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Faunsdale, AL | Cheap would be the word I guess! We do try to have 2 running at all times to speed up loading mixer truck and for blending and backup purposes. The silos are arranged in groups which started when we used conveyer feeders. That developed into topdressing dry grain with a small variable speed auger and then to topdressing whole cottonseed out of the back of a pickup truck and finally wet brewers grain too. This went on for a year or so before we finally got an old mixer truck. Then a couple more years before we started chopping hay and cut out the hay racks, and finally stopped feeding in the parlor in preparation for parlor remodels which didn't include new feeders.
Bags are great for storage of extra crop and produce great quality feed if you have a place to put them where you can get the feed out when you need it. Right now we're feeding some sorghum out of bags to heifers and it's gotten nearly impossible to get it out with all the rain we've had in the last month or so. That feed yard is turning into a real mess! We usually try to feed off the top of a new silo to older heifers and dry cows for a day or two if we can before slowly blending it into the lactating cow diet along with the other silo that has been opened longer. Unfortunately we went from the last silo at one site to two new ones at another site in about a week's time and neither new one is really all that good yet. Of course the one that's been opened for a week is better than the one we opened on Thursday, but the cows are not cleaning up like they should.
I'm surprised that a ring drive would be cheaper than a surface drive, but never really saw one so maybe it makes sense. I can't imagine the auger type is very effective at cutting out long haylage, so maybe one of their RD 2200 ring drives would be the best for you.
http://www.patzag.com/products/ag-line/silo-unloaders/ | |
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Silo unloaders
