Grass Technology will have its latest specification zero grazer – which is now available in the UK after pre-series trials last season – on its stand at this year’s ScotGrass event.
Zero grazing is nothing new, but is making resurgence as dairy farmers look to maximise output while keeping their production costs to a minimum. For many dairy farmers, their three biggest costs are contractors, concentrates and fertiliser. By feeding cows freshly mown grass, this offers dairy farmers the potential to considerably reduce their costs, in general by about 5p/lit, but in some cases considerably more than this, while at the same time considerably improving their grassland utilisation.
This makes zero grazing an extremely attractive proposition, and one of the reasons why there’s a considerable interest in the latest machines on the market, such as the Grass Tech Grazer, which is designed and manufactured in Ireland by Grass Technology, is that they’re ideally suited to UK conditions.
For 2016, four models are available ranging from the smallest Grazer GT80 (pictured) to the tri-axle Grazer GT160. All models in the range are based around a heavy-duty Galfre disc mower, which has a drum speed of 1,575rpm, Hardox pans under the mower bed and variable cutting height to as low as 35mm.
New features
The latest versions of the Grazer feature a new non-chopping crop elevator to lift grass into the trailer body, which revolves at just 70rpm so as to not damage the grass.
On all models, the trailer body is built around a robust 160 x 80 frame, carried on heavy-duty double-bogie axles. The trailer is filled and emptied using a variable-speed, hydraulically powered bed conveyor. The specification includes centralised greasing, full load sensor and rear-view camera.
A new option available on all models is a rear-mounted, hydraulically powered feed out conveyor that can be used for quick and accurate feeding into troughs or against feed barriers.
To keep ground compaction to a minimum, in addition to a range of different tyre width options, another new feature available on the GT120 is a Wetland Kit that enables the axles to be hydraulically off-set to spread the weight over a greater surface area.
The Grass Tech Grazer is designed to be a simple but robust, cost-effective machine that does not require a high-powered tractor. Even the largest GT160 model only requires 120hp, and the smallest GT80 just 75hp. To further reduce weight, and for mechanical simplicity, all the hydraulic services are powered from the tractor, not by a separate pump, so saving about 400kg of unnecessary weight.
For more information visit: www.grasstech.ie.
