Kuhn Farm Machinery
A producer of specialist forage products has experienced significant advantages to crop quality, reduced impurities and logistical and output improvements following several seasons running a MergeMaxx 1090.
“Drying consistency and achieving a low moisture content before chopping, with minimal leaf crumbling and no impurities in the product, are the primary aims when we produce our crop,” says Freddie Barclay, who runs Fox Feeds in Hertfordshire with his father, Robert.
“A rake is still a valuable tool, but the merger does an excellent job preserving the leaf and limiting stones and debris. We can travel at 15kph in light crops and know these two things are maintained, which we couldn’t do with a rake.”
The family bought a 10.95m Kuhn MergeMaxx 1090 for the 2021 season, which is being replaced by an updated version for 2025. The merger covers 2,500ha/year, with crops including Italian ryegrass blends, lucerne and sainfoin, all of which are processed for the equine market.
Timing is crucial
The timing of all operations is key, which is why everything is handled in-house. One of the reasons the family chose Kuhn over other brands was the possibility to create swaths centrally or to either side.
“When we start a field, we will merge centrally for the first headland bout and on the second lap we will lay the swath to the side nearest to the field edge. This then allows a wider area on the headland to turn and prevents us driving over already merged crop. ”
Having the option to lay swaths in different combinations, or move several lighter swaths into one, has also proved a cost saving for the following forager.
“Before the merger we would run up and down fields collecting small swaths on third cuts, which was inefficient for several reasons. The New Holland FR550 chopper needs to run full, and this wasn’t possible with the rows on lighter cuts. This meant it took ages to fill trailers, and the fuel and time required to clear light crops was expensive.”
Previously, the company used a MacDon swather to cut the lucerne, but a wide road width and regularly taking the header off meant a lot of time was lost moving between fields. The arrival of the MergeMaxx immediately changed the system.
“Instead of needing an escort to every field, the merger can quickly move independently and be ready to work within minutes of arrival. We raised output compared with the swather system and, in light crops, the MergeMaxx will sail along at 15kph.”
Freddie uses the Forage Expert app from Kuhn to adjust the mowing swath width to be compatible with the tedders and the merger. It’s simple, but means four mower swaths can be combined into one row on first cut and avoid missed areas or lumpy rows.
Pöttinger
For Herefordshire dairy farmer Richard Carter the investment in a Pöttinger Mergento VT 9220 was focused on improving milk yields from the 260-head herd and cutting logistical issues. “We always handled the mowing and tedding, but brought in a contractor for the raking and foraging,” he explains.
However, when the business shifted to a multicut system, taking six cuts from 60ha, the contractor’s twin-rotor rake was unable to keep the forager at full capacity. A second contractor was brought in, who used a merger and a four-rotor rake, but co-ordinating both operations was difficult in the tight weather windows.
“We also noticed that when they couldn’t bring the merger, we were getting more contamination in the silage and the sticky young growth would stick to the tines of the rake and be deposited away from the swath.”
Deciding to bring the operation in-house, they agreed a deal with Pöttinger at the Welsh Grassland on an ex-demonstration machine. With a 9.2m working width, the merger doesn’t quite match the width of a four-rotor rake, but Richard says the benefits have been obvious.
“We’re able to push on with the merger without it missing any grass. Because of the light crops, we’re putting two passes into one to keep the forager going, which means we’re pulling more grass into the swath than the rake was previously. Even when the weather isn’t ideal, the pick-up doesn’t scrape the ground and contaminate the forage.”
Easy maintenance
He says maintenance has been easy as well. They completed their first season without having to replace a tine, and the machine itself is easy to keep in top condition, with just hydraulic motors to check and grease points to keep on top of.
The foraging contractor has also noted a reduction in stones going through the machine, which means the knife bank doesn’t wear as quickly.
Richard admits that the workload – six days a year if all goes well – makes the investment in a merger a little extravagant, but the benefits over the long term will pay dividends.
“We’re running a high-yielding herd, kept indoors year round, so the quality of the feed is paramount. By bringing the windrowing in-house we’ve been able to ensure that everything is done in a timely manner and to our specifications.”
Reiter
Derbyshire firm Wrights Agricultural Contractors moved to a merger because of the stony ground much of the grassland work took place on.
“We’d already used a merger for a few seasons before we moved to the Respiro,” says operator Dan Marsden. “When we used a rotary rake, we were constantly losing tines or having to sharpen the forager knives because of stones in the forage.”
He says the Respiro R9, which is going into its third season, is on another level compared to other units on the market. Running behind a set of triple mowers, Dan says he can reach speeds of 15kph, even in first-cut silage, piling more than enough grass into the swath to keep the John Deere 9900 forager at full capacity.
“It can handle everything we throw at it,” he adds. “But it’s also more manoeuvrable than a four-rotor rake. We’re working in a lot of small fields, and we can pull all of the grass out of the corners.”
Easy maintenance
He says it’s gentle on the ground as well. The tines curve back so they don’t lift stones or soil when collecting the grass, which he believes has reduced maintenance on the forager’s knife bank by about 30%. It has also enabled the business to handle crops such as lucerne without the risk of leaf shatter.
“We had one customer who sowed stubble turnips but had a lot of volunteer barley come up at the same time. We mowed and lifted the barley without damaging any of the turnips,” Dan says.
A particular highlight is the flexible bed. He says you can see the specialisation of Reiter in the design. “If you watch the merger, you can see the bed constantly moving with the ground contours. We have a lot of steep and undulating ground, and it never seems to miss a blade of grass.”
He also praises Reiter and dealer Shutts Farm Machinery. “Both were brilliant when we set up the machine, and Reiter has kept in touch with us to make sure the merger is working well. Whenever there’s an update, they either fit it themselves or send us a retrofit kit and talk us through the installation.”
SIP
Making haylage and hay for racehorses and competition horses requires high standards and specialist machinery to meet their nutritional requirements. AM Jervis makes some 50,000 bales each year from land in Warwickshire and Oxfordshire, and quality is the business’ trademark.
“Raking is challenging – set the rake too low and it can pick up dirt and stones, increasing the risk of botulism in horses. But set it too high and not only do you lose crop, but you also leave residue, which can contaminate the second cut,” explains Mark Jervis.
He began to look into crop mergers last season to see if they would be the solution. “The rear-mounted mergers represent a big investment and we wanted to test the technique, so we asked SIP if it could supply a front-mounted version.”
The 3m SIP Air 300F uses a roller crop press and front pick-up tines to lift forage from the ground and deliver it via a conveyor to place it in a side swath.
The flexible pick-up unit ensures efficient raking and ground adaptation, while its small diameter encourages a smooth flow without turbulence or accumulation of the forage. This prevents leaf loss and preserves the nutrients in the forage.
Mark adds that the hydro-pneumatic suspension system ensures excellent responsiveness to undulations and even pressure on the ground. “There is no contamination, regardless of conditions, which has been a big advantage this year.”
The merger also travels ahead of the tractor wheels so there’s no running down of crop; it can put two 3m rows of crop into one swath, ready for the baler.
Consistent quality
He says it has given a consistent quality of swath in this year’s highly variable crops. “We really like the concept; the merger itself is very well designed and built and can travel at 18kph.”
He also runs a side-delivery twin-rotor rake to make a variety of swaths.
“We can make a pair of rows for the conventional baler, a row from 8m for first-cut haylage or put 15m into a row for second- and third-cut haylage. The downside is that a rake is really slow; all of this could be done by a rear-mounted merger with much higher outputs.
“Now we’ve proven the concept, a larger, rear-mounted merger is certainly something we are looking at, and by going down this route we avoid replacing the rake, which would help towards the costs. We would want to keep the 3m SIP machine, though, as it is really handy for turning straw, or we could use the two together to move more crop over in one pass.”