Storti husky DSS 90, Operation And Maintenance, Page: 87 / 109

33
EN
OPERATION AND MAINTENANCE
Sect. 5.5 TRAILED AUGER-FED HORIZONTAL CUTTER-MIXER WAGONS
The sequence of operations below corresponds to the normal operating sequence. Yet, it is not intended as the only possible
sequence.
1) Introduction of long fibre material
Hay, straw and forage from round bale or other so called long fibres must be introduced into the mixing body from the top by
means of either loaders, or other systems, or through the cutter.
First open the bale packaging: in machines with a front mixing system, forage is best loaded from the back, while in central
mixing machine, it is advisable to alternate forage loading from both the front and the back. Thanks to this arrangement, hay
is processed by the maximum number of cutter blades, which reduces the cutting time. Material must be loaded at different
stages in order to minimise possible stresses and achieve higher levels of accuracy in terms of loaded material weight. It is
important to emphasise that this type of apporach takes the same time, or sometimes even less, as loading larger amounts
at once.
NOTE. During fibre loading and cutting, the power take-off must rotate quite quickly at approx. 540 rpm.
If only a relatively small quantity of fibre is introduced, compared to the machine volume, this may get twisted around the
bottom auger. To prevent this inconvenience, we recommend loading the cereal plants first or adding other material to increase
the weight and friction in the mixing body.
2) Fibre chopping
After loading, the augers must be let to spin for the time required to cut the fibre at the almost desired length. This
operation usually takes 2 to 8 minutes depending on the type of material loaded as well as the structure and quantity of the
materials introduced at a second stage.
During this working step, the operator must not leave the machine unattended for obvious safety reasons and must also
carry out a visual check using the supplied front slits.
3) Flour loading
Flours are normally loaded after the fibre chopping step. They may be loaded before this step when very light materials
such as bulk dried hay or straw are processed in order to increase and uniform the weight, thus optimizing material cutting
and volume reduction.
4) Dried pre-chopped material loading
The milling cutter must not be used to load dried pre-chopped materials, both bulk and rolled materials. These materials
can be loaded now or after the water addition step, depending on their structure.
5) Addition of water or molasses
Addition of fluid increases the specific weight of materials and contributes to the reduction in fibre volume. The increased
weight usually favours the cutting process. It is, however, worth bearing in mind that, for certain types of long strand hay, a
moisture increase makes forage more resistant to cutting, which leads to forage twisting around the augers. It is
therefore good practice to add water or molasses when hay is already partly chopped, if no problems exist relating to volume
limitations, taking care to distribute the fluid evenly over the bulk product.
6. Loading of pre-cut silage
The cutter is normally used to load these materials. If other systems are in use, such as paddles or loaders, etc., care
must be taken in material storage. If consumption levels are not high, these systems risk moving large amounts of mass,
which can jeopardise storage of silage.
7. Mixing
The real mixing step begins after the last material has been introduced. For effective mixing, free areas must be left in the
machine, e.g. the back in front mixing wagons and the front and back in central mixing wagons. This is very important as the
material must rotate freely inside the wagon.
NOTE: this is why the machine must not be overloaded.
Even if the operating speed of the cardan shaft is not essential, we recommend operating it at around 400 to 500 rpm.
8) Unloading
The material must be unloaded immediately after the mixing step. The feed must be distributed in the shortest time
possible in order to reduce the mixing time difference between the first an the last unloaded rations of product.
As a consequence, the operator must adjust the wagon speed and set unloading door opening correctly. During this final
step, we suggest that the PTO shouls operate at around 300-400 rpm.