Increasing output efficiently is a priority for many farmers. Jarlath Colleran from Hollymount, Claremorris, Co Mayo, set up a system that reduces the work involved in rolling barley on his farm. Every year he cuts 40 to 50 acres of barley, rolls it all and sells some to local customers.

He used to have a small corn crusher that had a low output of less than 1t/hour. The crusher was OK but he would have to wait beside it and shovel rolled barley away as it built up because the machine was too close to the ground.

Jarlath decided he wanted to increase the output and reduce his time spent crushing, but he didn’t want to spend a fortune.

He bought two secondhand 9in McMaster corn crushers – one cost €250 and the other cost €400. He sold the old crusher for €400. Next he made up a steel frame to hold the two crushers side by side which was high enough and wide enough to allow the scoop of the front tractor loader to go under and remove freshly rolled barley.

A four-belt pulley was mounted on each crusher and another PTO shaft was added and mounted on the frame. The PTO shaft also has a four-belt pulley attached. A large belt was added to go around each pulley and a safety cover was added.

On top of the two crushers, Jarlath made a hopper from plywood. Inside the hopper he has a steel insert that divides the grain equally among the two rollers as it enters the hopper. An auger feeds the rollers from a 100t grain store next door.

Now when he hooks up the PTO the two rollers work simultaneously. Output increased from 1t/hour with the old system to 3t/hour. The belts and pulleys cost approximately €500 and the steel cost €80. In total, it cost Jarlath €830 to set up the system whereas the costs would have run into the thousands if he bought a new high-output machine and it would probably take up more space in the shed.

If you have a labour saving tip please send pictures and information to pvarley@farmersjournal.ie or text your pictures to the Irish Farmers Journal on 00353 (86) 8366465 via Whatsapp or normal text message. Entries featured on the Farmers Journal will get a €50 One4All voucher.

Reader’s Query - Answers

Last week we featured a farmer query. The farmer’s problem was with cattle dirtying the troughs in the sheds and he was wondering if anyone had any good ideas to stop it happening. Many thanks to everyone who sent in suggestions. Here are the best two we received:

1. Protection guard – James Byrne from Enniskerry, Co Wicklow, designed a steel protection guard that keeps the cattle’s hindquarters away from the trough. His local fabricator manufactured it and he had it galvanised later. James said it was fabricated with 40mm steel pipe, with pipe flanges for fixing to the wall. It is about 500mm wide and 500mm off the wall. Since these were fitted the problem has been eliminated, according to James.

2. Concrete curb – Brian Holland from Castlecomer, Co Kilkenny, solved the problem on his farm by laying two 6in blocks together approximately 5in from the troughs. Brian says when an animal reverses towards the trough the blocks stop it from dirtying the water because it can’t reach the trough. He says he never has a problem with dirty water since laying the blocks.