Anyone know anything about flail/green choppers? IH8

[petebert]

I want to try a green chopper for feeding my sheep. Currently in the process of looking around for one.

Found this International 8, anyone notice anything of concern in the pictures? Looks like one of the tires is ready to fail. I'm guessing a repaint considering how terrible the letters in International look. Hydraulic cylinder on the left must be for lift and it seems to have some sort of plumbing fitting on it. Is one of the auger blades home made?

International 8 on tractorhouse

 

[caterpillar guy]

It seems that your link Tractor house is having trouble with their website at this time. So could not see the pictures. As for green choppers we had a couple of them one was a Deere 15 or something like that was expensive for parts back then and needed a lot of work on it . Probably was about worn out since I was fairly young and it has been close to 50 years I don't remember much other than that about it. Next was a Gehl it had the gear box go out about the time the warranty ran out . Was a not a nice thing to work on and was not a problem after that though it takes a fair amount of power to run one. Our MD was a bit under powered on it if we were chopping tall sudan grass like over 4 feet tall we had to cut out to half a swath or plug it up. Our 830 Case worked fine on it with mid 60 HP . Chop if you can after the dew is off much like mowing lawn and similar principle. IT will work with the dew on just not blow as far with some crops. Alfalfa will not blow good any time.

 

[SamV]

I have a JD # 15 that I use in the fall to mow down the hayfields and feed cattle. The one you have pictured looks like it is in good shape. The only thing that stuck out to me is the one end of the auger and the repair. The things to look for is gearbox noise and rust. Bearings can be a pain to change but can be sourced pretty easily. I would check availability for parts too. Hope this helps

 

[NY 986]

Ran one for a neighbor decades ago. OK chopper but did not like really wet material. Blower fan drove off of a belt so if wet it slipped but in general did not work great if wet material. Don't know if a faster fan speed would have helped but no inexpensive way to remedy that.

 

[rrlund]

I had a 7 and an 8 years ago. I wouldn't buy it unless they can start it up for you. I had a devil of a time with those things being out of balance. The output shaft on the gear box goes inside the flail shaft with a bearing on it so it would coast when you shut them off. I don't know if the hole would get a little egg shaped so they'd stop in a bad spot and get eccentric when you started them up or what. Definitely something you want to hear run before you plop down any cash though.

 

[BarnyardEngineering]

Yeah someone patched up the end of the auger with some galvanized.

Blower knives look pretty well worn out too, but you have to expect it's going to be pretty tired. Don't think they've made them in 40-50 years.

I agree, they don't work well in sloppy wet hay. They tend to plug the blower.

 

[MARK ROBKE]

I am probably off base here, but can sheep eat silage? I am pretty sure horses cannot, for example. Mark.

 

[NY 986]

I am probably off base here, but can sheep eat silage? I am pretty sure horses cannot, for example. Mark.

I've never seen sheep fed (fermented) silage and I have been around sheep as the Amish here raise them and there were sheep at the college farm where I attended junior college. A good question for a vet or animal nutritionist.

 

[rrlund]

I've never seen sheep fed (fermented) silage and I have been around sheep as the Amish here raise them and there were sheep at the college farm where I attended junior college. A good question for a vet or animal nutritionist.

This is for green chop. Chop every day and feed it up.

 

[Fritz Maurer]

That thing hasn’t chopped in 10 years. But the main thing is, does it shake? Nearly any other deficiency is workable, but if it’s out of balance for whatever reason it’ll be a headache to straighten out. For $2250 it better be smooth as silk. I honestly don’t believe that they are worth that much, unless something has changed and they are becoming valuable since no one makes them anymore.

 

[jwal10]

JD still makes a 6' flail chopper.

Harvesting | 972 Flail Chopper | John Deere US

The rugged, simple design of the 972 Flail Chopper provides dependable performance. Two rows of double-edged knives cut the standing crop and lift it to a transfer auger.

www.deere.com

I have fed sheep grass silage, not corn silage. Have cut a lot of green chop for dairy cattle with a 15A flail chopper and 780 David Brown tractor....James

 

[NY 986]

That thing hasn’t chopped in 10 years. But the main thing is, does it shake? Nearly any other deficiency is workable, but if it’s out of balance for whatever reason it’ll be a headache to straighten out. For $2250 it better be smooth as silk. I honestly don’t believe that they are worth that much, unless something has changed and they are becoming valuable since no one makes them anymore.

Like Randy said above it is always good to power them up before making a deal. Sometimes the seller is not willing or not able to do that so let that be a warning before money changes hands.

 

[BarnyardEngineering]

I am probably off base here, but can sheep eat silage? I am pretty sure horses cannot, for example. Mark.

Next door neighbor had to put their goat down because of listeriosis from eating baled silage.

 

[J.Wondergem]

It seems that your link Tractor house is having trouble with their website at this time. So could not see the pictures. As for green choppers we had a couple of them one was a Deere 15 or something like that was expensive for parts back then and needed a lot of work on it . Probably was about worn out since I was fairly young and it has been close to 50 years I don't remember much other than that about it. Next was a Gehl it had the gear box go out about the time the warranty ran out . Was a not a nice thing to work on and was not a problem after that though it takes a fair amount of power to run one. Our MD was a bit under powered on it if we were chopping tall sudan grass like over 4 feet tall we had to cut out to half a swath or plug it up. Our 830 Case worked fine on it with mid 60 HP . Chop if you can after the dew is off much like mowing lawn and similar principle. IT will work with the dew on just not blow as far with some crops. Alfalfa will not blow good any time.

It opened for me OK.

 

[Timmycornpicker]

JD still makes a 6' flail chopper.

Harvesting | 972 Flail Chopper | John Deere US

The rugged, simple design of the 972 Flail Chopper provides dependable performance. Two rows of double-edged knives cut the standing crop and lift it to a transfer auger.

www.deere.com

I have fed sheep grass silage, not corn silage. Have cut a lot of green chop for dairy cattle with a 15A flail chopper and 780 David Brown tractor....James

So does Hiniker. Has ancestry in the Brady machines from the 60s-70s. https://agriculture.hiniker.com/5710-harvester/

 

[Timmycornpicker]

I want to try a green chopper for feeding my sheep. Currently in the process of looking around for one.

Found this International 8, anyone notice anything of concern in the pictures? Looks like one of the tires is ready to fail. I'm guessing a repaint considering how terrible the letters in International look. Hydraulic cylinder on the left must be for lift and it seems to have some sort of plumbing fitting on it. Is one of the auger blades home made?

International 8 on tractorhouse

Auger looks worn out. Needs new flighting welded in. If the auger is that worn, I'd be concerned about how thin and/or rusted the trough underneath it is.