Farmers looking for new winter feeding solutions will have plenty to see at this year’s Ploughing. There will be improvements and new options among the leading brands, with the aim of improving feeding efficiency.

Keenan will be showing the new InTouch system, while Kverneland Siloking and Triolet will also be offering new machine monitoring systems.

Hi-Spec and Abbey Machinery will have their latest models, with Conor, Fleming and Condell all showing their most recent machines.

 

Kverneland Siloking mixers

Siloking Kverneland will be showing a new Duo range of vertical auger diet feeder/mixers which it claims are designed to be stronger than ever. The new feeders are said to be able to handle the harshest conditions and still offer you more productivity and efficiency than ever.

The new features include a new gearbox design, wireless control, new weigh bars and cross conveyor. The new larger twin auger feeders are available with capacities of 14-30m³ and an array of options to customise the machine to suit local farm conditions.

The new-generation DUO feeders have a conical chamber design and new turbo augers. Kverneland claims that the new design boosts mixing performance by optimising the flow of material in the hopper. They claim that the augers are running at low revolutions, increasing productivity by reducing mixing time and fuel consumption.

The new FlowPlus hopper ring on top of the chamber aims to provide continuous feed material movement, without blockages, by moving the material from top and back to hopper bottom. This is claimed to provide faster mixing, especially of baled material and long-fibre feed.

The new DUO feeders are fitted with Kverneland Siloking’s own newly designed planetary gearbox. This is designed for the tough requirements of vertical mixers with claims of more torque than previous models. The four planetary gears are designed to withstand shock loads caused when starting up a fully loaded hopper or when cutting whole bales of silage.

New wider axles provide more stability to the DUO feeders, which is said to increase weighing accuracy and deliver more payload. The new weigh bar connection is mounted between the chassis and hopper and not into the frame. Special casing enables the load cell to be carried out in one point for better weighing accuracy.

Wireless control system

These new feeders come with a new wireless control system as standard. It is a combined weighing and control system, where all communication between mixer and control terminal is done without the need of cables.

The new solution offers the option of second control terminal for the loading tractor. This provides the operator with more control of all functions during the loading process.

There is also a new cross conveyor option with its open design to give the operator a better view of the feed discharge. It will transport the material to either side of the machine.

The belt is fitted with new split-rubber slats of different heights. The rubber slat closest to the discharge door comes with a lower height compared to the slat positioned away from the door. This split claims to provide a more even distribution and load of the material across the entire working width of the conveyor belt, reducing blockage and providing a more uniform feed-out in front of the cows.

Triolet shows new feeding systems

Belgian-based feeder manufacturer Triolet will show a number of new features at Ploughing 2014. These include a weighing system and an app for feeder owners.

Trioliet will introduce the range of Triotronic electronic weighing systems with a choice of three weighing indicators, the 2810V, 3610V and 7600T. The standard weighing system is supplied with the Triotronic 2810V weighing indicator, with a more robust enclosure and an improved LCD display.

With this indicator, Triolet claims the weight per feed component can be displayed while maintaining the total weight. It is also possible to programme a target weight. A warning indicates when the target weight is close, which means the feed can be loaded more precisely.

The Triotronic 3610V and 7600T are programmable weighing indicators, with the 3610V being the programmable variant of the 2810V. The Triotronic 7600T is a new weighing indicator in the Trioliet range.

The T stands for touchscreen. The touchscreen can be used to browse through the feed data and to switch between components, rations, and animal groups. The large colour display provides a display of weight and ration information. Changes to the ration can be implemented easily from the tractor.

Wireless cab controls

There are also three new wireless cab controls included in the range: the CC300 App, the CC400 View, and the CC500 Touch. These are useful when working, for example, on the loading vehicle or when the weighing indicator is not visible. The current weight is always available, even in bad weather, in front of the silage and no matter from which direction the mixer feeder is being filled.

With the CC300 App the weighing system is operated via an app on your smartphone or tablet, which communicates in real time with the weighing system on the mixer feeder. The current weight can be read and the weighing system can be operated from any location. The CC300 App is a useful addition to the Triotronic weighing system.

The CC400 View is a cab control indicator in the cab of the loading vehicle. It can be used to reset the weighing system and switch between the different feed components. Both the CC300 App and the CC400 View have a counting function, where the weight of each ingredient is shown together with the total weight of the load.

The CC500 Touch is Triolet’s most comprehensive cab control system. It allows the weighing system to be programmed remotely from the cab of the loading tractor. Rations and animal groups can be adjusted via the touch screen and the operator always has an up-to-the-minute overview of the load.

Automatic feeding

Triolet will also be promoting the Triomatic automatic feeding system. The company claims that a survey among farmers who work with Triomatic showed that milk production increased by 10%, the feed efficiency increased between 15-20% and energy costs has decreased with 60%.

Triolet claims the main advantage of the Triomatic automatic feeding system is the potential to save 8% in terms of labour. The feed can be stored up to five days.

The process computer controls the entire feeding process. Using a programme, all rations, feeding times and food groups can be set and the Triomatic runs the commands one by one. This way you can feed as many times as you want and bring more comfort for your cows and better health.

Stay inTouch with Keenan

The centrepiece of the Keenan stand at the Ploughing will be its MF380 mixer wagon, launched last year.

The Keenan presence at the National Ploughing Championships will include further highlights of the mech-fiber system. This has been refined and developed with the introduction of inTouch, an online performance monitoring service combined with a distance advisory centre.

The system sends all of the data around animal production, feed and feeding to an inTouch centre. This claims to then provide instant advice via the internet to the farm, to make feeding or ration changes, corrections and adjustments to the feeding regime.

In some ways this compares with the kind of technology now being used in large combines, where all operational data can be relayed back instantly to the farm office or the service engineer/manufacturer so that any problems that arise can be dealt with immediately.

Keenan claims to have a continuous flow of information on animal and feed performance from dairy and beef herds that it monitors across the globe. This allows the company to create useful production performance comparisons for their feeder users on an ongoing basis.

This includes information on the choice of feed ingredients and the sequence that they are added to the mix as well as the length of time they are being mixed.

They believe that this information is critical in achieving optimum performance of the animal, in the form of milk output, constituents, or in kilos of weight gain.