6 iMASS. EXPERIMENT STATION BULLETIN 362 



The work is planned so as to keep the loader and tractor on the move as much 

 of the time as possible. Drawing to the silo is done for the most part with teams. 

 Where the haul is short and the loader is run at an average rate, two teams can 

 keep ahead of the chopper, especially if an extra wagon or two is available. On 

 fields located at some distance from the silo, the teams have been given a boost 

 with a two-ton truck when it could be spared from other work. Some operators 

 with considerable experience in putting up grass or legume silage use only trucks 

 for hauling, the dump body type, IJ^ ton capacity, being popular for the job. 

 When such a truck is used, the load is dumped at the cutter and the truck returns 

 to the field immediately. 



Filling the Silo 



Any type of cutter may be used, but the older and smaller kinds designed for 

 corn must be fed more slowly than a hay chopper. Experience shows that any 

 type of cutter will clog more readily on grass than on corn, but the types es- 

 pecially designed for hay chopping or grass silage have an enormous capacity 

 when fed uniformly. They have the further advantage that they can be used for 

 corn without any adjustments other than for size of cut. The power necessary 

 to operate the largest size (19 throat) which is what has been used in this work, 

 is 20 H. P. Both electric motor and tractor have been used satisfactorily. 



Arrangements for feeding the cutter vary with different set-ups. Figure 3 

 shows the one in use on the State College farm. The grass is unloaded from the 

 wagons onto a feeding table and from there goes to the traveling apron of the 

 cutter. Feeding direct from the wagon to the cutter apron has been tried but 

 must be done more slowly and carefully in order to avoid clogging. The feed 

 table in between makes uniform and rapid feeding of the cutter much easier. The 

 table is constructed of rough lumber and is 8' long, 4' 7" wide, and 3' 9" high. 



In the set-up mentioned above, where the load is dumped at the cutter, a 

 considerable saving of labor has been effected by digging a trench to set the cutter 

 down into, so that the feed apron is at or near ground level. This trench must 

 run the whole length of the machine, since the power pulley must be perfectly 

 level. 



Precautions against clogging of the blower pipe include, (1) uniform feeding — • 

 no large masses of tangled grass, (2) fine chopping — not longer than an inch, 

 half an inch is better, (3) a blower pipe as nearly vertical as possible and of uniform 

 diameter, (4) a freely-swinging distributor pipe with a large funnel-shaped head, 

 and (5) shutting off the molasses before the last few forkfuls of grass are fed into 

 the cutter. The operator should keep a sharp lookout for stones and other trash 

 which are more common than in corn, especially in crops from newly seeded 

 land. Knives should be sharpened every day. 



Adding the Molasses 



There are numerous modifications of this operation. Figure 3 shows the 

 set-up used at the State College in 1936 and 1937. Here the molasses was added 

 by gravity, being run onto the unchopped grass just before it went through the 

 feed rolls. This past season, the same gravity feed arrangement was used but the 

 molasses was run into a funnel which led into a 2" pipe tapped into the base of the 

 blower. This arrangement is cleaner and there is no loss of molasses. The only 

 equipment necessary is a farm wagon; some short lengths of stout plank for block- 

 ing; a length of l}/^" pipe^ about 4' or 5' long, fitted at one end with a gate valve; 



^Two inch pipe is better if there is room between the hoops. 



