What Are Bunker Shavers And Why Are They Important?

bunker shaver

 Hello! Welcome to the website of Royer Enterprises. If you have been living under a rock and don't know who Royer Enterprises is I will tell you. Royer Enterprises is a farm and agriculture company serving the respected communities of Hamilton, Greenville, Chillicothe, Columbus, Fremont, and the surrounding area.

One thing we make sure comes first is the customer. We strive to give the customer the best experience of buying a bunker shaver, and if you have any problems with your bunker shaver please contact us, and if a solution can't be found we will give you a refund immediately.

 But, they specialize in one field of farming, specifically silage. They make the best bunker shavers in the united states, (if you don't know what bunker shavers are I will explain in a few minutes). You may be thinking to yourself that "we haven't had bunker shavers before. Why should we need them now?"  Well, I will tell you, my friend, that you will not have as much spoiled silage if you get a bunker shaver.

 Today, I will also tell you how to make silage and remove it from your piles without it getting filled with oxygen. Many farmers have silage piles, but they don't get the silage separated without contaminating the crop.

 What Are Bunker Shavers?

wheel loader bunker shaver1

 Bunker Shavers are rather long pieces of equipment, the one shown above is for a wheel loader which means it is going to be rather large. Bunker Shavers are designed to start at the top of your silage bunker and work their way down to clear away just enough silage for the day's feeding and then all you have to do is cover it back up.

 The great thing about this product is its simplicity and its ingenuity. The fact that you can loosen the silage for today and not damage some of the rest so you can reap bigger profits is a huge win in my book. And what's also awesome is the fact that it is in such a small package so you can get into tight spots.

 Why Should I Get A Bunker Shaver?

Red question mark

 Many people have used the old ways of "bunker shaving" if you will and they have been working for a long time but let's be honest they aren't that efficient. So if you don't like throwing money away please consider getting a bunker shaver it will make your life less painful.

Advantages of bunker shavers:

 1. Compact size

 One of the great things about this piece of equipment is that it does not take up a lot of space and is very compact compared to other models. This particular one is designed for a Telehandler the reason this one is so short is that a Telehandler is designed to have a long boom and short attachments not like a wheel loader that has long attachments and a short boom.

telehandler bunker shaver

 2. Speed.

 Another positive about the bunker shavers is that they get stuff done in a hurry. These bunker shavers can rotate at speeds of 100-400 RPM that allow them to cut through silage very fast. A genius design that has various rows of teeth on it that are not in a straight line but in the shape of a triangle, so when you start it up and go to work it has a nice gradual cut instead of a violent one that will vibrate the piece of equipment you are sitting in.

turning gear

 3. Reliability and Ease of Use

Another great thing about bunker shavers is the fact that they are very reliable. We have never had a customer come in and say that "this is a piece of junk!, I want a refund" these machines are very reliable and extremely well built so if you are having trouble shaving your bunkers please call us, and will reserve one for you right away.

 Additionally, these machines are very easy to use and operate, all you have to do is drive up to it, attach it, and hook up your hydraulics and are in business, my friend.

 

 4. Affordability and Low Maintenance

 Fourthly, these bunker shavers are very affordable. There is only one problem with this statement because I may think they are affordable but you may think something completely different, you are your best judge. One great feature is there are not a lot of moving parts so there is not a lot of maintenance required.

 5. It Looks Cool

 The main thing about these bunker shavers is that you are going to look really cool with this on the front of your skid loader or whatever. I mean think about it, there are spikes going everywhere! If you don't look cool with this, there isn't much help that can be done for you.

 Silage: The Basics

Corn Silage

 Preparation

 When you harvest silage you want to make sure you are fully prepared. Make sure you have plenty of silage tarp to cover your silage once it’s packed because nobody wants to be running around trying to find some tarp at the last minute. You also want to make sure you have enough tractors to pack down your silage because if you don't pack your silage hard enough oxygen will get in there and ruin your silage.

 The time to cut your corn silage is a small window that you can hit right on or miss drastically. The ideal time to harvest silage starts around 50% kernel milk which occurs around 42-47 days after silking.

 Cutting 

 Once you have determined the right time for harvesting go ahead and get out your forage harvester and start harvesting. Some people wonder why farmers only harvest parts of their field at a time, the reason for this is because if they do it all at once then the silage will not be dry and it will spoil. Think about it, if you have a huge field the inner layers of that field are shielded from the sun, so you have to gradually take away those layers for the sun to dry out all of the corn.

 Packing

packing silage

Ideally, you want to pack the silage at the same time you harvest it, you can have guys packing it down and while you're bringing in another load. You can never pack silage too hard! If you don't know when to stop packing your silage just keep going because there is no such thing as silage that is packed too hard. The less oxygen the better.

 Waiting Period

The last step in the silage-making process is the waiting stage. The waiting stage is in place because you have to wait for the silage to ferment it usually takes anywhere from 10 days to 3 weeks. The silage will usually smell very sour. if some parts of your silage are moldy the best thing to do is remove the mold, especially if you are feeding horses.

 Silage Crop (basically grass)

 Preparation 

 The preparation side of things is basically the same for the silage crop. Always make sure you have enough tarps for your coverage and make sure there are no holes in them. The best time to cut your silage crop is when it is about a foot tall and starting to turn yellow, another way of telling when it's time is to take one of the seeds and squeeze it in your hand if it turns into a paste then your good to go, but if it is kind of liquid-like it needs to grow a little bit more.

 Cutting

combine at work

 The next thing to do is to cut your crop and let it dry, then rake it into swaths so that your harvester can come along a rake it up with ease. 

 Harvesting

combine filling a trailer while harvesting

 Once the crop is in nice rows of swaths you can pull your harvester out of the barn and start raking up your swaths. A "forage harvester" is what is usually used to rake up the swaths and chop them up so they can be tossed into a tractor's trailer to be toed to the packing station.

 Packing

packing down a silage bunker

 Again silage cannot be packed too hard so if you are unsure of it being packed hard enough just keep on trucking.

 Wait Period

 The average time that it takes for the silage to ferment is about 10 days to 3 weeks. you can give it to your cattle right away but for the best milk production, I would recommend waiting until your silage has fully fermented. Once it has fully fermented you can get out your brand new bunker shaver to shave away the silage wall to get the daily feeding.