Aidan Deasey farms 180 acres close to Bandon in Co. CorK along with some additional rented land. He is the third generation of his family to farm at this location. He currently milks around 150 cows although the layout and design of his sheds and milking parlour allow for up to 200. The whole operation is compact, its tidy, and its super- efficient. ”I designed quite a bit of the layout myself” said Aidan, “to make life for me and the animals easier”.
I spoke to Aidan about his decision to purchase his Strautmann 2401 Feeder. “This is my second Strautmann machine” said Aidan. ”We kept the previous machine, a single tub machine, for eight or nine years.It just became too small as the herd size grew. I looked at quite a few machines before finally deciding on the Strautmann 2401 – the twin tub machine you see here.”
“In the end it was a no brainer “said Aidan “as my old Strautmann held its value well and I could up-grade for relatively small money. Looking back its cost me just over €1,000 per year to own and run the Strautmann. It never had a breakdown in its entire working life.” I did the deal with local Dealers – Lynch and McCarthy.“It takes around 11 mins to load and mix the 2401- using 1bale of straw along with four round bales of silage, plus some whole crop wheat and concentrates. So time is no longer an issue for us in loading and feeding out. The overall height is great in that we can load with a standard front end loader. The machine is manoeuvrable and the sheds are well laid out which makes the whole job easier. Myself, plus one man run operation with the help of a Lely Robot milking system”
Aidan showed me around his yard and I have to say I was impressed. The cows use the system on a twenty four hour basis with no queuing up. “A good feeding regime is vital in keeping the overall farm working efficiently and one key part is the right machine”, says Aidan.“One thing I must point out” said Aidan, “the new machine with 19 cu meters capacity is lower (8ft 8ins) than the older one and presents no problem getting in and out of sheds. It’s got all the standard features you would expect like a two speed gearbox for easy start, weighing and all the controls are operated from the tractor seat”.
For those who like to know – the Tech Specs are as follows:
Capacity without Extension ……… 19 Cu. Meters. (Hopper Extensions available)
Height………………………………………….1.85 M or 8ft 8ins.
Length…………………………………………. 7.76 Meters.
Wall thickness………………………………..8mm.
Floor thickness………………………………20mm.
Wheel equipment………………………….400/60-15.5 — 14ply.
For additional information on this and other Strautmann products call IAM Agricultural Machinery, inKilkenny at 056 7765826.
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