KVERNELAND HEADLAND NEWS
This wear-resistant, stainless steel alloy has been added to high-wear areas of the hopper and the vertical mixing augers, to extend the service life of Siloking feeders. “We feed around 180 tonnes every day, with rations based on grass and maize silage, plus concentrates,” explains Miles Oakley. “Every day, we produce nine mixes for milking cow groups, two mixes for dry cows and three pre-mixes.” Supplied by Battlefield Machinery, the 30-cube twin auger, twin-axle feeder arrived on farm in October 2021. In little over four years of constant use, the Oakley Farming’s Siloking Premium 4.0 trailed 3022 model has mixed close to 300,000 tonnes of rations. “We’ve enjoyed some fantastic reliability from this feeder,” he says. “Yes, there’s been some wear and tear which is to be expected given the tonnages we mix, but overall we’re really pleased with the performance, productivity and feed ration quality.” SILONOX ADDS DURABILITY AND LONGEVITY For Miles Oakley of Shrewsbury-based Oakley Farming, choosing Silonox on his Kverneland Siloking feeder has resulted in greater reliability and durability for the daily feed requirements of his family’s 2,000-cow herd.
With a herd average of 12,600 litres, milk quality is achieving 3.6% protein and 4% butterfat. “Our objective is to provide a high-quality ration that delivers the same consistency with every mouthful for every cow, all day, every day,” he says. “And that’s right where we are.” Of the 180 tonnes mixed daily, Miles says 135 tonnes are discharged using the front cross-conveyor, with 45 tonnes of pre-mix emptied through the left-hand rear door. “Without Silonox, we would have had to endure a lot of downtime to repair and maintain high-wear areas,” says Miles. “It takes around five-to-six hours to feed our herd, so we just don’t have time to accommodate complex repairs. We’re better off with durability built-in.” With high resistance to corrosion, acid and chemical wear, Silonox delivers extreme resistance to mechanical wear from the physical mixing process. With high reliability and durability, the Oakley’s gained confidence to progress. And a 27 cubic metre Siloking self-propelled model will replace the trailed feeder in Spring 2026. Like the trailed 3022 model, it too will be given the Silonox treatment. “With a milling head that can start the processing, we’re looking for a yield increase from the switch to self-propelled, along with a reduction in feeding times,” he says. “We’ll be saving 2,200 hours/year on tractor hours, and our telehandler replacement policy should extend from two to five years.” Miles adds that the trailed machine isn’t yet worn out, and will be re-purposed on a smaller livestock unit on lighter duties. “While the service and support we get from Battlefield Machinery is fantastic, keeping our trailed machine as a back-up is a no-brainer, should we ever need it,” he says.
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HEADLAND NEWS APRIL 2026 Headland News is published by Kverneland Group UK Ltd. All rights reserved. No part of the publication may be reproduced, stored in a data retrieval system or transmitted in any form or means electronic, photographic, recording or otherwise, without prior permission of the publisher.
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