Filling all three silos was on the agenda. The two silos at home were ready to go...the unloaders were both raised and secured at the top, and all of the doors were fastened shut. The silo at the other farm was ready too. There's no unloader to raise in that silo, but it's an old tile silo that is no longer airtight, so we installed a liner in it several years ago. Each time we fill it, Jim has to patch the area in front of the doors...from top to bottom.
Here, the chopper is opening up the field at home behind the barn. The tractor and cart are on the right...the only part of the chopper you can see is the spout...
This afternoon, I climbed the silo. NOT my favorite thing to do, but....how else was I to get a good picture?
The first picture is looking into the silo from the top. You can see the silage blowing into the silo through the gooseneck at the top of the silo pipe. The metal contraption you see in the center of the picture is the unloader, hanging at the top, out of the way of the silage. And the circle you see at the top, is the roof...
This is the view from the platform at the top of the ladder between the two silos (inside a protective cage of sorts) The white thing in the middle of the picture is the silo pipe. It's attached to the blower at the bottom. The silage is unloaded from the wagons into the blower, and blown forcefully, fifty feet up into the silo...
And...just for fun...a view across the fields looking over the barn roof...
Other than a few "hiccups", things went relatively well...
We are very glad to be finished filling silo! The silage is a little wet...we're getting some juice at the bottom of the silos, but like I've said before...rather too wet than too dry! And tomorrow, hurricane Irene is threatening with who knows how much rain. That would have set us back several more days until the ground would be dry enough to get into the fields.
In a few weeks, we'll refill the silos...top them off one last time before the late corn is too dry. The rest of the corn will be harvested dry...either shelled and grain banked, sold, or picked as ear corn for our corn crib. I'd say we've earned our sleep tonight!
What a great job finished! I had to chuckle that you climbed up there for blog pictures~the things we do for our blogs! :-)
ReplyDeleteAlica boy I think you are a very dedicated, and brave blogger to climb that silo to get photos for us. Scary but so worth it. I really appreciate you showing this I have never seen a silo filled before. Amazing shots. Thank you . Hope Irene leaves you alone. Were you shaking with fear just a little? B
ReplyDeleteYou really should come visit me, as I've nominated you for "My 7 Posts." By the way my human is your anonymous comment. She can't tell the difference between the shirt and return keys.
ReplyDeletelove the pictures Alica! It was definatly worth the climb...thanks! Fall is around the corner! -Rhoda
ReplyDeleteI can remember my Uncle Marcus holding me up to look in his silo, and explaining ensilage to me as a little girl. The years his silo was full have passed behind us many, many years now. I'm glad you are getting yours ready for winter!
ReplyDeleteI'm impressed with your shots. Feels good to have everything done huh? That is a lot of feed. Thanks for swinging by my blog. On the sweet cherry tomatoes. I just set the lid on top while it is in the oven. I put the ring on after I took it out and tightened it down. Soon it popped like my jelly jars do. I did not turn it upsidedown or anything. I was kind of amazed.
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