Giant Tracked Forage Harvester

Giant Tracked Forage Harvester FORAGE HARVESTERS Forage Harvesters (31F) 20-1-2 "We're specialists in severe silage harvesting conditions," says Sam Morgan, of Morgan Forage Harvesting, Menlo, Kan., which takes crews all over the country doing custom forage harvesting with one-of-a-kind harvesting equipment. Morgan, his brother Bob and father Willard are the inventors and builders of the "never stop" forage harvester (featured in FARM SHOW's Vol. 18, No. 6) that has a built-in hopper on back like a combine so an operator can unload on-the-go into a truck or wagon driven alongside. The concept has been so successful for the Morgans that they're now making machines for sale, based on Deere 5000 Series self-propelled harvesters. This past year the Morgans designed and built another innovative machine - a giant rubber-tracked, articulated forage harvester that carries a 20-ton load of silage yet works right through muddy ground. The tracks exert less than 10.5 psi ground pressure even when fully loaded. "There's nothing else like it. We put more than 500 hrs. on this machine in tough conditions in Florida last season and it per-formed even better than we had hoped," says Morgan. "It gives us tremendous harvest capacity no matter what the conditions." The machine works on the same principle as any self-propelled forage harvester except that you can keep harvesting with-out a truck or wagon alongside by blowing silage into the rear hopper. There are four sets of hydrostatically-driven tracks on the machine. The front tracks are 30 in. wide and the rear are 36 in. wide. The chassis was built completely from scratch with an articulated steering joint at center. The engine, cutterhead, knife and feed rollers came off an existing machine. "It's very maneuverable, considering how big it is, and will haul a full load through mud with little damage to the field," notes Morgan. When a truck is not available or can't be used because of muddy conditions, chopped forage is blown back into the high-sided hopper on back. To unload, material is conveyed back up to the front where it's blown out through the blower into a truck or wagon driven alongside. It will keep cutting as it unloads on-the-go. Morgan Harvesting is considering building the new machine for sale and is also currently lining up custom work for the coming year. For more information, contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Morgan Forage Harvesting, Rt. 1, Box 39, Menlo, Kan. 67746 (ph 913 855-2283; fax 913 675-3084).

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