hay feeders

[DL]

After years (decades??) of stalling I am (once again) seriously considering that it may be time to invest in a hay feeder of some sort - the lack of knowing exactly what I want is part of the problem ....I'd like to hear people's opinions on various hay systems, any and all, why you like them and why you don't. I am feeding round bales 500 to 1500 pounds, an nuts about removing every molecule of net wrap (which is always a delight when they are frozen under 2 inches of ice), and use the 3-point to move my bales (I think given the area where the hay is stored as well as other considerations a front end spear would not be in my best interest and could be dangerous to myself and others ;D). Also think about if you think your system would work for a scrawny weak person....who may be as old as old JIT but there are only certain body parts that feel that old on occasion!

 

[afhm]

Either get a set of forks for the front or rear of the tractor.  It will be a little harder to get the wrap off, but you  can tie the end to the drawbar and when you pull out from under the bale the strings, wraps come with you.  Another option is a flatbed for an older work truck that has either a hydraulic hay spear on it, or one of those dew-eze beds that pick up the bales from the sides and can carry 2 at a time on the bed.  It is also designed to help you unroll the hay as well.  Those hay bed for pickups can get expensive.  They make bale buggy's now that you never have to get out of the pick up except to cut the strings, and you can do like we do, cut the strings all a one time before I put hay out for the day, so once I get in the truck I don't have to get out til I'm done.

 

[DL]

ps have rear forks..afhm - do you just put your hay on the ground?. ;D

 

[OH Breeder]

DL I am with you. I have tried the TSC round bale feeders but have gone through 3 they come apart. I need to save on hay but am wondering what might be a stronger or better solution.

 

[farmboy]

UGGHH, WE PUT THE HAY OUT WHEN WE GET IT, GET IT WITH THE MASSY FERGUSON WITH REAR FORKS, TAKE IT TO THE BURN PILE AND PULL THE TWINE OFF ( CUT AND PULL, TIE AND BURN AND THROW OFF THE MOLDED TOP LAYERS) TAKE TO FIELD AND DROP, WE USE THE REAR 3 POINT TO PICK UP THE RING AND DROP IT CLOSE TO THE BALE AND TIP

AS FOR THE RING, JUST AN OLD ROUND HAY RING THATS HEAVY AND WOULDN'T BE FUN TO ROLL DOWN A HILL IN ;D BUT BEFORE THAT, WE PULL OFF MORE TOP LAYERS AND THE COWS HIT THAT FIRST (cow)

 

[afhm]

Most of the time we unroll it(saves hay, and more animals can get to it at one time), or just put it on the ground.  Some places we'll put a ring around it.

 

[shorthorns r us]

have you considered an pto driven unroller for the 3 point. don't know where they are made but they are incredibly useful. we have used a homemade one for several years. actually some ag-mech students made it but i have basically rebuilt it to make it work for us. probably saves 300-400 lbs/head/yr. i have seen them in some magazine in the last few months. maybe it was progressive farmer. seems like the price was $750. not too many saved bales required to pay for one!

 

[ROAD WARRIOR]

D L - We use two systems. 1) A Vermeer hay processer. The cows really like the hay after it has been shredded and you can't imagine all of the dirt it knocks out of the hay (this is my favorite way to feed hay). 2) We feed some hay in rings made from high impact poly gas line pipe. These are by far the best ring type feeders that we have ever found. They are nearly indistructable, don't rust or rot out, are lighter than conventional steel rings and don't freeze down. They are kind of exspensive but will out last several steel rings, my oldest ones are 8 years old and show no signs of deterioration or wear. 

 

[red]

I feed in a round ring set-up/ Our feed bales are 700 pound square bales. no wrap, just twine.
We use a smaller JD tractor w/ forks that Hubby made to attach.
Cows still wate a lot of the hay. I think boys need to make a better hay ring in down time.
Red

 

[DL]

Does anybody use the klene hay savers or hay wagons or any of the gizmos (not bull ;D) where cows have to stick their head thru that are not rings? I like the unrolling idea - however one small mad woman even with a big tractor can't efficiently do this - maybe need to look at the PTO driven unrollers. RW tell me more about your hay processor...tx all.....keep those thoughts and ideas coming.

 

[ROAD WARRIOR]

DL - The hay processor I have is PTO driven with flail type knives in the bottom. The knives "chew" into the bale and throw the processed hay out through the side. It has a curtain on the discharge side that you can run in the down position and blow the hay in a windrow or you can crank the curtain up and blow the hay into a big pile ( works really good to bed a pen with a big bale of straw, makes a pile about 15 feet wide and 40 feet long). I really like this piece of equipment for winter feeding, you can feed in a different place every day (no manure to haul away!) and if you have some hay that got a little course it cuts it up into small enough pieces that even an old cow that's getting a little smooth mouthed can eat it without any problem. I figure about 40 cows to a bale when used daily. Vermeer and Haybuster both make them and I'm sure there are more companies out there that I'm not familiar with.

 

[shorthorns r us]

i'd love to have a grinder but i cannot find anyone willing to buy one of my kidneys and my wife won't let me sell one of the boys.

 

[genes]

My Dad bought a shredder a couple of years ago and just loves it.  It takes the twine off as he shreds.  And like Road Warrior said, the cows like it, it wastes less even though they eat off the ground, you can bed with it, go anywhere with it.  Heck it can even be used to move cows a little ways if you throw a bale on there they learn to follow it.

In the corrals we still use the steel rings though.  Maybe not ideal for a weak person working alone though.  The poly ones RW mentioned sound interesting.

 

[ROAD WARRIOR]

Yeah, they are a little pricey, however in terms of the amount of waste we save and the man hours and diesel fuel and machinery wear that we save from not having to clean up around the rings (haul the wasted hay and manure away) it has been a good investment for us. Can you justify the expence for a small herd - probably not unless you have a better banker than I do. SRU - I have tried for years to "give" my youngest daughter away and haven't had any takers yet, maybe boys are more marketable. LOL!

 

[jnm]

What do you mean by "pricey"  (what do they cost)

 

[ROAD WARRIOR]

When I bought ours several years ago they were about $9000.00, but just like everything else they have gone up. I think they are about 12 - 13000.00 now.

 

[justintime]

We bought a bale processor about 12 years ago and it is without any doubt, the best $10,000 I ever spent on a piece of farm machinery. It works best in the winter when the ground is frozen, and there is virtually no waste as the cows will eat it all. The  bale processor is great for bales that have had excessive rain or are dusty as it gets rid of almost all the dust out of the bales. It is even better for bedding the cattle. When I bought it, I was told that it would cut the amount of hay I needed to feed by 25% and it would cut the straw by 40 to 50 %. I did not believe this until we had gone through a winter, and I am convinced that it does this ... and maybe even more. What I really like is the fact that it will blow the straw right to the back of all our sheds and I can bed about400 head in just over an hour.It is great for bedding an area in a pen for the cows with new calves.  I am also convinced that I have saved far more than the cost of this machine in feed costs and it is still in great shape and hopefully will last another 12-15 years. Our bale processor is a HighLine, made here in Saskatchewan, but they are sold in several countries.
We also use bale feeders in most of the pens and also use them when it is too wet to put hay on the ground.  I think I have probably tried them all and quite frankly, almost all of them suck swamp water. I do have one that seems to have lasted better than most but it is so heavy you need a good sized tractor to even lift it.

 

[ROAD WARRIOR]

It also surprised me that the cows come through the winter in better condition on less feed. Especialy the older cows and first calf heifers that got sucked down pretty hard nursing their calf. I wish my pens here at the barn were bigger so I could use it to hay there as well. JIT I'm assuming the $10000.00 was Canadian money, 12 years ago the conversion rate to US dollars was about 70%? Trying to get a handle on difference in price between brands of bale processors.

 

[Jill]

We use the poly rings also switched to them about 10 years ago and wouldn't change back.  My husband would like to try the hay saver deals that are set at an angle because we do waste alot of hay, but we have not ever actually used them, we have a homemade one that is built that way, and it works pretty good, but it is stationary.