Top mounted silo unloader with belt conveyor discharge

A top mounted silo unloader comprising:

• a support frame;
• a silage collection mechanism supported from said support frame, said silage collection mechanism including horizontal collection auger for dislodging and collecting silage material from a supply of silage material within a silo, said silage collection mechanism being operatively connected to a circular track to guide rotation of said silage collection mechanism about a central vertical pivot axis;
• a central vertical auger positioned above an inner end of said silage collection mechanism to receive collected silage material from said auger, said central vertical auger having a vertically oriented shaft corresponding to said central vertical pivot axis of said silage collection mechanism, said central vertical auger having a first portion that includes a spiraled flighting member mounted on said shaft that elevates the collected silage material above said silage collection mechanism and a second portion that includes a paddle member affixed to the shaft and forming an extension of said spiraled flighting member to convey the collected silage material from the central vertical auger, said spiraled flighting member being formed as a single rotation flighting making only a full 360 degree flight rotation before terminating in said paddle member, said flighting member and said paddle member rotating at a common speed of rotation;
• a belt conveyor in flow communication with said central vertical auger to receive collected silage material therefrom and convey said collected silage material for discharge from said silo.

In a top mounted silo unloader having a support frame;

• a silage collection mechanism supported from said support frame, said silage collection mechanism including a horizontally disposed collection auger for dislodging and collecting silage material from a supply of silage material within a silo;
• and a silage conveying device in flow communication with said silage collection mechanism to convey the collected silage material for discharge from said silo, the improvement comprising:
• said silage conveying device is a belt conveyor having an adjacent end to receive collected silage material and a distal end aligned with an opening in said silo;
• and
• a central vertical auger is positioned above the adjacent end of said silage collection mechanism to receive collected silage material from said collection auger, said central vertical auger including a housing having an upper portion and a lower portion, and a vertically oriented shaft corresponding to a central vertical pivot axis for the rotation of said silage collection mechanism, said lower portion of said housing corresponding to a single rotation spiral flighting member terminating in a paddle member corresponding to said upper portion of said housing, said paddle member of said central vertical auger discharging the collected silage material through an opening in said upper portion of said housing to said belt conveyor, said silage collection mechanism being rotatably mounted on said lower portion of said housing.