Tullow Double Chopper

[JOHNNY BOY]

Jesus lads i can knock 12 to 15 acres a day with a 53 inch single chop spreagelse and the 956 case international and only using 11×7 trailers. Work usually 10 to 12 hour days when we doing our own bit.
Know the last man contracting single chop around here was doing 20 acres most days with a 60 inch jf harvester and some case a 140 one, not sure what series though. Had two 13×8 trailers and a 12 × 8. My father used to buckrake with our 956 mostly and a 9 foot buckrake and that was all the hours they could get him to do also.

 

[humungus]

The 341 was a kidd painted in new holland colours and was cheaper than the 339 or 342

had a 341 here up til 5 yrs ago, the 342 was the 6 ft version of the kidd, i remember the tullow double chops had adjusters on the chopping blades that allowed you to move the blades closer to the shear bar without having to use shims and it looked a good system. used a donmac rake in my time too es 80 and it was well built but a poor yoke for spreading the silage when the pit got steep

 

[gmc541]

I think that the kidd 6ft ft New Holland version was the 343 and kidd own 6ft was the 346.6
I stand to be corrected on that.

 

[Arthur]

Jesus lads i can knock 12 to 15 acres a day with a 53 inch single chop spreagelse and the 956 case international and only using 11×7 trailers. Work usually 10 to 12 hour days when we doing our own bit.
Know the last man contracting single chop around here was doing 20 acres most days with a 60 inch jf harvester and some case a 140 one, not sure what series though. Had two 13×8 trailers and a 12 × 8. My father used to buckrake with our 956 mostly and a 9 foot buckrake and that was all the hours they could get him to do also.

Thats no different to the sort of output we mentioned previous, assuming a single chop is easier driven than a double chop and with similar power and 7" between cutting widths. Putting an extra 40 hp into a 60" single chop should surely better a similar width double chop in output.

 

[JOHNNY BOY]

Thats no different to the sort of output we mentioned previous, assuming a single chop is easier driven than a double chop and with similar power and 7" between cutting widths. Putting an extra 40 hp into a 60" single chop should surely better a similar width double chop in output.

Never used a double chop so didnt think they were that hard driven in comparrison to single chop. Just thought the acresseemed smallish for the amount of machines involved.
the only double chop outfit i know of in our area is a jf 1300 (i think) and supposedly from 8 in the morning till around midnight the usually pick in the area of 40 acres a day. That was what i was forming my assumption on. My bad.. oh yea a 130 case on the harvester and some type of loader on the pit and 14 ×8 trailers and most of it was donne side fill.

 

[Arthur]

Never used a double chop so didnt think they were that hard driven in comparrison to single chop. Just thought the acresseemed smallish for the amount of machines involved.
the only double chop outfit i know of in our area is a jf 1300 (i think) and supposedly from 8 in the morning till around midnight the usually pick in the area of 40 acres a day. That was what i was forming my assumption on. My bad.. oh yea a 130 case on the harvester and some type of loader on the pit and 14 ×8 trailers and most of it was donne side fill.

JF 1300 as you say would be a precision chop harvester, different baby to a doublechop.

 

[JOHNNY BOY]

JF 1300 as you say would be a precision chop harvester, different baby to a doublechop.

Fair enough just shows my knowledge on them:D:D.
as a matter of interest should precision not be harder driven. Or is it that the double chop has to be cut by the tractor as well as chopping it.

 

[Angus283]

When it gets the job done for you, that's what it's all about.

You must be on somewhat tender ground, if you need tandem axles on a 13 x 7 trailers ? What sort of power have you driving it?

The man I was talking to in Moyglass did say he was side filling. I know that when we started side filling , it made a big increase in output.

I bought straw from a man a few years ago, who was cutting his own silage with a Taarup double chop , and driving it with NH TS 115. He was also saying that he was managing over 20 acres a day as well.

Tandem axles on 13x7 trailers would be the norm around here, there wouldn't be many 13x7 on single axles. The ground is fine in a dry time but in wet weather you need the tandem axle. Also the difference in stability on the side of a hill between a tandem axle and single axle is serious.

Usually run it with the Renault 630, she is at 131 hp on the shaft, it comfortable enough on her. We don't side fill and if the meadows are light you might get 20 acres or more but in heavy first cut 18 acres is fair going. A 5 ft double chop is not a hard drive but you need to keep them sharp and the knives out close to the cutting edge and a good square cutting edge. If they are blunt then they are a stiff drive. When the are sharp and kept running sweet they are no harder to drive than a single chop and much better to cut with,

 

[Toastfighter]

Fair enough just shows my knowledge on them:D:D.
as a matter of interest should precision not be harder driven. Or is it that the double chop has to be cut by the tractor as well as chopping it.

Silaging comes down to one basic factor, the more power you put in the greater the work rate and/or the finer the chop. Everything else evolves from that. A double chop is cutting the grass twice so it needs more power whereas a precision chop is metering the grass in to the chopping mechanism and, in theory at least, the finer the chop the greater the power requirement.

I say in theory because I was talking to a contractor who runs a self propelled and he was saying that the longer you set the chop the more power is required as the machine becomes a lot less efficient. This is because the knives start dragging grass through rather than cutting it. It seems that they are designed to work at a specific chop length and if you go outside of that window then fuel consumption suffers. The trouble is that many stock farmers are saying the chop length is now too short for efficient rumen function and there is research to back it up.

 

[johndeere6920s]

Silaging comes down to one basic factor, the more power you put in the greater the work rate and/or the finer the chop. Everything else evolves from that. A double chop is cutting the grass twice so it needs more power whereas a precision chop is metering the grass in to the chopping mechanism and, in theory at least, the finer the chop the greater the power requirement.

I say in theory because I was talking to a contractor who runs a self propelled and he was saying that the longer you set the chop the more power is required as the machine becomes a lot less efficient. This is because the knives start dragging grass through rather than cutting it. It seems that they are designed to work at a specific chop length and if you go outside of that window then fuel consumption suffers. The trouble is that many stock farmers are saying the chop length is now too short for efficient rumen function and there is research to back it up.

That's why bales are better [emoji23]
At what speed does a double chop stop doing a good job and leaving grass behind

Sent from my D2203 using Tapatalk

 

[Toastfighter]

That's why bales are better [emoji23]
At what speed does a double chop stop doing a good job and leaving grass behind

Sent from my D2203 using Tapatalk

I can't help but feel that amongst all this wonderful machinery and ever higher work rates the comfort of the poor old cow has been forgotten.

 

[Angus283]

Silaging comes down to one basic factor, the more power you put in the greater the work rate and/or the finer the chop. Everything else evolves from that. A double chop is cutting the grass twice so it needs more power whereas a precision chop is metering the grass in to the chopping mechanism and, in theory at least, the finer the chop the greater the power requirement.

I say in theory because I was talking to a contractor who runs a self propelled and he was saying that the longer you set the chop the more power is required as the machine becomes a lot less efficient. This is because the knives start dragging grass through rather than cutting it. It seems that they are designed to work at a specific chop length and if you go outside of that window then fuel consumption suffers. The trouble is that many stock farmers are saying the chop length is now too short for efficient rumen function and there is research to back it up.

Don't quite agree with you there, in respect of a double chop anyway, there is no point in putting a ball of power in front of a blunt double chop. Maintenance and sharping is the key, if the double chop is kept sharp she will be easy driven, the hard part is the first stage getting the grass lifted and up to the auger once its there and moved over to the flywheel, the flywheel has so much momentum that if the knives and cutting edge are good then it takes feck all to chop it the second time and get it in the trailer. They are not a hard drive but there is a limit to how much stuff you can put through them and you will get to know by the sound of the harvester whether it is struggling or comfrtable with the speed you are driving,

Personally I look forward to getting the harvester out every year, I think them a great machine.

 

[kverneland es 80]

Don't quite agree with you there, in respect of a double chop anyway, there is no point in putting a ball of power in front of a blunt double chop. Maintenance and sharping is the key, if the double chop is kept sharp she will be easy driven, the hard part is the first stage getting the grass lifted and up to the auger once its there and moved over to the flywheel, the flywheel has so much momentum that if the knives and cutting edge are good then it takes feck all to chop it the second time and get it in the trailer. They are not a hard drive but there is a limit to how much stuff you can put through them and you will get to know by the sound of the harvester whether it is struggling or comfrtable with the speed you are driving,

Personally I look forward to getting the harvester out every year, I think them a great machine.

agree with most of this ,you forgot about the belly band under the chopper ,some c@@t of a job to change

 

[Toastfighter]

Don't quite agree with you there, in respect of a double chop anyway, there is no point in putting a ball of power in front of a blunt double chop. Maintenance and sharping is the key, if the double chop is kept sharp she will be easy driven, the hard part is the first stage getting the grass lifted and up to the auger once its there and moved over to the flywheel, the flywheel has so much momentum that if the knives and cutting edge are good then it takes feck all to chop it the second time and get it in the trailer. They are not a hard drive but there is a limit to how much stuff you can put through them and you will get to know by the sound of the harvester whether it is struggling or comfrtable with the speed you are driving,

Personally I look forward to getting the harvester out every year, I think them a great machine.

I guess that goes for any machine that's not maintained properly so for the purposes of the debate we should assume that the knives are in optimum condition on the machines being compared.

At the end of the day to cut a piece of grass once takes a certain amount of energy, to cut it twice it takes twice that amount of energy. Power can be defined as the rate at which energy is applied, so the more power you have the finer the chop or the greater the work rate, or a mixture of both. Yes, there are all sorts of practicalities involved (see my note about self propelled harvesters) but the basic principle remains the same. If you have a bigger tractor you need a bigger harvester to use that power.

 

[mixed fleet]

I ran a Taarup DC for our own silage for years .It took over from a JF single chop.I thought it was a great improvement on the single chop and not much harder to drive.
The biggest difference was that the spout was filling into the middle of the trailer and there was a good "blow".Single chop's around here were known as "slobber chops"
I thought the biggest weakness in the DC's was the sideways flails. That corner that does all the cutting wore off very quickly.

 

[jf 850]

Having watched the Double chops finishing their plot last Sunday at the hugely successful Extravaganza , I was making my way up the last field to be cut, the Precision chop one, to where I had the tractor parked, near the gate, with the view to head home . Pickells Green Dream a Machine Started up to mow , and it would have been rude to leave without watching it at work.:whistling:
Next thing an acquaintance and his 20 something yo son stops to chat. He was in his element , and asked me had I noticed any Tullow double chops in the field. I hadn't. He has one at home in the shed , that he bought new in, he thinks, 1988. His next comment I took with a grain , or 2 , of salt. For £2000 straight out. There was 3 year old JF FC80 bought here in 85 for £1800, so I couldn't see his machine being less money for brand new , 3 years later. He worked the Tullow with a MF 290 first, then a 390, and finally ended up using it behind a 399. He reckons to have regularily done 20 acres a day with it, admittedly side filling, even with the 290. He has a wagon now , due to labour issues.

My questions,
Was there a Tullow harvester at the event ?
Did any members ever have one ?
What sort of money was a new double-chop in 1988 ?
And finally, surely you would need at least 120 hp to consistently cut 1 1/2 acres an hour with a double chop ?

Looking forward to hearing your views.

A feature in the IFJ this week on Tullow double chops. A lot of my questions answered in the article.

 

[Arthur]

A feature in the IFJ this week on Tullow double chops. A lot of my questions answered in the article.

Fair ol' price on it too, bit over £5200 + vat, can't remember what the vat rate was back then.

 

[jf 850]

Fair ol' price on it too, bit over £5200 + vat, can't remember what the vat rate was back then.

12.5 or 17.5% ? I don't remember 15% but it could have been.
Yer man I met at the event was a good bit out on the money he gave for his harvester.

 

[Arthur]

12.5 or 17.5% ? I don't remember 15% but it could have been.
Yer man I met at the event was a good bit out on the money he gave for his harvester.

Just got the rate on a revenue archive.... 25%.. reduced rate was 10%

 

[Peter]

@jf 850 i came across these on Facebook the other days.

 

[gone]

Ned was busy in the RDS back then

 

[Peter]

More on Facebook about them.

 

[Zetor12011]

Hi all
It’s my first time using the forum baught a gyro double chop it’s in good shape was in a shed 25 years
There was a few buckets of bits have it all together but missing one knife
Can any one tell me where I can get one
Thanks

 

[jf 850]

Hi all
It’s my first time using the forum baught a gyro double chop it’s in good shape was in a shed 25 years
There was a few buckets of bits have it all together but missing one knife
Can any one tell me where I can get one
Thanks

Firstly , welcome to the forum . Someone will have an answer to your query. Don't be afraid to post again , assuming that you get sorted .

I may be wrong , never has a double chop myself . Did Clarkes in Cavan have bits for them ?

 

[Zetor12011]

Thanks.for getting back to me . Called into Clarke’s In Roscommon today (I think there the same company)
They unfortunately don’t have any thing and they rang Clarke’s in Cavan while I was there..
Also called to Jf centre near Tullamore no joy..