A better way to fill a bulk feed bag
So, you don’t delve into the innards of the tractor just to find out how it works.
But what if the tractor isn’t performing quite as well as it used to? The ‘don’t fix it’ way can be an invitation to prevaricate.
The farmer puts up with slow hydraulics on the tractor in the fear that trying to fix the problem will make it worse, or keep the tractor out of action for a few days. Or involve some expense.
Looking at it from this point of view makes the common held belief a bit of a nonsense. A maxim which can be seen as something of a brake against progress.
There’s a routine in keeping sheep, rearing beef cattle, and of course even more so with dairy cows, which always lends itself to the ‘don’t fix it’ philosophy.
Maintaining the routine becomes an important part of the business — and if the method used on Monday appeared to work reasonably well, it may as well be used on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. The routine becomes set in stone.
But of course, it is different on individual farms.
“We do it this way,” says farmer Paddy Murphy, and the implication is that his method is the best or only way to tackle the task, even though when visiting another farm, the same phrase is used for a completely alternative way of doing things. It is pretty obvious that some “this ways” are more effective than others.
This week I feature a truly simple idea which will appeal to open-minded livestock farmers who are interested in change and progress.
Peter Stewart has cattle feed delivered into bins, and also has calf and sheep nuts blown into one-tonne bags. For years, this involved lifting the delivery hose from the blower on the lorry, and directing it into the bag.
The nuts get blown at an angle dictated by the direction of the delivery pipe, filling the far side of the bag but not the other. So the bags filled up unevenly, nuts were spilt over the edge, and the dust blew out. It was a messy job, and it took time, because the delivery rate had to be slow.
Peter had a bright idea — have the nuts blown up a vertical rigid pipe and then down through a flexible one which went into the tote bag. Delivery can then be directed into all corners of the bag equally easily. The sides of the bag can be easily pulled up so there’s no waste. At today’s feed prices, that’s worth a lot.
So he fixed the pipe up in a convenient place. As expected, it works incredibly well.
Bulk lorry drivers say they wish something similar was made in the depot, where they have to fill bags for delivery. The cost was minimal when set against the time saving and the reduction in waste.
The original filling method was not broke — in fact, the angled pipe was just the way the job was done.
Changing the routine — fixing something which wasn’t broke — has raised efficiency.
