With a forage harvesting contracting service that cuts, rows, forages, transports and clamps around 6000 acres of grass a year, reliability, output and performance are essentials that have to be at the top of the pile. Such are the requirements for agricultural contractors, Rees Brothers (KS Rees & Sons) operating out of ParkWall Farm, St.Florence, Tenby, Pembrokeshire.
In addition to farming some 500 acres of a mixed, dairy enterprise, the Rees Brothers’ business provides a renowned, high-quality contract service, with a reputation of doing the job right every time. Some 80% of their business occurs within 8 miles of home with a maximum travel distance of around 15 miles.
“We have two John Deere Self-propelled Forage Harvesters, said Peter Rees, “and they are chopping anything between eighteen to twenty five acres per hour. Grass yields at first cut are pretty heavy in this part of the country and we found we needed a high-output rake that was capable of keeping ahead of the forage team.”
Michael and Peter, the Rees Brothers met with Matt Blackburn at the Tallis Amos dealership in Narberth, They went looking for a multi-rotor rake with a wide reach. “We took a look at the Pottinger 1252C because it has a reputation of being built of high quality steel, added Peter, “and we wanted something that wasn’t going to fall to pieces by the second season. We got a great deal from Tallis Amos, much better than anywhere else and they also have a reputation for excellent after-sales back-up, which suits us fine because it is the same philosophy as our customer service”
First-cut was very heavy this year and the flexibility of row width adjustment ranging from 8 metres right up to 12.5 metres, means the Rees Brothers can adjust the rake’s row width to accommodate the crop density and to present the perfect windrow to gain maximum forage harvester throughput. “filling the forage harvester correctly with the right volume of crop means an efficient, fine chop to make the best silage, added Peter. “quality is what we are all about.
We have gangs of up to ten trailers carting from the field to the clamp, where a JCB loader handles all the clamp material. The Pottinger rake does an excellent job, can be set easily so we avoid any contamination of the silage with soil and stones and therefore it provides the best quality forage for our customers and their high quality milkers.”
When heavy crops are the norm, the Pottinger can be adjusted to take a narrow sweep, but second and third cuts, being generally lower yields, the 1252C can be extended to a full width of 12.5 metres and pulls in crop from a vast sweep, making it more efficient for the forage team.
“the high quality construction of the Pottinger has certainly shown through this season, commented Peter. “ we expect a lot from our machinery and we’ve been very happy with our purchase. It’s physically stronger than previous rakes we have used. It folds very easy for transport from field to field, so saves us time, and time is money. It hasn’t taken much looking after, the only replacement we have had is for a couple of tines, which got damaged by trees. But we have had great support from Tallis Amos at Narberth who always seem to have the right parts available, have a long-standing team of knowledgeable technicians who know their stuff and we can rely on them to carry out the servicing of our machinery so we can provide the best service for our customers.”
