Weather permitting, it is silage season for Co Antrim contractor Jonathan Kirkpatrick.

According to the contractor; “I spread fertiliser on silage ground for customers a few weeks back. The normal time window between this and making first cut is five to six weeks.”

Jonathan has six full-time employees working in the business, which is based just outside the village of Cullybackey.

Silage-making is extremely important among the range of services Jonathan makes available to his farmer-customers.

And he has invested accordingly - last year saw him procure a new Pottinger: TOP 882 Flowtast rake.

“It was delivered to me at the beginning of April, which meant that we got the use of the machine for the full silage season", Jonathan explained.

“I was attracted by the Flowtast specification option, which meant there were no wheels on the ground.

Jonathan said that he finds the machine works well under all field conditions.

“The rake is 30ft across. The machine was used in tandem with our balers on 2,500ac of grass last year without a hitch. I was very pleased with the results achieved.

“The rake is in as good as a condition now as was the case on the day of delivery 12 months ago,” he stressed.

Flowtast is a glide bar that replaces the chassis to ensure the best reliability in challenging ground conditions.

As a result, the rake glides over even the bumpiest ground. Thanks to the large surface area of contact with the ground, deep wheel marks, holes, or furrows no longer present a problem.

In addition, this system has a larger load-bearing capacity compared to the chassis with wheels, which brings considerable advantages, especially on soft and damp ground.

A hydraulic cylinder provides powerful weight alleviation for the rotor arms, achieving a ground pressure of approximately 200kg.

This means minimal wear to the glide bar, lower tension on the rake frame, and maximum soil conservation

The hydraulic ground pressure system is adjusted using the existing single-acting spool valve, while a pressure gauge for reading the ground pressure is integrated into the mounting frame.

In addition, the large contact area of the glide bar guarantees the best ground tracking.

The distance between the glide bar and tines is minimal. The end result is the best tine guidance under all field conditions.

Furthermore, the rotor inclination is pre-set using spacer plates.

Pottinger has confirmed that the skids featured on the  TOP 882 Flowtast rake are made of  hardened plastic.

This means that in hard ground conditions, there is a lot less stress on the machine through smoother running, while in wet conditions the machines floats and maintains tine height. In both cases it significantly reduces soil contamination into the grass.

This approach guarantees the production of high quality forage at all times.

“We use the new rake with a 210hp tractor. The system worked tremendously well for us last year," Jonathan said.

“We gather up the grass after a 24-hour wilt, irrespective of the forage going into a clamp or a bale”

According to Jonathan, Co. Antrim was an ideal location to put the Flowtasts rake through its paces.

“And the same can be said for the weather conditions that can impact on ground conditions throughout the silage season.

“If the Flowtast rake can work well in my part of the world, it will do the job anywhere”.