Low-Waste, Low-Cost Round Bale Self-Feeder
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I recently built a low-waste, low-cost round bale self-feeder. It's 14 ft. long, 8 ft. wide, and 4 ft. high with 2-ft. high wooden skirts on two sides. The sides slant in so the opening on top is 5 ft. wide. The slanted sides keep cows from dragging loose hay out of the feeder. I used 2 7/8-in. dia. drill stem to make the frame and 7/8-in. dia. sucker rod for the vertical slats. To make the wooden skirts I welded angle iron brackets onto some steel uprights and bolted the boards to them.
The feeder mounts on drill stem "runners" with their ends bent up. To move the feeder to a new site I place a bale in my loader bucket and then push the bale against the feeder. My total cost to build the feeder was about $300. Commercial two-bale feeders sell for about $800 so I saved a lot of money. (Jerry Zomerman, Rt. 2, Stony Plain, Alberta, Canada T72 1X2 (ph 403 963-6620)
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Low-Waste, Low-Cost Round Bale Self-Feeder LIVESTOCK Feeding Equipment 23-3-35 I recently built a low-waste, low-cost round bale self-feeder. It's 14 ft. long, 8 ft. wide, and 4 ft. high with 2-ft. high wooden skirts on two sides. The sides slant in so the opening on top is 5 ft. wide. The slanted sides keep cows from dragging loose hay out of the feeder. I used 2 7/8-in. dia. drill stem to make the frame and 7/8-in. dia. sucker rod for the vertical slats. To make the wooden skirts I welded angle iron brackets onto some steel uprights and bolted the boards to them.
The feeder mounts on drill stem "runners" with their ends bent up. To move the feeder to a new site I place a bale in my loader bucket and then push the bale against the feeder. My total cost to build the feeder was about $300. Commercial two-bale feeders sell for about $800 so I saved a lot of money. (Jerry Zomerman, Rt. 2, Stony Plain, Alberta, Canada T72 1X2 (ph 403 963-6620)
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