Grain Head Mounts On Self-Propelled Forage Harvester

Grain Head Mounts On Self-Propelled Forage Harvester COMBINES Headers 19-3-29 When Bill Richter started growing oats and wheat as feed to supplement his corn, clover and hay crops, the Erie, Pa., farmer knew he either had to buy a combine or find a way to bring in the crop using his self-propelled forage harvester. The problem was he didn't want to chop up and harvest all that straw. Richter decided to mount a grain head on his forage harvester. "We're now able to use one machine to harvest wheat and oats as well as hay and silage and snapping corn, spreading the cost of the harvester over more acres and reducing the fixed cost per acre," he says. "The best part is that it took only minor remodeling in our shop to mount the head on the harvester." Richter, who feeds 400 to 500 beef cattle, uses a Deere 5440 self-propelled forage harvester that he bought used for $24,000. To improve performance, he equipped it with a special cutter knife kit made by Alan Mammoser, a product Richter read about in FARM SHOW. He mounted a 13-ft. Deere small grains head on the self-propelled harvester using a Deere adapter plate. "We had to change the end of the drive shaft on the header and put different sprockets on it because gearing was too fast for the harvester," Richter explains. "We've run it on over 700 acres in the last three years and it works great. "We cut oats or wheat for silage just be-low the head when it's in the late dough stage," he says. "We cut the straw stubble later, whenever it's convenient, and bale it for bedding." Richter adds 8 to 10 lbs of anhydrous ammonia on-the-go to each ton of feed he cuts. That increases the level of protein enough to eliminate the need for additional protein in the feed. He applies the anhydrous from a 124-gal. propane tank with special brass fittings that mounts on the back of the forage harvester. A trip rope in the cab activates the system, which injects ammonia from two hoses into silage as it enters the blower fan. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Bill Richter, Richter Farms, 6400 Firman Rd., Erie, Pa. 16510-4524 (ph 814 898-4113).

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