The particle size distribution (PSD) of whole-plant corn silage (WPCS) can be a major factor on the supply of physically effective NDF (peNDF) for dairy cattle. The majority of Brazilian dairy farms have pull-type forage harvesters (PTH) as the main equipment. The PTH usually do not have crop-processing rolls and kernel processing is achieved by shortening the theoretical length of cut. Obtaining WPCS with high proportions of long NDF and processed kernels is a challenge in PTH compared with self-propelled harvesters with crop-processing rolls (SPH). The objective of this survey was to evaluate the PSD of WPCS harvested with PTH or SPH. Data were obtained from nutrition consultants and farms located in 6 Brazilian states (MG, SP, ES, SC, PR, GO) from May 2014 to August 2018. The PSD was evaluated with the 19 mm (Top) and 8 mm (Middle) diameter mesh screens and Pan of the Penn State Particle Separator. The number of samples was 195 for PTH and 714 for SPH. The PSD (% of as fed) had normal distribution for PTH and SPH and were, respectively [Mean ± SD (Min–Max)]: Top: 9.7 ± 5.9% (0.2–27.9) and 11.4 ± 4.9% (2.4–28.8). Middle: 55.3 ± 8.5% (27.5–73.6) and 68.4 ± 5.8% (49.2–82.6). Pan: 35.0 ± 8.3% (21.5–63.4) and 20.2 ± 4.0% (10.1–34.6). The linear correlation coefficients between particle sizes were (P < 0.01): Top vs Pan: −0.32 for PTH and −0.16 for SPH. Top vs Middle: −0.37 for PTH and −0.74 for SPH. Middle vs Pan: −0.75 for PTH and −0.54 for SPH. The poorest correlations were between Top and Pan for both harvesters. The highest correlations were between Middle and Pan for PTH and between Top and Middle for SPH, suggesting that how PSD would change in response to variation in equipment processing is dependent on the type of harvester. Assuming that obtaining the largest proportion of WPCS particles >8 mm would be desirable to achieve high forage peNDF, reasonable long-particle goals (Mean – 1 SD) would be less than 16% of particles in Pan for SPH and less than 27% in Pan for PTH. Silages harvested with PTH had shorter particle size than silages harvested with SPH.