricultural Contracting business, specialising in grass harvesting for quality silage production to feed the cows of the West Coast's progressive Dairy Industry. Gary runs 2 Pöttinger JUMBO 6000L loader wagons, and is considering a purchase of a third JUMBO to cope with the extra workload, mainly from Government owned "Landcorp" farms which have been extensively drained by excavator. The fields being reformed into "hump and hollow" type conours to assist drainage in difficult soil types and very high rainfall (up to 4.5-5 metres = 195 inches per year)!
This high rainfall means a very small window of "fine" weather for harvesting, so Gary has also purchased a Pöttinger 8600 Novacat triple mower 'Collector' unit to speed up mowing operations, prior to pickup and transport with the Jumbo wagons. Gary says the loader wagon system is much more efficient and far superior to the alternative self propelled Forager and road trucks, which often get bogged down!! Gary's Jumbo's are paired with New Holland TM 195 (200hp) tractors equipped with wide tread tyres as are the Jumbo wagons on 700/45-22.5 tyres, which also make them easier to pull over the stack/pit when unloading. Gary says "The Jumbo wagons ability to give consistent chop length, high quality silage for his customers in extremely difficult (wet) harvesting conditions is very impressive." The two Jumbos harvested a total of approximately 5500-6000 hectares consistently over th last two seasons, which is a huge amount of crop, and Gary pays much praise to the back up from the service team from his local Pöttinger Dealer, Westland Farmers based in Westport, with a large service workshop also in Dobson/Greymouth area. Gary's final comment: "Consistent chop length, gives excellent compaction and high quality silage to the customers." Silage innoculant is used an specified by most clients and silage quality tested out @ 12.2 ME, in a very wet season last year. On a 12 kilometre job (ie 24 kms turnaround) outperformed a self propelled forager and 4 transport trucks quite easily.

Veikko Paavilainen (Nuutaxiärvi, Finland)

I am contracting 700 ha with my JUMBO 6600 D together with Fendt 818 and ISOBUS control, which is a convincing and convenient way of using the loader wagon in high performance fields. In former times we used round balers and trailed choppers, the performance to the loader wagon is not comparable. The longer cutting length of the loader wagon was after small adjustments of our feeding system no problem at all.
I have choosen the 8-wheel-chassis of Pöttinger on my wagon, which saves power due to lower loading height, in the clamp the wagon is a lot more stable. The high quality and clean working of the machine are typical for Pöttinger. In my opinion Pöttinger is putting a lot efforts in research and developments, tries always to improve things and is always good for new innovations.

Veikko Paavilainen with his JUMBO 6600 D

Stephen Radford (North Devon, Great Britain)
Mr. Stephen Radford	Stephen Radford farms 330 acres of mainly grassland and 40 acres of corn with his father Colin at Buttermore Farm in North Devon. They milk 160 cows and rear 65 followers plus 80 head of beef cattle. The stock are fed a mixed ration under cover from a TMR wagon loading into a central feed manger. 225 acres of silage are made on the farm - taken mainly in three cuts from a mixture of short and long term leys and some permanent pasture. The Radford's control their own silage making to ensure that their fields are cut at the right time for producing optimum quality silage.
"We depend on making high quality silage. If there's a rainy period in first cut, everyone wants their crop ensiled as soon as it dries up. Contractors get behind and cannot get to all their customers at the right time - most have to wait, and that's when you lose silage quality" says Stephen Radford "take first cut in 2003 for example. We lost a week due to the rain coming when the grass was just at the correct stage for cutting. The silage quality suffered as a result but it would have been far worse if we couldn't get on harvesting on the first good day after it stopped raining." " We used a trailed precision chop up to the end of the 2002 season, but found getting-in the extra man with tractor and trailer to be increasingly difficult. We saw the Pottinger Europrofi at the South West Grassland Demonstration and thought we would go over and have a bit of a laugh at the people working old fashioned foragers. But we were surprised how fast it travelled down the swath on a 135 hp tractor and even more surprised how short it chopped the grass. We expected it to just about half the length of the grass, but it cuts a lot of it down to 2 inches - just the right length for the cows and short enough to consolidate well. Too short and the grass goes straight through the cows - that is no good for producing maximum yield from grass. So we ordered a Europrofi 1L shortly afterwards. It has proved to be a good decision; in fact the best decision we've ever made - everything went like a dream - its the most stress free silage I've ever done." We asked Stephen Radford how the field harvesting and ensiling operation went in his first season; "We used our 120 hp JD 6610 tractor and managed 7 mph down the swath - which we rowed-up with a wide single rotor rake. We could have done with another 10-15 hp as the speed dropped off a little when we were around 90% full. It was taking 4-5 minutes to get a load. The pick-up on the wagon is good - six rows of close spaced tines - they left very little leaf on the field. We cleared 30 acres per 10 hour day in first cut; 40 acres in second cut. On the road, you can go as fast as you like - 40 kmh; the wagon runs very smooth and brakes well. We have only one field well away from the clamp. About 1.5 miles is as much as you would want to travel between clamp and field to keep the job going. At the clamp, we use a 100hp tractor with buckrake. The longer material definitely needs more rolling; the floor chains on the Europrofi unload quick and evenly enabling the driver to drop the load in an even swath to make buckraking easier - not in one big lump like you get on a tipping trailer." " We used a trailed precision chop up to the end of the 2002 season, but found getting-in the extra man with tractor and trailer to be increasingly difficult. We saw the Pottinger Europrofi at the South West Grassland Demonstration and thought we would go over and have a bit of a laugh at the people working old fashioned foragers. But we were surprised how fast it travelled down the swath on a 135 hp tractor and even more surprised how short it chopped the grass. We expected it to just about half the length of the grass, but it cuts a lot of it down to 2 inches - just the right length for the cows and short enough to consolidate well. Too short and the grass goes straight through the cows - that is no good for producing maximum yield from grass. So we ordered a Europrofi 1L shortly afterwards. It has proved to be a good decision; in fact the best decision we've ever made - everything went like a dream - its the most stress free silage I've ever done." We asked Stephen Radford how the field harvesting and ensiling operation went in his first season; "We used our 120 hp JD 6610 tractor and managed 7 mph down the swath - which we rowed-up with a wide single rotor rake. We could have done with another 10-15 hp as the speed dropped off a little when we were around 90% full. It was taking 4-5 minutes to get a load. The pick-up on the wagon is good - six rows of close spaced tines - they left very little leaf on the field. We cleared 30 acres per 10 hour day in first cut; 40 acres in second cut. On the road, you can go as fast as you like - 40 kmh; the wagon runs very smooth and brakes well. We have only one field well away from the clamp. About 1.5 miles is as much as you would want to travel between clamp and field to keep the job going. At the clamp, we use a 100hp tractor with buckrake. The longer material definitely needs more rolling; the floor chains on the Europrofi unload quick and evenly enabling the driver to drop the load in an even swath to make buckraking easier - not in one big lump like you get on a tipping trailer." "The cows like the silage, are contented, fit and holding their services well" Asked to sum-up his first season experience with his Europrofi, Mr Radford says "There is very little to criticise really - just the longer time taken to consolidate the grass in the clamp - particularly if the grass gets very dry. But the proof is in the analysis and how the cows take to the silage. The protein in the second cut clamp was 17.1% with a good, stable fermentation of the 31.7% dry matter crop at 4.3 pH and 2.9% N. The cows really like the silage; they are very contented, in good condition and are holding their services well. The actual harvest went like a dream; everything was under control - stress free. I had the odd blockage which was soon freed from the cab seat. Maintenance was quick and straight forward. It is so much easier than the old trailed precision chop system - I wouldn't go back to it. Buying the Pottinger was the best decision we've ever made."

Terryland Farms Inc. (Ontario, Canada)

I am very impressed about my Pöttinger Europrofi III selfloading forage wagon. With my 130 hp tractor it takes just under 5 minutes to make a load and and to unload because the feed is really packed in the wagon. I can put 50 acres (20 ha) of haylage in the bunksilo in one afternoon and I never unhitch any wagons, I never have to get off the tractor. I would never want to make haylage any other way anymore. We currently farm 430 acres and milk 125 cows. And if we were to expand our farm our Europrofi III is capable of handling the extra feed. On Saturday we had our open house. We had close to 500 people and lots of them wanted to look at my Europrofi. I had it parked in front of my shed so people could see it and walk around it.

Urs Höchli, Pöttinger Area sales Manager Alex Taubinger, George and Linda Heinzle

Franz GRUBER (Zell am Pettenfirst, Austria)
	800 loads per season, an enormous challenge for the machine. As Franz Gruber says: "You can only take that on if you can rely on your technology. As a contractor you are always under pressure to operate cost-effectively. This is only realistic with minimum downtime and low repair costs". Franz's key decision-to-buy factor was the loading system.
"I decided in favour of the SILOPROFI because the machine has 8 overlapping conveyor tines". The feed tines are controlled by cam tracks at either end of the rotor shaft. He explains the advantages as follows: "The feed tines move exactly in time with each movement – penetrating the swath, chopping and exiting the crop flow. The crop is loaded jolt-free and the fodder is handled with care".

Ned Relihan (Ireland)
„An important benefit is, that the grass is not chopped too fine. An average length of 45 – 50 mm encourages cudding which is very important to keep the cows rumen healthy.“

Sam SHINE (Limerick, Ireland)
County Limerick, 4000 acres of grass silage, 1000 acres of maize. „The simple fact is that selfpropelled rates will have to riseby about 25% over the next five years if contractors are toreturn to profitability.“ „Todays self loading wagons are very different beasts to those of the early 1980s.“ „The wagon stacks up financially both for the contractor and for the customer.“

Sam Harper (Ireland)
„We are very happy with the chop length and last year oursecond cut results from Hillsborough were 77 DMD, ME of 11,4 and had an intake factor 30% above average.“ Forgetting about the results for a second, I noticed that the silage fed really well – this is the most important result of all.“	Sam HARPER with his EUROPROFI 3

Donald Fitzpatrick (Ireland)

Donald FITZPATRICK

„On our farm cutting silage using the forage wagon definitely is the cheapest way. There is a big saving on diesel and the labour requirement is very low, we can take 3 – 4 cuts for the price of 2 previously.“

„We have great flexibility since we changed to the silage wagon system. Not only can we decide when we want to cut silage but with just 2 men my father and I, we can carry out the harvesting.“

„The wagon will have paid for itself within 5 years“.

Hermann Fischer (Unterallgäu, Germany)

"I am in favour of using the self-wagon for harvesting silage because I can offer my customers a better deal due to the lower processing costs. The chop length fully meets the requirements for modern animal feed nutritional value. The knife security system is extremely reliable, preventing downtime which can otherwise add considerably to running costs. The pivoting knife bank is also very practical. An important factor is the rapid and reliable spare parts service. With Pöttinger ordering spares operates like clockwork.

Hermann Fischer with the JUMBO 6000

Nico ROBILLARD (France)

Nico ROBILLARD

"As a contractor we had a deployment problem to solve. The grass silage area kept on getting smaller until it reached about 100 hectares for silage bales, compared to 1,400 hectares of maize silage. The main reason for this was that the logistics are difficult to organise and there was always a shortage of personnel. When we stopped using a self-propelled forage harvester for harvesting grass we increased the area for grass silage to 170 hectares. The JUMBO 7200 silage trailer is the most interesting solution in our eyes due its high productivity, lower costs for the operator and customer, and the capability it provides of allowing us to offer our customers a finished job by delivering right to their clamp."

Philippe LAIR (France)
"With 1100 ha of grass silage personnel are always pressed to the limit. In addition, more and more jobs involve delivering the silage to the farmyard. Straightforward organisation and savings in manpower are two factors that helped me decide in favour of the JUMBO 7200 silage trailer, which offers excellent productivity due to its high volume."	Philippe Lair with his JUMBO 7200

Didier PRAUD (France)
Didier Praud with his JUMBO 7200	"My harvester could no longer cope with 450 ha of grass silage. The JUMBO 7200 silage trailer enabled me to handle 700 ha and helped me organise my work better. Now my customers can mow when the crop is just right, field for field, and together we can harvest high-quality forage. The large volume of 72 m³ means I can process up to 2.5 ha/h when the field is near the silo."