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Wcks | Questions for those with experience storing wheat, corn and grain sorghum in bag. !0 ft. or 9 ft? Horse power requirement? Site prep?( how smooth/clean does the area need be) Any grain quality issues in 6-12 months( odor etc.) Does the bagger need to be attended when in operation? Grain will be dry going in but is there concern if ambient temperatures at time of bagging exceeding 80 even 90 degrees? Brand of equipment, Richiger? What about unloaders, they seem expensive. What would someone charge if you custom baged while custom Harvesting.TIA. |
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Southeast Colorado | Haven't done a lot but have charged 5 cents in and 5 cents out. All I provided was the equipment and no tractor. If you have plenty of help a 10' machine would be better. I have a 9' but glad I do because my wife and I are the only workers here. The 9' bags are heavy enough. They're all I want to have to man handle. I do think the grain really should come out before summer for your safest bet but we have carried some for over a year. Really hard to keep moisture out of the bag ends over a prolonged period but we probably only had maybe 2 to 300 bushel spoil total in a 9500 bu bag. We use a grain cart and no one needs to be in the machine while bagging or loading but it's a nice luxury if someone is. 75 hp+ is a nice size. We've used a 200 hp tractor when that was all that was available but the physical weight of the tractor is a detriment. |
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Central Missouri | my email is good send me your phone number and I will give my experience |
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Central ND | We have a 10' loftness, not a big deal as it has the electric bag lift, we always have somebody in the tractor to turn pro on/off and keep the bag straight. |
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central mn | My experience is with 16-19% corn in 10 foot bags and koyker bagger. 85 hp tractor works fine. Can run unattended if on firm ground, such as gravel or sod. Have located on corn stubble after driving stalks flat. Underneath punctures will show up when unloading. No big deal if caught before hole stretches larger. On soft wet ground we've had to leave a person on bagging tractor to help move ahead if bagger starts sinking. Bag location is important as the biggest problem we've had is with deer puncturing and feeding. Going to try snow fence around ends or a hot wire next time. We rent an unloader, as timing is more flexible than loading. |
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| Think about how often you want to kill a half hour switching bags. In good corn one comine can fill the longest 9' bags once ever 3 hours maybe? If you have multiple machines that stop while you're switching bags that could waste a lot of time.
We have a 10' loftness and we use 330' bags. Maybe 13,000 bushels per bag? We have a crew cuthing for us and I'm worried about slowing them down while we're switching. I really wish we had a 12' bagger. I think a 500' long 12' bag is 38,000 bushels or something like that. Would really reduce the number of bag switches per season but 12' equipment is a lot more expensive. |
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Southeast Colorado | Ours has electric bag lift as well but you still have to grunt pretty good getting the bag in place to be lifted. No big deal with plenty of folks around but when it's just up to you.......it'll make you sweat a little. |
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Central ND | O I hear ya! I kept thinking that after we hung a few on there it would get easier but it didn't really seem to.lol |
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| jd4930 - 9/9/2016 15:26
O I hear ya! I kept thinking that after we hung a few on there it would get easier but it didn't really seem to.lol
Watching the manufacturers' YouTube videos make it look like an easy process, but they never seem to have filmed anybody working in subfreezing temperatures with a 20 knot breeze! |
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Southeast Colorado | Oh yah. ....nothing like a little cold wind helping out! When it's real bad we've driven to the shop and put it on there and then head back to the field.
Edited by tmrand 9/9/2016 19:11
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Wcks | Bag cost. Ive seen .07 advertised but after the extra bag needed at start and closing could it actually be more? Source of bags? Bag thickness/strength. |
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Central ND | Hitec 9.5ml seems to be the bag of choice 'here', can be bought for $870 |
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| $.07 should be close. Obviously there will always be variability with moisture, test weight, etc. affecting how many bushels actually fit in a bag just like a bin but that's a pretty good figure to start from. |
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North-East Texas | 10' loftness here. Works great. We have a 4320 on the loader but could get away with less. It really helps to have someone on the tractor to keep the bag straight. Can change bags in 15-20 minutes once you do a few and get used to the process. We used 250' bags, cost about .8-.9 cents a bushel. A nice firm pad works best, but can be done in the field if needed. We bought a used loader for 16k. Will rent an unloader as we will empty them all at once when we clear enough bin space to fill bins back up. |
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NE Saskatchewan | Been bagging wheat, canola, barley and oats since 2008. A few things we've learned over the years.
-fill bag running down hill. That way if water gets in its all at the start of the bag. Plus you're more likely to get water in on the end that we finished filling on.
-if on flat ground, run a 2x4 perpendicular to the bag roughly 6 feet in. Works as a dam if the end leaks.
-toss a few handfuls of urea under the end of the bag. Helps keep mice from using it as a home and chewing holes on the underside.
-put bale net wrap across the top length of the bag. Help keeps birds and deer from puncturing the top.
-if you get lots of snow like we do, then bag from south to north. Basically into the prevailing wind for the winter. Get less snow around bag. Plus the sun's rays won't harden the snow along the sides of the bag as bad.
-if the ground is wet and doesn't get a chance to freeze before first major snowfall. We run drag tires around the unload side of the bag to make sure that frost will go down. Nothing worse than plowing out 4 feet of snow in February and getting trucks stuck in the mud with ambient temperature of -30C.
-bags are temporary storage. Meaning 8 months max in our climate. August till March. Broke that rule this past spring and was quickly reminded why.
-do not over fill or over stretch the bag. Especially if some salesman sold you on the theory that a 9 mill bag is as good as a 9.5 . I agree that hitech bags are the best.
-typically stop putting grain in when there's 4 folds of plastic left on the tunnel of the machine. For wheat and barley it leaves just the right amount of bag to easily hook onto a loftness unloader.
-can get away with using a smaller tractor to load, but find a 100-130 horse to be a better ballast weight to make a straight bag. When filling at full capacity, the rear wheels of a lighter tractor will come off the ground. Plus if you have diff locks use them. We use an mxm130 front wheel assist, and lock up all 4 wheels.
-when bagging on what I would consider muddy conditions. The brakes on the loader will be useless. Instead use the handbrake on the tractor to help stretch the bag. Typically the wheels of the loader sink in enough to give tension.
we typically load the bags with two operators. The straighter the bag the easier of a job to pick them up. Come winter time I'm a one man band and pick up 15 to 20 bags on my own. |
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Southeast Colorado | All good and valid points. |
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Considering purchase of grain bagger. Questions
