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Faunsdale, AL | I worked out how to put a 4 row narrow head on a Fox 6650 self propelled chopper. It was a White/AGCO I think with a Lindquist built adapter fastened to it. Anyway, I discovered that a snapping head takes more power than a regular silage chopper row head. So your drive has to be stronger. Every silage chopper has some kind of reversing drive, usually electric these days and ours just really weren't up to it. Ended up direct driving the thing off the end of the cutting cylinder with a #80 roller chain. That took care of the power problem!
Once you get it to feed in, then chopping the ears and tops you get isn't much strain on the chopper, but it can be hard to get it chopped fine enough and all the kernels broken well enough to get good packing and good feed efficiency. We had one chopper with a set of rolls in it and it did a good job with earlage. We sold that one and used a similar machine with a recutter screen in it and didn't like the feed as much. It worked, but the shuck was in longer stringy pieces and the kernels weren't broken up as well or as uniformly. Still a lot cheaper than a set of processer rolls if you don't have them already.
Making earlage is fast enough and you have some leeway on moisture content that you probably would be better off to have your neighbor continue to make it for you if they're really set up to do it. I know in our case, with an 8 row head on a Claas chopper, and the decreased volume of crop to haul away, making earlage is a snap compared to whole crop silage. Lots of acres in a day!
edited to say 4 row, not 3.
Edited by ccjersey 3/4/2012 10:12
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Earlage and pull type choppers
