Taege SF20 silage wagon
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Big loads are no problem for the large-capacity Taege SF20 silage wagon
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Taege SF20 silage wagon
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- Chain reduction elevator drive
- Side delivery design prevents build up under belt
- Elevator chains fitted at end of elevator bars
- High-quality construction
- Well-finished
Taege Manufacturing in Christchurch has been building silage wagons for about 35 years. Demand from large farms and stations in the area saw the company producing a 15m3 wagon in the ‘70s, when most manufacturers stopped at about 10m3.
This experience enables the company to produce a wagon that will last under the extreme conditions and workload found in the South Island’s high country stations, where both the amount of silage fed and the empty running on rough tracks test any machine.
Cropping and dairy farmer John Stewart, of Dorie near Rakaia, ordered the 20m3 model when he converted part of his cropping property to a 1200-cow dairy unit two seasons ago.
With a tare weight of 6.4-tonne the Taege is a heavy wagon, but then 20m3 of silage is a big load and, if heaped, is more likely to be around 25m3.
Chassis
The chassis that supports all this weight is constructed from 250x90 channel with a 200x100x9mm RHS drawbar, and has been designed by a structural engineer to ensure the load cells are placed to provide maximum support for the wagon and transfer the least load to the drawbar.
The drawbar is fitted with a quick hitch stand and 20-tonne rated tow eye that will fit either the heavy Taege linkage hitch or the factory English-type pick-up hitch.
Scales
Also mounted to the drawbar is the indicator for the on board scales, which support the wagon on 5 7.5-tonne capacity load cells with two at the front and three at the rear so that the operator can tell exactly how much is being fed.
Axles
Supporting this wagon is a tandem-axle on 90mm square axles and eight-stud hubs rated at 4500kg each. There is a 75mm shaft fitted with three bushes per side, with two either side of the walking beam and the other in the centre.
Greasing is done at each side with high pressure hoses to each bush, which have a central grease track with a helical track off that ensuring thorough greasing of the axle bush.
This wagon was fitted with 385/80x22.5 steel belt radials rated at 4500kg each, although a common option is the larger 500/60x22.5, which offers superior flotation.
Brakes were not fitted to this wagon but they are commonly fitted to wagons of this size, as are mudguards, lights and hazard panels for road use.
Floor and elevator drive
The floor chain is driven by a heavy duty 12000nm rochlen gearbox via a danfoss hydraulic motor through a danfoss-supplied pressure compensated control block, which gives priority to the elevator with a sequencing valve controlling flow to the floor drive while keeping the floor speed constant. This means the floor will not speed up as the load is fed.
The sequencing valve allows the floor to pause if the silage is putting too much pressure on the elevator, then, as the pressure reduces, the floor restarts.
On the Taege wagon the elevator hydraulic motor has a chain drive reduction to the elevator shaft, resulting in higher torque at the elevator shaft over other manufacturers, who mount the motor direct onto the elevator shaft.
This special feature allows the elevator to work well at relatively low pressures.
The floor shaft itself is 70mm and has four six-tooth sprockets fitted for the four floor chains, which are fitted with channel floor bars.
The elevator has the same size sprockets with 50x50x5 grade 450 RHS elevator bars, which are mounted to chains at each end.
This system means the wagon will handle longer chop material such as square baleage and loader wagon silage that can bend the bars on wagons with the chain set in from the end.
Wagon chassis
The wagon chassis is constructed from 450 grade 200x100x6 RHS with 100x50 channel closely spaced cross members and a full length 3mm pressing.
Bolted to this are the stainless steel sides with a heavy channel top rail ensuring a robust body.
A 40mm T&G timber floor is fitted, and together with the heavy cross members, means that the floor doesn’t get bent when loading square bales or silage cut with a shear grab.
Side delivery
The side delivery at 1.4m-wide combined with a large opening in the side panel allows the wagon to feed square bales without problems, as the belt running at high speed is able to throw the slabs clear without the elevator dragging them back into the wagon.
The belt has cleats glued to it and has a centre tracking strip, which keeps it running true.
The side delivery is built as a separate unit and secured by four bolts to the wagon, and has tapered sides with the edge of the belt protruding past the outside edge of the unit.
The need for cover strips has been eliminated along with the common problem of silage building up under the belt and causing it to track off to one side.
Read in-depth farm machinery reviews in the latest issue of Farm Trader magazine, on sale now.
See a range of Taege machinery for sale.
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