Big Hay Merger Does More

2011 - Volume #35, Issue #6, Page #16

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Travis Brockshus can merge two hay swaths with a single pass, drop it on a third and add two more on his return trip down the field. Best of all, he built the merger himself for less than a third the cost of a commercial rig.
“We cut 160 acres four times a summer, making haylage for our dairy herd,” explains Brockshus. “We needed a merger, but I couldn’t find anything reasonably priced.”
With the exception of two 7-ft. forage heads, which he used for pickups, Brockshus designed and fabricated the entire merger. The 3-pt. mount with lift assist wheel lets him quickly raise the heads as much as 3 ft. at the end rows.
Hydraulic motors on the heads and a flow control for them lets him match pickup speed to hay conditions. Reels installed on the heads keep hay flowing smoothly to the 32-ft. long, 4-ft. wide conveyer belt. Both reels and belt are also flow controlled. The hydraulic power runs off a pto pump.
“When I am cruising along at 12 to 13 mph in good hay, the conveyer belt runs full pretty well,” says Brockshus. “With the flow control on the belt, I can match forward speed. In light hay crops I can go faster.”
Because his family uses both a 12-ft. and a 16-ft. swather to cut hay, he needed to be able to adjust the pickup units to match two 12-ft. swaths, two 16-ft. swaths or one of each. He also wanted to be able to match end row swaths, which can be uneven due to field boundaries.
“One head can be mechanically adjusted to the side about a foot,” says Brockshus. “The other one can be hydraulically adjusted nearly 5 ft. and on-the-go if swath widths change. The merger works behind swathers with 12 to 18-ft. widths.”
Brockshus bought all materials and components new, aside from the pickup heads. While prices would vary depending on the price of steel and other materials, Brockshus says he would be willing to sell his merger or custom-build a second for around $25,000. “Initially I looked at a trailing merger with similar capacity, and it was priced at around $75,000,” he says.
Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Travis Brockshus, 6267 130th St., Ocheyedan, Iowa 51354 (ph 712 461-1161; travisbrockshus@yahoo.com).

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Big Hay Merger Does More HAY & FORAGE HARVESTING Miscellaneous Travis Brockshus can merge two hay swaths with a single pass drop it on a third and add two more on his return trip down the field Best of all he built the merger himself for less than a third the cost of a commercial rig “We cut 160 acres four times a summer making haylage for our dairy herd ” explains Brockshus “We needed a merger but I couldn’t find anything reasonably priced ” With the exception of two 7-ft forage heads which he used for pickups Brockshus designed and fabricated the entire merger The 3-pt mount with lift assist wheel lets him quickly raise the heads as much as 3 ft at the end rows Hydraulic motors on the heads and a flow control for them lets him match pickup speed to hay conditions Reels installed on the heads keep hay flowing smoothly to the 32-ft long 4-ft wide conveyer belt Both reels and belt are also flow controlled The hydraulic power runs off a pto pump “When I am cruising along at 12 to 13 mph in good hay the conveyer belt runs full pretty well ” says Brockshus “With the flow control on the belt I can match forward speed In light hay crops I can go faster ” Because his family uses both a 12-ft and a 16-ft swather to cut hay he needed to be able to adjust the pickup units to match two 12-ft swaths two 16-ft swaths or one of each He also wanted to be able to match end row swaths which can be uneven due to field boundaries “One head can be mechanically adjusted to the side about a foot ” says Brockshus “The other one can be hydraulically adjusted nearly 5 ft and on-the-go if swath widths change The merger works behind swathers with 12 to 18-ft widths ” Brockshus bought all materials and components new aside from the pickup heads While prices would vary depending on the price of steel and other materials Brockshus says he would be willing to sell his merger or custom-build a second for around $25 000 “Initially I looked at a trailing merger with similar capacity and it was priced at around $75 000 ” he says Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Travis Brockshus 6267 130th St Ocheyedan Iowa 51354 ph 712 461-1161; travisbrockshus@yahoo com

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