Modified Flail Chopper Works Great On Stalks

Modified Flail Chopper Works Great On Stalks HAY & FORAGE HARVESTING Forage Harvesters 15-2-27 "It does the job of a conventional stalk chopper and eliminates the need for a separate trip over the field to rake stalks into windrows for baling," says Keith Merten, Malone, Wis., who peeled the steel housing off an old water heater from his milk house to convert his 1978 Gehl 72 flail chopper into a stalk chopper that makes windrows "just the right size" for baling. The water heater housing simply replaces the removeable rear part of the flail chopper's hood. It funnels chopped stalks into 2-ft. wide, 1-ft. high windrows. A rope runs from the rear of the curved housing up to the chopper's blower chute. He can control windrow height by adjusting the length of the rope. To use the rig to chop haylage again Merten simply removes the windrow-forming housing and locks the hood back in place. Merten put up over 1,000 small square corn stalk bales last year with no problems. He uses them as bedding for his heifers and calves. "I chop two rows at a time and go 4 to 5 mph. I got the idea two years ago when I decided to switch from straw bedding to corn stalks because they absorb more moisture. I didn't own a stalk chopper so I decided to use my flail chopper. Some farmers in my area open up the rear portion of the hood on their flail choppers and let the chopped stalks fly backward. Later they rake the stalks into windrows. My stalk windrower lets me chop and windrow stalks at the same time." For more information, contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Keith Merten, N9306 Cypress Rd., Box 42, Malone, Wis. 53049 (ph 414 795-4249).

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